Abstract:

Marine education in Japan is based on the four pillars of "familiarity with the sea," "knowledge of the sea," "protection of the sea," and "use of the sea". The goal is to nurture human resources capable of conserving the marine environment, and developing and utilizing it in a sustainable manner.

In this study, we developed marine VR educational materials to learn about marine ecology by reproducing the seafloor in a VR space based on 3D point cloud data of the seafloor topography of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. Furthermore, we conducted a questionnaire survey targeting university students to examine the potential of this teaching material.

In the development stage of this teaching material, a VR environment was constructed using integrated software for game development (Unity). In addition, fish models were created based on the fish maps of western and southern Japan kept by the Nagasaki University Library. In addition, a seafloor was created using 3D point cloud data of the seafloor topography of Naruseto, located in Goto City, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. This material enables students to learn about marine ecosystems, including seafloor topography, through exploration activities. In this study, 30 university students were evaluated. After experiencing the material, the students responded to a questionnaire using a four-point scale and free-answer questions. The answers obtained from the four-point scale questionnaire were classified into positive and negative responses, and analyzed by Fisher's exact test. The answers obtained by the open-ended questionnaire were classified into similar responses and tabulated. The results of the questionnaire analysis indicated that this teaching material can arouse interest in the ocean and contribute to the acquisition of ocean knowledge. Therefore, it was shown that this material is effective as a teaching material for "familiarity with the sea" and "knowledge of the sea" among the four pillars of marine education. The potential of 3D point cloud data in marine education was also demonstrated. However, in response to the free response questionnaire item "points to be improved," we received responses such as "It was difficult to move the viewpoint with the mouse, so it would be better to change the sensitivity and direction of rotation according to the user". Therefore, it is necessary to improve the operation method by allowing students to choose the method that best suits their needs. In addition, this teaching material does not include objects such as marine energy power generation devices and marine debris, and is insufficient as a teaching material for "using the ocean" and "protecting the ocean".

Future tasks are to achieve the four pillars of marine education by placing objects such as marine energy generating devices and marine debris.

Keywords:

Virtual reality, marine education, development, STEAM education.