Bridging Screens and Green: Fostering Philippine Flora and Fauna Conservation through iNaturalist Citizen Science Application

Biodiversity is continually declining and is changing due to various factors, one of which is human activities which pose a threat to essential ecosystem services. This study investigated the effectiveness of the iNaturalist citizen science application in fostering students’ knowledge of Philippine flora and fauna and their conservation practices. A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest control group design was employed among sixty (60) second-year BS – Psychology students in a private Catholic higher education institution in Davao City, with thirty (30) students assigned to the experimental group and thirty (30) to the control group through purposive sampling. Researcher-developed pretest and posttest instruments consisting of 100 true-or-false items measured students’ knowledge before and after a three-week intervention. The experimental group used the iNaturalist application to document and identify species in disturbed and undisturbed places, then they developed conservation plans, while the control group used traditional classroom approach only. Pretest results showed a moderately high baseline knowledge in both groups while posttest scores increased to a very high level after the intervention. Furthermore, Paired Samples T-test results indicated a significant within-group pretest and posttest differences similar with the between-group analysis using Independent Samples T-test which also revealed a significant difference after the intervention. Therefore, within-group and between-group analysis reveal that iNaturalist significantly improved students’ knowledge of Philippine flora and fauna and their conservation practices. Overall, this study offers useful insights for educators, schools, curriculum developers, students, and researchers as they explore the impacts of using iNaturalist to improve biodiversity knowledge and conservation practices.

iNaturalist citizen science application, Philippine flora and fauna, conservation practices, quasi-experimental design, pretest and posttest, Philippines

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