Plants Have a Chance: Outdoor Educational Programmes Alter Students' Knowledge and Attitudes towards Plants

Autor/inn/en	Fancovicova, Jana; Prokop, Pavol
Titel	Plants Have a Chance: Outdoor Educational Programmes Alter Students' Knowledge and Attitudes towards Plants
Quelle	In: Environmental Education Research, 17 (2011) 4, S.537-551 (15 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1350-4622
Schlagwörter	Experimental Groups; Control Groups; Elementary School Science; Biology; Student Attitudes; Plants (Botany); Outdoor Education; Science Instruction; Environmental Education; Knowledge Level; Comparative Analysis; Gender Differences; Gardening; Foreign Countries; Program Effectiveness; Urban Schools; Grade 5; Slovakia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Biologie; Schülerverhalten; Pflanze; Freiluftunterricht; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Umweltbildung; Umwelterziehung; Umweltpädagogik; Wissensbasis; Geschlechterkonflikt; Gartenarbeit; Ausland; Urban area; Urban areas; School; Schools; Stadtregion; Stadt; Schule; School year 05; 5. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 05; Slowakei
Abstract	Outdoor educational programmes are generally believed to be a suitable alternative to conventional biology settings that improve participants' environmental attitudes and knowledge. Here we examine whether outdoor educational programmes focused solely on practical work with plants influence participants' knowledge of and attitudes towards plants. It was found that mean scores of participants' attitudes towards and knowledge of plants significantly increased after the outdoor programme. These effects remained significant even after three months' post-testing. No similar patterns were found in the control group. Interestingly, the proportion of participants who liked biology as a school subject also significantly increased after the outdoor programme in the experimental group. Females showed better knowledge of plants than males, but attitudes towards plants were similar between genders. Having a garden at home was not associated with better knowledge or attitudes towards plants. Our results reveal that outdoor programmes significantly relieve "plant blindness" and make biology more attractive to pupils. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10