Adolescent Learning in the Zoo: Embedding a Non-Formal Learning Environment to Teach Formal Aspects of Vertebrate Biology

Randler, Christoph; Kummer, Barbara; Wilhelm, Christian

doi:10.1007/s10956-011-9331-2

Cited by 37 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Therefore, beyond expanding upon this small body of prior research, it is important to investigate whether naturalistic learning experiences can prompt changes in knowledge organization, and do so over relatively brief timescales. However, prior studies that investigated the effects of naturalistic learning experiences such as a field trip to a museum or zoo (Bexell, Jarrett, & Ping, 2013;Farmer, Knapp, & Benton, 2007;Gottfried, 1980;Prokop, Tuncer, & Kvasničák, 2007;Randler, Baumgärtner, Eisele, & Kienzle, 2007;Randler, Kummer, & Wilhelm, 2012;Stronck, 1983) largely focused on evaluating learning of specific facts (e.g., "Kangaroo rats have giant feet", (p. 172, Gottfried, 1980) rather than changes in in the way that knowledge is organized according to relations among different concepts.…”

Section: Effects Of Brief Learning Experiencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid, experience-related changes in the organization of children’s semantic knowledge

Unger

Fisher

2019

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

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The organization of knowledge according to relations between concepts is crucially important for many cognitive processes, and its emergence during childhood is a key focus of cognitive development research. Prior evidence about the role of learning and experience in the development of knowledge organization primarily comes from studies investigating differences between preexisting, naturally-occurring groups (such as children from rural vs. urban settings, or children who own a pet vs. children who don't), and a handful of studies on the effects of researcherdeveloped educational interventions. However, we know little about whether knowledge organization can be relatively rapidly molded by shorter-term real-world learning experiences (e.g., on a timescale of days vs. years or months). The present study investigated whether naturalistic learning experiences can drive rapid, measurable changes in knowledge organization in children by investigating the effects of a week-long Zoo summer camp (compared to a control school-based camp) on the degree to which 4-to 9-year-old children's knowledge about animals was organized according to taxonomic relations. Although there were no differences in taxonomic organization between the Zoo and the school-based camp at pre-test, only children who participated in the Zoo camp showed increases in taxonomic organization at post-test. Moreover, analyses of changes in taxonomic organization in Zoo camp children suggested that these changes were primarily driven by improvements in the degree to which children differentiated between taxonomic categories. These findings provide novel evidence that naturalistic experiences can drive rapid changes in knowledge organization.

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Section: Effects Of Brief Learning Experiencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid, experience-related changes in the organization of children’s semantic knowledge

Unger

Fisher

2019

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

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“…Building on previous small scale studies (Randler et al, 2012a), in this present study, a large controlled field trial in many different settings with questionnaires was carried out. First, we investigated the effectiveness of living animals for increasing interest, motivation, and achievement comparing an in school or an out-of-school intervention with living invertebrates.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Invertebrate disgust reduction in and out of school and its effects on state intrinsic motivation

Wüst-Ackermann

Vollmer²,

Itzek-Greulich³

et al. 2018

Palgrave Commun

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Invertebrates are used in environmental, biology, and science education. However, they can elicit disgust, which can be detrimental for motivational and learning outcomes. In addition, practical work including hands-on interaction with living invertebrates could be a viable way to reduce invertebrate disgust and strengthen state intrinsic motivation. Moreover, Big-Five personality may explain the students' reaction to the exposure with live invertebrates. Therefore, the present study tested the effects of an intervention with living invertebrates on disgust and state intrinsic motivation in a sample of 1861 students (age 10-12 years). Moreover, we tested whether an in-school or an out-of-school intervention was more successful in reducing disgust as compared to the control group. While disgust was measured at pre-and post-test, trait motivation was measured at pre-test and state intrinsic motivation was measured at post-test. Results show that while both treatment conditions reduced disgust more than the control condition, the out-of-school condition had a more pronounced disgust reduction than the school condition. Disgust was negatively related to state intrinsic motivation, but state intrinsic motivation was equally high in both treatment conditions (school and university). Extraversion was negatively and neuroticism was positively related to disgust. Big-Five personality was generally associated with state intrinsic motivation. In conclusion, invertebrate disgust can be successfully reduced by an intervention with live invertebrates. The workstation-based intervention with live invertebrates is useful in different settings, both in and out of school and effective with invertebrate species, especially with snails and mealworms, because children's disgust for these species was significantly reduced and lower disgust was related to higher state intrinsic motivation.

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“…Their retention test scores were close to their pos ttest scores. There are studi es which hav e similar findings (Knapp, 2000;Pace and Tesi, 2004;Randler, Kummer, and Wilhelm, 2012) as well as different findings (Bozdogan, 2007;Yavuz, 2012). The reason why the retention was high i n this study is considered to be sourced from the fact that all of the out -of-school learning activities (heal th insti tutes and school yard) were related to the students' real lives, which made it easier to establish a link between former knowledge and the knowledge that was learned in out -of-school learning settings.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

The Effects of Out-of-School Learning Settings Science Activities on 5th Graders’ Academic Achievement

Baki̇oğlu¹,

Karamustafaoğlu²,

Karamustafaoğlu³

et al. 2018

EUROPEAN J ED RES

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of lessons conducted in out-of-school learning settings on 5th graders science achievement within the scope of a guidance material that was prepared to be used in out-of-school learning settings in accordance with the "Let's Solve the Riddle of Our Body" chapter objectives. The pretest / posttest equalized control group d esign, which is one of the quasi-experimental designs, was used in this study. The sample of this study was composed of a total of 31 5th grade students (15 were in experimental group, 16 were in control group) that were selected from secondary schools in the first semester of the 2015-2016 academic year in Tokat Province. Let's Solve the Riddle of Our Body Chapter Achievement Test (LeSROBAT) was administered before and after the implementation of the guidance material to measure the students' achievements and reten tion. The lessons were conducted as suggested by the current curriculum in the control group. The data were analyzed using independent samples t-test and covariance analysis (ANCOVA). As a result of the analyses, it was found that the LeSROBAT post -test scores of experimental group were significantly higher than the control group. Within this context, it was concluded that the out-of-school learning settings positively contributed to academic achievement and the guidance material that was developed within the scop e of this study was effective. The results of retention test analyses didn't reveal any significant difference between the posttest and retention test scores of experimental and control groups. When the LeSROBAT retention test scores were examined, it was obser ved that the scores of experimental group was higher than the control group.Keywords:Out-of-school learning settings, science course, academic achievement, let's solve the riddle of our body chapter.

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Adolescent Learning in the Zoo: Embedding a Non-Formal Learning Environment to Teach Formal Aspects of Vertebrate Biology

Cited by 37 publications

References 35 publications

Rapid, experience-related changes in the organization of children’s semantic knowledge

Rapid, experience-related changes in the organization of children’s semantic knowledge

Invertebrate disgust reduction in and out of school and its effects on state intrinsic motivation

The Effects of Out-of-School Learning Settings Science Activities on 5th Graders’ Academic Achievement

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