An Analysis of Plant Blindness in Turkish Textbooks Used at the Basic Education Level

Abstract

The importance of plants is not as clearly understood as that of animals. This lack of attention is called “plant blindness” and is considered one of the most important problems in biology education. Textbooks do not put much emphasis on plants and, therefore, they may contribute to plant blindness. In this research, ten textbooks used for teaching at the basic education level in Turkey were analyzed for plant blindness using the document analysis method. The words and photographs associated with plants and animals were analyzed. The data analysis did not find any evidence that could lead to a conclusion of plant blindness based on the text and photos of these textbooks. However, if the number of plant and animal species covered is increased, and more words and photos are used to introduce these species, children will become more familiar with plants and animals. Besides textbooks, other educational tools can be analyzed in terms of plant blindness to expand on the related literature. Keywords: plant blindness, photograph in textbook, document analysis, written text.

Plant blindness profile of high school students in Hulu Gurung sub-district, Kapuas Hulu district

“…A more efficient biology lesson can be provided if the reading text includes plants and animals with the same capacity of meaning, the number of species represented increases, and species names are repeated more often (Ahi et al, 2018). Concrete thinking in students can be instilled with biology learning techniques in which learning uses existing local potentials (Nizaar & Haifaturrahmah, 2017).…”

Preliminary Information on the Development of Measurement Tools for Plant Awaren

“…(2) Classifying Plants as Living Organisms: Recognizing plants as living entities distinct from inanimate objects, understanding their biological processes, and categorizing them correctly within the tree of life falls under this domain. This aspect underscores the significance of acknowledging plants' vitality and roles in ecological systems (Lindemann-Matthies, 2005;Yorek, Şahin & Aydın, 2009;Ahi, Atasoy & Balci, 2018;Amprazis, Papadopoulou & Malandrakis, 2021).…”