An educational intervention maximizes children’s learning during a zoo or aquarium visit

Collins, Courtney; Corkery, Ilse; McKeown, Sean; McSweeney, Lynda; Flannery, Kevin L.; Kennedy, Declan; O’Riordan, Ruth M.

doi:10.1080/00958964.2020.1719022

Cited by 26 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 43 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The variability of responses may reflect the diversity in the quality of animal exhibitions and visitor experiences in different zoos depending on time of the visit and the geographic area. The influence of zoo visitation on zoo visitors does vary in the literature depending on factors such as exhibit design, staff-visitor interaction, specific educational interventions, and visitor-animal interactions [1,2,41,42]. A study by Reade and Waran showed that visitors to a zoo generally had more positive opinions on the welfare of zoo animals than non-zoo visitors [43].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Modern Zoo: Demographics and Perceptions of Two International Groups of Zoo Staff

Bacon

Vigors

Shaw

et al. 2021

JZBG

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Characterising the people that work in zoos is a key element of understanding how zoos might better contribute to conservation activities. The purpose of this study was to investigate demographics, early life experiences and perceptions of zoo staff to the role of the modern zoo. This paper reports the key characteristics and qualitative themes emerging from study of international (European and Chinese) zoo professionals. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with eight Chinese and eight European zoo staff about aspects of zoological animal welfare, conservation and zoological practices. These qualitative data were thematically analysed, and themes generated. This paper describes interviewee demographics and two themes relating to ‘early life influences’ and ‘the role of the modern zoo’. This analysis indicates that demographic data and early life influences of zoo professionals were broadly similar between two culturally diverse regions, but that their views on the role of the modern zoo differed, particularly in terms of their perceptions of conservation activities, with European interviewees focussing on biodiversity conservation, and Chinese interviewees focussing on animal protection.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Modern Zoo: Demographics and Perceptions of Two International Groups of Zoo Staff

Bacon

Vigors

Shaw

et al. 2021

JZBG

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Tomažiˇc, and Šorgo, (2017) revealed that reported direct experiences lower negative feelings toward toads and heightens interest in studying these animals for lower and upper secondary school students. Collins et al (2020) focused on children's intended actions regarding zoo animals. Given the lack of information surrounding the impact of education at zoos and aquariums on children's learning, the specific aims of their study were to investigate the effect of a visit to Fota Wildlife Park or Dingle Aquarium on children's knowledge, attitude, and behavior.…”

Section: Culture Affects Animal Choice and Animal Choice Mattersmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Do Visitors from Different Cultural Backgrounds Perceive the Messages Conveyed to Them by Their Local Zoo?

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As educational institutions, zoos provide an informal, free-choice learning environment. To understand the complex processes of learning in the zoo we must therefore take into account the visiting family's culture. The study presented here, conducted in the Tisch Family Zoological Gardens in Jerusalem, investigates how visitors from different cultural backgrounds experience the zoo and interpret its intended messages. We found that, ultimately, the zoo is perceived similarly by the Arab and Jewish visitors as an educational institution, although what they come there to learn is different. Moreover, with regards to the message of conservation, neither population sees it as a major, prominent message. Despite the overall similarity in our participants' response to the zoo as an enjoyable, cultural educational institute, there were some differences in the experiences of Jewish vs. the Arab visitors, reflected primarily in their animal preferences, and also in the types of messages that they suggest the zoo is conveying to them.

show abstract

“…Multiple studies, such as those above, have been undertaken (both internally in organizations, and externally reported in scientific literature) to evaluate the efficacy of visitation, conservation messaging and educational programs in both formal learning settings (e.g., scheduled school visits) and informal, free-choice learning (e.g., zoo visitors' engagement with signage or presentations; Bexell et al, 2007;Chalmin-Pui & Perkins, 2017;Clayton, 2016;Collins et al, 2019;2020a;2020b;Dove & Byrne, 2014;Escobar-Ibarra et al, 2021;Hayward & Rothenberg, 2004;Lindemann-Matthies & Kamer, 2005;Lukas & Ross, 2005;Miller et al, 2013;Moss et al, 2014Moss et al, , 2015Moss et al, , 2017aNygren & Ojalammi, 2018;Spooner et al, 2019;Spooner, Jensen et al, 2021). Indeed, even the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) requires accredited facilities to consistently measure the effective impact of their conservation and educational programs/presentations to maintain accreditation (AZA, 2021), as do most of the other regional and global zoo and aquarium associations (Barongi et al, 2015;WAZA, 2005).…”

Section: The Effects Of Learning On Conservation Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The main limitation for performing these kinds of comparative studies is the high degree of difficulty in recruiting sufficient suitable candidates, especially in the nonzoo visitor group. However, there is now a moderate amount of published literature in education-related fields that has explored the efficacy of zoos' educational and/or advocacy programs on both short and long-term conservation-related learning outcomes in zoo visitors that is of importance here (Collins et al, 2016;2020a;2020b;Falk et al, 2007;Hayward & Rothenberg, 2004;Jensen, 2014a;Jensen et al, 2017;Lindemann-Matthies & Kamer, 2005;Moss et al, 2015Moss et al, , 2017aSkibins & Powell, 2013;Spooner et al, 2019;Spooner, Jensen et al, 2021).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Animal-Visitor Interactions and the Visitor Experience: Visitor Behaviors, Attitudes, Perceptions, and Learning in the Modern Zoo

Learmonth¹,

Chiew²,

Godinez³

et al. 2021

AB&C

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Animal-Visitor Interactions (AVIs) have become commonplace in zoological institutions and facilities globally. However, most AVI research focuses on the effects of visitors on the welfare of animals, with considerably fewer studies examining the visitor experience itself. Furthermore, robust evaluations of the efficacy of zoo education programs and engagements for increasing visitor awareness of conservation issues, and for fostering long-term pro-conservation behavior changes in them, are under-researched. This paper reviews the current literature that pertains to the effects of zoo visitation and AVIs on visitor perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes. We briefly note some of the known effects that zoo visitors have on zoo animals, then explore the effects that factors such as enclosure design, animal visibility and behaviors, and AVIs can have on visitors’ overall experience whilst attending the zoo. We suggest that future research needs to more closely examine the relationships and interactions between zoo visitors and zoo animals; why some zoo visitors over others repeat visitation; what the differences in beliefs and attitudes may be between “zoo visitors” and “non-zoo visitors” (i.e., other general public); and to make a concerted effort to understand: (1) what visitors do after they leave the zoo, and (2) whether visitors adopt long-term pro-conservation behaviors into their daily lives. We further suggest that future research needs to start investigating indirect measures related to the visitor experience, such as: (a) individual conservation support outside of the zoo; (b) internet activity; (c) changes in sustainable purchasing practices related to knowledge gains; (d) financial investment in sustainable or ethical companies after knowledge gains; (e) and the longitudinal effects of zoo visits.

show abstract

An educational intervention maximizes children’s learning during a zoo or aquarium visit

Cited by 26 publications

References 43 publications

The Modern Zoo: Demographics and Perceptions of Two International Groups of Zoo Staff

The Modern Zoo: Demographics and Perceptions of Two International Groups of Zoo Staff

How Do Visitors from Different Cultural Backgrounds Perceive the Messages Conveyed to Them by Their Local Zoo?

Animal-Visitor Interactions and the Visitor Experience: Visitor Behaviors, Attitudes, Perceptions, and Learning in the Modern Zoo

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About