Animals in Environmental Education: Assessing Individuals' Emotional Reactions to Interactions with Wildlife

Silva dos Santos, Marina; Kelsey, Kathleen D.; Fuhrman, Nicholas E.; Irwin, Kris

doi:10.5032/jae.2020.04061

Cited by 5 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Other emotions, such as fear and anger, can be induced through cinema and popular culture, as is the case with wolves in films [Wolch & Emel, 1998]. Likewise, beliefs and experiences that societies have historically built around some species also contribute to the expression of more negative feelings towards them, such as snakes, bats, crabs and spiders [Santos, Kelsey, Fuhrman & Irwin, 2020;Myers et al, 2004].…”

Section: Emotional Responses Towards Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotional responses from families visiting the zoo: a study at Parque das Aves in Foz do Iguaçu

Scalfi,

Massarani,

Gonçalves

et al. 2023

Journal of Science Communication

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In this study, we aim to analyse human emotional responses towards animals, specifically birds, in the context of a visit to a zoo. The study was carried out with seven families in Parque das Aves. The visits were recorded using the point-of-view-camera method, and the data was analysed using qualitative software to identify emotion descriptors. The findings from our study reveal that the physical characteristics of birds, such as their patterns and colours, as well as their behaviours and abilities, triggered emotional responses that were associated with admiration for the species, concern for their well-being and awareness of conservation issues, enabling these families to construct meaning.

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Section: Emotional Responses Towards Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotional responses from families visiting the zoo: a study at Parque das Aves in Foz do Iguaçu

Scalfi,

Massarani,

Gonçalves

et al. 2023

Journal of Science Communication

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“…Agricultural-based educators have a unique tool in assisting students within the inperson classroom environment, which is the presence of an animal in laboratory-based courses. Educational presentations utilizing live animals have shown benefits in engaging students in the learning process [7]. The horse in particular has been shown to promote an emotionally safe environment for promoting learning in adolescents [8].…”

Section: Addressing Classroom Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, according to Ewing et al [19], the use of the horse has been promising, finding the unique environment of this animal is effective in breaking down barriers for open communication that promotes engagement. Within the educational environment, Silva dos Santos et al [7] reported the outdoor setting associated with animal-based educational programs assisted in engaging the program participants. The authors further discuss the benefits of live animal educational presentations helping to increase interest in the material discussed, and in turn, promoting the learning process.…”

Section: Addressing Classroom Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This new learning space, however, may not allow for direct interaction with the animal, but indirect interaction is still possible through online presentations. According to Silva dos Santos et al [7], even indirect interaction with animals kept participants engaged in learning. Wulff-Risner and Stewart [21] reported that structure associated with classroom video presentation compared to live animals was more beneficial to learning for youth participating in a 4-H horse judging program.…”

Section: Addressing Classroom Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Does Equine Interaction Facilitate Emotional Safety and Learning for College Students within an Agricultural-Based Classroom?

Holtcamp,

Nicodemus,

Phillips

et al. 2023

EJIHPE

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Effective teaching requires an educational environment that promotes learning, and yet, developing such an environment can be challenging within today’s agricultural-based classroom for educators due to the trend to a more virtual teaching format and less hands-on learning. Animal interaction, particularly equine activities, has been shown to assist educators in the development of an emotionally safe environment for promoting learning. However, research is lacking as to whether the interaction with the animal needs to be direct or indirect within the collegiate educational environment to observe benefits. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the impact of equine interaction, both direct and indirect, within an educational environment on the emotional safety and learning for the college student within the agricultural-based classroom. Three course types were observed within the agricultural-based educational environment that included courses with no equine interaction (Group A) and courses with equine interaction, both direct (Group B) and indirect (Group C) interaction with the horse. Indirect interaction included items such as observation of equine handling via a video or gaining knowledge from reading online materials, but not engaging in direct, hands-on activities with the horse. Development of emotional safety within the students enrolled within these courses was measured using a self-reporting emotional safety evaluation. Due to the structure of the scale, a decrease in emotional safety indicated a positive change. Learning, both development of semantic and procedural memory, was measured using a student-completed knowledge examination and an instructor-completed skill evaluation, respectively. While significant improvement in emotional safety was not observed within any of the course types, a weak negative correlation was found between emotional safety and semantic memory for students enrolled in equine courses, both direct (R = −0.55, R2 = 0.28) and indirect (R = −0.25, R2 = 0.06) interaction, finding as emotional safety scores lowered to the ideal range that knowledge improved. In addition, students within equine courses showed semantic memory development in specific areas of equine sciences (Group B: Grooming/Tacking, p = 0.03; Group C: Equine Behavior, p = 0.04) and direct equine interaction resulted in development of equine-based procedural memory in all four skill areas measured within the study (p = 0.00). As such, learning is promoted through equine interaction, whether direct or indirect interaction, within the agricultural-based classroom, suggesting that both forms of equine interaction can be a valuable educational tool for the instructor within the collegiate setting.

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“…In addition, social attitudes about animals are hopelessly confused and play an important role regarding the violation of animal rights. The lack of education on this issue raises the need for setting solid, coherent policies and plans and identify strategies on which to build sustainable educational systems (Vlemmas, 2017), which will encourage positive behavior and cultivate the emotional dimension through the implementation of educational programs (Silva dos Santos et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Primary School Students’ Perspective of Stray Animal Issues and Their Integration Into Education

Papavasileiou¹,

Ioannidou²,

Poimenidis³

2022

IJASOS- International E-Journal of Advances in Social Sciences

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The current paper attempts to investigate the views of primary school students of the 4 th , 5th and 6 th grade on the issue of stray animals and its inclusion in the school curriculum. Taking into consideration the negative impact of the existence of stray animals, it is regarded vital to educate children and formulate a policy aiming at minimizing the phenomenon. The lack of knowledge and training concerning the needs and welfare of animals prior to acquiring pets intensifies the issue as the needs of the animals are not fully understood increasing the likelihood of them being abandoned in most cases. Especially during the economic crisis, the incidents of abuse and abandonment increased rapidly. The research was conducted using questionnaires and the results showed incomplete knowledge of addressing the issue and the underlying cause. The students are aware of the animal needs but there are difficulties in proposing effective ways of managing the case. They consider that dogs are more directly dependent on humans than cats. They seem quite positive in their knowledge about dog and cat care. Nevertheless, the students do not prefer to be informed by teachers, as they consider that the teachers are not properly trained, although many of them desire animal care to be a topic in school textbooks. The students seem to have more trust on Animal Welfare Organizations as a source of information regarding animal care. In addition, it seems that fifth graders are more interested in learning about stray animal issues whereas this interest is declining in older students. Research also showed that a gender correlation exists as girls are more positive in terms of animal care awareness.

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Animals in Environmental Education: Assessing Individuals' Emotional Reactions to Interactions with Wildlife

Cited by 5 publications

References 41 publications

Emotional responses from families visiting the zoo: a study at Parque das Aves in Foz do Iguaçu

Emotional responses from families visiting the zoo: a study at Parque das Aves in Foz do Iguaçu

Does Equine Interaction Facilitate Emotional Safety and Learning for College Students within an Agricultural-Based Classroom?

Primary School Students’ Perspective of Stray Animal Issues and Their Integration Into Education

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