Uncovering patterns of interest in useful plants. Frequency analysis of individual students’ interest types as a tool for planning botany teaching units

Pany, Peter; Heidinger, Christine

doi:10.4995/muse.2015.2309

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…One promising way is to make use of pre-existing interests, since pedagogical psychology research shows that interest is a fundamental condition for learning new content (Deci & Ryan, 1993). Former studies (Pany, 2014;Pany & Heidinger, 2015) have…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Krüger and Burmester (2005) showed that beside the "beauty of plants" (Kinchin, 1999;Tunnicliffe & Reiss, 2000), the "usefulness of plants" is a very important criterion students use to categorize plants. The study of Hammann (2011) Pany, & Kiehn, 2011) than the oftenused ornamental plants that interest only a small percentage of students (Pany, 2014;Pany & Heidinger, 2015). The work presented in this paper follows this line of investigation and aims to specify and test the best-suited study objects found amongst useful plants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The study of Hammann () on medicinal plants also pointed toward useful plants as potentially interesting study objects. In our own previous work we have shown that medicinal plants, spice plants, and stimulant herbal drugs (with some important restrictions, above all the age of the target group) have more potential for teaching botany in schools (Sales‐Reichartzeder, Pany, & Kiehn, ) than the often‐used ornamental plants that interest only a small percentage of students (Pany, ; Pany & Heidinger, ). The work presented in this paper follows this line of investigation and aims to specify and test the best‐suited study objects found amongst useful plants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using students’ interest in useful plants to encourage plant vision in the classroom

Pany

Lörnitzo

Auleitner

et al. 2019

Plants People Planet

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Societal Impact Statement The phenomenon known as “plant blindness” leads to a restricted view on nature, which may in turn result in people and society having less understanding of important environmental and conservation issues. Biology educators must tackle this problem directly. By exploring students’ interests in useful plants (spice plants and stimulant herbal drugs), we present a route by which educators could counteract plant blindness by taking students’ plant‐related interests into account when preparing a teaching unit. We reveal that educators must carefully select the plant materials used as examples in the classroom to effectively encourage plant vision in students. Summary The term “plant blindness” describes the phenomenon that many people tend to overlook plants in their everyday life. Therefore, they often do not understand key biological concepts to their full extent and may develop a more restricted view of nature. Here, we provide a possible method of counteracting plant blindness in schools by capitalizing on students’ interest in useful plants to impart botanical content in biology lessons. We investigated 172 students aged 10–18 years old in order to explore the links between students’ individual interests in spice plants and stimulant herbal drugs and their situational interest during an inquiry‐based botany teaching unit by using a questionnaire and additional semi‐structured interviews. Data analysis shows that, for students with low and medium individual interest, stimulant herbal drugs and spice plants can be used to generate higher situational interest. Furthermore, students with initially high individual interest should get the opportunity to follow their own questions concerning a plant group before working on a structured learning task. Using study objects from different subgroups of useful plants for introducing botanical content in biology lessons, and giving highly interested students time and space to follow their own interests, seems to be a promising way to counteract plant blindness and, thus, to help enable students to develop a more comprehensive view of nature.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Using students’ interest in useful plants to encourage plant vision in the classroom

Pany

Lörnitzo

Auleitner

et al. 2019

Plants People Planet

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Parece haver um consenso entre diversos autores no que diz respeito às problemáticas do ensino de botânica. Suas causas envolvem, por exemplo, o desinteresse pelo tema, a abordagem excessivamente teórica e a falta de aulas práticas e de materiais didáticos facilitadores (ABRIE, 2015;MATOS et al, 2015;NASCIMENTO et al, 2017;PANy;HEIDINGER, 2014;SALANTINO;BUCKERIDGE, 2016). Salantino e Buckeridge (2016, p. 179), afirmam:…”

Section: Discussionunclassified

Cegueira botânica: é possível superá-la a partir da Educação?

Neves

Bündchen

Lisboa

2019

Ciênc. educ. (Bauru)

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Resumo: A cegueira botânica é definida como a incapacidade de perceber as plantas no ambiente. No intuito de verificar se a cegueira botânica pode ser superada a partir da educação analisaram-se publicações realizadas nos últimos vinte anos (1997-2017) que relacionam os termos cegueira botânica e ensino de botânica. Foram identificadas tendências de abordagens em torno do assunto, salientando-se problemáticas do ensino e estratégias para o seu aprimoramento e para a superação da cegueira botânica. Após o levantamento e a seleção das publicações, 48 artigos e resumos foram analisados e categorizados de acordo com sua abordagem em Metodologia, Concepção, Currículo e Integração. A despeito das diferentes abordagens verificadas em cada categoria, os resultados indicam que a inclusão das plantas de forma mais contextualizada e atrativa no cotidiano escolar dos estudantes representa um caminho à superação da cegueira botânica, e, por consequência, ao reconhecimento e valorização da biodiversidade vegetal.

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“…Strgar () showed that student interest in plants could be increased when students interact with plants and receive information about the plants' properties. Student interest can also be triggered with useful plants that are highly relevant for humans (Pany & Heidinger, ). Another possibility to engage students with plants are botanical gardens where students can work with plants (Nyberg & Sanders, ; Sanders, ; Tunnicliffe, ), and this can be supported using mobile devices (Kissi & Dreesmann, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding students' conceptions of plant reproduction to better teach plant biology in schools

Lampert

Scheuch

Pany

et al. 2019

Plants People Planet

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Societal Impact Statement It is critical that people understand the importance of plants to all life on Earth, and this must be taught in an understandable and engaging way at an early age. Plant reproduction provides useful real‐life examples for teaching students about the biology of plants. However, what do students actually know about this process? We asked students to complete one of three writing tasks to ascertain their understanding of plant reproduction. Their responses provide useful insight into their conceptions of plant reproduction. Ultimately, better knowledge of students' conceptions of topics like plant reproduction can provide educators with important insights to help guide and improve teaching of plant biology in schools. Summary Teaching botany is a challenge due to the phenomenon of “plant blindness” and students' general lack of interest in plants. The reproduction of flowering plants can serve as a useful topic for teaching botany by providing a real‐life context to aid learning. However, research has shown that students have difficulties in understanding how the stages of plant reproduction are connected. This study aims to examine students' conceptions of the processes of plant reproduction. Students' conceptions were analyzed in a multi‐method approach. A total of 724 students from fifth to 12th grade (aged 10–18 years) were assessed using three different types of writing and drawing tasks. Students' conceptions were analyzed in a qualitative content analysis. Results show that students struggle to differentiate between pollination and seed dispersal. Moreover, students have better knowledge about the function of seeds than about the function of pollen. Students are most familiar with seed dispersal by wind and pollination by bees. Better knowledge of students' conceptions can greatly aid teaching. Students' awareness of the function of seeds can be used as a starting point for teaching plant reproduction. The writing and drawing tasks of the study can be used in class to assess students' conceptions in an easy way to make conceptions and their development visible to both students and teachers. Knowledge about students' conceptions of plant reproduction can serve as a basis for deeper understanding and improve how plant biology is taught in schools.

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Uncovering patterns of interest in useful plants. Frequency analysis of individual students’ interest types as a tool for planning botany teaching units

Cited by 12 publications

References 23 publications

Using students’ interest in useful plants to encourage plant vision in the classroom

Using students’ interest in useful plants to encourage plant vision in the classroom

Cegueira botânica: é possível superá-la a partir da Educação?

Understanding students' conceptions of plant reproduction to better teach plant biology in schools

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