The Impact of a Short Conservation
Education Workshop on Argentinean
Students’ Knowledge about and
Attitudes towards Species

Juliana Nates; Claudia Campos; Petra Lindemann-Matthies

doi:10.12973/eurasia.2012.844a

The Impact of a Short Conservation Education Workshop on Argentinean Students’ Knowledge about and Attitudes towards Species

Full Text (PDF)

Juliana Nates ¹ ^* , Claudia Campos ¹, Petra Lindemann-Matthies ¹

More Detail

¹ University of Zurich, SWITZERLAND^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of a one-day conservation education workshop on knowledge about and attitudes towards species of 88 students from Valle Fértil, Argentina. Immediately before and after the workshop and one year later, students (aged 12 to 16) had to identify native and introduced exotic plant and animal species as well as artificial ones ("Simpsons") on flashcards, to point out those "species" they considered most beautiful and useful, and to name adaptations of local species to arid conditions. Immediately after the workshop, students strongly increased their knowledge about plants and adaptations. One year later, this was still the case for those plant species students had been already somewhat familiar with in the pretest. The workshop hardly changed attitudes.

Keywords

conservation education
exotic species
native species
pretest
posttest
students
workshop

License

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, 2012, Volume 8, Issue 4, 257-267

https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2012.844a

Publication date: 12 Jan 2012

Article Views: 2059

Article Downloads: 807

Open Access References How to cite this article

References

Anderson, D., & Lucas, K. B. (1997). The effectiveness of orienting students to the physical features of a science museum prior to visitation. Research in Science Education, 27, 485-495.
Ashworth, S., Boyes, E., Paton, R., & Stanisstreet, M. (1995). Conservation of endangered species: what do children think? Journal of Environmental Education and Information, 14, 229-244.
Balmford, A., Clegg, L., Coulson, T., & Taylor, J. (2002). Why conservationists should heed Pokemon. Science, 295, 2367.
Bitgood, S. (1989). School field trips: an overview. Visitor Behavior, 4, 3-6.
Borgerhoff Mulder, M., Schacht, R., Carob, T., Schacht, J., & Caro, B. (2009). Knowledge and attitudes of children of the Rupununi: implications for conservation in Guyana. Biological Conservation, 142, 879-887.
Cabrera, A. L. (1994). Enciclopedia Argentina de agricultura y jardinería: regiones fitogeográficas Argentinas. Buenos Aires: Acme.
Campos, C. M., & De Pedro, M. C. (2001). La vida en las zonas aridas. El desierto mendocino. Mendoza: Zeta Editores.
Campos, C. M., Borghi, C. E., Giannoni, S. M., Ortiz, G., & Pastrán, G.. (Eds.) (2007). La fauna en los desiertos de altura. Mendoza: Zeta Editores.
Chand, V. S., & Shulka, S. R. (2003). 'Biodiversity contests': indigenously informed and transformed environmental education. Applied Environmental Education & Communication, 2, 229-236.
Chipeniuk, R. (1995). Childhood foraging as a means of acquiring competent human cognition about biodiversity. Environment and Behaviour, 27, 490-512.
Colton, T. F., & Alpert, P. (1998). Lack of public awareness of biological invasions by plants. Natural Areas Journal, 18, 262-266.
Crawley, M. J. (2005). Statistics. An Introduction using R. Chichester: Wiley.
Dolins, F. L., Jolly, A., Rasamimanana, H., Ratsimbazafy, J., Feistner, A. T. C., & Ravoavy, F. (2010). Conservation education in Madagascar: three case studies in the biologically diverse island-continent. American Journal of Primatology, 72, 391-406.
Falk, J. H. (2001). Free-choice science learning: framing the discussion. In: J. H. Falk (Ed.), Free-choice science education: how we learn science outside of school (pp. 3-20). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Falk, J. H., & Balling, J. D. (1982). The field trip milieu: learning and behavior as a function of contextual events. Journal of Educational Research, 76, 22-28.
Falk, J. H., & Dierking, L. D. (2000). Learning from museums: visitor experiences and the making of meaning. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
Falk, J. H., & Adelman, L. M. (2003). Investigating the impact of prior knowledge and interest on aquarium visitor learning. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 40, 163-176.
Galende, G., & Raffaele, E. (2008). Space use of a non-native species, the European hare (Lepus europaeus), in habitats of the southern vizcacha (Lagidium viscacia) in Northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 54, 299-304.
González-Gaudiano, E. (2007). Schooling and environment in Latin America in the third millennium. Environmental Education Research, 13, 155-169.
Guevara, J. C., Cavagnaro, J. B., Estevez, O. R., Le Houérou, H. N., & Stasi, C. R. (1996). Productivity, management and development problems in the arid rangelands of the central Mendoza plains (Argentina). Journal of Arid Environments, 35, 575-600.
Knapp, D., & Poff, R. (2001). A qualitative analysis of the immediate and short-term impact of an environmental interpretive program. Environmental Education Research, 7, 55-65.
Lindemann-Matthies, P. (2005). ‘Loveable’ mammals and ‘lifeless’ plants: how children’s interest in common local organisms can be enhanced through observation of nature. International Journal of Science Education, 27, 655- 677.
Lindemann-Matthies, P., & Kamer, T. (2006). The influence of an interactive educational approach on visitors’ learning in a Swiss zoo. Science Education, 90, 296-315.
Lucherini, M., & Merino, J. (2008). Perceptions of humancarnivore conflicts in the high Andes of Argentina. Mountain Research and Development, 28, 81-85.
Malo, J.E., Acebes, P., Gianonni, S.M., & Traba, J. (2011) Feral livestock threatens landscapes dominated by columnar cacti. Acta Oecologica, 37, 249-255.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2003). Ecosystem and human well-being: a framework for the assessment. Washington, DC: Island Press.
Nates, J., Campos, C. M., & Lindemann-Matthies, P. (2010). Students' perception of plant and animal species - a case study from rural Argentina. Applied Environmental Education & Communication, 9, 131-141.
Ojeda, R. A., Campos, C. M., Gonnet, J. M., Borghi, C. E., & Roig, V. G. (1998). The MAB reserve of Ñancuñán, Argentina: its role in understanding the monte desert biome. Journal of Arid Environments, 39, 299-313.
Pereyra, B. R. (2000). Clima de la provincial de San Juan. In Abraham, E. & Rodríguez Martínez, F. (Eds.), Argentina, recursos y problemas de la zona árida (pp. 71-78). Mendoza: Junta de Gobierno de Andalucía, Universidades y Centros de investigación de la Región Andina.
Pilgrim, S. E., Cullen, C., Smith, D. J., & Pretty, J. (2007). Ecological knowledge is lost in wealthier communities and countries. Environmental Science & Technology, 42, 1004-1009.
Rozzi, R., Silander JR, J., Armesto, J. J., Feinsinger, P., & Massardo, F. (2000). Three levels of integrating ecology with the conservation of South American temperate forests: the initiative of the Institute of Ecological Research Chiloé, Chile. Biodiversity and Conservation, 9, 1199-1217.
Ruiz-Mallen, I., Barraza, L., Bodenhorn, B., & Reyes-García, V. (2009). Evaluating the impact of an environmental education programme: an empirical study in Mexico. Environmental Education Research, 15, 371-387.
Sala, O. E., Chapin III, F. S., Armesto, J. J., Berlow, E., Bloomfield, J., Dirzo, R., Huber-Sanwald, E., Huenneke, L. F., Jackson, R. B., Kinzig, A., Leemans, R., Lodge, D. M., Mooney, H. A., Oesterheld, M., Poff, N. L., Sykes, M. T., Walker, B. H., Walker, M., & Wall, D. H. (2000). Global biodiversity scenarios for the year 2100. Science, 287, 1770-1774.
Smith-Ramirez, C. (2004). The Chilean coastal range: a vanishing center of biodiversity and endemism in South American temperate rainforests. Biodiversity and Conservation, 13, 373-393.
Trombulak, S. C., Omland, K. S., Robinson, J. A., Lusk, J. J., Fleischner, T. L., & Domroese, M. (2004). Principles of conservation biology: recommended guidelines for conservation literacy from the Education Committee of the Society for Conservation Biology. Conservation Biology, 18, 1180-1190.
Vilela, A., Bolkovic, M.L., Carmanchahi, P., Cony, M., de Lamo, D., & Wassner, D. (2009). Past, present and potential uses of native flora and wildlife of the Monte Desert. Journal of Arid Environments, 73, 238-243.

How to cite this article

APA

Nates, J., Campos, C., & Lindemann-Matthies, P. (2012). The Impact of a Short Conservation Education Workshop on Argentinean Students’ Knowledge about and Attitudes towards Species. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 8(4), 257-267. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2012.844a

Vancouver

Nates J, Campos C, Lindemann-Matthies P. The Impact of a Short Conservation Education Workshop on Argentinean Students’ Knowledge about and Attitudes towards Species. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2012;8(4):257-67. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2012.844a

AMA

Nates J, Campos C, Lindemann-Matthies P. The Impact of a Short Conservation Education Workshop on Argentinean Students’ Knowledge about and Attitudes towards Species. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2012;8(4), 257-267. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2012.844a

Chicago

Nates, Juliana, Claudia Campos, and Petra Lindemann-Matthies. "The Impact of a Short Conservation Education Workshop on Argentinean Students’ Knowledge about and Attitudes towards Species". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2012 8 no. 4 (2012): 257-267. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2012.844a

Harvard

Nates, J., Campos, C., and Lindemann-Matthies, P. (2012). The Impact of a Short Conservation Education Workshop on Argentinean Students’ Knowledge about and Attitudes towards Species. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 8(4), pp. 257-267. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2012.844a

MLA

Nates, Juliana et al. "The Impact of a Short Conservation Education Workshop on Argentinean Students’ Knowledge about and Attitudes towards Species". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 8, no. 4, 2012, pp. 257-267. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2012.844a