0000000000014211
AUTHOR
Daniel Dreesmann
Much more than old wine in new skins : students' and adults' knowledge on grapevine and vineyards as a starting point for new topics in school
Young people continually lose contact to their natural surroundings and agriculture. As school is one of young people’s main source of knowledge it should bring students and nature back together, by using agricultural examples. This research examines German students’ and adults’ knowledge on plant biological basics and viticulture choosing grapevine as an agricultural example of plants. It was undertaken as a paper-and-pencil test with participants of different ages and from different educational backgrounds. The results reveal the weaknesses of participants’ knowledge concerning botanical as well as viticultural aspects. Additionally, the results show a positive correlation between their a…
English-bilingual biology for standard classes development, implementation and evaluation of an English-bilingual teaching unit in standard German high school classes
English connects all areas of science around the world. Productive and receptive English-language skills are thus a crucial tool that schools must provide their students with in order to prepare th...
What Do Secondary Students Really Learn during Investigations with Living Animals? Parameters for Effective Learning with Social Insects
ABSTRACTExemplary for social insects, Temnothorax ants allow for various hands-on investigations in biology classes. The aim of this study was to provide a quantitative and qualitative analysis of secondary school students’ learning achievement after teaching units with ants lasting between one and six weeks. The questionnaires included transfer and factual knowledge tasks divided into eight fields of knowledge. Students (N = 459) from 22 classes participated in the study and received different treatments: The experimental group (n = 366) started their investigations by initial observation using stereo microscopes, while the control group (n = 93) conducted ant research without this i…
Using English as the Language of Science
This article presents the development and testing of a content-based video exchange model as a motivating means to introduce lower secondary English learners to English as the language of science. The central goal was that students reach the required curricular content knowledge despite learning some of the content in a foreign language. The model was tested in German seventh-grade classes (n = 133), in which the students communicated with U.S. eighth-graders on the topic of ecology. Following field trips to a forest and a desert ecosystem, students presented and compared biotic and abiotic data in videos. The German students’ content knowledge and their motivation were assessed in a pretes…
Plant visibility through mobile learning? Implementation and evaluation of an interactiveFlower Huntin a botanic garden
Plants have an enormous importance for life on earth but are often overlooked. This phenomenon called plant blindness is reinforced as students prefer to spend their recreation time with modern med...
Aus zwei mach drei – Artbildungsprozesse bei der Groppe
Die Frage, wie Arten definiert und erkannt werden konnen, zahlt zu den kontrovers diskutierten Fragen innerhalb der Biologie. Mehr als 20 unterschiedliche Artkonzepte sind in der Vergangenheit formuliert und beschrieben worden. Das Thema Entstehung von Arten ist somit alles andere als ein abgeschlossenes Kapitel der Biologie, sondern bietet im Kontext von Genetik, Okologie und Evolution spannende Einblicke in die aktuelle Forschung.
Expert video exchanges in bilingual biology lessons - student’s intrinsic motivation and subject-specific interest
This paper presents an instructional model to incorporate English-language communication between international practicing scientists and English learners into secondary science lessons. The aim was...
The exclusive language of science? Comparing knowledge gains and motivation in English-bilingual biology lessons between non-selected and preselected classes
ABSTRACTThe dominant role of English as the global language of science entails a requirement for science teachers to equip their non-native English-speaking students with receptive and productive l...
Let's Talk Biology – Developing a Model for Incorporating English-Speaking Experts into the (Bilingual) Science Classroom
We present an instructional approach to incorporate into biology lessons an exchange of videos between international practicing scientists and secondary-school students. We validated the approach in German school settings in three curricular contexts: genetics, cell biology, and immunology. The participating students (n = 255) were native speakers of German with a background of English as a foreign language. The three participating scientists, English-speaking experts from the United Kingdom and Uganda, were rooted in different fields that were related to the respective curricular topics. We explain how the video exchange model was developed and evaluate students' comments and suggestions f…
Museum behind the scenes–an inquiry-based learning unit with biological collections in the classroom
AbstractThe aim of this study was to design and evaluate an inquiry- and activity-based learning unit for the classroom that uses biological collections to teach key evolutionary concepts and to support the understanding and appreciation of the work of a museum. The unit consisted of three parts that focused on the most important tasks of museums: collecting and conserving, researching and exhibiting. The students created their own collection, performed research surrounding it and then designed an exhibition. Seventy-six secondary sixth- and seventh-grade students participated in the testing of the prototype unit. For evaluation, we carried out a pre-/post-test design using a questionnaire …
Flowers with powers – conception and evaluation of an ‘educational seed mix’
Plant blindness has been widely examined in plant education research. However, practical attempts to counteract the common disregard of plants are rare, especially in standard school contexts. We d...
“The tree was there first” – using an everyday ecological dilemma to explore the personal orientations of secondary school students in environmental decision-making
Studies have repeatedly shown that the goals of environmental education are as indispensable as they are difficult to achieve. In particular, the discrepancy between environmental awareness and eve...
The Importance of Religion for the Evaluation of Everyday Ecological Decisions by German Adolescents
Abstract Although previous research has addressed the relationship between religion and ecology in a variety of ways, little is known concerning how religious orientation affects concrete everyday ecological decisions, although these are centrally important for environmental education. Being interested in elucidating the preconditions of ecological learning in Biology and Religious Education in schools, the authors have developed an approach based on maximum concretion with regard to the ecological decision in which the influence of religion should be evaluated. With this goal in mind, they conducted an empirical study among secondary school students in central Western Germany (N = 815), wh…
Human–Insect Relationships: An ANTless Story? Children's, Adolescents', and Young Adults' Ways of Characterizing Social Insects
ABSTRACTAnts may serve as powerful model organisms for uncovering principles of insect biology and social behavior. The aim of this study was to provide a quantitative analysis of secondary-school students' perceptions and knowledge of ants. It was part of a longitudinal project based on the concept of “ant research” in classrooms. The outcomes were to be used to implement studies of ants into a progressive curriculum for all secondary-school students. In order to design modules for science education, it was necessary to identify the perceptions and knowledge that students in different grades had of ants. Three hundred and twenty-one students from 14 classes in the 6th, 7th, 9th, and 12th g…
Don't Know Much about Bumblebees?-A Study about Secondary School Students' Knowledge and Attitude Shows Educational Demand.
Many insects are threatened with extinction, which in the case of pollinating insects could lead to declining pollination services and reduced ecosystem biodiversity. This necessitates rethinking how we deal with nature in general. Schools are ideal places in which to instill a willingness to behave in an environmentally-friendly way. Whereas scientific studies and school textbooks stress the importance of honeybees as pollinators, the role of bumblebees is either underestimated or neglected. The aim of this study was to provide information concerning student knowledge and attitudes, which are important factors of an individual’s environmental awareness. A questionnaire with closed and open…
“I Learned It through the Grapevine…”: Exploring Atypical Ecosystems in Schools as a New Out-of-School Learning Site
Ecology may be seen as one of the main topics of biological education as it functions at the interface of several other aspects of biology. Although it may easily be conveyed through field trips and hands-on activities, it is taught theoretically most of the time and in traditional ecosystems like forests or lakes. For this study, new teaching material has been developed that demonstrates the exploration of more special or “atypical” ecosystems in biology classes. It combines working in a local vineyard with hands-on elements for school. By exploring a human-made ecosystem, which is different from those traditionally used, students gain content knowledge and get to know scientific methods. …
Developing Science Observation Skills
Acorn ants (genus Temnothorax) are a powerful model organism for illustrating the variety of interactions in an ecosystem. We developed five teaching units with acorn ants as the exemplary insect. The aim of this study was to provide a quantitative and qualitative analysis of secondary school students’ attitudes before and after teaching units. Students (N = 459) from 22 classes participated in the study. Students’ attitudes were measured using a two-stage test design. We investigated the influence of class level, gender, teaching units, and time period of participation on students’ attitudes. Additionally, we surveyed a subsample of students on their learning enjoyment in 10-minute intervi…
Hands-on or Video-based Learning with ANTicipation? A Comparative Approach to Identifying Student Motivation and Learning Enjoyment During a Lesson about Ants
The observation of living animals in school laboratories provides authentic views of biological research. Various studies stress the importance of primary experiences in biology classes. However, educational films may serve as an alternative in some cases. The aim of this study was to investigate student motivation before and after treatments, including (1) an educational film, (2) a hands-on activity with living animals accompanied by an educational film and (3) a hands-on activity with living animals. We investigated the influence of teaching method, gender and class level on student motivation and learning enjoyment. In all treatments, Temnothorax ants were addressed, which can be easily…
Weinberg im Wandel
Neben den natürlichen Ökosystemen wie z.B. Wald, See oder Fließgewässer eignet sich das Agrarökosystem Weinberg für eine Vertiefung des Themas Ökologie im Biologieunterricht der Oberstufe. Die hier vorgestellten Unterrichtsmaterialien vermitteln Schülerinnen und Schülern mit handlungsorientierten Methoden die Besonderheiten eines Agrarökosystems. Es werden abiotische Umweltfaktoren im Weinberg, physiologische Aspekte der Weinrebe und Folgen des menschengemachten Klimawandels für das Agrarökosystem erarbeitet (Unterrichtsmaterial A). Zusätzlich wird Wissen über biotische Umweltfaktoren im Weinberg und über landwirtschaftliche Bewirtschaftungsmaßnahmen durch Winzerinnen und Winzer aufgebaut (…