Instructional Integration of Disciplines for Promoting Children’s Positive Attitudes Towards Plants

Abstract

Plants are an integral part of nature. Many plant species in almost any part of the world are under serious threats due to various reasons such as deforestation, pollution–of air, water and soil–caused by industrialisation, overgrazing and rapid population growth. It is likely that people have strong positive attitudes towards conservation of plants. This study investigated the effectiveness of an instructional approach based on integration of botany with chemistry and art on students’ attitude towards plants. This study was carried out in a science summer school for 10–12-years-old students (N = 49) in Turkey. The Plant Attitude Questionnaire was used as pre-test and post-test to assess the effects of the instruction on the students’ attitudes towards plants. Moreover, the participating children were asked to keep journals throughout the instruction. The children’s journals served as a data collection tool. The findings of the study indicated that integration of botany with chemistry and art is a good way to support children’s positive attitudes towards plants, particularly for an instructional approach based on the integration of plants with various disciplines to support children’s interest and enjoyment of plants. Also, this approach could offer children opportunities to understand the importance of plants in the living environments of humans and other organisms, and material benefits from plants in industry.

Keywords:

• Plants
• Attitudes
• Integration of disciplines
• Art
• Chemistry

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my sincere thanks to professor Mehmet Güven GÖRK, associate professor Mehmet Emin DURU and assistant professor Yusuf SÜLÜN for their support. I would also like to thank all the other educators of summer school for their excellent mentoring. I must thank Ragıp Esener, the owner of the botanic garden which the participants of the science summer school visited. Also, I would like to thank participants of the summer school.

Additional information

Funding

The science summer school called ‘A Journey to the Botanical World’ was supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey [ID number is 113B062 in 2013, 213B510 in 2014].