The effect of a digital learning environment on children’s conceptions about the protection of endemic plants

Abstract

This study presents the results of a pilot learning intervention for improving children’s ideas about plant protection. The research was executed in two phases. The first phase aimed at exploring children’s ideas about plant protection. These ideas were taken into account for the design and development of a digital learning environment. The second phase concerned the development, implementation and evaluation of the learning environment. In the first phase, 262 participants (10–12 years old) were asked to write a short text about ‘Environmental protection’. During the second phase, twenty-six participants (10–12 years old) were asked to write a text on ‘How we can protect the endemic plants’, before and after the implementation of the learning activities. Responses were content analysed and their meaning was classified according to the coding scheme of Blanchet-Cohen, Ragan, and Amsden (Children, Youth and Environments 2003; 13: 1–7). The results of the first phase showed that participants mentioned individual lifestyle actions of environmental protection and, therefore, the learning environment should emphasise the importance of other types of environmental protection (eg political actions, legislation, social actions). The proposed learning activities enriched participants’ awareness about the importance of social and legal actions for plant protection.

Keywords:

• environmental conceptions
• plant protection
• endemic plants
• digital learning environment
• primary education

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the students for their willingness to participate in the study. We also want to thank the school’s staff for their hospitality and collaboration. The educational material is available (in Greek) at: http://lsg.ucy.ac.cy/Flora/Flora_Official/Lessons/arxikes/arxiki_endimika.htm