Effects of Hands-on Activities on Conservation, Disgust and Knowledge of Woodlice

Jana Fančovičová; Pavol Prokop

doi:10.12973/ejmste/80817

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Jana Fančovičová ¹ ^* , Pavol Prokop ¹

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¹ Department of Biology, Faculty of Education, Trnava University, Priemyselná, Trnava, SLOVAKIA^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Although hands-on activities significantly improve achievement and attitudes toward animals, the use of the aesthetically unpleasant is questionable. We investigated whether the use of woodlouse, as an example of an unpopular animal, alters children’s conservation attitudes, disgust for and knowledge of woodlice. The experimental group (n = 116), but not the control group (n = 110), achieved a better woodlouse conservation score with hands-on activities, but the intentions for woodlouse conservation were not generalized for conserving other animals. Disgust for woodlice was not influenced by the treatment, but females, albeit more disgust sensitive than men, showed higher conservation scores than men. Woodlouse knowledge scores significantly increased in both groups. In summary, this study demonstrates both the benefits and limits of using animals which are aesthetically unpopular, but essential parts of biodiversity and food chains.

Keywords

achievement
emotion
pupils
woodlice

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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, 2018, Volume 14, Issue 3, 721-729

https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/80817

Publication date: 26 Nov 2017

Article Views: 2993

Article Downloads: 1286

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How to cite this article

APA

Fančovičová, J., & Prokop, P. (2018). Effects of Hands-on Activities on Conservation, Disgust and Knowledge of Woodlice. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 14(3), 721-729. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/80817

Vancouver

Fančovičová J, Prokop P. Effects of Hands-on Activities on Conservation, Disgust and Knowledge of Woodlice. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2018;14(3):721-9. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/80817

AMA

Fančovičová J, Prokop P. Effects of Hands-on Activities on Conservation, Disgust and Knowledge of Woodlice. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2018;14(3), 721-729. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/80817

Chicago

Fančovičová, Jana, and Pavol Prokop. "Effects of Hands-on Activities on Conservation, Disgust and Knowledge of Woodlice". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2018 14 no. 3 (2018): 721-729. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/80817

Harvard

Fančovičová, J., and Prokop, P. (2018). Effects of Hands-on Activities on Conservation, Disgust and Knowledge of Woodlice. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 14(3), pp. 721-729. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/80817

MLA

Fančovičová, Jana et al. "Effects of Hands-on Activities on Conservation, Disgust and Knowledge of Woodlice". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 14, no. 3, 2018, pp. 721-729. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/80817