The Development of Students’ Interest in and Knowledge of Botany by Means of a Workshop on Pollination and Floral Ecology

Abstract

This article examines how students’ botanical knowledge and interest in plants can be increased in order to counteract “plant blindness”, which is a phenomenon describing the lack of people’s awareness of plants. Since recent studies point to a continuous decline of students’ interest in biology, especially in botany, during secondary education, a workshop on pollination and floral ecology has been designed. 100 students (N=100) from five different schools took part in the workshop. By means of a pre- as well as a post-test and a questionnaire directly after the workshop, data regarding the students’ interest, knowledge and intrinsic motivation has been collected. Results show that the workshop has a positive impact on the students’ interest in the pollination and floral ecology. Additionally, the findings indicate that the workshop leads to an increased botanical knowledge as well as development of intrinsic motivation.