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Primary pupils, science and a model bird species: Evidence for the efficacy of extracurricular science education.

ABSTRACT: Beyond subject matter learning, primary science teaching aims at encouraging positive attitudes toward, and lasting interest in, science. This study tested whether the learning and science commitment of 8- to 10-year old pupils was affected by extracurricular learning opportunities involving repeated interactions with free-living northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita; an endangered bird species) and professional researchers. To examine the project's efficacy, pupils' learning progress was monitored by repeated measures of knowledge (i) about northern bald ibises in specific, and (ii) of bird diversity in general. In addition, the children's attitudes toward science were monitored and their dynamic mental models of northern bald ibis' morphology and size were assessed from drawings. A total of 55 pupils from two schools were tested for eight months (before, during and after the experience). Control groups went through regular (curricular) science lessons with similar content and time investment. The extracurricular experience produced a clear learning progress with large effect sizes, which was particularly evident on a long timescale. In addition to subject matter knowledge, the project group pupils could name more bird species and expressed their views about the importance of scientific research for society in a higher proportion than control groups. Differences between schools suggest that project participation also changed the teacher's own interest in northern bald ibises, which affected learning in the control group taught by the same teacher. Beyond the pupils' language and reading skills, learning progress was also visible by scoring ibis-typical features in drawings; their mental models of relative size were not changed due to project participation, however. The results are discussed in reference to inducing and maintaining pupils' attitude and interest in a topic. The study adds empirical evidence for the potentials of advancing primary science education e. g. by fostering the collaboration of schools with scientists.

SUBMITTER: Hirschenhauser K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6668844 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Primary pupils, science and a model bird species: Evidence for the efficacy of extracurricular science education.

Hirschenhauser Katharina K Frigerio Didone D Leithinger Victoria V Schenkenfelder Ines I Neuböck-Hubinger Brigitte B

PloS one 20190731 7

Beyond subject matter learning, primary science teaching aims at encouraging positive attitudes toward, and lasting interest in, science. This study tested whether the learning and science commitment of 8- to 10-year old pupils was affected by extracurricular learning opportunities involving repeated interactions with free-living northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita; an endangered bird species) and professional researchers. To examine the project's efficacy, pupils' learning progress was monit ...[more]

PMID: 31365595

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Project description:BackgroundEducation can create better opportunities for health, and vice versa. Using a so-called 'add-in' approach, school-based physical activity (PA) promotion and prevention of sedentary behaviours can increase pupils' wellbeing and learning and, on the longer term, reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases. A PA 'add-in' approach involves integrating PA into teachers' curricular obligations without being an extra burden as opposed to an 'add-on' approach which requires additional operational resources and include activities that do not explicitly contribute towards curricular targets making them less long-term acceptable in a school-based context. Previous studies investigating education outside the classroom (EOtC) show mutual benefits for both health and education outcomes among children and adolescents. However, the evidence is of mixed quality and questionable certainty, which calls for further investigation. The aim of this study protocol is to describe and discuss the study design and methods to investigate the efficacy and mechanisms of EOtC as a vehicle for health and education. The study investigates the intervention developed and conducted in the TEACHOUT study with updated and strengthened design and measures.MethodsThe efficacy of EOtC will be investigated in a cluster randomised waitlist design. Participants will be pupils in ~54 classes, grades 4-10 (ages 10-15 years) in ~30 Danish elementary schools. Fifteen schools will be randomised to the intervention: a two-day EOtC training course targeting teachers followed by the teachers implementing EOtC >5 hours weekly over the course of one school year. Pre- and post-measures of health (PA and wellbeing) and learning (school motivation and academic achievement) will be collected. Investigation of pedagogical and motivational mechanisms will be based on observations of EOtC.DiscussionThe updated randomised controlled design will provide firmer evidence for the efficacy and mechanisms of EOtC and provide knowledge about how mutual benefits of health and education can be obtained.Trial registrationRegistered with ClinicalTrials.gov (ID NCT05237674 ) [University of Copenhagen. MOVEOUT: a Cluster RCT of the Efficacy, Mechanisms, and Mediation of an Education Outside the Classroom Intervention on Adolescents' Physical Activity, 2023], February 14, 2022. Most recently updated on November 23, 2022 (Version 2).

Project description:Higher efficiency in large-scale and long-term biodiversity monitoring can be obtained through the use of Essential Biodiversity Variables, among which species population sizes provide key data for conservation programs. Relevant estimations and assessment of actual population sizes are critical for species conservation, especially in the current context of global biodiversity erosion. However, knowledge on population size varies greatly, depending on species conservation status and ranges. While the most threatened or restricted-range species generally benefit from exhaustive counts and surveys, monitoring common and widespread species population size tends to be neglected or is simply more challenging to achieve. In such a context, citizen science (CS) is a powerful tool for the long-term monitoring of common species through the engagement of various volunteers, permitting data acquisition on the long term and over large spatial scales. Despite this substantially increased sampling effort, detectability issues imply that even common species may remain unnoticed at suitable sites. The use of structured CS schemes, including repeated visits, enables to model the detection process, permitting reliable inferences of population size estimates. Here, we relied on a large French structured CS scheme (EPOC-ODF) comprising 27,156 complete checklists over 3,873 sites collected during the 2021-2023 breeding seasons to estimate the population size of 63 common bird species using hierarchical distance sampling (HDS). These population size estimates were compared to the previous expert-based French breeding bird atlas estimations, which did not account for detectability issues. We found that population size estimates from the former French breeding bird atlas were lower than those estimated using HDS for 65% of species. Such a prevalence of lower estimations is likely due to more conservative estimates inferred from semi-quantitative expert-based assessments used for the previous atlas. We also found that species with long-range songs such as the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops) or the Eurasian Blackbird (Turdus merula) had, in contrast, higher estimated population sizes in the previous atlas than in our HDS models. Our study highlights the need to rely on sound statistical methodology to ensure reliable ecological inferences with adequate uncertainty estimation and advocates for a higher reliance on structured CS in support of long-term biodiversity monitoring.

Dataset Information

Primary pupils, science and a model bird species: Evidence for the efficacy of extracurricular science education.

Publications

Primary pupils, science and a model bird species: Evidence for the efficacy of extracurricular science education.

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