VISUAL IMPACT OF WILDLIFE DIORAMAS ON PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN AS EXPRESSED IN DRAWING AND CONVERSATION (original) (raw)

The visualization of natural history museum habitat dioramas by Maltese primary school children

The thesis addresses a relatively under-explored area in this field of study within the socio-constructivist paradigm. The main aim is to investigate how 9-year-old school children visualize habitat dioramas to build a mental model, how they make sense of the dioramas to understand local flora and fauna, and how previous knowledge influences the way they visualise habitat dioramas. Data collected included a first drawing done in class, a second drawing done at the Natural History Museum before and a third following the viewing of the habitat dioramas. Each pupil was interviewed after the respective task to allow for a comprehensive description of the content of the drawings. The children we also asked to produce a web (mind map) and they were also observed as they interacted with the dioramas. Data was mainly analysed qualitatively through direct examination of the drawings and with the aid of the computer package Atlas.ti. Some general trends emerge in the findings such as animals being more present in drawings than plants. Animal diversity ranks in decreasing order from birds, mammals, arthropods and fish to reptiles, while plants are mainly seeded and ornamental. Generally drawings progress from imaginative in class and before seeing the diorama, to increasingly drawing from observation in the diorama drawings. More significantly, pupils undergo a transformation through their drawings, which may show a change from isolated organisms on a sheet of paper to greater elaboration or better accuracy in placing organisms in habitat. However, others show an opposite transformation or no significant change at all. To a certain extent, children seem to interpret the diorama through the lens of their previously held mental model. What children already know partly influences what they choose to represent, but they also accommodate new knowledge they obtain from the diorama. Dioramas that help recall familiar environments are more likely to capture attention and afford a longer viewing time, thus imparting new knowledge and moulding the child’s mental model. Habitat dioramas have the potential to serve as models for learning in Biology and Environmental Education at primary level. An interpretative model for museum settings is proposed, while its potential applications in other areas of science education and limitations are considered.

Children Interpreting and Learning at Natural History Museum Habitat Dioramas

The research attempts to conceptualise natural history habitat dioramas as potential models for biological learning of local flora and fauna. A cohort of 9-year-old students from Malta was asked to draw in class a place with local animals and plants, another drawing at the NHM of Malta and a third drawing of their favourite habitat diorama. One-to-one interviews were conducted, during which the children were asked to elaborate on their drawings and comment on their choices. Drawings were analysed semi-quantitatively and qualitatively using the data analysis package Altas.ti. The inclusion of particular types of fauna (birds) in drawings was influenced by prior knowledge and culture. A progression from drawing from imagination in class and at the museum before viewing the diorama, to increasingly drawing from observation was noted. The educational potential and role in biological learning of dioramas has previously been reported in literature. Results indicate the sound potential of natural history habitat dioramas to act as scientific models for biological learning.

Learning at Natural History Dioramas: A Model for Interpreting Museum Biological Settings

2019

Dioramas of the natural world: Brazilian primary school pupils´ drawings

2019

People come to the museum to look at natural history dioramas with a wealth of previous relevant knowledge and experience as well as expectations, which may differ amongst members of the same visiting group. The museum which houses the dioramas also has its own "voice" heard through in the context in which the dioramas are sited and in the form that the dioramas take as well as interpretations provided about the content, the story of the dioramas from the perspective ecological and geographic. This exploratory study considers which impact wildlife dioramas may have on the content of drawings performed by twenty-eight girls and thirty-one boys enrolled in a private school. Children´s understanding about organisms may be investigated by examining the mental model revealed through their drawings, their expressed model, of what they anticipate they will see and what they recall they have seen after...

How Do Children Perceive the Biodiversity of Their nearby Environment: An Analysis of Drawings

Sustainability, 2021

The research indicates the importance of learning about our natural environment from an early age to train scientifically literate and environmentally responsible citizens. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of a group of 120 primary school children regarding the biodiversity of their nearby environment (Andalusia, Spain) based on their drawings. For this, we used a qualitative methodology that focused on the analysis of the content. We analyzed the content of each drawing, complemented with written questions and an interview. The different environmental elements (natural, geological, and anthropic) of the children’s drawings were identified and analyzed. The results show how children perceive the biodiversity (plants and animals) of their nearby environment and their low knowledge of the concept of the environment as a system. Likewise, this study allowed for the definition of a series of emerging categories as an instrument of analysis that will serve as ...

A Study on the Spontaneous Representation of Animals in Young Children’s Drawings of Plant Life

Sustainability

Previous research indicates that complex biological concepts may be successfully introduced in preschool age, provided that suitable educational interventions are designed for the initial stages of education. In this regard, there is evidence that a basic understanding of the issue of the ecological interactions among organisms may be achieved in the preschool years. With this in mind, this research project tests the assumption that recognising the fact that plants and animals are not isolated creatures, but live engaged in constant interactions in nature, may begin to be understood in early education. To that end, this study examines the content of free drawings that a sample of 328 children aged four to seven years of age, undertook when explaining their understanding of plant life. Data regarding the type and frequency of the depictions of animals found in the children's graphic explanations on flora is collected and read in conjunction with participants' gender and academic level. The results show that a substantial proportion of the children in the sample spontaneously drew illustrations of animals in their graphic explanations concerning vegetable life and, more significantly, some pictures show plants and animals engaged in clear contact. This is the case, despite the fact that the drawing activity had been focused solely on the issue of plant life and no indication linked to depicting other kinds of living things mentioned during the activity. The conclusions discuss the data collected in connection with the growing number of research projects that study the question of how young children begin to embrace the fundamental biological concepts that pave the way to the understanding of natural phenomena and make the public capable of making responsible choices when it comes to sustainability issues.

Building a model of the environment: how do children see animals?

Journal of Biological Education, 1999

In order to name an animal they see, children use their existing mental models to provide the animal with a name. In this study, pupils of a range of ages (4, 8, 11 and 14 years old) were presented with preserved specimens of six different animals and asked a series of questions about them. The results indicate that pupils of all ages mainly recognise and use anatomical features when naming the animals and explaining why they are what they are. However, older pupils are more likely to also use behavioural and habitat attributes. For both girls and boys, the home and direct observation are more important as sources of knowledge than school or books, though books seem more important for boys than for girls. As pupils age, their reasons for grouping animals become more complicated: in addition to relying on shared anatomical features, they begin to show evidence of an embedded taxonomic knowledge, knowing, for instance, what a mammal is and using this knowledge to group animals.

Exploring children's environmental understandings through the arts

The last several decades have seen an abundance of research examining the growing disconnect between children and their local, natural environments. This divide has been labelled with terms such as 'biophobia' (Wilson, 1984), 'extinction of experience' (Pyle, 1993) and 'nature deficit disorder' (Louv, 2005, 2008). Crook (1985) argues that the content of children's drawings may provide valuable insights into their thoughts and feelings about the world (cited in Barazza, 1999). Visual mediums of data collection have often been overlooked because of traditionally favoured written and spoken modes. Indeed, the visual aspects of early literacy in particular and graphical forms of representation in general are under-valued, under-researched and under-represented (Anning, 2003: 5, cited in Kendrick & McKay, 2004, p.126). Qualitative methods have been found to capture children’s experiences in a more accurate and child-friendly manner (Benson, 2009). This paper e...

What Sense Do Children Make of Three-Dimensional, Life-Sized “Representations” of Animals?

School Science and Mathematics, 2000

This study examines what children learn about animals. The mental models that children reveal through their talk when they are faced with several different types of representations are reviewed. These representations are provided by robotic models in a museum, preserved animals in a museum, and preserved animals borrowed from a museum and presented in a school setting. The features of an animal, which are defining ones for a child, can be revealed by obtaining representations from the child of specimens that the child has viewed. These representations may be written descriptions, oral descriptions, drawings, or three-dimensional models. The museum study was conducted with groups of pupils on school visits to the Natural History Museum in London where the children's spontaneous conversations at preserved animal or robotic models were recorded. In the classroom study, preserved museum animals were taken to a school for individual children's responses to a series of pre-determined questions to be recorded. Overall, anatomical features were cited more often than behavioral or habitat features. Some pupils linked anatomical features to where the animals lived and to certain behaviors. In the classroom, pupils related their observations to their own previous experience such as seeing the animal in the woods, on the television, or in the zoo. The analyzed museum conversations suggest that children simply use their everyday knowledge and understanding to interpret what they see and to allocate everyday names using anatomical clues as their guide. (CCM)

VISUAL IMPACT OF WILDLIFE DIORAMAS ON PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN AS EXPRESSED IN DRAWING AND CONVERSATION (original) (raw)

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