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Sustainability
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Sustainable Biology Conservation through Teaching and Learning
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Sustainable Biology Conservation through Teaching and Learning

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Education and Approaches".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2022) | Viewed by 14836

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Christoph Randler

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biology, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
Interests: conservation education; citizen science; biology education

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Conservation Education has become an increasingly important topic within the framework of sustainability. Facing the decline of species and of biomass, conservation education should take action to halt this decline. There are numerous ways in which conservation education can happen. Classically, we consider formal, within-school settings and university teaching. However, the scope of this special issue is much broader, focusing on all age classes and all learning environments or settings. This can reach from citizen science projects to exhibitions in zoos or aquaria, based on various theories of learning and instruction, as well as on best practice examples. One focus should lie on studies with some kind of evaluation or effectiveness, but also surveys are welcome. Outcome variables may be learning outcomes, such as knowledge in various domains, but also motivational aspects, emotions, or the willingness to support conservation. Also, pre-requisites of conservation education, such as basic biological teaching of species identification are welcome. Apart from “classical” techniques, approach to incorporate digital media to increase awareness and to teach conservation issues are also interesting. Submissions to this issue will be considered from ecologists, biologists, teacher educators, science educators and experts in teaching and learning.

This issue will usefully supplement the existing literature by broadening the scope in terms of audience, teaching approaches and media used.

Conservation Education has become an increasingly important topic within the framework of sustainability. Facing the decline of species and of biomass, conservation education should take action to halt this decline. There are numerous ways in which conservation education can happen. Classically, we consider formal, within-school settings and university teaching. However, the scope of this special issue is much broader, focusing on all age classes and all learning environments or settings. This can reach from citizen science projects to exhibitions in zoos or aquaria, based on various theories of learning and instruction, as well as on best practice examples. One focus should lie on studies with some kind of evaluation or effectiveness, but also surveys are welcome. Outcome variables may be learning outcomes, such as knowledge in various domains, but also motivational aspects, emotions or the willingness to support conservation. Also, pre-requisites of conservation education, such as basic biological teaching of species identification are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Christoph Randler
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • conservation education
  • biology education
  • learning and instruction
  • motivation and emotions
  • teaching approaches

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 924 KiB  
Article
Factors Affecting Zoo Visitors’ Conservation Beliefs and Knowledge of Large Carnivores in 2009 and a Dozen Years Later
by Vesna Oražem, Aleksandra Majić Skrbinšek, Andrej Šorgo and Iztok Tomažič
Sustainability 2022, 14(2), 890; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14020890 - 13 Jan 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1665
Abstract
Teaching in a formal learning environment mainly focuses on gaining knowledge, and scarcely on the development of pro-environmental attitudes. Knowledge can also be gained in informal learning institutions, such as zoos, and their potential use in general public education should not be neglected. [...] Read more.
Teaching in a formal learning environment mainly focuses on gaining knowledge, and scarcely on the development of pro-environmental attitudes. Knowledge can also be gained in informal learning institutions, such as zoos, and their potential use in general public education should not be neglected. This paper explores factors influencing the conservation beliefs of zoo visitors about brown bears, grey wolves, and Eurasian lynx. The study undertaken in Zoo Ljubljana (Slovenia) consisted of surveys performed in 2009 (n = 613) and in 2021 (n = 257). The levels of knowledge and education influenced both supporting and opposing beliefs about the three large carnivore species. The gender factor was less uniform: both supporting and opposing beliefs about lynx were demonstrated, but only opposing beliefs about brown bear and wolf. The study indicates that knowledge has the most significant influence on conservation beliefs, thus highlighting the importance of educational and communication activities in management and conservation actions regarding large carnivore species. The varied gender influence suggests that species-specific educational activities should be encouraged. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Biology Conservation through Teaching and Learning)
18 pages, 2044 KiB  
Article
Values and Environmental Knowledge of Student Participants of Climate Strikes: A Comparative Perspective between Brazil and Germany
by Renan de Almeida Barbosa, Christoph Randler and José Vicente Lima Robaina
Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 8010; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13148010 - 17 Jul 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3109
Abstract
Climate change and its consequences have called for actions to mitigate it, triggering society to act and speak out about sustainability policies. Movements like Fridays for Future (FFF) spread beyond the young people pressed for action to combat climate change. The present study [...] Read more.
Climate change and its consequences have called for actions to mitigate it, triggering society to act and speak out about sustainability policies. Movements like Fridays for Future (FFF) spread beyond the young people pressed for action to combat climate change. The present study aimed to (1) assess the environmental attitudes (EA) and knowledge (EK) of Brazilian and German students and (2) verify whether the frequency of participation in climate strikes changes according to these EA and EK. A total of 658 students participated in our study, 327 from Germany and 331 from Brazil (mean age 25.21 ± 7.91). We applied the Two Major Environmental Values (2-MEV) model and three-dimensional questionnaires to measure EA and EK, respectively. We applied a multivariate general linear model to assess the influence of the variables simultaneously. FFF participation is affected by EA, with strikers showing higher Preservation (PRE) and lower Utilization (UTL) scores; furthermore, our findings suggest that EK affects FFF participation, specifically system-related knowledge. The study adds to the increasing number of validations of the 2-MEV model in different languages and cultures and discusses the differences of EA and EK in student strikers and non-strikers between both countries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Biology Conservation through Teaching and Learning)
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14 pages, 3076 KiB  
Article
Measuring Connection to Nature—A Illustrated Extension of the Inclusion of Nature in Self Scale
by Matthias Winfried Kleespies, Tina Braun, Paul Wilhelm Dierkes and Volker Wenzel
Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 1761; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13041761 - 06 Feb 2021
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 9294
Abstract
The human-nature connection is an important factor that is frequently the subject of environmental education research and environmental psychology. Therefore, over the years, numerous measuring instruments have been established to quantitatively record a person’s connection to nature. However, there is no instrument specifically [...] Read more.
The human-nature connection is an important factor that is frequently the subject of environmental education research and environmental psychology. Therefore, over the years, numerous measuring instruments have been established to quantitatively record a person’s connection to nature. However, there is no instrument specifically for children with cognitive limitations. For this reason, in this study, an established scale for connection to nature, the inclusion of nature in self scale (INS), was modified especially for the needs of this group. Study 1 investigated what students understand by the term “nature” in order to create an illustrated version of the INS. In study 2, the new instrument was tested on university students and compared with the original INS and the connectedness to nature scale (CNS). No significant differences between the original INS and the new developed scale were found (p = 0.247), from which it can be concluded that the illustrated INS (IINS) measures the connection to nature with similar accuracy as the original INS. In study 3, the instrument was tested together with other established nature connection instruments on the actual target group, students with disabilities. The correlation between the IINS, the CNS, and nature connectedness scale (NR) were in accordance with the expected literature values (rIINS-CNS = 0.570 & rIINS-NR = 0.605). The results of this study also prove effectiveness of the developed illustrated scale. This research thus provides a suitable measuring instrument for people with learning difficulties and can make a contribution to the investigation of human-nature connections and conservation education. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Biology Conservation through Teaching and Learning)
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