Beruflich Dokumente
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BOTANICAL LITERACY:
WHAT AND HOW SHOULD STUDENTS LEARN ABOUT PLANTS?1
Gordon E. Uno2
Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 73019 USA
Botanists benefit from a scientifically literate society and an interested and botanically literate student population, and we have
opportunities to promote literacy in our classes. Unfortunately, scientific illiteracy exists, in part, because students are technologi-
cally advanced but lack intellectual curiosity and rigor. Botanical illiteracy results from several interacting factors, including a lack
of interest in plants and infrequent exposure to plant science before students reach college. If scientific or botanical literacy is a
goal, we must understand what literacy means and how we can help students reach that goal. A model of biological literacy rec-
ognizes four levels; students enter courses at the lowest level possessing misconceptions about concepts; however, misconceptions
can be used to our advantage, especially by using concept inventories. Inquiry-based instruction is advocated for all science
courses, and learning theory supports inquiry. Seven principles of learning inform recommendations about how botanists should
teach, including using themes and “thinking botanically” to illustrate all biological concepts. Overall, consideration of the botani-
cal content taught is less critical than the methods used to teach that content. If botanists emphasize thinking and process skills
with an understanding of concepts, we will prepare scientifically literate students and citizens and benefit from our efforts.
Key words: botanical literacy; inquiry instruction; learning theory; misconceptions; scientific literacy; thinking skills.
Dr. Christopher Haufler organized his President’s Sympo- In terms of scientific illiteracy, those of us who teach can
sium at the 2008 Botanical Society of America annual meeting point to countless examples of students who seem unprepared
with a goal of illuminating the problems and potential solutions even for introductory science courses, who lack critical think-
related to the current crisis in scientific literacy in the United ing skills and basic knowledge, and who seem disinterested or
States. Scientific illiteracy and disinterest in science affects disengaged. Unfortunately, the problem of illiteracy within stu-
botanists and other scientists, who seek federal funding for their dent populations or the general public is not limited to science.
research programs and more qualified graduate students, who In his recently published book, The Dumbest Generation: How
want better teaching evaluations, who expect engaging and ef- the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes
fective science instruction for their own children, who hope that Our Future, Bauerlein (2008) laments about the illiteracy of
the botanical texts and curriculum materials they produce will students in history, civics, political science, the arts, and sci-
sell, and who desire public support and respect for the research ence. Bauerlein provides both anecdotal and well-researched
in which they are engaged. Few would argue that scientifically data to support his contention about widespread illiteracy as
literate politicians are critical to improved and sustained bud- well as a general anti-intellectualism among our students and
gets for federal funding (Huang, 2009). Scientific literacy has citizens.
also been linked to the economic well-being of a country, which Bauerlein cites several reports on student activities and test
in today’s international marketplace requires a steady supply of results, all pointing to the same conclusion—that the illiteracy
scientists, engineers, and technically trained personnel to pro- problem is all too common. For instance, 52% of American
duce new high-technology products (Laugksch, 2000). With high school seniors chose Germany, Japan, or Italy over the
disinterested students in our classes, however, scientific illiter- Soviet Union as a U. S. ally in World War II. Only 41% could
acy increases, teaching evaluations drop, and fewer students name the three branches of the U. S. government, but 59%
major in botany, which leads to fewer Botany graduate students could identify the Three Stooges by name. Sixty-four percent
(Uno, 1994). A general decline in support for botany as a sub- could name the latest American Idol, but only 10% could iden-
ject of study has led to a decline in the number of institutions tify the Speaker of the U. S. House of Representatives. Of
hiring botanists and offering basic botany courses, which is also course, these are factual items, and we should not be focusing
related to a decrease in students majoring in agriculture as well just on facts. However, it is distressing that students lack a
as an increase in uninformed administrators who make deci- knowledge base and experience in many disciplines. In regard
sions on hiring and course offerings (Sundberg, 2004). to science, in 2004, 6 000 000 Chinese students tried to win a
place in the Intel Science and Engineering Fair, compared to
1
only 65 000 American students. Major government reports
Manuscript received 20 January 2009; revision accepted 14 May 2009. point to disparities between foreign and American students in
The author thanks Christopher Haufler for organizing the symposium on
scientific literacy and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful
terms of numbers engaged in scientific activities, performance
comments. on exams, numbers graduating with science and engineering
2 E-mail: guno@ou.edu degrees, and student interest in science (NSF, 2007). Certainly,
the world is flat, sensu Friedman (2005), and because of the
doi:10.3732/ajb.0900025 aforementioned disparities, the future prosperity of the United
1753
1754 American Journal of Botany [Vol. 96
States is in jeopardy (NAS, 2007). J. D. Miller, a political sci- homework assignments are related to textbook material, and
entist who studies literacy issues, estimates that while scientific because teachers rarely receive training about plants, they use
literacy has doubled over the past two decades, only 20–25% of plants less frequently as examples of natural phenomena or as
Americans are scientifically savvy and alert (Miller, 1998; laboratory subjects. Thus, the study of plants suffers from dis-
Dean, 2005). Most of the rest “don’t have a clue.” Miller argues engaged students, poor instruction, inherent disinterest in plants,
that people’s inability to understand basic scientific concepts general plant blindness, and infrequent precollege exposure to
undermines their ability to take part in the democratic process, plants or botany.
while higher levels of scientific literacy among the general pub- There is, however, a major disconnect between the apparent
lic can translate into greater support for science and improved barriers to botanical literacy mentioned and the public’s general
public decision-making because decisions are made in the light interest in plants. For instance, gardening has been ranked in
of an adequate understanding of science-related issues. the top 3–10 American leisure activities since 1995 (Harris In-
Even though we live in the age of information, according to teractive Poll, 2008), agriculture is still a major economic enter-
Bauerlein, students have contracted their horizon to the social prise in the United States, biofuels research has gained major
scene around them. Students are encased in immediate realities public attention, interest in human nutrition and biotechnology
that shut out conditions beyond a small sphere. Thus, the infor- has always been high, turf management and crime scene inves-
mation they receive and the interactions they have are very lo- tigation (CSI) programs are growing and attracting a lot of ma-
cal and superficial, so important information cannot slip through jors, and concern about environmental issues is sky-rocketing.
into their consciousness—information such as what we are These are all related, directly or indirectly, to botany, however,
teaching. More than two-fifths (44%) of college students spend mostly to the applied aspects of plant science. One recommen-
10 or fewer hours a week preparing for their classes, but aver- dation is to teach more courses such as Economic Botany,
age 17 hours a week socializing in person or via phone and e- Plants and the Environment, or Plant Care and Cultivation that
mail (NSSE, 2004). Students also say, “I can just look take advantage of these practical interests of students, or at least
information up, so why do I have to know it?” The Internet to include more applied aspects of plant biology in our current
certainly has eased the pain of “library” reports; however, if courses. Doing so has helped the Department of Botany and
you are asking questions that can be answered simply by stu- Microbiology at the University of Oklahoma increase the num-
dents surfing the Internet, you may be asking the wrong types of ber of botany majors from 11 to 40 (Uno, 2007).
questions and contributing to the scientific illiteracy of our stu- Botanical literacy is a subset of biological literacy, which has
dents. We instructors share the blame for scientific illiteracy; been defined in different ways. When we talk about literacy, are
we are very good at telling students what it is and what it does, we talking about (1) simply knowing what causes a particular
whether “it” is a structure or a process. However, we often fail natural phenomenon, such as flagging of a tree, or (2) knowing
to involve students in thinking about how this process or struc- how to determine scientifically what caused the flagging, or (3)
ture evolved or how we know what we know based on research. noticing that flagging occurred and wanting to know what
Science is an investigative process, and learning about science caused it to happen? Biologically literate individuals demon-
and how it works is best achieved by providing students with strate interest and possess basic knowledge and inquiry skills,
the opportunity to conduct science themselves. however, to different degrees. Uno and Bybee (BSCS, 1993)
developed a model of biological literacy that recognizes four
types of literacy. With a “nominal level” of biological literacy,
DISCUSSION students can identify terms and questions as biological in na-
ture, but may possess misconceptions of biological concepts. A
In regard to botanical literacy and getting students to learn nominal level of literacy means that students recognize words,
more about plants, botanists are fighting an uphill battle. First, such as xylem or pollen, as belonging to the domains of science
students do not find plants or botany inherently interesting. Stu- and botany; however, they are not able to define or describe the
dent ratings of factors that influenced their choice of college word, or they possess a misconception or a naïve explanation of
major (Marbach-Ad, 2004) showed that a general interest in the term. With a “functional level” of literacy, students can use
biology (4.7/5) and in humans (4.2/5) were major reasons why biological vocabulary and define terms correctly, but they
students decided to major in biology, while an interest in plants memorize responses. With a “structural level,” students under-
(2.1/5) was at the bottom of the list. Second, Wandersee and stand the conceptual scheme of biology, possess procedural
Schussler (1999) coined the phrase “plant blindness” to charac- knowledge and skills and can explain biological concepts in
terize the inability to see or notice plants in one’s own environ- their own words. At the “multidimensional level,” students un-
ment, leading to the inability to recognize the importance of derstand the place of biology among other disciplines, know the
plants in the biosphere and in human affairs. While this blind- history and nature of biology, and understand the interactions
ness seems to be universal, students entering our classes lack between biology and society.
the awareness of the importance of plants in their lives. A third In the model described, students often enter courses with a
challenge facing botanists is that plant biology comprises less nominal level of literacy and often leave with only a functional
than 20% of high school biology courses (Uno, 1994). Only level. Thus, it is critical for instructors to first determine what
14% of the six best-selling high school biology textbooks is students do not know or what they think they know, however
devoted to the study of “plants” (including chapters on algae, incorrectly, before building on their knowledge. Too often, un-
biomes and photosynthesis), and although general biological fortunately, college courses are vocabulary drills, focusing on
concepts, such as cellular respiration, apply to both plants and definitions, labeling, and recognizing correct answers. Students
animals, plants are rarely discussed in these sections. Five of with excellent memories are rewarded, while their skills of
six texts included laboratories, but only 20% related directly to thinking, analysis, and evaluation are left undeveloped. Thus,
plants, with 32% related to nonhuman animals. For many pre- students often leave with a functional level of literacy; they can
college teachers, about 75% of classroom time and 90% of function on tests, however, after an exam, the information slips
October 2009] Uno—Botanical literacy 1755
away from their memories. Uno and Bybee encourage instruc- evolution, economic botany, plant ecology, plant diversity, and
tors to focus on the “higher” levels of literacy, including the science as an investigative process are themes that could be
structural level, where students understand concepts and can used. A theme helps students integrate individual facts and con-
explain them in their own words, which provides a solid foun- struct an understanding of the discipline as a whole. For in-
dation on which to build a strong science experience. At the stance, if evolution is the theme, then for each topic taught, the
structural and multidimensional levels, students understand the evolutionary history and evidence that led to the current under-
process of science and are able to conduct investigations that standing of that topic is included. Thus, during classes on pho-
lead them to understand the content of biology while honing tosynthesis, students might come to understand the significance
their thinking and process skills. of the absorption spectrum of chlorophyll in terms of the evolu-
How should we attack the problem of botanical illiteracy? tion of plants (ancestors of plants in competition with photosyn-
There is a growing wealth of literature on how students learn thetic organisms that used green light). This also has the benefit
and, specifically, how they learn science (Bransford et al., of training students to “think evolutionarily” and helps demon-
1999). Instructors must understand how students learn and what strate that “nothing in biology makes sense except in the light
keeps them from learning to break through students’ superficial of evolution” (Dobzhansky, 1973). Another benefit of using an
social barriers facilitated by modern technology. We must get overarching construct such as evolution is that it serves as a
students to take more science courses, in general, as recom- constant reminder of the big ideas in biology, and this repetition
mended by many groups, including the National Research can break through students’ superficial understanding of
Council (1999), to increase the chance that students will be ex- concepts.
posed to any plant biology. We can assign popular literature as If you are a botanist teaching in a general biology course, you
part of reading homework; for instance, we might introduce are most likely already trying to get your students to “think bo-
students to botany through Michael Pollan’s Botany of Desire tanically.” To get them to think botanically, you use a plant
(2001) or Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle example for every major biological concept you teach, focusing
(2007). We can try to influence standardized exams; every state on how this information contributes to the life of a plant. Thus,
has a set of standardized exams that precollege students must you would perhaps use Philodendron species, as opposed to an
take as a measure of their academic achievement. Many of these animal, as an example when discussing cellular respiration.
exams are science-related, and they often drive what is taught in Many students possess the misconception that plants photosyn-
the precollege science classroom. Thus, if botanists become thesize but do not have cellular respiration, which arises, in
part of the writing team that creates a statewide exam, the ulti- part, because precollege teachers often focus on animals and
mate result could be a greater need for precollege teachers to microorganisms when they teach cellular respiration. Thus,
teach more about plants. Of course, even without these exams, botanists should also help precollege biology teachers to think
getting more botanical activities into precollege classrooms botanically in their courses, providing them with useful infor-
would be highly beneficial for generating interest in plants mation and activities.
among future college students. Thus, all botanists should be en-
couraged to work with local schools and teachers to improve Principle 2. Learners use what they already know to con-
the science curriculum and increase the amount of plant science struct new understandings— Learners construct interpretations
being taught. Through the Botanical Society of America (BSA) of newly encountered ideas, problems and phenomena to agree
project, PlantingScience, botanists can work directly with pre- with their own prior knowledge (constructivism)—even when
college students as they conduct investigations on plants (http:// these interpretations are wrong. However, students cannot con-
plantingscience.org). struct an accurate or thorough understanding of a concept if
Another key to defeating botanical and scientific illiteracy is they possess misconceptions or naïve explanations about it.
the use of inquiry instruction, which has been advocated for Students will enter your course with misconceptions about a
years by multiple science education publications and groups. variety of topics in science and botany, so you must first dis-
Major documents produced by premier scientific organizations, cover what students do not know. For instance, if students
including the American Association for the Advancement of “think” that all plants possess flowers and seeds (and many pos-
Science (AAAS), in conjunction with the National Science sess that misconception), then, for those students, mosses are
Foundation (NSF) (Cunningham and George, 2004), provide not plants, and it is difficult for them to appreciate the evolu-
recommendations on how to improve undergraduate science tionary history of plants in general. Students who think that an
teaching. From Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Edu- alga is a type of fungus or that a virus is a sickness caused by
cation (Fox and Hackerman, 2003), comes information about bacteria (misconceptions that students possess; BSCS, 1993)
learning theory and the “seven principles of learning,” which will not understand why antibiotics will not help cure their cold
can serve as the foundation of inquiry instruction. The follow- or flu and why fungicides might not be effective on the algae
ing are the seven principles of learning with suggestions about growing in their swimming pool.
what can be done in science classes to increase inquiry instruc- How do you identify student misconceptions? Build a data-
tion and improve scientific literacy. base of questions students miss on your exams and the kinds of
answers they give. In addition, David Hershey (2004, 2005) has
Principle 1. Learning with understanding is facilitated written extensively about botanical misconceptions, and James
when new and existing knowledge is structured around the Wandersee (Wandersee et al., 1994) and his group in the 15°
major concepts and principles of the discipline— Knowing Laboratory have published several articles dealing with alterna-
many disconnected facts is not sufficient for developing exper- tive conceptions (http://www.15degreelab.com/index.html).
tise or understanding. Breadth of coverage and recall of facts Fortunately, you can use student misconceptions to your advan-
actually may hinder students’ abilities to organize knowledge tage. Concept inventories are research-based instruments that
effectively. To overcome these obstacles, courses should be or- measure student understanding of concepts for which students
ganized around “big ideas” or themes in biology. For instance, share common alternative misconceptions and faulty reasoning.
1756 American Journal of Botany [Vol. 96
mine what materials they will use and how they will be used. In
addition, they must determine how to correct their experimental
design when something goes wrong and how to present their
findings. Two of several websites where students can find il-
lustrated examples of and links to interesting botanical research
and interactions between plants and humans are http://www.
botany.org (Botanical Society of America) and http://www.hu-
manflowerproject.com (Human Flower Project).
The BSA report “Botany for the Next Millennium” (http:// pret data (6) draw conclusions based on evidence, and (7) dis-
www.botany.org/bsa/millen/) suggests that “all botanists as indi- cuss and communicate results and their meaning.
viduals should maintain a whole-plant perspective in teaching, re- We need to pique the interest of technologically oriented stu-
search, and communication, whether the emphasis is on molecules dents and learn new educational technologies ourselves so we
or ecosystems.” When considering what students should know, may reach this generation of students who learn in a different
faculty also need to cooperate with colleagues so that students can way than we do. We should de-emphasize the endpoints of sci-
seamlessly articulate between classes, prepared to do the work and ence, the science facts, and help students recognize when they
to build on their basic knowledge from previous courses. do not understand a concept. We should capitalize on the social-
When deciding what and how to teach, botanists must estab- ity of students, while we take them out of their comfort zone of
lish a set of goals for their own students: what should students passive notetaking and memorization of factual information. It
know, understand, and be able to do by the end of the class? is essential that we deal with student misconceptions at the be-
What do they want their students to remember—what are the ginning of each major concept and focus on thinking and the use
enduring understandings and skills that they want students to of evidence. Finally, we must provide students ample opportu-
retain well beyond the class? nities to engage in the processes of discovery in class and to
Whatever content is taught, make sure that information is es- apply their conceptual understanding and the processes of sci-
sential to the understanding of a subject and that students are ence to their lives outside of class. If not, we risk losing a gen-
able to connect information they learn about one concept to eration of future scientists and scientifically literate citizens.
other concepts. For instance, during your education to become
a professionally trained botanist, you probably learned all the
steps of the Calvin cycle and the chemical structures of its inter- LITERATURE CITED
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