Nutrition and reproduction students’ alternative conceptions regarding animal classification
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Zghida Noureddine [1] ; Lamrani Zouhaire [1]
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[1] University Abdelmalek Essaadi
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- Localización: Biology education research: contemporary topics and directions / Blanca Puig Mauriz (dir.), Paloma Blanco Anaya (dir.), María José Gil Quílez (dir.), Marcus Grace (dir.), 2020, ISBN 978-84-16723-97-3, págs. 73-82
- Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
Our study aims to complete Kattmann’s work (2001) by highlighting other secondary school students’ alternative conceptions of animal classification in Morocco. The data were collected by a test intended to probe secondary school students’ understanding. This test was composed of a collection of 20 pictures of animals. This study showed that Moroccan secondary school students have serious problems with regard to animal classification. We found that some students had classified test animals according to taxonomic norms but the majority of them based their decisions on non-taxonomic criteria. The animals were classified in groups like: carnivorous, herbivorous, viviparous, oviparous, domestic and wild. These personal classifications are more interesting to us and allow us to improve the teaching-learning process of animal classification based on taxonomic criteria. Biology teachers need to take into account these alternative conceptions during the planning and management of their teaching in order to develop the understanding for using a biological classification based on accepted scientific criteria. The relative percentages of the answers of the high school students in this classification task were almost equal with those of junior high school students. Therefore, the students’ alternative conceptions are almost similar and there is not a positive development between alternative conceptions at junior high school and high school.
