Resumen de Germinating popcorn and making spores dance –how to make undergraduates’ first meeting with plants a success
Anne E. Bjune, R. Gea, S.V. Haugum
Undergraduates’ first exposure to plant biology is important for whether the students choose tostudy plants further or not. How the students are engaged in their learning are extremely importantfor their motivation. Research has shown that making drawings during studying biology developsstudents’ observational skills as the learner is engaged in the close and detailed study of the focalorganism. Maybe it is not only the drawing itself, but also the close observation that engage thestudents? Previous published research suggest that an instructional approach which can in a shortterm be phrased “active learning” is more effective and also creates a deeper learning than what thestudents achieve through traditional lecturing. Here we present different exercises and the experiencewe have from a undergraduate lab course in plant systematics with about 90 students each year. Theexperiments include germination of seeds, traditional drawing and labeling, plant dissection, tastingberries and nuts, multiple choice quizzes, and species determination using an app. We present data onstudents and teachers’ evaluation of the learning outcome from the different exercises over two years,in addition to the students’ evaluation of which exercises that increased their motivation for learningabout plant biology. In their general feedback students report that the lab course is what they like bestas it is inspiring to observe the plants and the structures in real life, not only in the text book. Judgingfrom the answers directly linked to the lab-course evaluation, making the drawings and hands-onactivities was what they enjoyed and learned the most from.
