"Sharks in Your Hands"—A Case Study on Effects of Teaching Strategies to Change Knowledge and Attitudes Towards Sharks. Issue 3 (2nd July 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lee, Hung-Shan; Liu, Shiang-Yao; Yeh, Ting-Kuang
• Is Part Of: Journal of biological education. Volume 50:Issue 3(2016)
• Page Start: 345
• Page End: 357
• Publication Date: 2016-07-02
• Subjects: Hands-on activities -- Attitudes -- Sharks; Biology -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; Biologie -- Étude et enseignement -- Périodiques; Biology -- Study and teaching; Periodicals; 570.7
• DOI: 10.1080/00219266.2015.1058841
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0021-9266

Abstract

Abstract : This study was designed to exemplify how hands-on based teaching strategies enhanced students' knowledge and positive attitudes towards sharks. Hands-on activities for sharks' biological and morphological features were carried out. Eleven elementary school students from a remote area in Taiwan were recruited and assigned to the hands-on condition. They were encouraged to draw pictures of sharks before and after the instruction as the main data for pre- and post-test comparison. Two years later, the retention test and attitude inventory towards sharks were implemented. The results revealed that large effect size emerged for both the post-test and retention test. In regards to attitude inventory, students involved in hands-on activities also significantly outperformed the baseline group. Many of them have taken notice of television programs and books about sharks or marine ecology since the hands-on activities, indicating the instruction had a beneficial impact on their extracurricular lives. Empirical findings of this study suggest hands-on instruction is a powerful strategy for learning, both for immediate and prolonged effects on improving students' knowledge and attitudes toward sharks.