Finnish pupils not up to scratch in recognising grasses and lichens

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According to a test arranged to recognise wild plants, Finnish pupils and teachers are able to identify berries and trees best, while grasses and lichens appear to be more unfamiliar.
      Raspberry, blueberry, fir, maple, pine, lingonberry, nettle, dandelion, cloudberry, and wild strawberry were the ten most familiar plant species in the recognition test that was arranged as a part of M.Sc. Arja Kaasinen’s doctoral dissertation at the Department of Applied Sciences of Education at the University of Helsinki.
     
The purpose of Kaasinen’s research was to determine how well Finnish pupils and students of different ages recognise plant species, which variables explain the recognition of plant species, what plants and nature mean to the subjects, and how plant species identification should be taught in general education in Finland.
      Some 81 to 98 per cent of the approximately 750 subjects of the study were able to recognise the ten plants mentioned above.
      Most of the testees were pupils from a comprehensive school or an upper secondary school. Even some subjects from university departments of teacher education, some classroom teachers, and teachers from university took part in the recognition test.
     
Only 1 to 4 per cent of testees could identify the ten most unfamiliar wildflowers, including hairy woodrush (Luzula pilosa) and Germander speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys).
      Moreover, sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica), bracken (Pteridium aquilinum), and wind-blown mosses (Dicranum) were also insufficiently recognised, while only 39 subjects could identify the relatively commonplace meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria).
     
A total of 70 plants were to be recognised, among which 25 species on average or around one-third were familiar.
      Comprehensive school pupils could identify 21 species on average, while class teachers recognised 44 species. The best teacher was able to identify 65 plant species, while the weakest could recognise only 21 species.
      However, only a small number of teachers took part in the recognition test, so the results in this respect are hardly very significant.
     
Kaasinen regards the result of pupils as insufficient, as the species that the subjects had to recognise were fairly common plants that frequently appear even in schoolbooks.
      Among other things, gender and place of residence explained species recognition skills, as girls and pupils from rural areas knew plant species statistically significantly better than boys or pupils from cities.
     
Many pupils said that a motivating teaching method would be to go outdoors and investigate the plant species themselves.
      This teaching method has been again included in curricula for some years.
      Arja Kaasinen’s doctoral dissertation is to be examined at the University of Helsinki on Friday.


Links:
  University of Helsinki - Department of Applied Sciences of Education: Dissertations

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