How to translate text using browser tools
12 February 2021 Learning about Mushrooms is Influenced by Survival Processing
Jana Fančovičová, Mário Szikhart, Pavol Prokop
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

The human brain is limited by its capacity and incapable of memorizing all information. The memory system evolved to give preference to memory information related to maintaining and increasing individual fitness. We have chosen fungi, a heavily neglected area in science education research, to investigate which kind of information about mushrooms will be better retained by secondary school students. Furthermore, we investigated whether information about mushroom toxicity is better retained when presented only orally or in combination with a written text. The research sample consisted of 160 secondary school students from Slovakia. Pretest/posttest experimental between-subject and within-subject design was used to examine research questions. Data were collected through questionnaires (using a Likert response scale). We found that survival-relevant information (i.e., mushroom toxicity) was retained significantly better than survival-irrelevant information (i.e., mushroom naming and occurrence), but there were no differences in recall between the presentation conditions. Unexpectedly, male students retained information about mushroom toxicity significantly better than female students. Our results suggest that information retention by secondary school students in regard to mushrooms that cause serious poisoning is in accordance with evolutionary predictions and can be utilized by science teachers.

© 2020 by The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press's Reprints and Permissions web page, https://www.ucpress.edu/journals/reprints-permissions.
Jana Fančovičová, Mário Szikhart, and Pavol Prokop "Learning about Mushrooms is Influenced by Survival Processing," The American Biology Teacher 82(8), 529-534, (12 February 2021). https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2020.82.8.529
Published: 12 February 2021
JOURNAL ARTICLE
6 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
adaptive memory
Fungi
science education
secondary school students
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top