Students’ attitude toward and conceptions about spiders and cockroaches

Pajke in ščurke učenci opredeljujejo kot ene izmed najmanj priljubljenih živali, pri tem pa se ne zavedajo njihove pomembne ekološke vloge. Poleg strahu ljudje do teh živali pogosto izražajo tudi odpor oziroma gnus. Učenci imajo do njih negativna stališča zaradi številnih napačnih predstav in predsodkov. V diplomskem delu smo želeli ugotoviti, kakšna so stališča in predstave učencev šestih in sedmih razredov osnovne šole o pajkih in ščurkih. V raziskavo smo vključili 149 učencev iz osmih oddelkov dveh osnovnih šol. Z anketnim vprašalnikom smo preverjali znanje in stališča o pajkih in ščurkih pred in po izkustvenem pouku. Pri izvedbi izkustvenega pouka z živimi živalmi smo uporabili ptičjega pajka in ščurke. Rezultati kažejo, da so predstave in stališča učencev do pajkov bolj pozitivni kot do ščurkov. Na stališča o pajkih in ščurkih vplivajo spol učencev, pogostost obiskovanja narave in neposredna izkušnja, na znanje pa, kot smo ugotovili, vplivata le spol in pogostost obiskovanja narave, neposredna izkušnja panima vpliva. Prisotnost pri izkustvenem pouku na stališča ne vpliva, vpliva pa na znanje, na splošno pa ima dotik živali na učence pozitiven vpliv. Naši rezultati kažejo pozitiven vpliv izkustvenega pouka in so lahko motivacija učiteljem, da bi ga v praksi pogosteje uporabljali, saj lahko tako vplivajo na znanje in na oblikovanje pozitivnih stališč do narave in organizmov.Spiders and cockroaches are often labelled by school children as some of the less popular animals, however they are not aware of the important ecologic role those animals have. Beside the fear, people often feel reluctance or disgust toward spiders and cockroaches. The negative attitude the school children have is due to numerous wrong perceptions and prejudices. The aim of this thesis was to find out the attitudes and perceptions of the children of sixth and seventh grade concerning spiders and cockroaches. 149 school children from 8 classes of 2 primary schools were participating in our research. We carried out a survey to check the knowledge and attitude toward spiders and cockroaches before and after experiential part of the lesson in which live animals, i. e. tarantula and cockroaches, were shown to children. The results show that children have more positive attitudes and perceptions towards spiders in comparison to cockroaches. The attitudes school children have about spiders and cockroaches are influenced by gender, frequency of spending time in natural environment and direct experience with animals, whereas their knowledge is influenced by gender and frequency of spending time in natural environment only. The results have not shown the influence of direct experience with animals. Attending the experiential lessons has shown influence on knowledge of school children but not on attitude, however, tactile experience with animals has merely positive influence. Our results show a positive impact of experiential lessons which can be a good motivation for school teachers to use this method more often in order to increase the knowledge and shape positive attitude towards nature and animals