Development of children’s attitudes and knowledge towards insects: the pedagogical role of school visits to exhibitions

School visits is a common nonformal science education strategy used regularly by teachers to call students attention and develop positive attitudes towards nature. The purpose of this study was to understand whether 6-14 year old school children gained positive knowledge and attitudes towards insects and science after visiting an exhibition of live insects from different parts of the world. Two questionnaires with nearly identical items were applied before and after the visit, to 182 elementary school students. The results showed that positive attitudes towards insects and animals increase after the school visit but the knowledge gained was below expectations. The importance of pedagogical planning is discussed.