Herbarium in primary teacher education

Abstract

In this article, we define the importance of herbarium in primary teacher education to enhance primary school student’s interest in, and knowledge of plants. Slovene pre-service primary school teachers were trained to make their own herbarium. The study involved 86 undergraduate students. After making their own herbarium they completed a written questionnaire about gained knowledge and experiences. The results show that students, while making herbarium, learned on average three new plant species. 74 % of students reported having some difficulties in determination of plant species and the herbarization procedures. More than two thirds of students reported that they experienced making herbarium in primary or secondary school. Most of them in science and biology classes in primary school. All, except one, plan to use herbarium in their teaching practice. They see the potential of the activity in teaching primary school students about plant anatomy and species diversity, science skills, work attitudes and attitudes towards biology. To conclude, participating students demonstrated desired level of content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge to successfully implement the herbarium into primary education, which could be beneficial in enhancing primary school student’s interest in, and knowledge of plants.