Towards a model of plant awareness in education: a literature review and framework proposal

Figures & data

Figure 1. Overview of research methodology.

Table 1. Search terms for literature searches (reproduced from Stagg & Dillon, 2022).

‘plant blindness’, ‘ animals more interesting than plants’, ‘prefer animals to plants’, ‘attitudes towards plants’, ‘perceptions of plants’, ‘attitudes towards trees’, ‘interest in plants’, ‘zoocentrism’, ‘zoocentric’, ‘zoo chauvinism’, ‘plant neglect’, ‘botany education’, ‘plant education’, ‘plant science, education’, ‘horticultural education’, ‘learning plant’, ‘teaching plant’, ‘teaching botany’, ‘Plant knowledge’, ‘botanic gardens, education’, ‘photosynthesis, education’, ‘educational gardening’, ‘school gardens’, ‘gardening, education, plant’, ‘school gardens, education, plant’, ‘community garden, education, plant’, ‘fern, education’, ‘bryophyte, education’, ‘gymnosperm, education’, ‘moss, education’

Table 2. Inclusion criteria for literature screening.

Category	Criterion
Topic	Design and evaluation of a novel intervention that aims to contribute to cognitive and/or affective learning about plants, in any educational context
Population	Any type of learner and age group, apart from plant experts/specialists
Article type	Original research indexed in SCimago Journal Rank or Clarivate Science Citation Index Expanded or Directory of Open Access Journals
Language	English
Experimental design	Experimental/quasi-experimental study based on qualitative and/or quantitative methods
Scope	International research
Time period	Published between 1 May 1998 and 31 December 2022

Figure 2. Distribution of published studies (brown: 15–30 studies, red: 5–15 studies, pink: 3–4 studies, grey: 1 – 2 studies).

Figure 3. (a). Journal of publication. (b) Target audience. (c). Type of learning activity. (d) Location of learning activity. (e) Focal topic. (f) Type of research method.

Figure 4. Proposed model for increasing perceptual attention for plants. Elements of theory are shown in yellow and findings from the reviewed studies are shown in pale blue.

Figure 5. Proposed model for developing triggered, situational interest. Theoretical elements are shown in yellow and findings from the reviewed studies are shown in blue.

Figure 6. Proposed model for promoting positive attitudes about plants. Theoretical elements are shown in yellow and findings from the reviewed studies are shown in blue.

Figure 7. (a) Elements in teacher CPD programme promoting attention to plants. (b) Elements in programme promoting interest in plants. (c) Elements in programme fostering positive attitudes towards plants.

Stagg, B. C., & Dillon, J. (2022). Plant awareness is linked to plant relevance: A review of educational and ethnobiological literature (1998–2020). Plants People Planet, 4(6), 579–592. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10323

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