Sustaining a broad diversity of plants is key for a sustainable future. For instance, providing a variety of flowering plants in urban and agricultural landscapes mitigates the current decline of pollinators and biodiversity in general. Therefore, educating about the diversity of flowering plants has high current relevance for biology and…

This study explores the influence of science and plant interest, alongside emotional responses, on the learning experiences of prospective primary education teachers during a botanical inquiry trail. Conducted at the University of Extremadura (Spain), the research involved 137 participants and valued their science and plant interest, knowledge…

The research base on students' knowledge of plants has established that misunderstandings develop in the early years of formal education and can persist through middle, secondary, and tertiary education. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that a lack of emphasis on teaching biology from an organismic perspective helps explain the range…

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) provide students with valuable opportunities to engage in research in a classroom setting, expanding access to research opportunities for undergraduates, fostering inclusive research and learning environments, and bridging the gap between the research and education communities. While…

Education that covers topics such as climate change is critical to developing future scientists and researchers. Facilitating students' recognition of climate change as it occurs in their community can strengthen engagement with the content. Here, we highlight our work in developing a large-scale activity that introduced many facets of climate…

This descriptive qualitative case study aims to find out the pre-service science teachers (PST)' confidence about instructional practice in outdoor setting, their knowledge about the plants and it explores the two research questions: To what extent do the preservice science teachers have confidence to teach in the outdoor settings? (1) and What…

The forest school approach to nature learning has gathered momentum in the UK and across parts of Europe including Scandinavia for well over 50 years. In other contexts that include Canada, China, New Zealand and Australia, nature-based early childhood education and care settings, influenced by European forest school approaches, are in a rapid…

This paper highlights the design process and implementation for an "all majors" undergraduate course that allows students a chance to reconnect with the natural world. During this course students explore a wide range of biological and physical science based topics that seek to highlight human intervention and our impacts on the planet.…