This study explored how the use of three different pedagogical frameworks (community science, storytelling, and inquiry-based learning) influenced learners’ awareness and appreciation of flagellate plants in an undergraduate online botany course. Students’ opinions, attitudes, and perceptions toward science were explored using the Classroom Undergraduate Research Experience survey. Qualitative and quantitative results indicated that although most students appreciated all three activities, the storytelling activity produced the most positive perceptions of learning. Logistic regression analyses demonstrated that gender and attitudes toward science influenced student perceptions of the activities. Positive science attitudes predicted positive perceptions of the activities, and female students were more likely to report positive perceptions. These results suggest that as a pedagogical framework for organizing learning activities, storytelling holds potential for promoting positive attitudes toward science and science learning, particularly with female learners.
Community Science, Storytelling, or Inquiry-Based Learning? Evaluating Three Technology-Enhanced Pedagogical Approaches in an Online Botany Course
NATERCIA VALLE (naterciavalle@gmail.com) was a Research Assistant at the University of Florida when participating in this research, and is now a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Cornell University; her research focuses on technology-enhanced pedagogical approaches to support learners’ motivation in STEM.
PAVLO ANTONENKO (p.antonenko@coe.ufl.edu) is an Associate Professor of Educational Technology and Director of the Neuroscience Applications for Learning (NeurAL) Laboratory at the University of Florida; his research focuses on psychophysiological assessment of cognitive processing to optimize the design of technology-enhanced learning environments.
LORENA ENDARA (clendara@ufl.edu) is a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Florida; her research focuses on diversification of Andean orchids, character evolution, and morphological data sets.
ELLEN CHRISTINE DAVIS (christine.davis@ufl.edu) is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Florida; her research focuses on botanical diversity.
GABRIEL SOMARRIBA (somarriba@ufl.edu) is a graduate student in the Biology Department at the University of Florida.
EMILY SESSA (emilysessa@ufl.edu) is an Assistant Professor at the University of Florida; her research focuses on ferns and lycophytes.
FEIYA LUO (fluo2@ua.edu) is an Assistant Professor at the University of Alabama; her research focuses on promoting equitable elementary computer science education through computational thinking integration.
SARAH CAREY (scarey@hudsonalpha.org) was a graduate student at the University of Florida when participating in this research, and is now a Postdoctoral Associate at Auburn University and HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology; her research focuses on plant reproductive genomics, including in several flagellate plants.
SELÇUK DOGAN (sdogan@georgiasouthern.edu) is an Assistant Professor at Georgia Southern University; his research focuses on teachers’ professional development and online learning.
JOHN GORDON BURLEIGH (gburleigh@ufl.edu) is an Associate Professor at the University of Florida; his research focuses on Computational Biology.
STUART McDANIEL (stuartmcdaniel@ufl.edu) is an Associate Professor at the University of Florida. His research focuses on understanding the evolution of bryophyte mating systems and the role of bryophytes in global biogeochemical cycles.
Natercia Valle, Pavlo Antonenko, Lorena Endara, Ellen Christine Davis, Gabriel Somarriba, Emily Sessa, Feiya Luo, Sarah Carey, Selçuk Dogan, John Gordon Burleigh, Stuart McDaniel; Community Science, Storytelling, or Inquiry-Based Learning? Evaluating Three Technology-Enhanced Pedagogical Approaches in an Online Botany Course. The American Biology Teacher 1 October 2021; 83 (8): 513–520. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2021.83.8.513
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University of California Press