IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i4p1124-d207797.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Wolves’ Conservation through Educational Workshops: Which Method Works Best?

Author

Listed:
  • Vesna Oražem

    (Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 111, 1001 Ljubljana, Slovenia)

  • Iztok Tomažič

    (Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 111, 1001 Ljubljana, Slovenia)

  • Ivan Kos

    (Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 111, 1001 Ljubljana, Slovenia)

  • Dolores Nagode

    (Faculty of Education; University of Ljubljana, Kardeljeva ploščad 16, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia)

  • Christoph Randler

    (Department of Biology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 24, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany)

Abstract

(1) Background: Conservation biology education is an important societal goal, targeting the worldwide promotion of biodiversity conservation. When learning about animals, direct experience poses an ideal opportunity to influence the participants’ attitudes and knowledge. However, in the case of large carnivores, direct experiences are scarcely possible, except at local zoos. School teaching should therefore rely on preserved materials, which are still originals. (2) Methods: Here, we investigated how students’ attitudes and knowledge regarding wolves can be improved in three different teaching contexts: (a) through conventional lectures, (b) through lectures combined with hands-on activities in the real classroom setting, and (c) through lectures with hands-on activities at the university. Students from general and vocational (veterinary) upper secondary school participated in the study. Attitudes and knowledge were tested before and after the teaching. (3) Results: Students displayed positive attitudes toward wolves and their prior knowledge had the highest influence on attitude ratings. Knowledge about wolves improved during teaching regardless of the teaching approach. The highest influence on attitudes and knowledge was observed in the university setting. (4) Conclusion: The university setting evidently produces the strongest effect so it is a recommended approach when designing conservational topics.

Suggested Citation

  • Vesna Oražem & Iztok Tomažič & Ivan Kos & Dolores Nagode & Christoph Randler, 2019. "Wolves’ Conservation through Educational Workshops: Which Method Works Best?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-17, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:4:p:1124-:d:207797
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/4/1124/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/4/1124/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pudyatmoko, Satyawan & Budiman, Arief & Kristiansen, Stein, 2018. "Towards sustainable coexistence: People and wild mammals in Baluran National Park, Indonesia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 151-159.
    2. Peter Wüst-Ackermann & Christian Vollmer & Heike Itzek-Greulich & Christoph Randler, 2018. "Invertebrate disgust reduction in and out of school and its effects on state intrinsic motivation," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 4(1), pages 1-9, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mavhura, Emmanuel & Mushure, Sharon, 2019. "Forest and wildlife resource-conservation efforts based on indigenous knowledge: The case of Nharira community in Chikomba district, Zimbabwe," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 83-90.
    2. Fatem, Sepus M. & Awang, San A. & Pudyatmoko, Satyawan & Sahide, Muhammad A.K. & Pratama, Andita A. & Maryudi, Ahmad, 2018. "Camouflaging economic development agendas with forest conservation narratives: A strategy of lower governments for gaining authority in the re-centralising Indonesia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 699-710.
    3. Mati Amano Geleto & Gerald Kapp & Elamin Sanjak, 2023. "Coping with local peoples' livelihood dependence on the transboundary Dinder–Alatish National Parks in Sudan and Ethiopia from the Sudanese Perspective," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(4), pages 3099-3121, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:4:p:1124-:d:207797. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.