| Abstract | College level botany education in the United States is gradually being phased out of science and agriculture departments. The absence of botany courses creates a problem because there is an increasing need for trained botanist in the United States workforce, making it important to train teachers in botany so they can inspire the next generation of botanical scientists. Pre-service elementary teachers at a private university participated in three lessons utilizing three different art interventions to teach botanical structures (e.g. coloring sheets for leaf structures, drawing diagrams of flower structures, water coloring fruit structures). This study explores the students’ background in both science and art, perceptions of learning, emotional response, and how the lessons impacted the students’ perception of plants outside of the classroom. Qualitative methodology was used to open code students’ discussions while creating botanical representation and during a small group reflection at the conclusion of the lesson with scripted questions to guide the student’s conversations. Three themes emerged that were relevant to this study but not proposed as research questions, which included the nature of science, plant blindness, and anti-intellectualism. The students’ background and self-perceived level of artistry impacted their perception of learning and emotional response to the three lessons. The majority of students did not indicate a single art intervention that they perceived to help them learn botanical structures the best, however, the researcher observed that students seemed the most on task while drawing flower diagrams. |
