2018 ASHS Annual Conference

Negative impacts from invasive species present a global problem. Consequently, invasive species biology has emerged as an important sub-discipline of conservation biology. One of the goals of invasive species biology is to educate the public about impacts and potential control of invasive species. The purpose of this study was to determine if a lecture and/or a lecture and laboratory learning model influences college student learning gains and whether increase in knowledge results in changes in attitudes about invasive species. A pre- and post-test instrument that measured knowledge and attitudes of invasive species was administered to several different classes of students at a university and community college. One group of students received a lecture and laboratory curriculum between the pre-test and post-test (the lecture and laboratory treatment group). A second group of students received a lecture between the pre-test and post-test (the lecture only treatment group), and a third group received no instruction between tests (the control group). The lecture was in the form of a Powerpoint™ (Redmond, WA) presentation while the lab curriculum included a case study, a visual aid, and a scavenger hunt to educate students about examples of invasive plant and animal species. In all classes and groups, there were at least 2 weeks between administering the pre- and post-test. Results showed that the control group scores were not significantly different between the pre- and post-test. However, both the lecture-only and the lecture and laboratory treatment groups had scores that changed significantly after receiving the curricula. Additionally, there was an effect of curricula on student learning for the three conditions. The differences between the group that received no curricula versus the two that did, indicated the curricula were effective teaching interventions to help students become more educated about invasive species.