Incorporating Non-fiction Literature into Conservation Education

While primary scientific literature is prevalent in undergraduate curricula, less is known about how non-fiction literature impacts students' engagement and learning. Previous studies have demonstrated that non-fiction literature improves student engagement in K-12 science education, which led the authors of this article to hypothesize that the same may be true in higher education. According to the authors, improving student engagement can lead to increased conservation literacy, as well as a greater chance that students will become interested in conservation careers. Therefore, this study evaluated the effect of assigning a non-fiction book about conservation biology to undergraduate students on their engagement with course content.

The study took place at a 4-year university in the upper Midwest United States. The authors—also teachers of an undergraduate conservation biology course in the same institution—began by assigning their students Tigerland and Other Unintended Destinations by Eric Dinerstein (2005). They selected this book because it includes diverse stories from a variety of locations and conservation contexts, which their personal teaching experience suggested would provide an interesting and dynamic perspective not available in other course materials.

The researchers designed a course assignment that asked a variety of open-ended questions about the book, both objective and subjective. For example, the assignment asked students to identify the themes of each chapter, as well as their favorite topics throughout the book. The researchers then collected students' responses to the assignment, repeating the procedure each semester for 3 years. In total, they collected and analyzed assignments from just over 60 students. The researchers analyzed patterns amongst the students' written assignments. They evaluated whether students considered reading the book beneficial, whether it helped them connect with course content, how much it improved their conservation vocabulary, and whether it changed their perceptions of careers in conservation.

Overall, the students' writing indicated the book was a helpful addition to the curriculum. The students frequently drew connections between the book and other course content, as well as other aspects of their lives. The three most common connections students drew were with biological concepts, foreign locations, and inspirational role models, with the greatest proportion of connections drawn with biological concepts and species. In addition, students identified a total of 447 vocabulary words that they learned from the book. Students tended to cite new vocabulary words that came predominantly from their favorite chapters, suggesting that learning was improved by engagement or interest. Students also learned about foreign countries and new ecosystems from the book.

The study took place at a single university, therefore similar results may not be achieved in other contexts. Additionally, the study only examined the effects of one book; different books may have different impacts on students' learning and engagement. The authors acknowledge that students' responses to subjective questions on the assignment may have been biased by a desire to show that they learned something or to impress the professor.

The results of this study indicate that non-fiction literature is a promising opportunity for improving student engagement with conservation biology. Therefore, the authors recommend incorporating non-fiction literature into conservation biology curriculum at the undergraduate level. They believe the success of their book selection arose from its use of personal stories and descriptions of diverse locations; these criteria may serve as a starting point for other educators selecting books for their classes. Because students expressed interest in exploring topics and locations in the book, the authors believe incorporating similar literature into the curriculum can help encourage students to pursue careers in conservation biology.