Students’ ideas about dangerous animals

The attitude of man towards natural life and the creatures living within it has a very complex make-up. Although humane values are present in young students, ecological values become more prominent after the age of 11 (Kellert, 1996). Studies carried out in recent years have shown that students have difficulty in understanding concepts in many areas of the sciences (Bell, 1981; Driver, 1981; Bahar, 2003). Certain information described as naïve theories, preconceptions, misconceptions or alternative conceptions, developed by the students themselves and far from scientific fact, create substantial obstacles during the process of learning. According to the results of studies conducted to date, students develop these complex and mistaken notions usually during the first stages of their schooling by themselves, under the influence of family members and friends or through contradictory explanations at school (Bell, 1981; Driver, 1981; Bell & Barker, 1982; Gilbert et al. 1982). Moreover, textbooks using scientific terminology inappropriately, and containing alternative conceptions, are also significant (Coll & Treagust, 2001; Dikmenli & Cardak, 2004).

Studies of the animal kingdom and its categorization show that students have many alternative interpretations of these concepts. Bell (1981) and Braund (1991) have shown that students confuse animals with other life forms, and that their knowledge on the diversity of animals is limited by domestic animals. For example, students qualify some vertebrate animals that have no visible limbs as invertebrate, and some animals that have large exoskeletons as vertebrate. These misconceptions are seen in all students, from those attending primary education to those in university (Kellert & Westervelt, 1984; Trowbridge & Mintzes, 1985, 1988; Dikmenli et al. 2002; Bahar, 2003).

Interpretive and quantitative methodologies, in combination with open-ended questions, pre- and post-test techniques (Haslam & Treagust, 1987), concept mapping (Novak & Gowin, 1984), drawings (Kose, 2008; Prokop & Fančovičová, 2006; Reiss & Tunnicliffe, 2001) and word association questionnaires based on keywords (Sato & James, 1999) are the principal tools used by investigators today in order to carry out the recording, categorization and interpretation of students’ and teachers’ ideas and conceptions.

In the resolution of information students build in their minds, word association tests are an effective tool (Bahar et al. 1999). Word association applications are often seen in other disciplines as much as in science education. Word association applications have been used by researchers since the 1960s. It has been noted in related literature (Deese, 1962; Shavelson, 1974) that word associations are a highly beneficial method in learning and teaching. Associating words is a method directly connected with the understanding of a person’s concept of groups. Word associations can be used not just to check if a concept has been understood correctly, but also to understand sciences, situations and even people. The most important advantage of word association tests is the ability to prepare them in advance and present them to the students while teaching (Bahar et al. 1999; Bahar & Ozatli, 2003).

The most dangerous animals in Turkey are not ferocious mammals, such as wolves or grizzly bears, as might be assumed, but species such as venomous snakes, scorpions, centipedes, spiders and jellyfish. Animals such as bears, wolves, wildcats and coyotes try to avoid humans as much as possible. Statistically, a person killed by a ferocious animal is rarely seen, but thousands of people become ill with diseases communicated by small parasites such as mosquitoes or ticks, and, sometimes, cannot survive. The reason for the increase of these small harmful animals is the depletion of their natural enemies by mankind, and the disruption of the natural balance. In Turkey, tens of thousands of snakes are exterminated each year because they are seen as dangerous animals. In fact, of the 40 varieties of snakes in Turkey, only 10 are venomous to some degree, and they use their venom to paralyse mice and rats when they are hunting. In areas where the snake population has been depleted, there has been a population explosion among mice, and the real harm is to the cultivated fields. Wolves and bears, if the balance of their environment has not been disrupted, and as long as they are not rabid, are frightened of people and will stay away (Turkiye Direyi, 2008). The tick bites first seen in Turkey in 2002, and the associated Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) are increasing yearly and causing deaths (Ataturk University, 2009).

In this article, the answers to the following questions were sought:
1- Which animal do primary students think is most dangerous?
2- What animal do primary students think of when they think of dangerous animals?
3- What do primary students think is the most important feature that makes animals dangerous?
4- What are the word associations for snake, scorpion, centipede and spider?