The effect of herbariums on plant recognition levels of biology teacher candidates

In this research, it is aimed to determine the effect of herbariums from out-of-school learning environments on the level of plant recognition of biology teacher candidates. Embedded design, one of the mixed method designs, was used for this purpose. In the quantitative dimension of the research, a weak experimental design model, the static group comparative design, was used. For this purpose, a total of 40 people, 20 experimental and 20 control groups, were selected from biology teacher candidates studying at Hacettepe University Faculty of Education during the 2023-2024 academic year without random allocation. Each group (control and experimental) received 90 minutes of botanical education from the same researcher. A "Plant Recognition Achievement Test" prepared by the researcher was applied to collect quantitative data. In the qualitative dimension of the study, the views of the experimental group students who received education in the herbarium environment about the effectiveness of herbarium activities were evaluated with a "Semi-Structured Interview Form". Quantitative data collected from control and experimental groups were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 23.0 software, while qualitative data were descriptively analyzed by the researcher. As a result of the study, considering the importance and benefits of out-of-school learning environments, it is expected that the knowledge level of biology teacher candidates who actively participate in learning in the herbarium environment will be higher than those who learn through traditional methods, and positive results will be obtained regarding the effectiveness of this method.