Bridging informal and formal science learning through home gardening during COVID-19: An experiential approach to environmental education
Abstract
Formal education is curriculum-oriented with less practical exposure or time limit to practice, informal learning is life skills learning education since childhood from their parents and society. The COVID-19 pandemic and school closures indicate a loss of formal education and learning deficiency, knowledge, and skill gaps, which are the universal challenges for every teacher, parent, and student. Hence the present study explores to understand the activities of the garden activities to connect with textbook concepts. We interacted with 8923 students of Lower primary school, Higher primary school, and High school and 24,255 family members. The collected data from the semi-structured questionnaire for the students and family responses were analysed with descriptive and qualitative statistics. The findings revealed that the involvement was more with Lower primary school than Higher primary school and High school. The different classes of students, like the Lower primary school (rs = 0.85, p<0.003)involvement ratio, have a higher significance than Higher primary school (rs = 0.72, p<0.05) and High school (rs = 0.65, p<0.05). The significant involvement of parents revealed that the father gave more exposure to the skills than the mother. Whereas High school students experience and gain more skill knowledge for the textbook content concept was ideal than Higher primary school and Lower primary school. Further research can be focused on studying the impact of pedagogical links with home gardening and farming skills serve as an effective module to connect informal learning with formal education, with a modification in education curriculum and policy.
References
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Ward, M. E., Shelley, K., Kaase, K., & Pane, J. F. (2008). Hurricane Katrina: A longitudinal study of the achievement and behavior of displaced students. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 13(2–3), 297–317. https://doi.org/10.1080/10824660802350143
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Zar, J. H. (2007). Biostatistical analysis (4th ed.). Prentice-Hall.
Ziegler, B., & Montplaisir, L. (2014). Student perceived and determined knowledge of biology concepts in an upper-level biology course. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 13(2), 322–330. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.13-09-0175
Balli, S. J. (1998). When mom and dad help: Student reflections on parent involvement with homework. Journal of Research and Development in Education, 31(3), 142–146.
Bao, X., Qu, H., Zhang, R., & Hogan, T. P. (2020). Modeling reading ability gain in kindergarten children during COVID-19 school closures. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(17), 6371. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176371
Chu, Y. C. (2008). Learning difficulties in genetics and the development of related attitudes in Taiwanese junior high schools [Doctoral dissertation, University of Glasgow]. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/168
Coleman, J. S., Campbell, E. Q., Hobson, C. J., McPartland, J., Mood, A. M., Weinfeld, F. D., & York, R. L. (1966). Equality of educational opportunity (Report No. OE-38001). U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Office of Education. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED012275.pdf
Dearing, E., Kreider, H., Simpkins, S., & Weiss, H. B. (2006). Family involvement in school and low-income children's literacy: Longitudinal associations between and within families. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98(4), 653–664. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.98.4.653
Dunn, K., Georgiou, G. K., Inoue, T., Savage, R., & Parrila, R. (2023). Home and school interventions aided at-risk students’ literacy during COVID-19: A longitudinal analysis. Reading and Writing, 36(2), 449–466. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-022-10354-7
Dunst, C. J., Bruder, M. B., Trivette, C. M., Hamby, D., Raab, M., & McLean, M. (2001). Characteristics and consequences of everyday natural learning opportunities. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 21(2), 68–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/027112140102100202
Dunst, C. J., Trivette, C. M., & Raab, M. (2014). Everyday child language learning: Early intervention practices. Infants & Young Children, 27(3), 207–219. https://doi.org/10.1097/IYC.0000000000000015
Engzell, P., Frey, A., & Verhagen, M. D. (2020). Learning inequality during the COVID-19 pandemic. SocArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/ve4z7
Fantuzzo, J., McWayne, C., Perry, M. A., & Childs, S. (2004). Multiple dimensions of family involvement and their relations to behavioral and learning competencies for urban, low-income children. School Psychology Review, 33(4), 467–480. https://doi.org/10.1080/02796015.2004.12086262
Flouri, E., & Buchanan, A. (2004). Early father's and mother's involvement and child's later educational outcomes. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 74(2), 141–153.
Hsu, C., & Chang, I. (2011). The relationship between computer-based concept mapping and creative performance. Asian Journal of Arts and Sciences, 2(1), 16–36.
Jack, G. U. (2013). Concept mapping and guided inquiry as effective techniques for teaching difficult concepts in chemistry: Effect on students’ academic achievement. Journal of Education and Practice, 4(5), 9–16.
Janardhana, G. L., & Nanda, A. (2023). Kitchen activities and hands-on experience during lockdown COVID-19, informal to formal education core subject concepts: An empirical study, Karnataka, India. Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies, 49(3), 137–150. https://doi.org/10.9734/ajess/2023/v49i31142
Kendeou, P., McMaster, K., Butterfuss, R., Kim, J., Bresina, B., & Wagner, K. (2020). The Inferential Language Comprehension (iLC) Framework. Topics in Cognitive Science, 12(1), 256–273. https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12401
Kuhfeld, M., Soland, J., Tarasawa, B., Johnson, A., Ruzek, E., & Liu, J. (2020). Projecting the potential impact of COVID-19 school closures on academic achievement. Educational Researcher, 49(8), 549–565. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X20965918
Maldonado, J. E., & De Witte, K. (2020). The effect of school closures on standardized student test outcomes. KU Leuven – Faculty of Economics and Business. https://feb.kuleuven.be/research/economics/ces/documents/DPS/2020/dps2017
Melhuish, E., Phan, M., Sylva, K., Sammons, P., Siraj-Blatchford, I., & Taggart, B. (2008). Effects of the home learning environment and preschool center experience upon literacy and numeracy development in early primary school. Journal of Social Issues, 64(1), 95–114. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2008.00550.x
Vansteenkiste, M., Simons, J., Lens, W., Sheldon, K. M., & Deci, E. L. (2004). Motivating learning, performance, and persistence: The synergistic effects of intrinsic goal contents and autonomy-supportive contexts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(2), 246–260. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.87.2.246
National Center for Education Statistics. (2022). Reading and mathematics scores declined during COVID-19 pandemic. The Nation’s Report Card. https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/highlights/ltt/2022
Niklas, F., Cohrssen, C., & Tayler, C. (2016). Parents supporting learning: A non-intensive intervention supporting literacy and numeracy in the home learning environment. International Journal of Early Years Education, 24(2), 121–142. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2016.1155147
Novak, J. D., & Cañas, A. J. (2006). The theory underlying concept maps and how to construct them. Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. https://cmap.ihmc.us/publications/researchpapers/theoryunderlyingconceptmaps.pdf
Sonnenschein, S., Stites, M., & Ross, A. (2021). Home learning environments for young children in the U.S. during COVID-19. Early Education and Development, 32(6), 794–811. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2021.1943282
Spitzer, M. W. H., & Musslick, S. (2021). Academic performance of K-12 students in an online-learning environment for mathematics increased during the shutdown of schools in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. PLOS ONE, 16(8), e0255629. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255629
Tayler, C. (2015). Learning in early childhood: Experiences, relationships and “learning to be.” European Journal of Education, 50(2), 160–174. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12117
Umar, A. A. (2011). Effects of biology practical activities on students’ process skill acquisition in Minna, Niger State, Nigeria. Journal of Science, Technology, Mathematics and Education, 7(2), 118–126.
UNESCO. (2020). UNESCO’s support: Educational response to COVID-19. https://www.unesco.org/en/covid-19/education-response/initiatives
UNESCO. (2020a). 10 recommendations to ensure that learning remains uninterrupted. https://en.unesco.org/news/covid-19-10-recommendations-plan-distance-learning-solutions
UNESCO. (2020b). COVID-19 educational disruption and response. https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse
UNESCO. (2020c). Three ways to plan for equity during the school closures. https://gemreportunesco.wordpress.com/2020/03/25/three-ways-to-plan-for-equity-during-the-coronavirus-school-closures/
Walsh, P. (2010). Is parental involvement lower at larger schools? Economics of Education Review, 29(5), 959–970. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2010.03.005
Ward, M. E., Shelley, K., Kaase, K., & Pane, J. F. (2008). Hurricane Katrina: A longitudinal study of the achievement and behavior of displaced students. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 13(2–3), 297–317. https://doi.org/10.1080/10824660802350143
Wheeler, D. L., & Hill, J. C. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 on early childhood reading practices. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 22(3), 408–431. https://doi.org/10.1177/14687984211044187
Zar, J. H. (2007). Biostatistical analysis (4th ed.). Prentice-Hall.
Ziegler, B., & Montplaisir, L. (2014). Student perceived and determined knowledge of biology concepts in an upper-level biology course. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 13(2), 322–330. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.13-09-0175
Authors
Nanda, A., & Janardhana, G. L. (2025). Bridging informal and formal science learning through home gardening during COVID-19: An experiential approach to environmental education. Journal of Environment and Sustainability Education, 3(2), 148–156. https://doi.org/10.62672/joease.v3i2.87
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