The Contribution of Ethnobiology to Teaching Plant Sciences: Student and Faculty Perspectives

While the number of universities offering degrees in botany has been decreasing, the incorporation of ethnobiology in plant science curricula is becoming increasingly common. We assessed the ability of ethnobiology courses to contribute to biology education and the trends in ethnobiology education such as teaching tools, use of online resources, and learning technologies through an online survey that was disseminated to faculty and students. A total of 50 faculty members and 135 students involved in ethnobiology education completed the survey between February and June 2012. A subset of the findings is discussed here. Both students and faculty felt that ethnobiology courses contributed to core competencies in biology (as defined by American Association for the Advancement of Science 2011), particularly in communicating and collaborating with people in other disciplines and understanding the relationship between science and society. Online resources such as virtual learning platforms, videos, and biodiversity databases were commonly used. Students and faculty recognized a strength of ethnobiological curricula to be the usefulness of its applications to interdisciplinary working; however, they expressed concerns over lack of recognition of the discipline. Case studies of two higher education institutions and one botanical research institute in the USA highlighted the contribution of ethnobotany to non-science majors, ethnic minority STEM student groups, and children and young adults who access informal education. We conclude that survey results and case studies show diverse ways that ethnobiology can enrich plant science curricula and potentially contribute to the revitalization of student interest and comprehension in plant sciences.