Perceived Disgust and Personal
Experiences are Associated with
Acceptance of Dissections in
Schools

Jana Fančovičová; Pavol Prokop; Andrea Lešková

doi:10.12973/eurasia.2013.938a

Perceived Disgust and Personal Experiences are Associated with Acceptance of Dissections in Schools

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Jana Fančovičová ¹, Pavol Prokop ² ^* , Andrea Lešková ³

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¹ Trnava University, SLOVAKIA² Trnava University & Institute of Zoology, SLOVAKIA³ P.J. Šafárik University, SLOVAKIA^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Animal dissections are essential parts of anatomy/zoology courses, but their effectiveness is influenced by student attitudes and emotions. Here we examined attitudes toward dissections in 397 prospective biology teachers enrolling two Slovak universities. Perceived disgust of dissections negatively correlated with other attitudes toward dissections domains and previous experiences with dissections correlated positively with attitudes toward dissections. Reported experiences with real and virtual dissections in Slovak elementary and high schools were rare. Students who owned animal(s) at home had less positive attitudes toward dissections than non-animal owners. Our research support an idea that prior experiences with dissections and low perceived disgust correlate with positive attitudes toward dissections. Special attention should be dedicated to females and to animal owners, because positive attitudes toward animals may be in conflict with supportive attitudes towards dissections.

Keywords

animals
attitudes
Dissection
gender

License

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 9, Issue 3, 2013, 311-318

https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2013.938a

Publication date: 14 Dec 2013

Article Views: 2192

Article Downloads: 1967

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How to cite this article

APA

Fančovičová, J., Prokop, P., & Lešková, A. (2013). Perceived Disgust and Personal Experiences are Associated with Acceptance of Dissections in Schools. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 9(3), 311-318. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2013.938a

Vancouver

Fančovičová J, Prokop P, Lešková A. Perceived Disgust and Personal Experiences are Associated with Acceptance of Dissections in Schools. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2013;9(3):311-8. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2013.938a

AMA

Fančovičová J, Prokop P, Lešková A. Perceived Disgust and Personal Experiences are Associated with Acceptance of Dissections in Schools. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2013;9(3), 311-318. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2013.938a

Chicago

Fančovičová, Jana, Pavol Prokop, and Andrea Lešková. "Perceived Disgust and Personal Experiences are Associated with Acceptance of Dissections in Schools". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2013 9 no. 3 (2013): 311-318. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2013.938a

Harvard

Fančovičová, J., Prokop, P., and Lešková, A. (2013). Perceived Disgust and Personal Experiences are Associated with Acceptance of Dissections in Schools. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 9(3), pp. 311-318. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2013.938a

MLA

Fančovičová, Jana et al. "Perceived Disgust and Personal Experiences are Associated with Acceptance of Dissections in Schools". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 9, no. 3, 2013, pp. 311-318. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2013.938a