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Peer-reviewed article

Quantifying Long-Term Impact of Zoo and Aquarium Visits on Biodiversity-related Learning Outcomes

June 21, 2017 | Public Programs, Exhibitions
Zoos and aquariums aim to achieve lasting impact on their public audiences’ awareness of biodiversity, its value, and the steps they can take to conserve it. Here, we evaluate the long-term educational impact of visits to zoos and aquariums on biodiversity understanding and knowledge of actions to help protect biodiversity. A minimum of two years after completing a repeated-measures survey before and after visiting a zoo or aquarium, the same participants were invited to take part in a follow-up online survey. Despite the small number of respondents (n = 161), our study may still represent the best available quantitative evidence pertaining to zoo and aquarium visits’ long-term educational impact. We found that improvements in respondents’ biodiversity understanding from pre- to post-visit leveled off, staying unchanged in the follow-up survey. In contrast, the improved knowledge of actions to help protect biodiversity from pre- to post-visit showed further improvement from post-visit to delayed post-visit follow-up survey. These results suggest that the immediate positive effects of a zoo or aquarium visit on biodiversity-related learning outcomes may be long lasting and even help lay the groundwork for further improvements over an extended period of time following the visit.

TEAM MEMBERS

  • DSC 3392
    Author
    University of Warwick
  • Andrew Moss
    Author
    Chester Zoo
  • Markus Gusset
    Author
    World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA)
  • Citation

    DOI : 10.1002/zoo.21372
    Publication Name: Zoo Biology
    Volume: 36
    Number: 4
    Page Number: 294-297
    Resource Type: Research | Research Products
    Discipline: Ecology, forestry, and agriculture | Life science
    Audience: General Public | Museum/ISE Professionals | Evaluators | Learning Researchers
    Environment Type: Aquarium and Zoo Programs | Aquarium and Zoo Exhibits

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