Arthropods: Attitude and incorporation in preservice elementary teachers

Invertebrates perform many beneficial and essential ecological services for humans.
Despite this, the general public tends to view them negatively. Preservice elementary
teachers often find themselves in a tenuous position because they possess the same
negativity toward invertebrates as the general public but have been commissioned by United
States of America national and state standards to teach their future students about the
very invertebrates they distain. This study investigated the effect frequent direct contact
with Madagascar hissing cockroaches (Gromphadorhina portentosa) in an educational setting
had on preservice elementary teacher‟s arthropod (i.e., a subset of invertebrates) attitude
and likelihood of arthropod incorporation in future science curriculum. A pre/post
randomized design with a control group was used for the study. Preservice elementary
teachers that received frequent direct contact with Madagascar hissing cockroaches in an
educational setting during their preservice training programs had their attitudes and beliefs
changed in a positive way toward that arthropod but not toward other arthropods.
Implications concerning this finding, and other findings associated with the study, are
discussed.