Red de Biología y Conservación de Vertebrados, Instituto de Ecología AC, Xalapa, Veracruz, México.
Primate Conservation and Sustainable Development, Miku Conservación AC, Xalapa, Veracruz, México.
PLoS One. 2020 Feb 4;15(2):e0228382. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0228382. eCollection 2020.
Several studies suggest that 63% of primate species are currently threatened due to deforestation, pet-trade, and bushmeat hunting. Successful primate conservation strategies require effective educational programs capable of enhancing critical system-thinking and responsible behavior towards these species. Arts-based conservation education can simultaneously foster cognitive and emotional processes. In this paper, we evaluate an arts-based educational program focused on the conservation of black howler monkeys (Alouatta pigra). Our goals were to determine (1) whether children's knowledge changed with our educational techniques, (2) if there was a particular educational technique that better improved the children's learning, and (3) the children's emotional feedback regarding the whole program. A total of 229 children from communities located in primate-habitat areas, both inside and outside protected areas, participated in the study. Different educational techniques were tested (storytelling, theater and shadow puppets), contrasted with a control group, and evaluated through an analysis of drawings. Our results showed that children's knowledge increase with each art-based technique, with storytelling being the most effective for children's learning. Specific drawings indicators also revealed the increase of children's knowledge and a decrease of misconceptions between pre and post evaluations. Finally, a satisfaction survey about the program showed a high positive feedback. The study highlights the value of designing multidisciplinary projects, where arts-based education program (grounded in scientific information) has shown to be a successful way to communicate animal knowledge and promote conservation.
几项研究表明，由于森林砍伐、宠物交易和丛林肉狩猎，目前有 63%的灵长类物种受到威胁。成功的灵长类动物保护策略需要有效的教育计划，以增强人们对这些物种的系统思维和负责任的行为。基于艺术的保护教育可以同时促进认知和情感过程。在本文中，我们评估了一个专注于保护黑吼猴（Alouatta pigra）的基于艺术的教育计划。我们的目标是确定：(1) 我们的教育技术是否改变了儿童的知识，(2) 是否有一种特殊的教育技术可以更好地提高儿童的学习效果，以及 (3) 儿童对整个计划的情感反馈。共有来自保护区内外灵长类动物栖息地社区的 229 名儿童参与了这项研究。我们测试了不同的教育技术（讲故事、戏剧和皮影戏），并与对照组进行了对比，通过对绘画的分析进行了评估。我们的结果表明，儿童的知识随着每一种基于艺术的技术而增加，其中讲故事对儿童的学习效果最为显著。特定的绘画指标也显示了儿童知识的增加和前测后测之间误解的减少。最后，一项关于该计划的满意度调查显示出了高度的积极反馈。该研究强调了设计多学科项目的价值，其中基于艺术的教育计划（基于科学信息）已被证明是一种成功的沟通动物知识和促进保护的方法。
