plant-education
Plant education encompasses the methods, curricula, and outreach efforts used to teach concepts in plant biology and botany to students and the general public. It matters for plant science because fostering botanical literacy helps address the widespread phenomenon of 'plant blindness'—the tendency to overlook plants in favor of animals—ensuring the next generation of researchers, conservationists, and informed citizens can engage meaningfully with the plant kingdom.
PubMed · 2026-02-19
Researchers created a digital version of a hands-on plant biology research course so students could still do real science during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The digital course maintained the core benefits of authentic research experiences for undergraduates studying biology.
A digital course-based research experience (DCURE) was successfully developed and implemented as an adaptation of an original live-plant hands-on experiment
The DCURE was designed to promote student engagement, persistence in STEM fields, and practical research skill development without requiring physical lab access
The digital format offers improved scalability and flexibility compared to traditional in-person plant biology research courses, addressing growing demand for accessible biology education