Assessing students' knowledge of owls from their drawings and written responses

Many children learn about and experience animals in the everyday environment where they live and attend school. One way to obtain information about children's understanding of concepts or phenomena is by using their drawings in combination with written responses or interviews. This study assesses how much Slovenian students 10-15 years old (in sixth to ninth grade) know about owls by analysing their drawings and written responses. The study included 473 students. From assessing students' drawings and written responses, it can be concluded that the respondents had some knowledge of owls' appearance, their behaviours, diet and habitats. The differences between students in different grades regarding the representations of owls was not statistically significant. Some students had misconceptions about owls, such as the idea that owls can turn their heads 360 degrees, or they confused the long ear-tufts with external parts of the ears. The students' written responses provided additional information on their ideas about owls; particularly about owls' specific behaviours, diet, and conservational status. However, some information, such as depicting owls' body parts and body proportions or their habitats, was more clearly depicted with drawings. One third of the students drew owls in trees and forests, which makes owls good candidates for promoting forest conservation.