Amahmid O, Guamri YE, Yazidi M, Razoki B, Rassou KK, Rakibi Y, Farouk IA, Charkaoui F. Animal use in Life Sciences Education: Current Status, Teachers’ and Adolescents’ Attitudes and Alternatives. Anatolian Journal of Education. 2019;4(2):69-80


Abstract

The study aimed to explore Lower Secondary School curriculum of Life Sciences, in Morocco,to establish the current status of animal use and the extent at which it is a curriculum requirementfor the introduction of the prescribed concepts and objectives. Two questionnaires weredeveloped and administered to teachers and students to assess their attitudes towards animal useand dissection, as well as potential alternatives that could be used for replacement. The studyrevealed that several cited topics in the curriculum involve animal use and organ dissection. Themajority of students (60.9%) and teachers (83.3%) had great interest in performing animal organdissections, stating that it allowed better understanding, long-term knowledge and motivation. A proportion of participants felt negative emotions towards this practice. Many animals groupshave been involved especially frogs and mammals. While most of teachers and students quotedthat priority should be given to real hands-on experiments, alternatives preferred for replacementwere videos and simulations. Animal use in education raises psychological, ethical, andenvironmental concerns. Hence, there is a need to use animal-free alternatives as they allow theachievement of the learning objectives more effectively and have several advantages over animaluse.