Cultural probes for environmental education: Designing learning materials to engage children and teenagers with local biodiversity

RESEARCH ARTICLE Cultural probes for environmental education: Designing learning materials to engage children and teenagers with local biodiversity So´ nia MatosID1,2☯*, Alexandra R. Silva1,3☯, Duarte SousaID1, Ana Picanc¸ oID3, Isabel R. AmorimID3, Simone AshbyID1,4, Rosalina GabrielID3, Ana Moura Arroz3☯ 1 Interactive Technologies Institute (ITI/LARSyS), Polo Cientı´fico e Tecnolo´gico da Madeira, Caminho da Penteada, Funchal, Portugal, 2 School of Design, Edinburgh College of Art, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 3 cE3c –Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes / Azorean Biodiversity Group, University of the Azores, Azores, Portugal, 4 Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences, Language, Communication and Cognition, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands ☯ These authors contributed equally to this work. * sonia.matos@iti.larsys.pt Abstract Direct contact with nature is paramount in deepening children’s and teenagers’ interest in biodiversity. Learning materials chosen to convey information and engage participants dur- ing outings in nature-rich environments are varied and can support rich learning experi- ences. For this purpose, learning materials can be acquired "off-the-shelf" or developed for site-specific locations or projects. However, there is little guidance on potential techniques for those wishing to generate contextually relevant materials. With the view of responding to this challenge, we propose the cultural probes technique. We demonstrate that the tech-

nique, commonly used in qualitative research to generate novel insights in conversation with participants, can instigate innovative and thoughtful approaches to materials designed for children and teenagers to explore nature. We present a toolkit that draws on the literature on cultural probes, inquiry-based learning, and the value of sensory, emotional, and aes- thetic experiences in environmental education for structuring interactions with participants. To test our approach, we applied a descriptive research design and mixed-methods approach for collecting questions from youths between the ages of 10 and 18, inspired by a nature walk and a set of exploratory tasks executed through the toolkit. Specifically, we tested our toolkit along a trail in the Nature Park of Terceira, situated in the Azores, a Portu- guese volcanic archipelago in the North Atlantic. Here, we present and reflect on the data collected during one visit organized over two days with two groups of participants and one post-trail activity directed at both groups. Results demonstrate that the open-ended and playful nature of cultural probes offers a novel way to engage youths with nature-rich envi- ronments through questioning. This contribution further highlights the potential of cultural probes for instigating encounters that tap into the value of sensory, emotional, and aesthetic experience in nature, with positive outcomes for participants. PLOS ONE PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0262853 February 10, 2022 1 / 30 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 OPEN ACCESS

Citation: Matos S, Silva AR, Sousa D, Picanc¸o A, R. Amorim I, Ashby S, et al. (2022) Cultural probes for environmental education: Designing learning materials to engage children and teenagers with local biodiversity. PLoS ONE 17(2): e0262853. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0262853 Editor: Paulo Takeo Sano, University of Sao Paulo, BRAZIL Received: February 17, 2021 Accepted: January 6, 2022 Published: February 10, 2022 Copyright: © 2022 Matos et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability Statement: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files. Funding: Field Guide is supported by FCT - Fundac¸ão para a Ciência e a Tecnologia a Portuguese public agency that supports science, technology and innovation, in all scientific domains. FCT project reference number: PTDC/ CED/EDG/31182/2017. Isabel R. Amorim participation was funded by Portuguese funds through FCT – Fundac¸ão para a Ciência e a