Students’ visual literacy: a study from plant anatomy learning

Plant anatomy is a branch of plant biology that focuses on the internal structures and development of a plant. This topic relies heavily on visual representations such as photographs and drawings as teaching and learning tools. Therefore, visual literacy is a core skill for biology students to study plant anatomy effectively. However, do biology students have a sufficient level of visual literacy particularly in the case of plant anatomy? This current study was conducted to provide answers to this question. To collect relevant information, this study involved 79 university sophomores studying plant anatomy in Indonesia. Using a case study design, two data collection methods included a test and semi-structured interviews to investigate to what extent biology students are visually literate in interpreting plant anatomy-based photographs. The author-designed test, Plant Anatomy Diagnostic Test (PADI), consisted of two sections. Section 1 comprised five four-tier multiple choice items linked to photographs of a plant, whereas section 2 was a drawing task. The test was distributed to all student participants, while the interview sections involved a subgroup of 15 students. All collected data were analysed separately, then the results were compared and compiled to triangulate the findings. The results of this current study supported and triangulated the fact that the biology students had difficulties to interpret, understand, and generate visualizations of the presented plants’ photographs, indicating that their visual literacy in plant anatomy was insufficient. The primary reason for students’ insufficient visual literacy was lack of conceptual understanding that resulted in their inability to apply and integrate knowledge. The implications of the research findings are also discussed.