An analysis of plant awareness disparity within introductory biology textbook images

Plant awareness disparity (PAD, formerly plant blindness) is the tendency not to notice plants in one's environment, which leads to the perspective that plants are unimportant. In this paper, we explore how plants and animals are represented in introductory biology textbooks to determine if the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of biological education Vol. 57; no. 2; pp. 422 - 431
Main Authors: Brownlee, Kristi, Parsley, Kathryn M., Sabel, Jaime L.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Routledge 15.03.2023
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects:
Animals
Attention
Biology
Evolution
general biology
Genetics
Illustrations
introductory biology
Majors (Students)
Photography
plant awareness disparity
Plant blindness
Plants (Botany)
Science Instruction
textbook analysis
Textbook Content
Textbooks
Undergraduate Students
Visual Aids
ISSN:0021-9266, 2157-6009
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Abstract Plant awareness disparity (PAD, formerly plant blindness) is the tendency not to notice plants in one's environment, which leads to the perspective that plants are unimportant. In this paper, we explore how plants and animals are represented in introductory biology textbooks to determine if these texts are contributing to PAD in undergraduate students. We analysed images from four texts that are commonly used as introductory biology textbooks for biology majors, and specifically focused on the introductory, genetics, and evolution chapters. We found that animals are chosen more often as examples of biological concepts in textbook images across all four textbooks, indicating that these texts are contributing to PAD. Textbook producers should focus on including a more equal number of plant and animal examples of biology concepts and processes, and instructors should bring in outside examples and images to supplement those currently in texts that demonstrate a bias towards animals.
AbstractList Plant awareness disparity (PAD, formerly plant blindness) is the tendency not to notice plants in one’s environment, which leads to the perspective that plants are unimportant. In this paper, we explore how plants and animals are represented in introductory biology textbooks to determine if these texts are contributing to PAD in undergraduate students. We analysed images from four texts that are commonly used as introductory biology textbooks for biology majors, and specifically focused on the introductory, genetics, and evolution chapters. We found that animals are chosen more often as examples of biological concepts in textbook images across all four textbooks, indicating that these texts are contributing to PAD. Textbook producers should focus on including a more equal number of plant and animal examples of biology concepts and processes, and instructors should bring in outside examples and images to supplement those currently in texts that demonstrate a bias towards animals.
Audience Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Author Sabel, Jaime L.
Parsley, Kathryn M.
Brownlee, Kristi
Author_xml – sequence: 1
  givenname: Kristi
  surname: Brownlee
  fullname: Brownlee, Kristi
  organization: University of Memphis
– sequence: 2
  givenname: Kathryn M.
  surname: Parsley
  fullname: Parsley, Kathryn M.
  organization: University of Memphis
– sequence: 3
  givenname: Jaime L.
  surname: Sabel
  fullname: Sabel, Jaime L.
  email: jlsabel@memphis.edu
  organization: University of Memphis
BackLink http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=EJ1388970$$DView record in ERIC
BookMark eNqFUMtKBDEQDKLg-vgEIeB51k5mNpPBiyI-EbzoOfQmGY2OyZpkWefvzbJ68aCnLuiq6q7aI9s-eEvIEYMpAwknAJx1XIgpL2BaINTAtsiEs1lbCYBum0zWnGpN2iV7Kb0CMA5CTsjjuafocRiTSzT0dDGgzxRXGK23KVHj0gKjyyNdufziPHU-x2CWOoc40rkLQ3geabafeR7CG3Xv-GzTAdnpcUj28Hvuk6ery8eLm-r-4fr24vy-0g0XuWotzKyBpjYcpeFguebadDMUYi60lm3fG8N101nZtG1rJDTSSoMNSq6trOt9crzxXcTwsbQpq9ewjCVNUjUXTDLBalFYRxuWjU6rRSw_xlFd3rFayq6Fsj_d7HUMKUXbK-0yZhdKUnSDYqDWNaufmtW6ZvVdc1HPfql_LvynO9vonO9DfMdViINRGcchxD6i166E-NviC-POldg
CitedBy_id crossref_primary_10_1002_ppp3_10373
crossref_primary_10_1007_s40626_024_00351_2
crossref_primary_10_1002_jsf2_70001
crossref_primary_10_1080_13504622_2022_2086689
crossref_primary_10_3390_su17178060
crossref_primary_10_3390_su15097395
crossref_primary_10_1080_00219266_2024_2365668
crossref_primary_10_1111_1365_2664_14060
crossref_primary_10_1002_ppp3_10622
crossref_primary_10_1002_ppp3_10625
crossref_primary_10_1080_00219266_2025_2523349
crossref_primary_10_1002_nse2_20146
crossref_primary_10_1080_13504622_2024_2391094
crossref_primary_10_1002_ppp3_10287
crossref_primary_10_3390_plants12112201
crossref_primary_10_1186_s43031_025_00120_4
crossref_primary_10_1002_ece3_9019
crossref_primary_10_1080_00219266_2024_2386253
crossref_primary_10_1080_00219266_2025_2502376
crossref_primary_10_1080_00219266_2024_2365679
crossref_primary_10_1080_0047231X_2024_2412671
crossref_primary_10_1187_cbe_20_12_0275
crossref_primary_10_1080_00219266_2025_2533776
crossref_primary_10_1080_00219266_2024_2420018
crossref_primary_10_1002_ppp3_10636
Cites_doi 10.1002/ppp3.10153
10.1080/09500690903002818
10.1016/j.tplants.2020.09.012
10.17265/2159-5313/2016.09.003
10.1128/jmbe.v18i1.1253
10.1080/00219266.2008.9656123
10.1187/cbe.14-05-0080
10.1126/science.50.1301.509
10.12973/ejmste/75287
10.2307/1311898
10.1080/00219266.2010.9656208
10.2307/4450624
ContentType Journal Article
Copyright 2021 Royal Society of Biology 2021
2021 Royal Society of Biology
Copyright_xml – notice: 2021 Royal Society of Biology 2021
– notice: 2021 Royal Society of Biology
DBID AAYXX
CITATION
7SW
BJH
BNH
BNI
BNJ
BNO
ERI
PET
REK
WWN
AHOVV
DOI 10.1080/00219266.2021.1920301
DatabaseName CrossRef
ERIC
ERIC (Ovid)
ERIC
ERIC
ERIC (Legacy Platform)
ERIC( SilverPlatter )
ERIC
ERIC PlusText (Legacy Platform)
Education Resources Information Center (ERIC)
ERIC
Education Research Index
DatabaseTitle CrossRef
ERIC
DatabaseTitleList
ERIC
DeliveryMethod fulltext_linktorsrc
Discipline Education
Biology
EISSN 2157-6009
ERIC EJ1388970
EndPage 431
ExternalDocumentID EJ1388970
10_1080_00219266_2021_1920301
1920301
Genre Research Article
GroupedDBID -W8
-~X
.7I
.QK
0BK
0R~
36B
4.4
AAGDL
AAGZJ
AAHIA
AAMFJ
AAMIU
AAPUL
AAZJI
AAZMC
ABCCY
ABFIM
ABJNI
ABLIJ
ABPEM
ABTAI
ABXUL
ABXYU
ACGFO
ACGFS
ACNCT
ACTIO
ACTOA
ADAHI
ADCVX
ADKVQ
AECIN
AEFOU
AEISY
AEKEX
AENEX
AEOZL
AEPSL
AEYOC
AEZRU
AFRVT
AGDLA
AGMYJ
AGRBW
AHDZW
AIJEM
AIYEW
AKBVH
ALMA_UNASSIGNED_HOLDINGS
ALQZU
AQTUD
AVBZW
AWYRJ
BEJHT
BLEHA
BMOTO
BOHLJ
CCCUG
CQ1
DGFLZ
DKSSO
EBS
EHN
ESX
E~B
E~C
F5P
G-F
GTTXZ
H13
HF~
HZ~
IPNFZ
J.O
KYCEM
LJTGL
M4Z
NA5
NX.
O9-
P2P
QN7
RIG
RNANH
ROSJB
RSYQP
S-F
SJN
STATR
TASJS
TBQAZ
TDBHL
TED
TFH
TFL
TFW
TNTFI
TRJHH
TUROJ
TUS
UT5
UT9
UYS
WH7
~01
~S~
AAYXX
CITATION
.GO
07N
186
3EH
53G
7SW
AAELO
AAHSB
AAMUQ
ABDBF
ABIFC
ACDYK
ACKIV
ACMAZ
ACUHS
ADQZN
AEHJO
AFNSQ
AFRRA
AFYVU
AGDNC
AGEYI
AHUAE
AJQZJ
AKCKI
ASRXX
AYGLJ
BJH
BNH
BNI
BNJ
BNO
BRMHY
BUAEY
BWQWQ
C~Y
DADXH
DCMBD
EAD
EAP
EAS
EBC
EBD
EDJ
EJD
EMK
EORKJ
EPT
ERI
EST
HTOLE
IBTYS
L7Z
OHT
ONUMK
PET
QF4
QM7
QO4
Q~Q
REK
RPD
TZEDD
UA4
UKR
WWN
YYQ
AHOVV
ID FETCH-LOGICAL-c426t-7e05ed043d2a8d20e2c2cd95a66b6cc87ffdd2c49e84777d8048e8da4a82ce833
IEDL.DBID TFW
ISICitedReferencesCount 36
ISICitedReferencesURI http://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=Summon&SrcAuth=ProQuest&DestLinkType=CitingArticles&DestApp=WOS_CPL&KeyUT=000661693500001&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcvtisr.summon.serialssolutions.com%2F%23%21%2Fsearch%3Fho%3Df%26include.ft.matches%3Dt%26l%3Dnull%26q%3D
ISSN 0021-9266
IngestDate Sat Oct 18 22:51:24 EDT 2025
Tue Dec 02 16:47:31 EST 2025
Sat Nov 29 02:51:48 EST 2025
Tue Nov 18 22:29:36 EST 2025
Mon Oct 20 23:46:34 EDT 2025
IsDoiOpenAccess false
IsOpenAccess false
IsPeerReviewed true
IsScholarly true
Issue 2
Language English
LinkModel DirectLink
MergedId FETCHMERGED-LOGICAL-c426t-7e05ed043d2a8d20e2c2cd95a66b6cc87ffdd2c49e84777d8048e8da4a82ce833
Notes ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
PQID 3261816136
PQPubID 7446949
PageCount 10
ParticipantIDs eric_primary_EJ1388970
informaworld_taylorfrancis_310_1080_00219266_2021_1920301
crossref_citationtrail_10_1080_00219266_2021_1920301
crossref_primary_10_1080_00219266_2021_1920301
proquest_journals_3261816136
PublicationCentury 2000
PublicationDate 2023-03-15
PublicationDateYYYYMMDD 2023-03-15
PublicationDate_xml – month: 03
  year: 2023
  text: 2023-03-15
  day: 15
PublicationDecade 2020
PublicationPlace London
PublicationPlace_xml – name: London
PublicationTitle Journal of biological education
PublicationYear 2023
Publisher Routledge
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Publisher_xml – name: Routledge
– name: Taylor & Francis Ltd
References cit0011
cit0001
cit0012
cit0010
Hershey D. R (cit0005) 2004; 31
cit0008
cit0019
cit0009
Hershey D. R (cit0006) 2005; 31
cit0007
cit0018
cit0015
Wandersee J. H. (cit0017) 2001; 47
cit0016
cit0002
cit0013
cit0003
Hershey D. R. (cit0004) 2002; 48
cit0014
References_xml – ident: cit0011
  doi: 10.1002/ppp3.10153
– ident: cit0007
  doi: 10.1080/09500690903002818
– ident: cit0012
– ident: cit0008
– ident: cit0015
– ident: cit0002
  doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2020.09.012
– ident: cit0009
  doi: 10.17265/2159-5313/2016.09.003
– volume: 31
  year: 2005
  ident: cit0006
  publication-title: American Institute of Biological Sciences. Accessed
– ident: cit0018
  doi: 10.1128/jmbe.v18i1.1253
– volume: 31
  year: 2004
  ident: cit0005
  publication-title: Accessed
– ident: cit0013
  doi: 10.1080/00219266.2008.9656123
– ident: cit0001
  doi: 10.1187/cbe.14-05-0080
– volume: 48
  start-page: 78
  issue: 3
  year: 2002
  ident: cit0004
  publication-title: Botanical Society of America Plant, Science Bulletin
– ident: cit0010
  doi: 10.1126/science.50.1301.509
– ident: cit0019
  doi: 10.12973/ejmste/75287
– ident: cit0003
  doi: 10.2307/1311898
– ident: cit0014
  doi: 10.1080/00219266.2010.9656208
– ident: cit0016
  doi: 10.2307/4450624
– volume: 47
  start-page: 2
  year: 2001
  ident: cit0017
  publication-title: Plant Science Bulletin
SSID ssj0012068
Score 2.453491
Snippet Plant awareness disparity (PAD, formerly plant blindness) is the tendency not to notice plants in one's environment, which leads to the perspective that plants...
Plant awareness disparity (PAD, formerly plant blindness) is the tendency not to notice plants in one’s environment, which leads to the perspective that plants...
SourceID proquest
eric
crossref
informaworld
SourceType Aggregation Database
Index Database
Enrichment Source
Publisher
StartPage 422
SubjectTerms Animals
Attention
Biology
Evolution
general biology
Genetics
Illustrations
introductory biology
Majors (Students)
Photography
plant awareness disparity
Plant blindness
Plants (Botany)
Science Instruction
textbook analysis
Textbook Content
Textbooks
Undergraduate Students
Visual Aids
Title An analysis of plant awareness disparity within introductory biology textbook images
URI https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00219266.2021.1920301
http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=EJ1388970
https://www.proquest.com/docview/3261816136
Volume 57
WOSCitedRecordID wos000661693500001&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcvtisr.summon.serialssolutions.com%2F%23%21%2Fsearch%3Fho%3Df%26include.ft.matches%3Dt%26l%3Dnull%26q%3D
hasFullText 1
inHoldings 1
isFullTextHit
isPrint
journalDatabaseRights – providerCode: PRVAWR
  databaseName: Taylor and Francis Online Journals
  customDbUrl:
  eissn: 2157-6009
  dateEnd: 99991231
  omitProxy: false
  ssIdentifier: ssj0012068
  issn: 0021-9266
  databaseCode: TFW
  dateStart: 19670301
  isFulltext: true
  titleUrlDefault: https://www.tandfonline.com
  providerName: Taylor & Francis
link http://cvtisr.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/link/0/eLvHCXMwrV3PS8MwFA4yFLz4YypOp-TgtaNN0yY9DtkQD8PDxN1KmqRQ0G6sVdl_73ttNhwiO-ith74HzUvee0m_fB8hdzxTTIVh7CXS5x7PBVLeJsbLudCRSXJosbNGbEJMJnI2S54cmrBysErcQ-ctUUSTq3Fxq6xaI-LwBjf0JTECDFgwgEds6yELQ-nHpTkdv2z-IzA_bnMxAhHAZH2H5zcvW9XJAaC3KEx_pOymDo2P_-ELTsiRa0LpsJ01p2TPll1y0MpSrrqo5OxQH2dkOiypcsQldJ7TxSuEgqpPvEMGSZKaokIdw3pF8US3KGmB0HckkZ0vV9RRPFGEl2A7T4s3yF_VOXkej6b3D55TYvA0VPDaE9aPrPF5aJiShvmWaaZNEqk4zmKtpchzY5jmiYViJ4SBuEsrjeJKMm1lGF6QTjkv7SWhXEdZxpSGbRQ0MyxWgTAW_7YGyvrgqEf4OgKpdjTlqJbxmgYbNtN28FIcvNQNXo8MNmaLlqdjl8EFhnfz8ugxCKVMhN8jyfeAp3VzcpK3MidpuMNpfz07UpcLwAQ2qRIa6zC--oPra3KISvcIfwuiPunUy3d7Q_b1R11Uy9tm1n8Bfkj6pg
linkProvider Taylor & Francis
linkToHtml http://cvtisr.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/link/0/eLvHCXMwrV1LT-MwEB7xWAQX2IVFlKcPew1KHCd2jghR8eypq-UWObYjRWLTqg2g_ntmErcCIcQBbjnEI8Vjz4ydb74P4I8oNNdxnAaZCkUgSkmUt5kNSiFNYrMSS-yiFZuQg4G6v89e98IQrJLO0GVHFNHGatrcdBk9h8RRCzcWJikhDHh0io9U1y_DaoK5lvjzh_1_iz8JPEy7aExQBBwz7-L5yMyb_OQh0G9ITN8F7TYT9be-4xt-wqavQ9lZt3B-wZKrt2GtU6acbZOYswd-7MDwrGbac5ewUcnGD-gNpp-pjQzjJLPVlKQMmxmjS92qZhWh34lHdjSZMc_yxAhhQhU9q_5jCJv-hr_9i-H5ZeDFGAKDSbwJpAsTZ0MRW66V5aHjhhubJTpNi9QYJcvSWm5E5jDfSWnR9copq4VW3DgVx7uwUo9qtwdMmKQouDZ4ksJ6hqc6ktbRD9dIuxAN9UDMXZAbz1ROghkPebQgNO0mL6fJy_3k9eB0MWzcUXV8NmCX_Lt4-eI6ipXKZNiD7LXH86a9PCk7pZM8_sTo4Xx55D4c4BA8pyqsreN0_wumT2D9cnh3m99eDW4OYIOE7wkNFyWHsNJMHt0R_DBPTTWdHLdb4AVr6P7Q
linkToPdf http://cvtisr.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/link/0/eLvHCXMwrV1Nb9QwEB2VAhWXUkorlhbwgWuqxHFs51hBVy1Fqx62am-R4w8pUptd7QbQ_ntmEu-KqkI9wC2HzEjx2DPPzvMbgM-iNtzkuUxKnYpEBEWSt6VLglC2cGVAiF33zSbUZKJvb8uryCZcRlol7aHDIBTR52pa3HMX1ow4usGNuEQSwYBnJ_hIsP4ZPEfoLGmST8c3mx8JPJVDMiYmAtqsL_H8zc2D8hQZ0A80TB_l7L4QjV__h0_Yg92IQtnpMG3ewJZv9-Hl0JdytU-tnCPt4y1MT1tmonIJmwU2v8NYMPOLLpFhlmSuWVIjw27F6Ei3aVlD3HdSkZ0tVixqPDHilxCeZ809JrDlAVyPz6ZfzpPYiiGxWMK7RPm08C4VueNGO556brl1ZWGkrKW1WoXgHLei9FjtlHIYeO21M8Jobr3O80PYbmetfwdM2KKuubG4j0I0w6XJlPP0uzUzPkVHIxDrCFQ26pRTu4y7KtvImQ6DV9HgVXHwRnCyMZsPQh1PGRxSeDcvn33Lcq1LlY6g_DPgVdcfnYShz0mVP-H0eD07qpgM0AR3qRqRdS7f_4PrT7Bz9XVcfb-YXB7BK-p6T1S4rDiG7W7xw3-AF_Zn1ywXH_sF8BtgEv2C
openUrl ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fsummon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=An+analysis+of+plant+awareness+disparity+within+introductory+biology+textbook+images&rft.jtitle=Journal+of+biological+education&rft.au=Brownlee%2C+Kristi&rft.au=Parsley%2C+Kathryn+M.&rft.au=Sabel%2C+Jaime+L.&rft.date=2023-03-15&rft.issn=0021-9266&rft.eissn=2157-6009&rft.volume=57&rft.issue=2&rft.spage=422&rft.epage=431&rft_id=info:doi/10.1080%2F00219266.2021.1920301&rft.externalDBID=n%2Fa&rft.externalDocID=10_1080_00219266_2021_1920301
thumbnail_l http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/lc.gif&issn=0021-9266&client=summon
thumbnail_m http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/mc.gif&issn=0021-9266&client=summon
thumbnail_s http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/sc.gif&issn=0021-9266&client=summon