Differentiated Education on Teaching Notions of Plants’ Pathology
Assessment
IOANNIS VAGELAS1, STEFANOS LEONTOPOULOS2
1Department of Agriculture Crop Production and Rural Development,
University of Thessaly,
Fytokou str., N. Ionia, GR-38446, Volos,
GREECE
2School of Applied Arts and Sustainable Design,
Hellenic Open University,
Parodos Aristotelous 18, 26335 Patras,
GREECE
Abstract: - The learning workshop, in terms of the workshop of the course called Plant Pathology at
Technological Education Institute of Thessaly, was reinforced with two learning tools, the multi-formed
material as well as the paper of the project. The research study was conducted on a specific sample of students
in three consecutive academic years. Selective and short use of the multi-formed material can help the
assessment positively. The task paper, which is completed in every laboratory (lab) task, probably brings every
student into focus so as for him/her to comprehend the most the multiple approaches of the disease of the
plants, through the reasons that cause the plant disease (e.g., fungi), as well as the terminology used in the
course (e.g. genus and species of the pathogen).
Key-Words: - Multi-formed material, project paper, assessment, differentiae education, plant pathology,
education, university teaching.
Received: July 26, 2022. Revised: October 6, 2023. Accepted: November 12, 2023. Published: December 19, 2023.
1 Introduction
Human engagement with the environment is
primarily about the innate need for curiosity that can
lead to revelation. This phenomenon is more
pronounced in young children who are interested in
getting to know themselves, the environment that
surrounds them, animals and plants everything else
that comes into direct contact with them. Over time,
they ask about weather phenomena and their effect
on the environment, become interested in the
technical world, and ask questions about objects and
their properties. With observation they seek
information from various sources, design and carry
out investigations and simple experiments while for
a better understanding of various concepts, they use
tools, they dig, cut, connect, dissolve, use
instruments, etc. Like children, most adults always
seek to explore and educate themselves through life-
long learning programs and procedures, [1], [2].
Learning is achieved through self-activity. Self-
activity requires motivation to learn. Therefore,
teaching at any stage becomes effective when the
student operates under the influence of learning
motivation. Already at the time of F. Frobel, but
mainly after the appearance of "Reformist
Pedagogy" and above all with the pedagogical-
teaching movement of the "School of Work" it was
accepted by everyone that at any stage of
development, the student learns to act independently
but also to be happy by acting, learning and
creating, [3], [4], [5], [6]. The educational value that
knowledge provides to the one who acquires it,
depends to a great extent on the very method of
acquisition. Knowledge offered to students by the
"feed" so-called method does not affect the student's
education. On the contrary, knowledge acquired
through self-activity, and activation helps to a large
extent in a student’s education. The issue therefore
for the teacher at any level of education shifts to
motivating the learners to self-act. But it is known
and accepted by everyone that in order to act one
must be under the influence of motivation. The
stronger these motivations are, the greater the
intensity of the learner’s activity. The greatest art of
the teacher is therefore recommended in creating
learning motivation for his students. For this reason,
modern Psychology with the relatively branch of
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"Motivational Psychology" investigates the
possibilities of developing learning motivation in
learners, [7]. Therefore, the teacher who wishes to
create motivation for learning by knowing the
preferences of his students for the various drives,
tendencies, or needs, should create a temporary
situation that stimulates some "motive" of the
student. The more mastery this connection becomes,
the more intense the motivation to learn will be
created. Thus, the teacher's role is not only to
ascertain what the student has learned but to
motivate, [8], and to deepen the student's
observation by providing him with data, and
activities to increase curiosity and automatically
create motivation to learn (Figure 1).
Fig. 1: Triadic model of interdependence of the
learner's motivational psychology (4) when coming
into contact with a field of environmental education.
Where: 1-Teacher, 2-Motive, 3-The student's
curiosity, attitude, etc.
The process of learning in agricultural sciences is
mainly based on the use of as many senses as
possible during the act, which is achieved by
applying basic principles of learning such as
repetition, support, role plays, experiences,
simplification of goals, etc. More specifically, the
methodological approaches that are applied are
based on collaborative teaching and learning
processes. Depending on the topic, problem-solving,
and the project method, field study, and case study
are applied, which can be enriched with other
actions, such as the constructive approach,
brainstorming, concept mapping, role-playing,
simulation games, inquiry method, by asking
questions, experimental method, and surveys.
Through laboratory exercises, students enrich their
knowledge and vocabulary by understanding new
words and concepts, many of which they hear for
the first time. They are allowed to visit new,
interesting places like crop fields and gain new
knowledge and experiences. They learn to observe
the natural environment, plants, and their diseases
and to discover new knowledge inquisitively, to be
concerned and to search for information, and
generally to act independently.
Some of the basic principles in the education of
students are assessment as a continuous process and
the different ways of obtaining assessment
information, clarity in the formulation of objectives,
the use of a variety of methods, techniques,
strategies and materials, systematic teaching
strategies, the strengthening of motivation, the
connection with the student's experiences or
everyday life, the utilization of the student's
interests, the availability of materials and equipment
depending on the level of education, the cooperation
between teachers, and co-teaching, [9], [10], [11],
[12], [13], [14].
Regarding the Analytical curriculum, modern
approaches support the adaptations towards an
enriched analytical program (watering up the
curriculum) and the learning of the student in terms
of the content, methods, and product of the teaching,
[13], [14]. The Greek Ministry of Education has
proceeded with the adaptations of detailed study
programs for students attending different levels of
education (kindergarten, elementary, and high
school) and for different academic subjects.
However, universities do not provide educational
services to students with learning disabilities since
universities are involved in researching this issue
and do not apply for their own, [15].
Following the instructions of the Greek Ministry
of Education, the educational material of the
laboratory (lab) pursues some specific goals, has a
particular foundation, and form, and becomes
unique for every academic year. This happens so
that the trainees can be guided and assessed in the
same way. Therefore, each lab task is unique and is
conducted in a specific way and the student is
assessed at the end of each task according to the
project work-paper. The workshop course of Plant
Pathology was adjusted to these new demands and
besides the classic way that was mentioned above,
the tuition of the workshop tasks was reinforced
with the use of model multi-formed material
through pictures or short videos in terms of the
workshop, so that each trainee understands better
the lab examples. This is something that helps the
teacher-tutor gain some important benefits, such as
improving his/her teaching strategy, by getting
feedback, as he/she gets involved in the effort that
the students make to comprehend the workshop.
This task is aimed at the teaching strategy as well as
at the process of finding other ways to accomplish
particular goals.
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This research work, utilizing the relevant
instructions of the Pedagogical Institute of Greece,
aims to detect the most suitable teaching strategy so
that the students can understand the laboratory
exercises in more detail through the polymorphic
material, [16], [17], [18].
2 Materials and Methods
Living organisms (plants, animals, autotrophs, or
heterotrophs), are governed by general and specific
morphological characteristics. These particular
features are closely related to definitions that
correspond to actual concepts. So, a child can very
easily distinguish the mammal "dog" from the
mammal "cat" without knowing their scientific
name. These particular features may have a common
name for a morphological feature of the organism
such as the leaf of a plant. Thus, a child can very
easily distinguish a leaf of wheat from a leaf of
cotton without knowing the scientific value of each
of them. However, things are more difficult in the
case of distinguishing microorganisms, such as
fungi, perhaps because we cannot easily observe
them. These real concepts, scientific terms, or
cognitive goals, are simply repetitive and respond to
the image we see by activating the psychomotor
activities e.g., a diseased plant has yellow leaves.
The diseased plant is different from the healthy
plant, so a child would easily categorize the two
plants based on their appearance (color, growth,
etc.). From this observation, it is immediately
noticeable that the above two symptoms describe a
possible infection of the plant by some pathogenic
cause, but this is not certain, since the same
symptoms can appear in case of lack of fertilization,
water, adverse weather conditions, tissue injuries,
etc. Finding the possible cause of the appearance of
these symptoms motivates the interest to learn in the
course of plant protection. This repetition of the
same concepts outside of memorization with
collaboration gives learners suitable information
about the organism that are studying, and with
simple logic (dissociative logic) the categorization is
simpler. With the above example, the separation and
ranking of the two relationships follow the model of
Figure 2, where the evolutionary path of awareness
(self-activity with observation) to knowledge at the
beginning of engagement (motivation) is recorded.
Fig. 2: Evolutionary procedure of self-efficacy in
the learning process with the environment.
Teaching agricultural sciences, particularly
teaching the subject of plants' pathology is directly
associated with the disease caused by some
pathogenic microorganism (the cause of disease)
such as the fungus, and the microorganism is
classified further in the genus and species by the
morphology of specific exogenous forms, characters
of the sexual or the asexual reproduction e.g by the
formation of conidia, which are borne on specialized
stalks called conidiophores (asexual reproduction in
the phylum Ascomycota). Until recently, the goals
of the workshop tasks were based on the
examination of several samples of the plants, as well
as on the observation of several species or genus of
fungi (cause), through some laboratory cultivations;
thus, the students were able to acknowledge the
morphological characters (exogenous forms,
characters of the sexual or the asexual
reproduction), that the diagnosis of the cause
appeared to have. After finishing the workshop
tasks, the assessment was held using questions,
presentation of the diseased plant parts, and
diagnosis of the morphological kinds of the
taxonomy of fungi in microscopic samples. In other
words, there was the traditional examination, where
the teachers assessed only once to which extent
trainees had comprehended all the workshops,
without getting into this process of assessment for
each lab task separately. Lately, the teaching
strategy and, even more, the teaching of the
workshop, were introduced to the multi-formed
material which aims at achieving a more effective
connection between the notions and the natural
observation of the fungi (cause). For example, the
infection of the plants by the fungi that belong to the
genus of Oidium species (Fungi; Ascomycota;
Erysiphales; Erysiphaceae), can be explained
through a short video, where the conidia (asexual
fruiting bodies) of the fungi grow, those provide
texture mycelium, further, the mycelium becomes
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parasite for the cells of the host plant, and creates
fruition (fruiting bodies, fundamental to the basic
taxonomy), of i) asexual reproduction (short
conidiophores; with chains of conidia) and ii) sexual
reproduction (cleistothecia, an ascocarp - the
fruiting body - which contains the ascus and the
ascospores). Both asexual and sexually fruiting
body reproduction allow the new plant infections
caused by the conidia or the ascospores in
Ascomycetes (the phylum Ascomycota)
[19], [20],
[21].
The purpose of this course is to prepare the
students to be able to discriminate the diseased
plant’s tissues and define the group that the
pathogenic cause based on fungi taxonomy. This
purpose is accomplished by attending the
corresponding course, where the notions of the
pathology of plants are directly connected to some
microscopic preparations; indirectly, students come
close to finding the answers to the potential cause of
the plant disease through ‘clinical’ and the basic of
fungi taxonomic knowledge, concepts, skills and
other possibilities that the laboratory of plant
pathology provides. For the application of the
above-mentioned purposes the teaching materials
that they were used were multi-formed material,
models taken from the internet, and video projector,
case studies, [22], [23], [24], (infected plants or
plant material with symptoms, cultures of fungi and
use of the microscope, workshop handbooks, books
of plants' pathology.
In order to assess the use of the materials
provided three methods of lab teaching (A, B, and
C) were applied. The presented research work is
about the results of the assessment of several groups
of students in two workshops during three
consecutive academic years (2016, 2017, and 2018)
at the workshop of Phytopathology (Pathology of
plants) of the 4rth semester, in the Department of
Agricultural Engineering Technologists at
University of Applied Sciences of Thessaly. In all
cases, the assessment was held with the use of
project papers (70%) and through final examination
in the traditional way, which was mentioned above
(30%).
Method A (applied in academic year 2016). The
task paper was completed every 5 workshops. The
material of the lab task was analyzed through the
video projector which was based on a series of
detailed slides (program of PowerPoint) making the
most of the workshop material with lots of
examples. The duration of this presentation covered
two hours (out of three) most of the time. Shortly
after that, and during the one hour left, the students
briefly observed the samples of the lab task through
the microscope (the number and the kind of samples
used were the same in every academic year during
which this project was being studied).
Method B (applied in the academic year 2017).
The task paper was completed every three
workshops. The material of the lab task was
presented through the video projector using a series
of slides (program PowerPoint) covering the main
points of the workshop with some chosen examples.
The duration of this presentation was not more than
one teaching hour. For the following two hours,
each student had enough time to observe in detail
his/her concoctions and set several questions to the
trainers (this could not happen in the previous
academic year 2016 as there was not enough time).
Method C (applied in the academic year 2018).
The task paper was completed in every workshop.
The material of the workshop task was presented
through the video projector using a series of slides
(program PowerPoint) covering the main points of
the workshop with a few chosen examples. The
duration of this presentation did not exceed 20
minutes. For the time left, each student had the
opportunity to observe in detail his/her concoctions
(lab samples), set questions, and compare his/her
findings to the slides of the presentations, as well as
to the workshop manuals and books that were
provided for this purpose.
The educational equipment used in the workshop
were: 18 to 19 microscopes, one for each student,
where he/she can have up to 20 observations the
most, in each workshop, so as for him/her to
comprehend fully the workshop task. All data were
analyzed using the statistical package MINITAB
Release 19.2.0.
3 Results
In all three academic years of the studies, there is a
large percentage of students who do not attend the
course. This percentage is about 25,3% ± 0,67 (24%
the minimum and 26,1 the maximum percentage of
the students' leak respectively) and doesn't differ
statistically, p=0,754, every academic year; while
the percentage of participation until the final
examination is 74,67% ± 0,67 (73,9% and 76% the
minimum and maximum percentage of attendance
correspondingly) and doesn't differ statistically, as
well, (p=0,354, every academic year). However, the
total number of students in laboratories increases in
their number per academic year or study (Figure 3),
outgrowing the admissible number of students per
lab as presented by the discontinuous line in Figure
3.
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Fig. 3: Total number of students trained in the two
study laboratories per academic year. The dotted
line defines the maximum number of trained
students in the two study laboratories per academic
year.
In all three academic years of attendance, the
proportion of students who participated in the
program showed a significant statistical difference
between the two academic years (Figure 4). During
the academic year of 2018, the most notable
percentage of success was noted down, while the
smallest percentage of success was noted down
during the academic year 2016 (Figure 4). Also,
during the academic year 2018, grades higher than
6/10 show the highest frequency, about the low
scores of the other academic years of the study.
Fig. 4: Success rates of students in the two study
labs per academic year. In parentheses (in each bar),
the mean of student returns per academic year is
given ± the statistical error. Means were determined
after analysis of variance (ANOVA) with analysis
of one factor (year), while separation and
differences of means were determined by letters α
and β with Tukey's test.
By the observation of Figure 5, we can conclude
that the specific application of the same practices in
the lab by the specific sample of students differs
according to the methods applied. More specifically,
method A presents a serious disadvantage in
comparison with method B and mainly with method
C, where the percentages of success and failure are
about the same for both methods in questions and
for the periods of study (Methods B and C) in this
work (Figure 5).
Fig. 5: Percentages (%) of pass and fail grades of
students in the two study laboratories per academic
year.
4 Discussion
Teaching plant pathology to students is a challenge
for university teachers. Nowadays, it is well agreed
that students are not alike and each faces different
challenges and difficulties, [25], [26], [27]. In
addition to the difficulties that exist due to the
participation of a new teaching subject like plant
pathology, about which students have heard little or
nothing, the difficulty in understanding the
definitions and morphological characteristics of
microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria, some
students may also have learning difficulties or be
charismatic. Thus, although the majority of students
tend to have the same cognitive characteristics, there
is also a portion of students who need special
treatment since this diversity can have both positive
and negative effects, [28], [29], [30], [31]. To date,
numerous studies have concluded that the
population of students with learning difficulties
constitutes the largest percentage of students with
special educational needs, [11], [13], [14], [32]. For
this reason, the need to offer multi-level help to
those students who need it is imperative. According
to, [32], "learning disabilities are not a one-
dimensional category". In contrast, there is great
heterogeneity and difficulties in language, reading,
writing, and mathematics. So, according to studies
by the above authors, the difficulties faced by
students with learning difficulties may concern
visual or auditory perception and processing,
phonological awareness, oral language, vocabulary
development, understanding oral language, syntactic
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awareness and morphological awareness, factors
influencing reading performance and
comprehension, decoding and fluency. Memory
difficulties are also linked to learning difficulties
and involve both short-term and long-term memory.
For all the above reasons it is important to consider
the use of new technologies and new teaching tools
especially when it comes to teaching a subject for
which the student has been taught little in the past,
[33], [34], [35], [36], [37], [38], [39], [40].
According to the above-mentioned factors and
the principles of differentiated instruction, the
average student does not exist. This implies that
students acquire knowledge through active learning
and problem-solving, while at the same time being
taught how to think and learn. It is therefore
understood that differentiated teaching responds to
the demand of the times for respect for the
particularities and needs of the student, part of
which are the different ways of thinking and the
different ways of learning of students, [41], [42].
According to Gardner’s criteria, [43], the following
8 types of intelligence have been recognized:
linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, kinesthetic,
musical, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and
naturalistic. Differentiated instruction is essentially
a mix of small laboratory-group instruction,
individualized intervention, and classic class-
laboratory instruction. The areas in which
differentiation takes place are content, process, and
learning products, [44]. In contrast to traditional
teaching, which addresses an assumed "average"
student with the same material and the same
assessment method for all, differentiated teaching
materials of graded difficulty are used, and teachers
take multiple intelligences into account when
designing activities in, [43]. It is therefore
understandable that the goal of differentiated
instruction is to highlight the value of each student
and integrate them into the learning environment.
Regarding the learning environment and the
general climate of the class-laboratory room, an
important role is played by the emotions
experienced by students, [45]. According to, [46], in
order to feel academically adequate and emotionally
secure, students should engage in projects
commensurate with their skills and abilities.
However, undoubtedly, the purpose of the teacher is
not to set lower goals for some students but to
provide the conditions that will allow everyone to
develop as much as possible, [47], [48].
However, before the teacher proceeds, he should
clarify, among other things, what his students can do
after the end of the teaching unit in relation to what
they have learned, [41]. If the students manage to
enjoy their success both individually and at the
group level, then the teacher will also have in his
hands a basic tool of encouragement and
empowerment in the classroom laboratory, [46].
Furthermore, the class-laboratory room should be
organized in a way that allows for different ways of
working, interaction, and collaboration between
students. The class-laboratory room should also be
organized so that the arrangement of desks and
furniture is suitable for participant interaction. In
general, a welcoming learning environment should
be created and the class-laboratory room organized
in a way that provides flexibility, comfort, and
safety while good lighting should also be taken into
account. The availability of material depends on the
level of education (printed material, supervisory
material, educational software, computer, etc.), the
visual marking of the location of the materials (e.g.
signs, photos, etc.), the comfortable access to the
students to the materials but also the decoration of
the class-laboratory room to create a pleasant
environment that simultaneously enhances the
learning process (e.g. material related to academic
subjects, visualized examples, graphs, student
assignments, etc) help to create a positive education
climate which motivates the students and favors
their expression, communication, interaction and
active participation, [9], [32], [49]. On the contrary,
we should avoid the organization of the class-
laboratory room that does not allow different ways
of working and the cooperation of the students, the
absence of flexibility and organization of activities
at individual and group levels, the poor environment
in terms of material and equipment, the difficulties
of access of the students in the available material,
the inappropriate lighting of the room but also the
proximity of the class-laboratory room close to
disruptive factors and noise sources.
It is also believed that an important role could be
played by the systematic active participation of
teachers in experiential, laboratory-type courses.
However, the difficulty for the teacher appears to
motivate students to respond to the laboratory
activities. For this reason, both teaching and student
participation in various laboratory activities are
believed to be more effective when the student
operates under the influence of learning motivation
and inclusion. Differentiated teaching is also
considered a means of implementing inclusion,
where each student is a separate entity and must be
treated accordingly, [50]. According to, [51], the
modern education system is no longer the only
vehicle for the dissemination of knowledge, but one
among the multiple resulting from the combination
of traditional and new ways of transferring
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knowledge and information. The readjustment of the
educational program should aim at the application
of teaching methods that enhance in-depth learning,
and on the other hand at revising and enriching the
taught material and adapting it to the requirements
of these students so that the educational process
becomes easier and attractive.
Using various media, education provided in the
laboratory must support properly, and educate
students with creative activities that hold their
interest in a variety of ways in an educational
environment that respects their individuality and
diversity. For example, [52], in their paper, present
the development of an integrated online system for
teaching and learning of microscopic pathology and
exemplify how it can be used. Besides the use of
technology, we should not forget that according to,
[44], elements that characterize an effective learning
community are both the admission that each person
should feel welcome and that everyone should
contribute to making everyone feel welcome, as and
the mutual respect which is non-negotiable, but also
the sense of security on a physical and emotional
level. Also, an effective learning community must
offer equity by providing equal learning
opportunities and appropriate support with
simultaneous collaboration between teachers and
students and between students so that the
expectations of everyone involved are met.
However, we should not forget the opinion of, [53],
as it is mentioned in, [54], that education has as its
philosophical starting point that the educational
needs of some children should not be treated as
separate difficulties but as issues that generally
concern the way the education system itself
operates.
Plant pathology courses are offered worldwide,
[55]. It evolves towards multi-disciplinarity by
mingling with several allied subjects to cater to the
needs of the times. Because of its complexity,
teaching plant pathology remains a major challenge
for both teachers and students, [56]. According to,
[57], the importance of a good balance between
theory and practical activities as well as the need for
lifelong learning in such a field, together with the
possible innovations in teaching methodologies
affect the effectiveness of plant protection courses
such as phytopathology. This balance became more
difficult to apply during the Covid-19 period where
the majority of the Universities and classes applied
distance learning methods. For example, [58], and
[59], in their article present strategies and
regulations applied to university teaching and reflect
upon the achievements reached and the challenges
in plant pathology education in its virtual form.
From the above descriptions of the two
introduced learning tools, the multiform material,
and the worksheet, it results that it can lead to the
failure of the learner to follow the laboratory
exercises when the two tools are used extensively
and without planning respectively. The differences
that emerged from the three teaching methods are
due to the different ways of presenting and
explaining the same laboratory material to the
students. The didactic laboratory strategy of the
detailed presence of the laboratory exercise
extensively limiting the time of the exercise, led the
trainees to a significant failure, combined with the
late mode of examination of the students. The
careful use of the polymorphic material properly
combined with the laboratory exercise showed
better results. In this case (method B), the failure
rate remained high due to the late examination time
of the students. In the last case (method C), the
correct use of the polymorphic material by
providing sufficient time for the learners to
understand the concepts of the laboratory samples
proves to be more edifying, when it involves the
learner actively, in understanding the new questions
by completing the corresponding worksheet in each
laboratory module. Furthermore, we could assume
that the way of presenting the laboratory exercise
with the polymorphic material facilitates the
student's understanding of phytopathological
concepts by organizing in their memory the levels of
perception of these concepts. Thus, the meaningful
representations of the videos and the shapes or
images are organized in the practitioner's (student)
memory to solve the problem.
The extensive information of teaching method A
shows that the simple problem through intense
information becomes huge, possibly exceeding the
capacity of the working memory, creating gaps and
unsolved questions or even misunderstandings in the
student. These gaps and consequences are limited,
(teaching methods B and C), by observation and
laboratory exercise and are removed from the
student's memory. The active participation of the
students in the laboratory exercise, (teaching
methods B and C), shows that the students develop a
high level of skills and approach to knowledge,
which is in agreement with the high grades during
the evaluation of the assessment. Regarding grade
differentiation among the examined methods, it is
agreed that the most basic element differentiating
the newer views of psychology about the older ones
is the great emphasis placed on the self-confidence
and self-worth of the learner. The student who
believes in his abilities - even under the influence of
weak motivation to learn - is very likely to be
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active, because he hopes that he will succeed in his
endeavor. On the contrary, the one who has low
self-esteem and considers his abilities to be lower
than others, fearing that one more failure will
accumulate to his credit, does not try and therefore
does not take action.
The selective presentation, (teaching methods B
and C), shows that it precedes and reinforces the
learning of the concepts through the laboratory
exercise and makes it easier due to the time in order
to cover gaps and questions, (mainly teaching
method C), by asking and discussing between
student and teacher. This observation agreed with
that of, [60], study, where their results indicated that
case studies helped students develop the critical
thinking skills required to diagnose plant health
problems while actively engaging them in the
course content. The timing of the assessment is
equally important because when this is delayed,
gaps are reinforced and the logical structure of the
understanding of the workshop is distorted,
increasing failure. Finally, introducing new skills
and abilities, such as communication, critical
thinking, writing, and international experience is
very useful, [57].
5 Conclusions
Today's University education is multifaceted and for
this reason, education today is not only a learning
process. Through the educational process, it not
only provides knowledge and education but also
prepares students for their integration into society.
In addition to the knowledge and information
provided at universities, it is necessary to shape
those conditions so that students develop, in
addition to their abilities, other skills so that they
can cope with various challenges that they may face
in their lives. From the above description of these
two introductory learning tools of the polymorphic
material, it occurs that it can lead to the failure of
the student to participate in the lab tests when these
two tools are widely used and without proper
preparation. The differences that occurred between
these three methods of teaching are due to the
different types of presentation and the same lab
material used. In the presented work, the evaluation
and the most effective way of teaching
phytopathological concepts appears to be achieved
by the selective, brief presentation of the concepts
with the polymorphic material, preparing the student
to understand the laboratory exercise. With the
laboratory exercise, the student is encouraged to
understand the concepts, express questions, and fill
in the gaps in the presentation. The strong
intervention of the teacher during the laboratory
exercise increases its persuasiveness, encouraging
the student while the worksheet positively
intervenes by reducing failure due to student
indifference. Finally, students and teachers now
have easy access to images, simulations, and all
types of information and new possibilities for
communicating among them, sharing teaching
material, and exchanging experiences. It will be
very useful to repeat this research in a broader range
of subjects besides plant pathology in the future. It
is also important to incorporate at Universities’
plant protection educational programs that the new
generation of students must be capable of critical
thinking, adaptable to future changes, flexible in
different difficulties, and, able to communicate and
work as a team with other plant protectionists,
farmers, and scientists.
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Contribution of Individual Authors to the article:
- Ioannis Vagelas carried out the conceptualization,
investigation, writing-original draft preparation,
writing-review, and editing, visualization, and
supervision.
- Stefanos Leontopoulos carried out the
conceptualization, writing review and editing, and
visualization.
Sources of Funding for Research Presented in a
Scientific Article or Scientific Article Itself
No funding was received for conducting this study.
Conflict of Interest
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare
that are relevant to the content of this article.
Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0
(Attribution 4.0 International, CC BY 4.0): This
article is published under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License 4.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en
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E-ISSN: 2224-3410
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