The scientific collections as a source of botanical learning: the case FES-Cuautitlan, UNAM

Abstract

Scientific collections are reservoirs of biological knowledge that contain basic information on the biological diversity of a particular place and time, they constitute the cornerstone for taxonomic, biogeographic and conservation studies. The participation of the botanical collections (Herbarium and Botanical Garden) in the inventory, knowledge and conservation of the Mexican flora is also as important as their role in the formation and training of students. In the Facultad de Estudios Superiores Cuautitlan de la Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (FESC-UNAM), both a Herbarium and a Botanical Garden are collections that fulfill both research and teaching purposes in the Agricultural Engineering career. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the importance of scientific botanical collections in the learning of botany among the students, for this, a virtual survey of 12 questions was designed and applied to 120 students. The questions were posed to define the knowledge, perception and expectations generated by scientific collections as vectors for learning basic botany. The results indicate that the Botanical Garden is the most visited, while the FESC Herbarium is little frequented; however, the Herbarium is the most widely used collection in Agricultural Engineering career, where most students consider the use of scientific collections to be beneficial in their academic development. The biological collections preserved in the FES-Cuautitlan, both the Herbarium and the Botanical Garden, fully comply with research, scientific dissemination and teaching tasks, particularly this last task is key for the correct learning of the students.