International Teacher Education Conference 2014 1

International Teacher Education Conference 2014
The Impact of Teaching Biomimicry to Enhance Thinking Skills for Students of
Art Education in Higher Education
Abeer A Alawad ª Yassir M Mahgoub b*
ª BA(hons), MA, PhD, Assistant Professor, King Abdulaziz University, Faculty of Home Economics , Department of Housing and Home
Management, track of Interior Design
b
BA(hons), MA, PhD , Associate Professor King Faisal University, Faculty of Education, Department of Art Education
Abstract
This paper studies the impact of teaching biomimicry to enhance thinking skills for students of art education in
higher education. Descriptive, analytical and experimental methods are used in this research. The results of the
study are expected to be beneficial for the development of students’ performance in higher Education. The study
sample consists of 30 students of the third level, batch 2012 – 2013, from the faculty of Education at the
University of Khartoum: Republic of the Sudan.
Biomimicry has a number of major benefits. Firstly, it offers spiritual development as it is an area that enables
us to meditate and appreciate God’s creation. Secondly, this subject makes students realize that nothing is
superfluous in nature: everything in nature has a purpose and a function. Thirdly, this subject can positively
impact early year’s education. The results showed that biomimicry has long-lasting effects skills such as selfreflection,
critical and creative thinking. Finally, these results indicated that biomimicry could positively impact
students’ design decisions and thinking skills. This skill is crucial for today’s visually dominant society. This
research has a number of practical recommendations for example, teachers should be teaching the subject of
biomimicry to students of art education in higher education.
Keywords. Teaching biomimicry, art education, higher education, thinking skills.
Introduction
Nature is inventive, synchronised and methodical. Furthermore, our natural world has stimulated and inspired
human beings throughout history. Nature can teach mankind about various systems, materials, structures and
designs. The term biomimicry stems from two Greek words ‘Bios’ which means life and ‘Mimesis ‘that means
imitation. The term biomimetics, which was coined by Otto H. Schmitt (Schmitt 1969), represents the studies
and imitation of nature’s methods, mechanisms and processes. Biomimicry involves emulating successes within
the natural world and this is a growing area of research within fields such as architecture, design, electronics,
biology and engineering. This multi-disciplinary approach operates on the basic belief that within its 3.8 billion
year history, nature has already found solutions to a myriad number of problems.
Primitive human tribes and cultures were dependent on nature to provide them with food, clothing, medicine
etc. Nowadays society seems reliant on the industrial world yet this often lacks sustainability and regeneration.
Biomimicry is a new way of observing and appreciating nature. It introduces an era based not on what we can
extract from the natural world, but on what we can learn from it (Benyus, 2002).
Life on Earth has evolved throughout its 3.8 billion years of existence. In comparison, humans have been
present for only a tiny fraction of this time period. Excluding humans, Earth’s inhabitants have endured billions
of years of life without consuming their ecological resources. Species alive today hold the secret to survival.
These species have learned how to survive, evolve, and adapt to their surroundings throughout time. Creating a
built environment, which functions more like the natural world may address human caused problems such as the
depletion of natural resources, global warming, pollution, overpopulation, starvation, etc. (Benyus, 1997).
E-mail address: aalawad@kau.edu.sa , yhamed@kfu.edu.sa
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