Journal of Baltic Science Education

741-742

Authors: Editorial Board

Cover page, Vol. 21, No. 5, JBSE

744-746

Authors: Svatava Janoušková, Martin Bílek

The world faces several crises in the last years. There have been more active conflicts presently than at any time since 1945. More than 82 million refugees must live away from their homes. The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a dramatic loss of human life worldwide and caused economic and social disruption, whose further consequences related to human health and further aspects of well-being can be only estimated so far. Many countries are fighting climate change for a long time and this “fight” has been disrupted by unprecedented energy crises that changes our energy goals from day to day. We are surrounded by uncertainty and worries about the future which rises of populist forces even in the democratic part of the world. So, there is no doubt that we are living through challenging times. There are many strategies for coping with these challenges, one of them is acceptance. It allows us to see reality in the present moment and to move forward. But still, there will likely be many options to choose. We believe that science education is (can become) a means for explaining possibilities and our chances. At least in some of the above crises. And sustainable development indicators with good narratives can be effective educational and information tools bringing evidence about changes in the society and environment (Janoušková et al., 2022).

762-787

Authors: Kateřina Chroustová, Andrej Šorgo, Martin Bílek, Martin Rusek

In this research, a model to determine chemistry teachers’ acceptance of educational software in secondary education is proposed. The model extends the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model. Data were collected from 556 Czech chemistry teachers and analysed using structural equation modelling. With respect to the significant differences among technology users and various types of nonusers, the research model for each user group was tested too. The results showed significant differences in the individual models for each group of technology user. In the model for ‘current users’ of educational software, the influence of facilitating conditions on current users’ use of educational software behavioural intention is stressed. In addition, non-planning users’ behavioural intention seems to be influenced by their personal innovativeness in IT, social influence, and performance expectancy. Behavioural intention and attitude towards using educational software affect each of the tested models, with attitudes being an even stronger predictor of educational software usage than behavioural intention. The models contribute to the understanding of teachers’ acceptance of educational software, which can be utilized in both pre- and in-service teacher training, considering technology mastery a necessary teacher competence.

801-816

Authors: Hiroyoshi Kinoshita

The importance of critical thinking in science education is widely recognized. However, little research has been conducted on the teaching of critical thinking by teachers. If actual teaching conditions of teachers in the classroom are clarified, effective teaching methods for developing critical thinking in students could be developed. This study administered a questionnaire survey to ascertain how science teachers teach critical thinking in Japanese primary schools. The study population consisted of 291 Japanese primary school teachers with teaching careers spanning 1–38 years. The survey revealed the following. (1) Teachers taught students the importance of conducting experiments by themselves to obtain results. However, teachers did not sufficiently teach students the need to conduct multiple experiments before reaching a conclusion, improve data reliability before making decisions, or examine their conclusions carefully given incomplete data. (2) Compared to teachers with shorter teaching careers, teachers with longer careers taught critical thinking more effectively, particularly in terms of emphasizing positivity and maintaining a healthy skepticism. (3) Teachers who taught emphasized positivity and encouraged multifaceted thinking were more likely to teach about emphasized evidence. The corresponding causal relationship analysis suggests that teaching that emphasizes positivity and encourages multifaceted thinking is key to promoting evidence-oriented instruction.

836-848

Authors: Polonca Legvart, Metka Kordigel Aberšek, Maja Kerneža

Effective natural science teaching in primary schools helps students to form and change their conceptions about nature and natural processes. This is only possible through communicating about learners’ existing misconceptions and the process of transforming them into correct scientific concepts – using a socio-constructivist learning approach. The aim of this study was to find out what happens when the natural science teaching/learning process moves into digital learning environments. Immediately after the end of the Covid-induced school lock down, a sample of 183 first-, second- and third-grade teachers in Slovenia were asked to report about what happened in their science classes during the 11-week school lock down. The results reveal problems originating in very limited digital literacy competences as well as a lack of basic skills (in the first grade), and slowly emerging basic literacy in grades two and three. This had a great impact on the communication between teachers and students and between students themselves. According to research results, the problem significantly affects science teaching and is particularly urgent in didactics of chemistry and physics.

862-874

Authors: Henriette Manishimwe, William Aino Shivoga, Venuste Nsengimana

Attitude has been regarded as a motivating feeling for the learning of biology. However, how inquiry-based learning contributes to attitude change towards the learning of biology has not yet been studied in Rwanda. This study intends to determine the effect of inquiry-based learning on students’ attitudes toward learning biology. A sample of 228 secondary school students at the upper secondary level in Rwanda was used. A quasi-experimental design with pre-and post-test was employed. One group was randomly assigned to the control group (N = 109) under the conventional teaching method, while the second group participated as the experimental group (N = 119) under the inquiry-based learning method. Biology attitude questionnaire (BAQ) was tested and a Pearson reliability of .89 coefficient was found, and hence the BAQ was adopted and used for the control and treatment groups before and after learning microbiology. Results asserted a significant effect of intervention in favor of the experimental group. However, a significant effect of the treatment on students’ attitude change in relation to gender was not identified. The study recommends using inquiry-based learning to promote attitude toward learning biology as it raises students’ interest to learning biology and alleviates the difficulty of its concepts.

888-901

Authors: Nyet Moi Siew, Mohammad Syafiq Abd Rahman

This study was conducted to examine the effects of the socio-scientific issue (SSI) approach assisted by the future thinking map (FTM) on five constructs of future thinking, namely i) understanding the current situation, ii) identifying the trends, iii) analyzing the relevant drivers, iv) synthesizing the possibilities or needs of the future and v) choosing with the justification of the desired future. The future-thinking test instrument was developed to measure the level of future thinking. A quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test control group design was employed. A total of 255 form four students (age 16) from three randomly selected rural secondary schools in Tawau District, Malaysia were assigned to i) SSI-FTM (n = 85), ii) SSI (n = 85), and iii) conventional (CV, n = 85) teaching and learning (TL) strategies. The results of the MANCOVA analysis showed that there was a statistically significant effect across all three groups of TL strategies. The ANCOVA analysis showed that there was a statistically significant effect of the SSI-FTM TL strategies compared to the SSI and CV TL strategies on the five future thinking constructs. The quasi-experimental study proves that the SSI-FTM TL strategy is effective in nurturing future thinking among form four students in science lessons.