Journal of Baltic Science Education

949-950

Authors: Editorial Board

Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 22, No. 6, 2023 ISSN 1648-3898 /Print/, ISSN 2538-7138 /Online/

952-955

Authors: Boris Aberšek

From Socrates onwards, the Greek cultural life began to take shape, and the whole nature of philosophical and scientific thought also began to change. From the natural sciences, interest shifted towards man and his societal role. Starting with the Sophists, a critical look at the surviving myths became pivotal at the time. Even if humans are still unable to get answers to all the riddles of nature, for which, among other things, mythology offers supernatural explanations, we (as human beings) do realize that we are only human. And humans need to learn to live together in different forms of social life. The Sophists were interested in man and his place in society. Socrates used conversations and tried to help his interlocutors generate valid reasoning and knowledge. According to him, proper knowledge must arise inside the individual, which is today's constructivist approach; no one can instill knowledge in the individual from the outside. Only knowledge that comes from within is true understanding. Socrates also wanted to find a solid basis for human knowledge. He believed he had found it in human reason.

974-990

Authors: İsmail Dönmez

Various studies have reported that students have limited, stereotypical perceptions of STEM fields. However, few studies have attempted to evaluate interventions undertaken with the aim of changing female student’s perceptions of STEM professions. This research aimed to examine the changes in mental images among female students as a result of interacting with STEM professionals in a STEM camp. The Draw-a-Scientist Test was revised, and female students were asked to draw and describe STEM professionals at work before and after attending STEM camp. The participating students attended workshops and career talks given by STEM professionals. The findings showed that the perceptions of the participating female students regarding gender images of STEM professionals changed. After the STEM camp, it was also observed that knowledge about STEM professionals and the content of their work had increased. The studied intervention program for female students positively contributed to changes in the students’ mental images of STEM professionals. Therefore, it is recommended that female students interact with professionals working in STEM fields to change their perceptions of those fields.

1011-1024

Authors: Sare Asli, Zinab Safi, Abeer Shehadeh-Nasser, Avi Hofstein, Muhamad Hugerat

The use of stories in science education can make science more interesting and engaging, illustrate concepts, and provide opportunities for contextual and meaningful learning. Also, integrating a scientific story in which the sustainability goals are incorporated can lead to increasing students’ motivation to learn as well as improve and facilitate the learning process. Having children ask questions allows the educator to learn about the child's insights, views, level of interest, motivation for learning, and knowledge. Therefore, this study focuses on the relationship between science storytelling, questioning, and sustainability among elementary school students. It compares the levels of questioning among primary students who learned a sustainability story in segments versus those who learned the story in its entirety. A quantitative study was conducted involving 120 second graders from the Arab sector in Israel. The results revealed a significant difference in the two groups’ level of questions: the students in the experimental group, who learned the story in segments, asked higher-level questions than those in the control group. The study concluded that learning a scientific story in segments proved effective in enhancing primary students' questioning ability, and that there was a notable preference for this segmented storytelling approach over traditional whole unit learning methods.

1038-1049

Authors: Ke Ma, Bei-He Hui

This study employed a bibliometric analysis of research on attitudes in STEM education to identify patterns and themes within scholarly publications to address a research gap in the current literature. The publications indexed in the SCOPUS database on attitudes and STEM were analyzed to collect data. 173 articles were chosen for analysis. Bibliometric analysis revealed an upward trend in research publications between 2008-2022, with notable increases in 2013 and 2018 and between 2018 and 2022. Curtin University was the institution that contributed the most to the literature during this period. The results also showed that institutions from Australia, Taiwan, and the United States contributed equally to research on attitudes and STEM. Another finding is that the United States had the most publications on attitudes and STEM. The International Journal of Science Education was cited the most, followed closely by The Journal of Research in Science Teaching and Science Education. Barry J. Fraser and Jaquelynne S. Eccles are authors who were cited more than one hundred times in the publications. Based on the findings, implications for further studies are drawn.

1063-1073

Authors: Rauno Neito, Elisa Vilhunen, Jari Lavonen, Kaido Reivelt

Enhancing interest in physics learning has been an important component of education policy and policy implementation for decades. However, in many countries, student interest in physics has not increased. The aim of this study was to predict situational interest using individual interest and the instructional activities students engaged in. Also, the suitability of the data collection approach to measure situational interest was assessed. A teaching module about real-world oscillations was implemented to 179 Estonian lower secondary school students. Data about situational interest were collected using the experience sampling method (ESM), which was measured three times during the module. The results indicated that gender, grade, and instructional activities did not predict situational interest. Individual interest was a significant predictor and correlation with situational interest increased with time, contrary to previous findings. The ESM approach used in this study was considered to be effective in disturbing students’ study flow minimally but may have affected the amount of missing data. This study contributes to the research done on student interest in a classroom setting by indicating a more complex relationship between situational and individual interest than previously suggested.

1089-1102

Authors: Teresa Zamalloa, Araitz Uskola, Ainara Achurra

The human nutrition model is relevant in Biology education. Researchers and policymakers propose the introduction of modelling practices in science education, including the representation of the model. Despite being scarce, previous studies have shown that the guideline given to students conditions their performance when representing their models. This study addresses how the context given to 79 preservice teachers (PSTs) in two cohorts at the end of a modelling sequence conditions the representations of the nutrition model constructed by them. The contexts were a child running and a lactose intolerant person. Written explanations and drawings of PSTs were analyzed according to the components-mechanisms-phenomena (CMP) framework. PSTs of both cohorts expressed a more developed nutrition model in a running context than in an intolerance context with respect to CMP aspects, which was shown by statistically significant differences. Therefore, the conclusion is that the context conditions the expression of the model. In this case, it was the context that appealed directly to the circulatory system and implied the use of energy, the one that led to a more complete representation of the human nutrition model.

1120-1136

Authors: Yi Zou, Xinyu Xue, Lizhen Jin, Xiao Huang, Yanbing Li

In recent years, developing students’ knowledge integration of specific topics through effective teaching methods has been a concern in science education. This study explored an alternative teaching method, which aims to help lower secondary school students develop their knowledge structure about buoyancy towards a logically integrated conceptual framework through enhancing their understanding of the nature of buoyancy. Specifically, this study constructed a conceptual framework on buoyancy and a set of matching test questions to map out the three levels of knowledge integration of students, and designed and implemented a teaching experiment of promoting students’ understanding of the nature of buoyancy. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis, it was found that the knowledge integration development of the treatment group was significantly better than that of the control group. The results indicated that enhancing students’ understanding of the nature of buoyancy can effectively improve their knowledge integration of buoyancy. Accordingly, improving knowledge integration through enhancing students’ understanding of the nature of the specific scientific concept may be a new direction for future research.

741-742

Authors: Editorial Board

Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 22, No. 5, 2023 ISSN 1648-3898 /Print/, ISSN 2538-7138 /Online/

744-748

Authors: Peter Demkanin

I have worked more than thirty years in physics education (as some of the readers of this journal), many years as a secondary school physics teacher in various curricula (as some of the readers), and more than 20 years at university doing research and preparing future physics teachers (as some or readers). I am also the author of a physics textbook for secondary education, and now I am working on a new one. Naturally, I would like to have the new textbook, like my other outputs, based on the current state of knowledge and well-developed and well-applied theories behind physics education. And here is the seed of the question - how does our journal contribute to raising the quality of our outputs – in my case, increasing the quality of physics education? I first look at the goals of physics education. Here, I use the most straightforward taxonomy of goals presented in (Demkanin 2013): goals related to attitudes of society to science, goals related to methods of science, and goals related to particular knowledge. The last one I split into two sub-goals – knowledge selected to develop methods and attitudes and knowledge selected to raise the quality of living and general scientific culture. Of course, the goals we can reach by means – by the methods of education – methods of teaching and learning. So, let's look at a few previous issues of JBSE and at the contributions having the potential to raise the quality of physics education. I have mentioned only some of the contributions I will probably use in the next few years. I tried to focus on physics education, not explicit chemistry or biology education, even if some of such articles could be fully relevant to my work.

767-780

Authors: Sufirman Arifin, Nyet Moi Siew

This study was conducted to i) ascertain the validity, reliability, and feasibility of a module based on the socioscientific issue approach and design thinking model (SIA-DT), and ii) assess its effects on the entrepreneurial creative thinking (ECT) in STEM education. The first phase of ECT module validation was conducted with the assistance of three expert evaluators and 32 students. A 5-point Likert scale questionnaire and the ECT test were used to collect data. The second phase consists of evaluation using a quasi-experimental design with a Pre-Post Test of Non-Equivalent Control Groups. A total of 64 Form Four students were divided into two groups: SIA-DT (n = 32) and control (n = 32). The ECT module has a high validity value and an acceptable Cronbach's alpha reliability of .92. The ECT Module's feasibility was substantiated by a mean score of 4.71. The results of the independent-sample t-test prove that there is a significant difference in the post-test for students in the SIA-DT group compared to the control group in ECT and five constructs of ECT. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate that the ECT Module is valid, reliable, and feasible in STEM education and that it is effective in enhancing students' ECT.

799-812

Authors: Peter Paul Canuto

Plant identification apps make learning about plants more convenient. This study explored the participants' perceptions of using three plant identification apps, PlantNet, PictureThis, and LeafSnap, as potential educational tools. Problems experienced, differences in perceptions, and the participants' most preferred apps were also determined. Through purposive sampling, the study engaged 162 primary pre-service teachers in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Philippines. Data were collected through a developed questionnaire and analysed quantitatively. The questionnaire was reliable with an identified single component for perception. Participants first explored and used the apps to identify local plants, thereafter, responding through an online questionnaire. Results showed that participants strongly perceived the apps as engaging, helpful in plant identification, easy to browse, providing details, effective as emerging tools, and significant for scientific literacy, except for consistency of results. There were significant differences, but with small effect sizes, indicating negligible differences in the perceptions of male and female participants regarding the apps' consistency of results and effectiveness. Weak internet connection was the primary issue affecting the apps' utilization. The pre-service teachers preferred LeafSnap over PictureThis and PlantNet. Conclusively, this study affirmed the potential of the apps for students learning about plants, further supporting their feasibility as emerging educational tools.

833-850

Authors: Gonca Keçeci

STEM education is included in education programs by many countries on a global scale. Pre-service teachers are also expected to apply STEM education in their future classrooms. The aim of the research was to determine how pre-service science teachers perceived STEM education, whether they adopted it or not, whether they thought of themselves as sufficient, and the environment and situations that affected their STEM experience. The understanding of the pre-service science teachers was tried to be determined before the theoretical STEM education, after the theoretical education and after the STEM application. The study group of the research consisted of a total of 66 pre-service teachers. Content analysis results of the interviews were carried out in three stages. It was found that there was no single STEM definition that pre-service science teachers agreed on. The training provided increased the STEM competency levels of pre-service science teachers. However, the majority of pre-service science teachers defined themselves as having intermediate competence in STEM education. Pre-service teachers adopt STEM education and believe that it will contribute to students. Pre-service science teachers had the most difficulty in disciplinary integration during the STEM theory and practice education. The most preferred model after both theoretical knowledge and application was the problem-based STEM model.

865-880

Authors: Ruying Li, Gaofeng Li

Exploring students’ systems thinking (ST) is essential in enhancing science learning, but existing studies have failed to understand students’ ST fully as it relates to ecological issues. This study aimed to fill the aforementioned literature gap by exploring lower-secondary school students’ ST regarding ecological issues. The Systems Thinking Test regarding Ecological Issues, which measures four ST skills (system organisation, behaviour, application, and evaluation), was administered to 1,092 lower-secondary school students. The results reveal low ST performance in ecological issues, with students finding it particularly difficult to identify interactions among components and understand system characteristics. Furthermore, most lacked reflective consciousness and consideration of the diverse dimensions of ecological issues, resulting in monocausal reasoning in system decision-making and evaluation. Comparatively, urban school students performed better than their rural counterparts; additionally, an item-level analysis revealed that climate warming was challenging for the students to understand. This study suggests that greater efforts should be made to address students’ drawbacks and that multi-perspectival teaching is necessary in the context of ecological issues. The addition of system decision-making and evaluation in assessments can enable a broader understanding of ST.

900-913

Authors: Qi Liu, Xiaoxia Tian, Younghwan Bang, Kyung Hee Park

The social responsibility of college students in the later stages of adolescence for sustainable development is emphasized, and the role of universities has become a crucial task. This study aimed to explore the level of college students' cognition, attitude, and behavior towards sustainable development and the association among them through the moderation effect of informal online learning. The difference verification and structural equation modeling were applied to 559 students who majored in science, and statistical validity was confirmed. Regarding the sustainable development level of college students, there was a significant difference in cognition, attitude, and behavior towards sustainable development between males and females, formal education, and informal online learning. Further, college students’ attitudes towards sustainable development played a significant mediating role between cognition and behavior. The study also found a significant moderation effect of informal online learning on students’ cognition and attitude toward sustainable development behavior. Accordingly, this study suggests that universities should systematically design educational programs to promote college students' behavioral change toward sustainable development through personal life-oriented learning courses.

929-944

Authors: Pingping Zhao, Chun-Yen Chang, Yueyang Shao, Zhi Liu, Hao Zhou, Jian Liu

Students’ problem-solving strategies and the differences among strategy groups were explored by analyzing the process data collected during student interactions with computer-based science items. Data were gathered from 1516 eleventh-grade students from 4 schools in China. Analyses of the sequences of students’ response actions revealed that the students were divided into four strategy groups when designing experiments to solve scientific problems: the scientific and rigorous strategy (18.5%), scientific and less rigorous strategy (25.4%), incomplete strategy (31.5%), and chaotic strategy (24.6%). The heatmaps of response actions for each strategy and the frequencies of the most representative response sequences were further explored to understand the students’ detailed trajectories. The results showed that successful problem solvers were generally inclined to explore all possibilities of experimental combinations and design experiments scientifically and rigorously based on the relevant scientific principles. Moreover, the timestamps of response actions were explored to show that the students who adopted the scientific and rigorous strategy spent more time seeking solutions, suggesting that students may need sufficient time to solve complex and authentic scientific problems. The findings enrich the literature on using process data to address theoretical issues in educational assessment and provide students with individualized instructional needs for teachers to improve students’ scientific problem-solving competency.

561-562

Authors: Editorial Board

Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 22, No. 4, 2023 ISSN 1648-3898 /Print/, ISSN 2538-7138 /Online/

564-567

Authors: Vincentas Lamanauskas

There is no doubt that environmental education at an early age is significant for human development. When we refer to an early age, we mean the preschool and the primary stage of education (preschool education institution and primary school). It is obvious that the foundations of personality are formed at this stage, primarily a positive attitude towards nature and the surrounding world. At this stage, the child begins to distinguish himself from the environment, an emotional and value attitude towards the environment, nature, himself, and other people, etc., is formed. On the other hand, knowledge corresponding to a certain age of a personality (e.g., ecological), norms and rules of interaction with nature are required, on the other hand, it is extremely important to develop empathy for nature through various activities (e.g., actively solving certain environmental problems). It can be reasonably stated that the formation of values, nature cognition and a sustainable lifestyle are three essential factors determining (describing) the importance of environmental education. Thus, environmental education at an early age not only helps to develop environmental awareness but also promotes abilities and the attitude, which can determine a sustainable and responsible lifestyle in the future. From this point of view, the continuity and sustainability of this education is extremely significant. Environmental education in primary school can have a long-term effect on children’s moral and worldview behaviour and contribute to sustainable development and global well-being. The period of primary education is a suitable and favourable environment for the formation of children’s positive and rational attitude towards the environment, promoting environmental awareness and developing a sustainable lifestyle.

579-599

Authors: Hana Choi, Ilho Yang, Seongun Kim, Sungman Lim

An integrated understanding of illustrations and texts is crucial for students to comprehend science teaching learning materials. Intervention methods can be employed to facilitate this integrated understanding. This study examined the effects of Eye Movement Modeling Examples (EMME) and Prompting interventions on the learning of illustrated scientific texts among primary school students. Furthermore, the study compared the reading strategies and learning comprehension of fifth-grade students who utilized EMME, an approach that facilitates learning through observational methods, with those who used Prompting, a method that directly guides learning through linguistic information. The study analysis revealed that EMME had a significantly greater effect on integrated reading strategies and learning comprehension compared with Prompting. Specifically, the EMME group exhibited an integrated reading strategy that involved relating the illustrations and texts, whereas the Prompting group and the control group did not demonstrate the same strategy. In addition, the post-test results indicated that the EMME group achieved higher average scores in verbal and pictorial factors compared with the other two groups.

615-630

Authors: Nur Huda, Eli Rohaeti

The role of motivation in chemistry learning has long been explored and has become an exciting research topic worldwide. The aim of this study was to explore whether gender, class and students' anxiety influenced the motivation to learn chemistry among upper-secondary school students in Indonesia. The Chemistry Motivation Questionnaire II and the Chemistry Anxiety Questionnaire were used to examine the influence of multiple predictors through multiple linear regression analysis tests. Participants in this study were 1,211 upper-secondary school students in Indonesia. This study proves that gender has a significant influence on students' motivation to study chemistry, with female students being more motivated to study chemistry than male students. Interesting research results can be seen in the anxiety variable anxiety, specifically in the chemistry learning anxiety aspect, which has a negative correlation with motivation to study chemistry. The regression model of the three factors revealed in this study accounts for 13.8% of the overall proportion of upper-secondary school students' motivation to study chemistry in Indonesia. The results of this study were corroborated using the interview transcript data with 10 students, who extracted several other predictors to influence motivation to study chemistry, including learning experience, learning environment, and digital literacy.

641-652

Authors: Sinem Yalgin, Kemal Akkan Batman, Mert Bastas

Science education in primary school is critical for establishing a comprehensive understanding of the nature of science. Students with positive attitudes towards science courses are more likely to achieve academic success. Measuring and fostering positive attitudes is essential for effective instructional planning. This study aimed to develop a measurable scale to assess the attitudes of fourth-grade elementary school students in Northern Cyprus towards Science and Technology Courses (STC). While developing the Student Science and Technology Attitude Scale (SSTAS), the literature was reviewed, and 168 students were asked to write essays about STC. A pool of attitude items was created by analyzing the literature and essays, and expert opinions were sought. The preliminary scale was prepared based on expert consultation. The study group included 651 randomly selected fourth-grade students during the 2020-2021 academic year. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were conducted to determine SSTAS's construct validity. The results indicated that the scale is valid and reliable, comprising three dimensions. The first dimension measures students' attitudes towards the teaching process, with 13 items. The second dimension assesses students' negative attitudes, including five items. The third dimension evaluates students' attitudes towards experiments, containing five items.

668-681

Authors: Qiang-Wen Lin, Yu-Zhou Luo

Physics education aims to develop sophisticated thinking abilities and enhance conceptual depth, but student interest has decreased, emphasizing the importance of teacher quality in fostering success and positive attitudes. The aim of the study was to examine the physics teachers' self-efficacy, innovative teaching, and comprehensive teaching approach levels. As data collecting instruments, self-efficacy, innovative physics teaching, and comprehensive teaching approach scores were utilized. In the pilot research group, validity and reliability assessments were conducted on the scales. The primary research involved 241 physics teachers. As the measurement variables were constantly changeable, Latent Profile Analysis was utilized. The present study's results suggest that teachers have high self-perceptions in various dimensions related to teaching effectiveness, including self-efficacy, innovative teaching, and comprehensive teaching approach. These results are consistent with previous research that has shown a positive relationship between teacher self-perceptions and teaching effectiveness. Future research could explore the relationship between teacher self-perceptions and student achievement to better understand the impact of self-perceptions on student outcomes. Overall, the results of this study highlight the importance of supporting teachers' self-efficacy and providing opportunities for innovative teaching and professional development to improve comprehensive teaching approach.

701-718

Authors: Tugen Xu, Jiaying Xu, Xiaoqing Xu, Jijian Lu

This paper proposes a blended teaching design model on WeChat Platform-based SPOC and carries out an empirical study of its applicability and effectiveness in lower-secondary school science teaching. Participants were from two eighth grade classes with different academic performance, and after conducting the same blended teaching, it was found that pre-class knowledge transmission on the WeChat platform considerably enhanced students’ classroom participation, which was also highly related to their improved post-class test scores. The improvement in the performance of the weak groups is more obvious. In addition, backend data from the WeChat platform revealed that the number of resource clicks was significantly higher than the total number of students, indicating that the sharing function of the WeChat platform facilitated the sharing of educational resources. Seven in-service science teachers were also interviewed to qualitatively evaluate and analyze the teaching model from the perspective of in-service teachers. The comprehensive results indicate that the teaching model constructed in this study achieves good results, facilitates the development of students’ independent learning ability, and allows for the integration of this blended teaching model into lower-secondary curriculum.

737-740

Authors: Editorial Board

Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 22, No. 4, 2023 ISSN 1648-3898 /Print/, ISSN 2538-7138 /Online/

373-374

Authors: Editorial Board

Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 22, No. 3, 2023 ISSN 1648-3898 /Print/, ISSN 2538-7138 /Online/

376-380

Authors: Rita Birzina

Teaching biology is interesting and challenging, at the same time, it is also a dilemma because new and new advances are being made in biological science: biodiversity is changing - new species are being discovered while others are threatened with extinction, and unprecedented genetically modified organisms are being created. Teachers find it difficult to keep up with all the latest developments, especially in cell and molecular biology (Tunnicliffe & Ueckert, 2007). Biology is a unique science that studies living things. The discipline of biology differs from other fields of science (e.g. physics and chemistry) in the breadth and complexity of its knowledge content and the interconnectedness of knowledge at many different levels (Wandersee et al., 2000). Regarding the use of different research methods, biology is also involved in exploring both the micro-world through microscopy, experimental work in the laboratory or in field studies of the macro-world.

393-412

Authors: Emre Vadi Balcı, Özlem Duğan, Bulent Cavas

In recent years, the number of academic studies in the field of science communication has increased. It is important to make a general examination of the studies on science communication and to reveal their distribution according to years and countries in order to draw the framework of science communication studies. The main aim of this study was to analyze the science communication-based articles published in journals in the Web of Science (WoS) index in the last 22 years. Within the scope of the study, articles were scanned by typing keywords such as "topic", "title", "keywords" science communication from the WoS database and 322 articles were examined by bibliometric analysis method. As a result of the study, the articles published between 2000 and 2022 were examined according to years, countries, funding organizations, research area, publishing houses, country scores and citations. According to the results, most articles were published in 2022(N = 58); USA, UK, Australia, Germany ranked first with the number of articles and SAGE (N = 74) ranked first in publisher distributions. This study offers a global perspective on science communication and proposes a vision for future research.

427-438

Authors: Tan-I Chen, Shih-Kai Lin, Hung-Chang Chung

The combination of education and robots is becoming an increasingly important issue. Although researchers have conducted some studies on educational robotics in STEM education at the undergraduate level, no research examined the effects of gamified educational robotics on participants’ motivation and creativity. Therefore, this study examines the effects of gamified educational robots on participants’ learning motivation and creativity in STEM. A quasi-experimental research design was used in this study. A total of 108 students from two classes enrolled in the information technology course were involved as participants. Learning motivation and creativity scales were used to collect data. The participants were introduced to a gamified educational robot as the course objective, learning content, and game mechanism to increase motivation and help students solve problems. In contrast, students in the control group received conventional instruction consisting of group discussions and lectures. Activities in both groups were held for eighteen weeks in three phases. The results showed that gamified educational robots could enhance learning motivation and positively influence learners' creativity. The results also indicate that learning motivation has significant effects on creativity, and students with high motivation perform better in terms of creativity. The results strengthen interdisciplinary STEM teaching and promote students' learning outcomes.

454-469

Authors: Teresa Lupión-Cobos, José Ignacio Crespo-Gómez, Cristina García-Ruiz

This study analyses the teachers' perceptions of their capacity for designing and developing STE(A)M projects in a professional development programme (PD) conducted through a collaborative educational research project carried out between the University and the centres by the IndagaSTEAM Escuela project. Incorporating STEAM education in the classroom poses various challenges to teachers, among other aspects, associated with conceptualising, designing and applying the curricular integration of STE(A)M subjects, requiring training programs updates for this purpose. Hence, the design developed promotes applying an inquiry-based approach and adapting the integrative STE(A)M curriculum in the Primary Education classroom. Challenges and opportunities of the teachers' involvement have been analysed as a case study undertaken longitudinally between 2019 and 2022. Data have been compiled from a varied typology (rubrics evaluation, ad hoc interviews and questionnaires, using the Likert scale), which give an account of the global perception these educators have, on the one hand, of STE(A)M education and the inquiry approach and, on the other hand, of the collaborative learning scenario from the framework used.

493-505

Authors: Yangyi Qian, Yangqian Wang, Jinju Wen, Simin Wu, Jijia Zhang

A solid grasp of basic concepts and their relationships can stimulate learning motivation, improve teaching quality, and help students to build a body of knowledge in a discipline. Most of the previous studies have considered one chemistry topic amongst many others. To date, no studies have been conducted to explore the conceptual structures of teachers and students based on chemical concepts. Experts, teachers, and students (N=2348) from three public universities and ten upper-secondary schools in China participated in the studies. In Study 1, personal interviews, material evaluation, and importance rating questionnaires were conducted to determine the core concepts. In Study 2, the multidimensional scaling (MDS) and cluster analysis (CA) were conducted to explore the conceptual structures of upper-secondary school teachers and students. Then the structural differences between high- and low-achieving students were compared. The results showed that the three-dimensional solutions were appropriate for the conceptual structures of teachers and students, respectively. The high-achieving students have a more scientific and organized conceptual structure than those of low-achieving students. This study is the first to explore core concepts and their structure with a large sample size, and the reliable results help students understand abstract chemical concepts and improve their interest in scientific disciplines in the future.

520-537

Authors: Yating Zeng, Shaohui Chi, Zuhao Wang, Xiaosong Zhuang

Online metacognitive skills are the real-time awareness of cognition, which can effectively promote science learning and improve performance in solving scientific problems. Therefore, it is important to enhance and diagnose students’ online metacognitive skills in science education. This study aimed to evaluate ninth-grade students’ online metacognitive skills while processing chemistry problems. To achieve this goal, this study constructed a framework for guiding the development of an instrument comprising 12 two-tier items. A total of 258 ninth graders took part in the field testing in Jiangsu, China. A partial credit Rasch model analysis was employed to inform instrument development and evaluation. The results revealed that this instrument was valid and reliable for assessing students’ online metacognitive skills. Nearly 70% of the ninth-grade students in this sample were able to monitor their own thought processes or evaluate their own cognitive performance in processing chemistry problems. About one-third of the students could regulate their thought processes. However, less than 4% of the students could make attributions about their cognitive performance.

549-558

Authors: Gamze Alp, Berna Coskun Onan

Issue date: 15 April 2023 Original Paper: Alp, G., & Coskun Onan, B. (2023). Using comics for climate change in science education: Students' solutions and aesthetic subtleties. Journal of Baltic Science Education, 22(2), 215-231. https://doi.org/10.33225/jbse/23.22.215 Abstract. Erratum for “Alp, G., & Coskun Onan, B. (2023). Using comics for climate change in science education: Students' solutions and aesthetic subtleties. Journal of Baltic Science Education, 22(2), 215-231. https://doi.org/10.33225/jbse/23.22.215”. Keywords: erratum This document presents the appendices belonging to the published article.

185-186

Authors: Editorial Board

Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2023 ISSN 1648-3898 /Print/, ISSN 2538-7138 /Online/

188-191

Authors: Uladzimir Slabin

Conducting research in science education, the authors of the Journal of Baltic Science Education surely remember eponyms in school subjects and university courses. Eponym is a term that includes the name of the person, who discovered a species (biology), explored a glacier (geography), synthesized a compound (chemistry), formulated a law (physics), invented a device (engineering), proved a theorem (mathematics), treated or suffered a disease (medicine), etc. Most chemists and chemistry teachers know, e.g., such eponyms as Avogadro number, Wurtz reaction, Mendeleev table, Liebig condenser, Claisen adapter, Berthollet salt, asf. Eponyms are a relatively new domain of scientific terminology: they first appeared in the 19th century, when the development of science and technology grew rapidly, and scientists decided to honor brilliant colleagues, attaching their names to the discoveries they made. Before this, scientists used words from national and Latin languages to name discovered phenomena.

204-214

Authors: Norah A. Algarni, Nidhal Sh. Alahmad

Understanding nature of science (NOS) is a fundamental goal in science education standards. Due to the role of specialised and educational teachers' preparation programmes in developing their NOS concepts, this study aims to identify views on NOS and attitudes toward teaching NOS among Saudi undergraduate chemistry students and the differences between them according to their academic level and university affiliation. Views on science and education questionnaire were distributed among chemistry students in eight universities. Results found inaccurate views regarding the differences between theories and laws, and that pertaining to well-trained scientists as being detached from personal, social, and cultural values. Half of the sample disagreed on inventing theories and laws and the diversity of Scientists' methods and also rejected teaching a variety of methods and the influence of personal beliefs on Scientists' observations. No significant differences among students' views by academic level or universities were found, except that second-level students have more informed views than fifth-level students, and the UHB and JU students' views were more informed than IMSIU students. The authors recommend developing those NOS concepts which students had shortcomings in the sequential teachers' preparation programmes and suggest recognising chemistry department faculty members' attitudes to developing students' NOS concepts.

232-253

Authors: Xiang-xiang He, Yi-ping Deng, Jian-hua Liu, Guang-yu Sun, Jian-wen Xiong, Yang Xiao

Students’ informal science learning experiences are believed to strongly influence their attitudes toward science and their abilities in the subject. Factors associated with students’ informal science learning experiences include family socioeconomic status and perceived family support. However, little is known about whether perceived family support for children’s formal and informal science learning differs significantly. The present study filled this gap by exploring how students’ perceived family support for formal/informal science learning affected the link between their socioeconomic status and their experiences of informal science learning. Survey data were collected from 486 Chinese grade 4-6 primary school students. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that the students’ socioeconomic status and their informal science learning experiences were significantly and positively correlated. This association was chain-mediated through two categories of perceived family support. Specifically, students’ socioeconomic status affected their informal science learning experiences through the separate mediating role of family support for formal science learning and the sequential mediation of perceived family support for formal and informal science learning. These results uncover the role that family support plays in students’ science education; accordingly, parents are encouraged to help their children learn science both formally and informally.

269-281

Authors: Sun Young Kim, Amani K. Hamdan Alghamdi

This study examined students’ perceptions of their science learning environment and how it relates to their metacognition and self-efficacy. An exploratory study (N=186 South Korean secondary science students from a large-city urban school) used two instruments: Outcomes-Based Education Learning Environment Questionnaire [OBLEQ]; Self-Efficacy and Metacognition Learning Inventory-Science [SEMLI-S]). Descriptive and inferential statistics revealed that that Korean students’ mean score of science learning environment was 2.98, representing male students scored highest on Involvement (M=3.24), while female students scored highest on Cooperation (M=3.00). In addition, regarding students’ perceptions on their self-efficacy and metacognition learning in science, the mean score of SEMLI-S was 3.16, with both male and female students’ highest score on Learning Risks Awareness (3.34 and 3.25 respectively). Further, the students’ perceptions on science learning environment predicted students’ metacognition and self-efficacy. The Investigation subscale, which emphasizes processes of inquiry, was the dominant predictive factor for both male and female students’ self-efficacy and metacognition. The subscale Involvement was the next best significant predictor of male students’ metacognitive orientation. Personal Relevance, Responsibility for Own Learning, and Differentiation filled that role for female students.

294-308

Authors: Tsai-Yun Mou

The development of STEAM education has captured researchers’ attention due to its advantages for students’ learning and interest in related subjects, specifically in kindergarten to grade 12 (K-12) educational settings. However, there is limited research on the inclusion of STEAM in higher education, and what university students think as they are on the professional training track. This study aimed to examine university students’ attitudes towards STEAM via a 3D design project. Twenty-seven college students participated in this study. A questionnaire and focus group interviews were administered at the end of the course to uncover the students’ learning enjoyment, conceptions of STEAM learning, and intentions of STEAM future design/work involvement. The results show that the students enjoyed the 3D STEAM project regardless of their performance. High-performance students had higher conceptions of STEAM learning after the project. All of the students highly agreed that they could integrate interdisciplinary knowledge into their 3D designs. With regard to future intentions, they generally did not show an active attitude towards STEAM involvement. The students’ learning enjoyment in the STEAM project did not have a strong positive correlation with their future intentions. Findings from this study could offer inspiration for art-oriented courses that look for potential interdisciplinary integration and expression in STEAM.

323-336

Authors: Tülay Şenel Çoruhlu, Muammer Çalık, Sibel Er Nas, Büşra Bilgin

Relevant literature has an unexplored question on how prediction-observation-explanation (POE) worksheets affect science process skills of students with mild intellectual disabilities (SMID). Therefore, this research aimed to examine the effect of POE worksheets developed for the “matter and its nature” subject on SMID’s science process skills. Through pre-experimental research design, 12 fifth grade SMID participated in the research. To collect data, the researchers used science process skills development forms and rubrics to score their observations. During the teaching intervention, SMID implemented three POE worksheets, which included buzz 22 technique in the ‘prediction’ stage, hands-on experiments and QR codes in the ‘observation’ stage and snowball, learning gallery or card showing techniques in the ‘evaluation’ stage. The results indicated that the POE worksheets are effective at developing SMID’s science process skills of the "matter and its nature" subject. This research recommends that future comparative research should unveil how the POE worksheets with/without active learning techniques impact the SMID’s SPS.

357-369

Authors: Clarice Wider, Walton Wider

A number of studies have demonstrated a connection between metacognition and the ability to solve problems. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the effect of metacognitive skills on Physics problem-solving skills among Form Four secondary school students in Sabah, Malaysia. This study included 248 students from 13 secondary schools in the Kota Kinabalu district. Physics Problem Solving Skills Test and the Metacognitive Skills Questionnaire were used as research instruments. The research found that Form Four students have high monitoring, regulation, and evaluation as measured aspects of metacognitive skills. Meanwhile, students' Physics problem-solving skills for "understanding the problem" and "devising a plan" are moderate, while "carrying out the plan" is good and "looking back at the solution" is low. The independent sample t-test reported that, in general, male students have better Physics problem-solving skills than females but found no gender differences in metacognitive skills. Furthermore, the linear multiple regression results revealed that monitoring and regulation skills are significant predictors of Physics problem-solving skills. This research helps school teachers better design teaching strategies in Physics, considering the student’s gender and metacognitive skills. Furthermore, this study provides secondary school students with learning insights for developing better techniques to improve their performance in Physics.