Journal of Baltic Science Education

132-133

Authors: Vincentas Lamanauskas

The formation of scientific research activity abilities in comprehensive school is undoubtedly, a very important sphere still awaiting of particular attention. Current teaching and learning process has basically changed looking from the paradigmatic point of view. Teaching subjects become the means of realization of learners’ demands and interests. Scientific research activity is not an entertainment but a very responsible, thorough work requiring great self-independence. During this activity children’s analytic thinking becomes stronger, information search and usage abilities are being developed, they can learn to analyze the accumulated material, make presentations, prepare research reports and so on. By doing scientific research, learners approach new knowledge and new methods to solve problems of daily life. The main question is how to combine scientific research and science education. First of all we should elaborate specific policies how to encourage our learners to do scientific research. This is also very important from political point of view. Different scientific research conducted for the last 10 years showed that secondary school learners have a perception of science education as irrelevant and difficult. On the other hand Europe needs more scientists (EC, 2004). We should make all our efforts how to attract secondary school learners to the scientific activity and how to orientate them for scientist (researcher) career in the future.

147-154

Authors: Agnieszka Kamińska-Ostęp, Hanna Gulińska

Some pupils (about 10% to 15% of population) exhibit specific difficulties in learning called dyslexia. They cannot work effectively in the traditional educational system. Despite their hard work they usually achieve worse results compared to the pupils without this dysfunction. Learning difficulties caused by dyslexia are also observed in learning chemistry. The studies were aimed at finding which methods and educational means can assist the learning process of chemistry by dyslexic pupils. Their main characteristics was the fact that they took into account the specification of the thinking processes in these pupils. The studies proved that there are methods which have a positive effect on the process of learning chemistry by dyslexic pupils.

165-174

Authors: Michael Skoumios

The present paper focuses on instructional treatment of students’ conceptions about floating and sinking through sociocognitive conflict processes. In this direction a study was prepared including the detection of students’ conceptions of floating and sinking as well as the design, implementation and evaluation of teaching sequences implemented in 14 year-old students in Greece. Data collection was carried out through interviews and qualitative analysis of the students’ writings and talk during the teaching sequences. The analysis of the students’ writings and talk brought out their different reactions to sociocognitive conflict processes as well as the different learning outcomes of those processes as regards the change and construction of new conceptions.

185-192

Authors: Mika Huuhtanen, Jenni Ylä-Mella, Eila Jeronen, Riitta L. Keiski

The researcher education course for undergraduate engineering students has been developed in the Department of Process and Environmental Engineering at the University of Oulu. The course familiarizes students to research and researcher’s work and aims to encourage them toward a research career. The approach of the course is unique in the field of engineering education in Finland. In this paper, the establishment of the course is discussed in the light changing targets and requirements of higher engineering education. Further, the course development from contact lecturing toward distance education is described. Finally, the possibility to use new and more versatile learning methods together with the traditional lecturing methods is considered based on the feedback given by the students.