Journal of Baltic Science Education

84-86

Authors: Todar Lakhvich

We all live in a changing interdependent world where Technology and Science are among the forces defining the development of any country, nation and all the civilization. Education gives people skills and knowledge, which make Technology and Science the tools to gain a progress and success. The time science created crisis seems to go away and just now the same science may resolve the most exciting challenges of our civilization. It’s still a time when acquisition and proliferation of scientific knowledge is obviously the way for solving of many social, ecological and other problems. Scientists have been advocating for the idea for last decades. And finally Policy makers have awakened to the realities of the situation and just now accept the fact the Science is a powerful source for sustainable development. Now we all need to affect public opinion for endorsement of the idea of Science utility and relevance. Thus questions how to teach Science in all the aspects and what ways to choose for organizing a process of education are of great importance both for scientific fundamental or applied researches and social, cultural and economic development of any country.

99-108

Authors: Boris Aberšek, Metka Kordigel Aberšek

Engineers carry a stigma of being ineffective communicators, and various calls for teaching them communication skills have been performed. In the context of Bologna changes in European university space, such calls seem to be even more important, since the demand of employability and applicability of graduate engineers is one of the most important arguments for change. Many engineering educational institutions (mostly universities) have made efforts to improve the situation: they have included rhetoric or communication courses into the existing study programs. Rhetoric/communication teachers, who used to undertake similar courses in the language and literature departments, have mainly taught these rhetoric courses. However no special rhetoric/communication courses have been developed for engineers. The fact is that research in the field of rhetoric for engineers has not got a lot of scientific research yet. This paper will attempt to given answers to the following question: What kind of communication skills does an engineer require? A rhetoric course, designed for engineers and a didactic model for rhetoric education of engineers will be presented and evaluated.

119-134

Authors: Milan Kubiatko, Muhammet Usak, Kursad Yilmaz, Mehmet Fatih Tasar

This paper focuses on differences of attitudes related to information and communication technologies among Czech and Turkish university students. Student attitudes were evaluated summatively and with respect to gender, year, country, and type of residential area (town/village). Student attitudes were measured by a modified version of the Information and Communication Technologies Attitudes Questionnaire (Kubiatko & Haláková, 2009). The sample consisted of a total of 770 unversity students (316 Czech and 454 Turkish). The data analysis included factor analysis, MANCOVA, ANOVA, and t-test. The factor analysis yielded five dimensions: 1) Influence of ICT on teaching process, 2) Influence of ICT on human body and environment, 3) Using of ICT in teaching, 4) School and ICT, 5) ICT as didactic equipment. As a result, students from the Czech Republic, male students, sophomores, and students living in town showed more positive attitudes in comparison to other respective groups.

142-155

Authors: Walter Leal Filho, Paul Pace, Evangelos Manolas

This paper outlines the contribution the education sector can provide in meeting the challenges of climate change, worldwide. It offers an analysis of the means via which education, awareness and training can help the global efforts to tackle climate change and lists a set of practical activities which may assist various groups in handling climate matters as part of formal and non-formal education. The paper concludes by providing a warning: without proper emphasis to educational approaches, the desired (and indeed) changes in attitudes and behaviour as well as the motivation needed in order to engage people in reducing the impacts they may have on the climate, may not be fully achieved.

4-5

Authors: Martin Bílek

Implementation of ICT to the process of instruction does not mean eliminating real school experiments from school laboratory practice. Real living environment makes us face more and more items of virtual environment, worlds, mediated by infinite possibilities of computer networks. The mediated perception through virtual images has become an important cognitive channel for pupils. Real information from the existing reality is steadily replaced by virtual information. Is the remote (by computer network mediated) and virtual (by computer simulated) experiment able to meet requirements of the best school laboratory practice? How to blend an effective and meaningful application of real, indirect and simulative observation, measuring and experimenting according to didactic principles?

20-34

Authors: Serap Çalışkan, Gamze Sezgin Selçuk, Mustafa Erol

This study has investigated the effects of problem solving instruction on physics achievement, and physics self-efficacy beliefs in an introductory physics course at university level. In this study, pretest-posttest and quasi-experimental design with a non-equivalent control group was used. Two groups of student teachers (n=77) participated in this study. During the study, one group received problem solving strategy instruction while the control group received traditional problem solving strategies. Data was collected using the Physics Achievement Test and Physics Self-Efficacy Scale. Results indicate that strategy instruction has positive effects on physics achievement, and physics self-efficacy beliefs. On the basis of the findings, it is strongly recommended that physics instructors use explicit problem solving strategy instruction in their lessons to develop students’ problem solving skills and related outcomes such as course achievement.

50-60

Authors: Konstantinos Ravanis, Panagiotis Pantidos, Evangelos Vitoratos

The study of students’ mental representations of Natural Sciences concepts and phenomena constitutes a central part of Science Education research, as they play a decisive role in teaching. In the study presented here, we investigate 157 ninth grade students’ mental representations of the magnetic field, after they were taught about it in school. The empirical data was gathered through an interview using 4 tasks which involved the evaluation of actual or hypothetical situations. The research data included mental representations that cause difficulty in the comprehension of the properties of the magnetic field.

72-74

Authors: Ivana Šimonová

The monograph “Interaction of Real and Virtual Environment in Early Science Education: Tradition and Challenges” is first outcome of the research project Challenges and limits of interacting real and virtual environments in early science education, which is supported by the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR), and it is Volume 5 of the Didactics of Science and Technical Subjects edition published by the Faculty of Education, University of Hradec Králové since 1999. The monograph, published in English, consists thirteen contributions of authors from four countries (Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Czech Republic) and six universities (University of Hradec Králové, Jan Evangelista Purkyně University, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznaň, Jagellonian University in Krakow and Šiaulai University).

140-144

Authors: Vincentas Lamanauskas

It is obvious that the theories of Piaget and Bruner left some gaps in the assessment of the evolution of children‘s individuality. Naturally, it was noticed by such famous researchers as Maslow, Rogers, etc. who were the classics of psychology. From the viewpoint of psychology, self actualization, self-expression, etc, are notably crucial aspects while the educational process is approached as the pupil‘s intrinsic, controlled phenomenon. To some purpose, the Lithuania’s National Concept of Education (1992) maintains that humanism is the assertion of human incomparable value, freedom of choice, and responsibility. As the reform of the Lithuanian educational system is still in progress more and more attention is focused on individual training and human values fostering. The present humankind has to solve a number of serious problems. Under the threat of the ecology catastrophe, concern for physical and spiritual health care is felt. All our relations with nature turn out to be problematic. The establishment of a harmonious correlation between nature and society becomes an important task. We cannot exclusively rely on knowledge and mind in any activity as these are not overall dimensions. We also understand having no opportunities to become the lords of nature. According to Nazarenko, ecology problems can be solved taking advantages of science and technology achievements. However, the dynamics of the process should become individual and public, high virtuous and ecologic culture (Nazarenko, 1993). A psychologist Asmolov proposes that the worst of it is that culture oriented towards benefit. Therefore, the humanization and socialization of natural science education is a relevant pedagogic problem.

157-171

Authors: Nilgün Seçken

The aim of the study is to develop a valid and reliable attitude scale in order to measure the chemistry student-Teachers’ attitudes towards nano technology. During the development phase, a total of twenty-one items that included eleven negative and ten positive statements about nano technology were produced based on experts’ views. These items were statistically analysed in terms of different aspects. The data obtained through these analyses were analyzed by using SPSS software. In the study, the scale was administered to 550 undergarduate students. The data obtained was analysed through factor analysis and reliability analysis. At the final stage, the scale was found to include four factors with sixteen items. After the factor analysis, according to Varimax Rotated (rotated Component Matrix) results, has been found to be four factors and Cronbach-Alpha internal integrity of the final version of the scale was found to be 0,859.The article also includes suggestions about how this scale can be employed.

182-190

Authors: Konstantinos Ravanis, Jean Marie Boilevin

Children’s mental representations of physical concepts and phenomena are often different from those of scientists. In this paper we investigate the issue of understanding light in space as an entity by schoolchildren aged 5 (127 subjects), 8 (142 subjects) and 10 (132 subjects), before they receive any systematic teaching in school. This research was conducted through individual interviews in which the children were asked to talk about light and its results and to locate it in various experimental situations. The results of this study show that even though all the children of all ages have difficulty understanding light as an entity in space, as they grow older they make significant progress in disconnecting light from light sources. These findings allow us to seek out educational perspectives on the understanding of the concept of light in organised scholastic environments.

64-68

Authors: Raffaele Pisano

It is known that teachers and professors at any school and university orders should highly mind education as the first and most general aim of a civil society. It is a fact that many European countries and education centres are reflecting brilliantly upon higher scientific education focusing on physics and mathematics especially. The Institutions also seem to take into account full management autonomy. Accreditation has considered one of the best solutions adopted by central or high-level education authorities to guarantee quality standards in training offered by higher education. It means accrediting education results through a legislative and professional process in order to judge whether an institution or a programme meets proper quality standards. The final authorised award is corresponding qualifications. Particularly, Eurydice is one of the most recent and interesting EU analyses.

79-87

Authors: Janis Gedrovics, Dagnija Cedere, Daina Mozeika

One of the general problems in science education for different students at comprehensive school is understanding the nature of physical and chemical changes. Without a clear picture of the fundamental differences on sub micro level, it is not possible in the future to follow general rules of chemical reactions between substances, as well as to understand the use of different materials in everyday life. Students of the grades 9 and 11 were asked to fill in a special questionnaire, in which questions about real physical and chemical changes from students’ daily life were included. The results testify that the knowledge and understanding of the essence of chemical reactions has slightly increased in Latvia, although the general results show that understanding of the nature of phase transitions and chemical reactions is still insufficient, especially at the grade 9 levels.

97-109

Authors: Vincentas Lamanauskas, Dalia Augiene

The article deals with the education of pupils’ abilities and interest in scientific research activity in comprehensive school. The article presents the assessment of the situation of the teaching process in comprehensive school concerning pupils’ interest in scientific research activity, defines the most significant and influential factors stimulating and hindering learners’ interest in scientific research activity. The article gives the assessment of favourableness of current teaching process in orienting pupils for the scientist’s, researcher’s career and the evaluation of teachers’ competences forming and developing pupils’ scientific research abilities in the teaching – learning process. The article makes recommendations on the organization and development of the teaching – learning process, seeking to strengthen learners’ interest in scientific research activity. It gives the prognosis of the change in the situation educating pupils’ interest in scientific research activity and in teachers’ competences forming and developing pupils’ scientific research abilities in the teaching process.

120-129

Authors: Aarne Tõldsepp

The aim of this study was to show how combine qualitative and quantitative approaches in the framework of R&D activities for compiling balanced curricula for chemistry education. The mathematical model based on graph theory was built up. This model allowed us to calculate two kinds of parameters to characterize the structure and composition of a given teaching material: • parameters characterizing every single structural element of the teaching material in the selected content; • parameters describing the teaching material as a whole. Two important educational concepts of selection and structuring of teaching material was derived from mathematical model represented by directed graph – continuity and compactness. As an example of using mathematical and logical approaches for compiling curricula of chemistry education these theoretical concepts were applied to organic chemistry courses for basic and high schools. Results showed that the mergering of curriculum design with chemical epistemology, personal and social relevance of teaching material and mathematical and logical models creates a new forum where constraints to educational reforms can be reviewed and resolved.

4

Authors: Aarne Tõldsepp

The effectiveness of any R&D work depends on research methodology used by studying nature, regularities and peculiarities related to the researched field of knowledge. How often have we heard that educational researches belong to ‘soft studies’ because all social sciences including science education belong to the soft field of knowledge. A quilty person in this case is not at all science education but educators – researchers working in the field of science education and using only soft methodology and strategies. Any educational research has the same attributes as fundamental (‘strong’) sciences and embraces formulating topics and a tittle, planning theoretical and experimental study, collecting empirical data, statistically treating the results of research etc. There is a single exception between ’soft’ and ‘strong’ studies: in social sciences including science education, we cannot repeat experiments under the same circumstances. During the time between two parallel studies, our kids, pupils, students or currently, our respondents have changed cognitively, emotionally, communicatively etc. A number of changes in their knowledge, skills, values and even in characters can be noticed. In addition to the above mentioned changes, we fail to understand the kind of changes taking place during experimental study.

15-21

Authors: Frackson Mumba, Jeffrey Carver, Vivien M. Chabalengula, William J. F. Hunter

The purpose of this study was to assess five chemistry teaching fellows’ understanding of the characteristics and functions of scientific theories and laws, as well as the relationships between them before and after an intervention. The chemistry teaching fellows were participating in a University-School partnership project funded by the National Science Foundation in USA. Data were collected through pre-and post-test questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed by coding the responses to identify recurring themes. Results show that before instruction most fellows held un-informed views on the characteristics of scientific theories and laws, their functions and relationships. However, after the intervention most participants developed better understanding of these concepts. Four types of relationships between scientific laws and theories emerged from participants’ responses: discrete, intertwined, concentric, and cyclical. The findings have significant implications for teacher education, science teaching and learning, and training of graduate teaching assistants at the university level.

35-43

Authors: Eyvind Elstad, Are Turmo

In Norway, the curriculum reform known as ‘Knowledge Promotion’ emphasizes that teachers should have high ambitions for their students and provide more so-called ‘learning pressure’ (or academic pressure) in the classroom. This school reform initiated in 2006 puts particular focus on schools’ responsibilities for fostering strategies that benefit student learning. This paper reports an empirical study of Norwegian high school students’ motivation, learning strategy use and self-regulation in science. It focuses on how students respond to teachers’ regulating approaches. The results show that in science classes the goal of teacher mastery seems to have a more positive effect on boys, while girls respond more positively to teachers’ academic pressure. Furthermore, ethnic majority students respond more positively to the mastery approach, while the academic pressure approach seems to be more important for ethnic minority students in the science classroom. In conclusion, we argue against the assumption in theoretical literature that academic pressure gives a somewhat one-sided negative effect. This assumption about academic pressure needs to be more nuanced.