Gamtamokslinis ugdymas / Natural Science Education

8-26

Authors: Vincentas Lamanauskas, Violeta Šlekienė, Loreta Ragulienė, Renata Bilbokaitė

Over the latter years education practice has changed a lot. New ways, forms and me-ans of teaching “are coming” to comprehensive schools. Even applying common teaching methods and forms, their application algorithm is changing. First of all, it is related to virtual environment. You can find plenty of important material for education practice in the internet. One of urgent fields is digital teaching/learning content. We can basically assert that digital teaching/learning content is a perspective way seeking to improve education process. However, it is not right to refer only to research works carried out in other countries. It is ne-cessary to assess the context of the country, to accomplish representative evaluations in the population of Lithuanian students and teachers. Digital teaching/learning content, as research works carried out in other countries show, can be an effective means in the teaching/learning process. Lithuania is short of such research works. Quite often teachers practitioners “are experimenting” in a very limited space and restrict themselves to only individual digital content component creation, e.g., of various computer teaching programmes. The object of this research is the efficiency evaluation of digital presentations and les-son scenarios for “Nature and man “subject lessons. Digital presentations and lesson scenarios are arranged according to the textbook “In scientists’ footsteps 5”content. The main aim is to evaluate the arranged digital teaching/learning content. The evaluation was carried out in four main aspects: • Didactic; • Technological; • Usage; • Need. The research was going on from the beginning of January, 2011 to the middle of April, 2011. 20 teachers gave experimental lessons and carried out the evaluation of each of them. The evaluation paper was prepared. It contained 34 statements, connected with the employ-ment of digital content. The statements were evaluated in the 5 range scale from “quite agree” to “quite disagree”. Also the teachers were asked to give comments which they considered to be necessary. Experimental lessons were given in the following order: • IB+PPT (Interactive board +Power Point presentation); • IB+AcIns (interactive board +Active Inspire presentation); • S+PPT (screen + PowerPoint presentation); • S +AcIns (screen + Active Inspire presentation). One group of teachers (11) were using interactive boards + PPT/AcIns + lesson scena-rios in the lessons. The second group (10) were using the screen + PPT/AcIns + lesson scenarios in the lessons. In addition, some teachers tried IB/S + lesson content was given in pdf format. Research results show, that digital teaching/learning content together with arranged lesson scenarios for the realisation of the latter is undoubtedly, an innovative phenomenon in the educational practice. DTC (Digital Teaching Content) application in education practice is significant, because it directly educates students’ digital literacy as one of the essential abilities. DTC is basically interpreted as a component supplementing and integrating traditional teaching means. It has been stated, that DTC usage makes the lesson more effec-tive regardless of the subject of the lesson (makes it more interesting, diverse, more attractive), develops students’ cognitive and psychosocial abilities, strengthens learning motivation, activates teaching/learning process itself. In addition, employment of DTC plays a supplementing role in education process applying various ICT, e.g., interactive boards, multimedia projectors and other. It has been stated, that prepared DTC in respect of realisation and extent of time is suitable and optimal. Optimal amount of slides is presented, the duration of slide usage in terms of time is optimal, and the foreseen activities are fully implemented. Referring to research results we can claim, that the priority is given to Active Inspire format. We can surely assert that DTC usage together with the other teaching /learning devices solves valeological - ergonomic problems. Time is saved, the usage of time allotted to learning is made more effective, teachers’ work itself is made easier, in this way forming possibilities to solve other important education questions.

33-39

Authors: Renata Bilbokaitė

The term visualization is defined as representation of images but this is only a brief ex-planation because the term encompasses all kinds of represented information in various forms of codes. Priority in information codes has shifted from verbal codes to visual codes. A computer screen has enabled an individual to see invisible and difficult objects and made cognitive and social processes easier. Visualization tools have the strongest position among other teaching/learning tools because of such features as complex 3D, spatial relationships, parameters of moving objects and comprehensible representation of images. Visualization takes into account schoolchildren’s perceptive and cognitive abilities including visual thinking and meta-cognition. The previous authors’ researches results enclosed that there were statistically significant differences between two main categories that showed that boys more than girls used searches for visualization in the internet. According to this, there is a question – what has influenced this difference? The aim is to find out boys’ opinion why they are searching for visualization more than girls. The results enclose that the boys more frequently search for visualizations in the inter-net than girls. There were found out two main reasons that explained stated data. Search for visualization was used for learning purposes and for meeting their requirements. In firstly, boys want to have a deeper knowledge, also, they identify that visualization stimulates their cognitive processes and motivation too. Secondly, boys are noisy than girls during the lessons, they do not concentrate them selves to themes and mostly, often do not listen to the teacher. According to this, at home they feel lack of knowledge and want to compensate this by searching for visual information. Also, boys feel pleasure when they are searching in the internet.

49-59

Authors: Edson Rodrigues Santana, Agnaldo Arroio

Scientific knowledge is a social construction gained over time; however it is possible that students do not have that understanding. According to Carvalho (2001) is possible that scientific concepts in many cases are not articulated to the daily lives of students and issues of social context. Based on an action research this work tries to detach the importance of making proposals of activities that bring together the scientific concepts with daily life issues of students. For this purpose we used the information and communication technologies, focused on the production of comics supported by computers. The problem presented to students was about the processes of soil sealing and the consequences for cities such as floods and droughts. The result allowed students to reflect in pairs and with teachers about these problems for their lives. Students were encouraged by the use of computers in a social context to articulated scientific concepts to communicate science. While the comics produced by students supported teachers to understand the process of student learning allowing the mediation’s inferences in Natural Science Education.

8-17

Authors: Dalia Prakapienė

Practical training is very important the modern society. Therefore it is recommended to study Natural Science in different environments through observing, exploring, comparing, experimenting and verifying one’s own hypotheses, etc. These activities can be realized not only in the traditional classroom, but outside class as well. Educational tourism is a educa-tional activity which is implemented through excursions, tours or trips, and helps to acquire knowledge and skills. One of the most popular forms of educational tourism is the educational excursion, whose importance in education is emphasised in general education programs. In pursuance of reasoning for the potential of educational tourism in Natural Science education, a research was carried out. The subject of the research was educational excursions in the national and regional parks of Lithuania. The aim of the research was to identify the educational activities in the regional and national parks of Lithuania and to establish the areas of Natural Science education in which the aforementioned activities could be applied. In total, 92 educational excursions, which develop skills in Natural Science education, were analyzed. The results of the research suggest that not all the national and regional parks in Lithuania have designed educational excursions and defined specific educational activities. The largest choice of educational excursions is in the national parks of Aukštaitija and Dzūkija, and in the regional park of Kurtuvėnai. The educational excursions implemented mainly focus on Natural Science and Biology subjects, with little emphasis on Physics. In terms of the Natural Science education areas, the largest number of the educational excursions are designed for Continuity and Diversity of Life and Organism and Environment; Biosphere and Man; however, only a few focus on Movement and Cognition of Force and Energy and Cognition of Physical Processes. The most popular activities offered by the educational excursions are discovering, observing, identifying and exploring.

30-37

Authors: Ramunė Švedaitė, Sigita Švedienė

The authors‘ of the article assumption that the majority of traffic accidents are caused by drivers – drug and psychotropic substances abusers – is based on the findings of the European Union DRUID Project. Drug addiction is spreading rapidly in Lithuania. The statistical data of the Drug Control Department under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania prove that the majority of drug abusers are young people of 20–39 years of age. Young people whose efforts and time should be directed towards education and studies. The authors focus attention on the increasing delinquency among drug abusers and the lethal outcome of the drug overdosage. However, it is not a specific national feature. This phenomenon is widely spread from both time and geographical perspective. The established in vitro methods of detection at major extent facilitate the struggle against drug abuse and distribution. In many European cities this method is already being applied when detecting islands of cocaine abusers by the chemical analysis of communal sewage, thus quantitatively identifying the concentration of benzoilekgonin - the stable cocaine metabolite. The article provides a description of the SYNCHRON CX test for identification of cocaine in urine produced by „Beckman Coulter“.

44-54

Authors: Irmeli Palmberg, Gunita Praulite, Janis Gedrovics

Students after graduating school must have both, knowledge and basic skills for active life-action, which includes their ability to evaluate their knowledge and skills for usability both in everyday life and in future. In this article knowledge of different problems within science education and its usability for future life, evaluated by the Latvian 12th grade students, has been analysed by using a poll, which has been previously approved in Nordic countries. Results show that Latvian students’ knowledge about different problems of human bi-ology is relatively higher than in other fields of science. On the other hand students demon-strate a lack of skills for generalization, therefore knowledge is sometimes insufficient. Only slightly more than half of students recognized their knowledge in science, obtained at school, as suitable for their future life.

6-13

Authors: Renata Bilbokaitė

Researches in visualization area are very popular in education studies. There were found out that visualization is useful in education as stimulating tool for perception, attention, memory and imagination processes. To explore this in reality, we need to have valid instrument which could prove statistically valid data about visualization use in education. The author of this article did not find the questionnaire which could involve mentioned things. According to this, there were made several pilot researches and statistical counts that proved the quality of constructed instrument. The aim of this article is to prepare and to test instrument (the questionnaire) for 9-10 grade students’ opinion about visualization use fostering cognitive, learning processes and motivation in scientific, geography and mathematics lessons. Results. To reach the aim there were done pilot and diagnostic researches. There were participated 209 students in pilot research and 2708 students in diagnostic research. Results of pilot research enclosed categories and subcategories, which were compared to categories that were found in analysis of literature. Also, there was found out students’ meta-language, words, that enclose scientific definitions or analogues. According to results, questions were transformed in language that was common to research population aiming to get answers that are representing reality in education environment. The instrument was prepared to measure object in science education, also, it was adapted to measure object in mathematics and geography. There was tested content validity asking experts to evaluate whether each questions belongs to appropriate category. The results of evaluation were high and this leads to conclusion that instrument is valid in content aspects. Also, there was tested internal validity of instrument. Each scale of questionnaire has high Cronbach alfa coefficient and the whole instrument is also evaluated highly. The instrument is valid and it measures 9-10 grade students’ opinion about visualization use fostering cognitive, learning processes and motivation in scientific, geography and mathematics lessons.

28-34

Authors: Jūratė Armonienė

The paper, based on publications and scientific research of Lithuanian and foreign aut-hors, presents the actual of health status and physical activity of young people. Scientific evidence has become compelling that a sedentary lifestyle carries a risk for the development of coronary artery disease, obesity, hypertension, and other chronic diseases of adulthood. These problems manifest during adulthood, they are lifelong processes with origins in pediatric years. Socialization processes and motivational factors should be emphasized to promote actine lifestyles among the young. The aim of the study to research pupils‘ physical activity and health at V-XI forms of the Basanavičiaus secondary school in Vilnius. The tasks of the study were to investigate the scientific, pedagogical and medical lite-rature on the chosen topic, to examine pupils‘ mental and physical working capacity per day and per week, to evaluate physical activity during leisure time and to find out the causes of the physical passivity. The methods of investigation. The following methods for the accomplishment of the study were used The analysis of the literary sources (pedagogical, sociological, medical). Pedagogical–sociological methods: questionanaire survey, interview, pedagogical experiment. Statistical analysis. Conclusion Mental working capacity is influented by the following factors: the teaching method-smaterial, process of promotion, the organisation of the pupils daily routine, school anxiety, support within the family, rest, addcharge during the lesson. It was established that different factors influence pupils‘ physical activity. The most important being the school conditions, aims of the activity and value orientations through wich the social system regulates the beha-viour of the personality. Pedagogical factors are also very important: daytime table, leisure, business. The task of the school is to organize the learning process: to create a balance between intellectual and physical activities, to create a timetable wich satisfies both the need for exersise and learning.

36-37

Authors: Diana Adomaitytė, Irma Bolskytė

Junior physicists' school "PHOTON" started its activities at Siauliai University, Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, Department of Physics in the year 1972. 20 November 2010 a conference took place at Siauliai University, Lithuania.

7-15

Authors: Renata Bilbokaitė

There is very important that pupil could have a possibility to see the very high quality objects in science education lessons. All these objects are essential for later knowledge. Students see visual images, later they are learning to recognize numeral and verbal codes. When they view visualization of scientific phenomenon, they are able to understand the meaning, to learn deeper and to imagine. It seems that visualization acts as the help function in teaching and learning activities. Especially it is useful for cognitive processes. The goal of this article is to enclose the help of visualization for girls’ perception and imagination in science education process. The results show that girls argue that visualization mostly helps to imagine definitions, concepts and various difficult phenomenon quickly and clearly in science education. The second position goes to the help of visualization in right mental model forming process connecting them with verbal information and leading to deeper understanding of imagined things. The last position shows that visualization helps for girls to recognize visualized objects. Each position is statistically significantly different from the previous one and this leads to the assumption that all mentioned arguments about visualization help to imagination is ranked by statistically diminishing order. The girls in grade ten are more persuaded than girls in grade nine that visual information helps them to create mental models and to rebuild difficult phenomenon. According to the girls, visualized information mostly helps to understand theme, def-initions; visualized concepts are clearer and simpler, it is easier to notice features o objects. These ranks are close to one and this encloses that visualization is really helpful for girls in learning processes because it helps in perceiving process. Also, these ranks are in statistically diminishing order from the highest to the lowest position. The help of visualization or percep-tion is evaluated in the same position in comparative classes; it means that all respondents have very similar positive opinion about the help of visualization for perceiving process.

29-34

Authors: Laima Railienė

The main aim in the environment of the teaching events is to develop and consolidate the abilities, widen students’ outlook, deepen their theoretical knowledge. Students learn to know all the world’s special variety in class, auditorium. Beside school, in students’ living place or further environment there is suitable site where students cannot only deepen their knowledge, but also they can show their creativeness, ability to work in a team, help each other. It develops students’ motivation, natural science competence. Integrated teaching path where students and teachers work together, can be also called a specialized path, because here you can do tasks, deepen your theoretical knowledge, consolidate abilities. It can be used not only in geography lessons. Such a specialized path can perfectly serve for studying biology, chemistry, physics. It is important to foresee the right place and use the right methods for a specialized path. Nowadays information communication technologies are closely connected with the teaching process in a secondary school. It helps to prepare a teaching path more creatively, more picturesquely. It is also possible to use the newest navigation appliances. The same, IST help to perform teaching path’s dispersion.

8-14

Authors: Vitor Zanni, Agnaldo Arroio

In this work, we present an approach on methodology of teaching where pre-service chemistry teachers are required to analyze sequences of digital video of chemistry teaching in real classrooms. We utilize discourse analysis to help pre-service chemistry teachers to reflect on their pedagogical strategies and discursive interactions. The results showed that the integration of video analysis on the pre-service chemistry teacher training is an important methodological tool on professional development of chemistry teachers.

25-28

Authors: Irena Čerčikienė, Dalė Židonytė

Students from programme of Chemistry Analysis Technologies implement three course works during their three years studies in Vilnius College of Higher Education, Department of Chemistry. Analysis of the last few years shows students non-productivity in usage of time for consultations with mentors fruitfully. Students can hardly formulate their thoughts, to cite different literature, analyze and summarize different conclusions. Especially they lack competencies in taking concrete decisions. So naturally it raises the question – what causes such incompetence to systemize, analyze and summaries appropriate information to prepare final work successfully. Within implemented research was attained to find out the main reasons that cause lack of competences in preparing the final course work. There are seen clear tendency that most of students are very confident about their abilities to work independently and keep them self as competent. Lecturers’ positions are opposite – they tend to say that quality of work depends on not only on methodical literature, their abilities, independent work, but largely depends on masters advices. There are shown different positions of student and lecturers in training and evaluation of different parts of course work, and points to confrontation of different opinions in this article. All this leads towards finding the right way to promote students’ self-sufficiency and work efficiency in their studies.

38-41

Authors: Sigita Švedienė

There are several methods of information convenient for natural science education, including press and television. The author checks the information which was published on the TV show and press by Rūta Janutienė, concerning the bread contamination with high stability toxin glyphosate. This herbicide is used to sprey the crop. The article provides information about the worldwide scientific research in order to investigate the effect of toxic glyphosate on humans and the environment. The conclusion is drawn about the negative influence of glyphosate on the reproducability. The author proves that journalist Rūta Janutienė has touched an essential contemporary ecological issue.

48-54

Authors: Elena Vasilevskaya, Volha Tatarynovich, Tatsiana Vaniuk

Active training methods (including game) are very popular in practice of modern natural-science education. Results of experiment on use of game training methods on chemistry education at base school are presented in the article. We questionnaire the 9 Form student of boarding school No. 5 in Minsk on first step of the investigation in the 2008–2009 year. The results showed that chemistry is not very interesting for students. Educational games used for increasing the interest and motivation to study chemistry. The lesson „Hidrocarbons“ carried out in the games form in the experimental group and in the traditional form in the control group. Efficiency of game methods proves to be true results of control of knowledge and responses of students. The chemistry computer games such as „Chemical elements“,“ Chemical bridge“, „Chemical Olympics“ used as a home work for 9 Form student. Games methods used during the traditional „Week of chemistry“ in the boarding school No. 5 too. The opinion of students about role of games in chemistry teaching is presented.

56-57

Authors: T. Vorobjova, Elena Vasilevskaya

During the period from April 6 to April 9, 2010 on the basis of Research institute of physical and chemical problems and Faculty of Chemistry of the Belarusian State University (BSU) the 5th International conference on chemistry and chemical education "Sviridov Readings-2010" was held.