Journal of Baltic Science Education

487

Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, JBSE, Vol. 18, No. 4, 2019

490-506

Authors: Fayadh Hamed Alanazi

This semi-empirical research utilises a structured interview interview approach to explore Saudi children’s ideas about living things and to examine the effects of iPad use based on a socio-cultural perspective involving group work and discussion. The sample comprised 40 grade 1 children; 20 were empirically taught using iPads according to a socio-cultural perspective, and 20 were taught in the traditional teaching style. The structured interview approach in which children classified 21 cards (7 animals, 7 plants, and 7 artefacts) as living or nonliving things. The results indicated that children had varied misconceptions regarding the classification of and justifications about living things, especially regarding plants. The use of iPads according to a socio-cultural perspective had a positive effect on children’s knowledge development. Children in the iPad group performed better in categorising different types of animals and plants and in justifying their views.

519-536

Authors: David A. Cerulli, Jack B. Holbrook

This research seeks to evaluate students’ intended behavioural actions in the event of a natural hazard, specifically hurricane, lightning, earthquake, or tsunami. A test instrument, measuring behavioural actions in the event of a natural hazard, and related NOS/NOT beliefs and dispositions, is utilized to collect data in Estonia, USA and Japan (N=2323). Results suggest that students responded adequately to tsunamis and lightning strikes, but to a lesser extent for hurricanes and earthquakes. Results also suggest a connection between dispositions and behavioural actions, but a lack of connection between generalised. NOS/NOT conceptualisations and behavioural actions. Results imply that students find it difficult to apply their learning to new situations requiring responsible behavioural actions. Implications indicate that NOS/NOT are not well understood, while responsible behavioural actions need to more heavily stressed in teaching about natural hazards involving the promotion of student values and attitudes with respect to Natural Disaster Reduction (NDR).

549-557

Authors: Jana Fančovičová, Pavol Prokop

Students of various age groups manifest numerous explanations that differ from what is known to be scientifically correct. Misconceptions about the human body are one of the best studied areas of students’ understanding of scientific phenomena. To explore misconceptions, researchers have at their disposal various methods which can lead to different results. In order to find an effective, cheap and representative diagnostic instrument, correlations between scores obtained by open-ended questions and drawings on the example of the human circulatory system were examined. Open-ended questions provide a more complete understanding of student learning but are harder to evaluate objectively in comparison with drawings, particularly in cross-cultural research. Correlations among scores obtained by these two methods in the present research were moderate, which suggests that drawings reflect students’ understanding of the circulatory system, albeit not perfectly. Although drawings probably never provide a complete understanding of children’s ideas about science, this cheap and time effective method is recommended particularly in cross-cultural research, where standard, comparable conditions are hard to achieve.

569-582

Authors: Katja Gobec, Jelka Strgar

This research aimed to assess the influence of the method of conceptual change on understanding the concept of increasing the mass of plants among 414 students in agricultural education in Slovenia. In photosynthesis, biomass is produced, so understanding these processes is essential for successful agriculture. Data were collected using a knowledge test and a questionnaire that were administered before and after the traditional and experimental teaching units. The results allowed the conclusion that the method of the conceptual change (experimental teaching unit) was significantly more effective than the traditional method in improving the understanding of the contribution of solar energy and carbon dioxide to the increase in the mass of plants. There was no significant difference in the improvement of knowledge about the contribution of the minerals that plants receive through their roots. Understanding the contribution of water to the increase of the mass should be tested further because of the unexpected misconception that influenced the results that was found among students. Students’ attitudes toward biology and photosynthesis were significantly better after the experimental teaching unit. Considering these findings, other topics should be prepared using the method of the conceptual change to assist biology and science teachers in agricultural education.

595-606

Authors: Muhaimin, Akhmad Habibi, Amirul Mukminin, Robin Pratama, Asrial, Harlina Harja

Teachers’ intention to use technology is a major factor in its effective use in learning including in developing countries. This research empirically investigated on factors that influence Pre-Service Science Teachers’ (PSSTs) intention to use Web 2.0 in learning through Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in Indonesia. The goals of the research were to (a) report if the TAM is a valid and reliable model to explain PSSTs intention to use Web 2.0, and (b) inform the factors of PSSTs’ intention to use Web 2.0 in learning. Seven hundred and five PSSTs from five universities completed a 24-item online questionnaire based on the TAM constructs comprising perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, subjective norm, facilitating conditions, attitudes, and intention to use Web 2.0. Results obtained using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) informed that (a) facilitating condition and subjective norm significantly influenced perceived ease of use; (b) subjective norm significantly affected perceived usefulness; (c) both perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness was a significant factor predicting attitude; and (d) attitude, perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness significantly influenced intention to use Web 2.0. Overall, the TAM is a valid model to help explain Indonesian PSSTs’ intention to use Web 2.0 in learning.

620-633

Authors: Dragica D. Trivic, Milanka Džinović, Vesna D. Milanovic, Ljiljana Živković

The aim of this research was to examine the effects of a new platform for raising the pre-service chemistry and geography teachers’ awareness of cooperation possibilities associated with the planning relevant interdisciplinary lesson. The research featured the participation of 16 students of the Faculty of Chemistry and 28 students of the Faculty of Geography of Belgrade University. Two workshops were conducted within the research. During the first workshop the participants worked in small groups on the tasks which served to strengthen their awareness on the relevant science education. The second workshop comprised the jointly planning the interdisciplinary lessons in groups with members of the pre-service teachers of both subjects. The participants’ lesson plans contain goals that can be classified as those relevant for the individual and those relevant for society. Half of the lesson plans contained formulations of goals that can be assessed as relevant for certain professions. The activities planned for the attainment of the stated goals support an interdisciplinary approach, encompass the concepts envisaged by the chemistry and geography curricula, and the activities specific to these two subjects.

646-648

Authors: Editorial Board

End page, Vol. 18, No. 4, JBSE, 2019

319

Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, JBSE, Vol. 18, No. 3, 2019

323-334

Authors: Muhammad Aliman, Budijanto, Sumarmi, I Komang Astina, Rozana Eka Putri, Muhammad Arif

Geography learning is meaningless if it is not followed by the development of students' spatial thinking ability. Research aimed to 1) determine the effect of earthcomm learning and conventional learning on geography learning outcomes, 2) find out the effect of spatial thinking ability on geography learning outcomes, 3) find out the interaction between the application of earthcomm learning and spatial thinking ability on geography learning outcomes. Research used a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design. The research sample was taken from three high schools in Malang City, Indonesia. Geography learning outcomes data were obtained from paper-based test and spatial thinking ability data obtained from spatial thinking test instruments. Data were analyzed using Two Way ANOVA test using SPSS devices. The results of the research, 1) there is an effect of the application of learning to students’ geography learning outcomes, 2) there is an influence of the ability of spatial thinking on geography learning outcomes, 3) there is no interaction between the application of learning and spatial thinking on geography learning outcomes. Efforts to improve learning outcomes and spatial thinking ability are needed by students to face the challenges of global competition.

349-361

Authors: Rita Birzina, Dagnija Cedere, Liva Petersone

The mass-approach in higher education promotes the broadening of students’ number and diversity therefore the question about the young people’s readiness to adapt to studies becomes more and more topical. Students who enrol in the natural science faculties of the University of Latvia (UL) are motivated and have high assessment in biology and chemistry as school subjects. However, the studies already during the 1st term prove that students encounter problems to get adjusted to the study process. In order to find out the key factors that determine the adaptation of the first-year students to studies, an e-questionnaire was developed and 79 students from the Faculty of Chemistry and Faculty of Biology were surveyed. Institutional and personal factors that are focused on the application of transferable skills are mainly those that affect the students’ adaptation in the first term of studies. At the same time such issues of the academic factor as students’ prior knowledge in biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics and their skill to learn independently are intrinsic for students’ successful studies.

379-388

Authors: Hyuksoo Kwon, Eunsang Lee

The aim of this research was to explore research trends and issues in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in South Korea. To accomplish this, we conducted an analysis of 222 peer-reviewed journal papers related to ESD in South Korea. The research concentrated on identifying four characteristics of ESD research: 1) key publication features, 2) the research topics described, 3) the research design employed, and 4) the types of sample/subjects. The results showed that the initial ESD research began in South Korea in 2005, and the number of the journal papers has increased since 2010. Regarding research topics, more research has been conducted on establishing conceptual or theoretical foundations related to ESD. Moreover, teachers’ attitudes or perceptions and program development associated with sustainable development were studied in depth. There were similar ratios of the theoretical research, quantitative research, and qualitative research regarding research design but mixed methods studies indicating the least ratio. Content analysis was the most prevalent analysis technique for quantitative/mixed ESD research. Regarding data sources or participants, the most common data source was the literature. Several research suggestions were made for assessing ESD programs and in-service teachers’ ESD professional development.

404-416

Authors: Lilia Ellany Mohtar, Lilia Halim, Norshariani Abd Rahman, Siti Mistima Maat, Zanaton H. Iksan, Kamisah Osman

Studies have shown that various factors (the role of formal education, informal education, and community) contribute to the lack of participation in STEM and STEM careers. This research aimed to understand the multi pathways of factors contributing to the interest in STEM careers (STEM careers in physical sciences and STEM careers in life sciences). This research was a survey research which administered a questionnaire randomly to 1485 secondary school students (14 years of age). Data analysis was based on the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach using Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) to test the hypothesized model. A model containing five constructs, namely environmental factors (learning experiences, media, social influences), self-efficacy in science, technology, engineering and mathematics respectively, perceptions of STEM careers and interest in physical sciences and life sciences STEM careers was proposed in this research. The results show that students’ interest in life sciences based careers is influence by their self-efficacy and perceptions of the career. Meanwhile, students’ interest in physical sciences based careers is influence only by their self-efficacy and not influence by their perceptions of the career. The need to improve students’ self-efficacy through STEM learning experiences is imperative to ensure continued interest in STEM careers.

435-449

Authors: Mitja Slavinec, Boris Aberšek, Dino Gačević, Andrej Flogie

Contemporary society of the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) increasingly requires the education system (i.e., the school) to train competent, creative and proactive professionals who will be able to solve real life problems. If society is to achieve this, some key paradigm changes must occur in education. The school must first prepare a competence-based curriculum and, secondly, school practice should move away from subject-based teaching, towards an interdisciplinary STEM teaching approach. Obviously, to support this, modern learning environments and ICT solutions and tools have to be used. However, since the interdisciplinary STEM approach has already been implemented and integrated, it can be said that a new, integrated science discipline (STEM) has already emerged, together with a transdisciplinary approach to STEM learning and teaching. In the present research, a concrete case of designing, developing and producing a solar chimney was used to demonstrate an integrated approach to learning and teaching, while emphasizing especially the advantages of such an interdisciplinary (transdisciplinary) approach to teaching Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematic content. The empirical research shows that such an approach produces incomparably better results, especially on higher cognitive levels, in comparison to traditional approaches to learning and teaching.

466-480

Authors: Shao-Na Zhou, Hui Zeng, Shao-Rui Xu, Lu-Chang Chen, Hua Xiao

Primary education is an essential stage and has an important impact on students’ learning attitudes throughout the coming school years. The research explored the attitudes towards science, technology, engineering and mathematics among students through all grade levels in primary school. The Project-based Integrated STEM Program was proposed to study the changes of primary students’ attitudes towards STEM. An assessment of S-STEM which consists of the STEM subscale and the 21st century skills subscale was utilized for both pre-test and post-test. The results showed that primary students exhibited little different attitudes on the S-STEM in the pre-test, regardless of gender and grade level. As evident from the comparison between the pre-test and post-test, the Project-based Integrated STEM Program had a positive effect on student attitudes towards STEM. It is encouraging if there are more STEM-related programs implemented at all educational stages covering the primary level.

151

Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, JBSE, Vol. 18, No. 2, 2019

158-170

Authors: Burcu Alan, Fikriye Kirbağ Zengin, Gonca Keçeci

In this research the effects of STEM applications, which are aimed to support the integrated teaching knowledge of pre-service science teachers on the problem solving skills of pre-service science teachers were examined. The research was carried out in scope of the mixed method design of convergent parallel design. The research was conducted with pre-service science teachers of experimental group (n=31) and control group (n=31) who were studying at Fırat University. STEM applications including Algodoo were carried out with the pre-service teachers in the experimental group for one term. The data of the research were collected through the problem solving inventory test (PSIT), prospects diaries during the process of the pre-service science teachers in the experiment group. Quantitative data were analyzed using unpaired samples t-test. Statistically significant differences were found in favor of the experimental group when the PSIT post-test scores of the pre-service teachers in the experimental and control groups were analyzed. They said that STEM education is necessary and important for them, much better products arise as a result of gathering different disciplines, but integration of four disciplines is not easy.

184-196

Authors: Paweł Bernard, Karol Dudek-Różycki, Kinga Orwat

Inquiry-based teaching and learning methods are more and more widely used in the teaching natural sciences all over the world. The elements of inquiry are included in many national sciences’ core curricula and indicate that students should be actively involved in acquiring knowledge. This fact changes the teacher’s role in the classroom and the structure of everyday lessons. Independent inquiry helps students to develop various elements of scientific education, gain specific skills and competencies. Consequently, the assessment methods used so far are no longer sufficient and they should be expanded with new strategies, tools, and criteria. In recent years, there were many projects, in which teachers were trained in using both inquiry-based instructions and formative assessment. So far, unfortunately, there has been limited information on how teachers bring theory into practice and combine the new teaching and assessment methods, and how they adopt available teaching materials during everyday classes. This case study explored how experienced chemistry teachers, who have broad content, pedagogical content, and inquiry methodology knowledge, integrate inquiry-based teaching with formative assessment for the first time. The results of the study revealed the main limiting factors and teachers’ dilemmas.

209-226

Authors: Gabriela Deliu, Cristina Miron, Cristian Opariuc-Dan

The aim of this research is to study the merits and complementarity of Construct Mapping and Categorical Principal Components Analysis as two approaches that explore the dimensionality of multiple-choice items in achievement tests. Data from the two forms of the Romanian National Assessment Tests on Science were used to explore the dimensionality of items and to identify potentially problematic items that affect the equivalence of the two parallel forms. The findings confirm that the two tests have at best partial equivalence, but while the two methods both agree on test unidimensionality, they flag in part different items as potentially problematic. The results enable researchers and practitioners to make coherent data-driven decision regarding the use of unidimensional vs multidimensional IRT models.

239-253

Authors: Enes Filiz, Ersoy Öz

Educational Data Mining (EDM) is an important tool in the field of classification of educational data that helps researchers and education planners analyse and model available educational data for specific needs such as developing educational strategies. Trends International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) which is a notable study in educational area was used in this research. EDM methodology was applied to the results of TIMSS 2015 that presents data culled from eighth grade students from Turkey. The main purposes are to find the algorithms that are most appropriate for classifying the successes of students, especially in science subjects, and ascertaining the factors that lead to this success. It was found that logistic regression and support vector machines – poly kernel are the most suitable algorithms. A diverse set of features obtained by feature selection methods are “Computer Tablet Shared”, “Extra Lessons Last 12 Month”, “Extra Lessons How Many Month”, “How Far in Education Do You Expect to Go”, “Home Educational Resources”, and “Student Confident in Science” and these features are the most effective features in science success.

264-275

Authors: Tingxuan Li, Kari L. Clase, Weiling Li, Anne Traynor

This research is motivated by the perspective that when empirical studies and assessment frameworks inform each other, assessments can enrich science education and strengthen its connections to modern science. The research proposes a bioenergy competency assessment for science education. It uses an argument-based approach to validation. Multiple types of validity evidence were collected to support the proposed scores use and scores interpretation. Along with reporting a series of psychometric properties of response data, the findings indicated that empirical response data corresponded to the hypothesized data structure. The latent logistic scale estabished through a generalized partial credit model (GPCM) seemed useful in measuring students’ bioenergy competency.

286-299

Authors: Martin Rusek, Vlastimil Chytrý, Linda Honskusová

This research follows the previous study examining the effect of chemistry education on students’ perception and understanding to the nature of chemistry (NoC) as well as their attitudes towards it as a school subject. Grade 9 students (N = 282) at the end of their compulsory schooling were given a set of open-ended questions focused on their understanding to NoC, perception of chemistry topics’ importance, topics the students found interesting and their evaluation of chemistry as a school subject. The answers were analysed using the open coding approach. It is possible to conclude most of the students do not have a clear idea about the nature of chemistry. Students assess chemistry as a school subject in the middle of the 5 point Likert scale. The results of this research offer the background for a more complex analysis of effects influencing students’s conception of chemistry and its subject matter.

314-316

Authors: Editorial Board

End page, JBSE, Vol. 18, No. 2, 2019

3

Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, JBSE, Vol. 18, No.1, 2019

6-18

Authors: Katja Gobec, Jelka Strgar

This research aimed to assess the knowledge of photosynthesis among students in agricultural education and understand the influence of the contextual factors on it. In photosynthesis, biomass is produced, so understanding these processes is essential for successful agriculture. The research sample consisted of 330 students in agricultural education in Slovenia. Data were collected with a knowledge test and a contextual questionnaire. Better knowledge of photosynthesis was positively related with higher awareness of the importance of biology as a science and of photosynthesis. There was no significant relation between the knowledge of photosynthesis and positive attitudes toward biology lessons. The average achievement on the knowledge test of photosynthesis was 56%: the highest on the item about energy and the lowest on the item about the primary purpose of photosynthesis. Between these two achievements was the knowledge of reactants and products in photosynthesis, and the knowledge concerning chlorophyll. Considering these results, improvements should be made in teaching. For this population, more experimental and less theory-based lessons were suggested. The findings could benefit biology and science teachers in agricultural education and help improve national curriculum for biology in agricultural programmes.

39-50

Authors: Chun-Chu Liu, Tse-Yu Wang

This research was the first research integrating decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) and structural equation modeling (SEM) to analysis factors, including interest in science, value in science and confidence in science, affecting female students’ science achievements from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011. The research constructed two causal models base on mutual effect of value in science and confidence in science by DEMATEL analysis. The causality of two factors in model 1 was value in science affected confidence in science and model 2 vice versa. According to the results of SEM analysis, fit indices of CFI, GFI and AGFI in model 1 were 0.851, 0.796 and 0.745; in model 2 were 0.818, 0.772, and 0.873. And results showed that female students had better fitness in model 1; in other words, the causality of value in science to confidence in science might have an important effect on the science achievement of female students. Lastly, these findings could provide not only a different perspective for future researches but also a useful insight as a reference for policy making and improvement by relevant decision makers.

63-76

Authors: Bevo Wahono, Chun-Yen Chang

The development and deployment of STEM education in every continent and country are different. An instrument to access the current situation of the application, knowledge, as well as attitude towards STEM education, is necessary. This research aimed to design and develop a valid instrument that can be used to assure the quantitative degree of attitude, knowledge, and application of STEM (AKA) by science teachers. Research data were collected from 137 Indonesian secondary school science teachers. In order to determine the validity of the scale, reliability test, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), as well as the content and face validity from experts were used. Results showed that the designed and developed AKA instrument was adequate to reliabilities and validities as well as can be used to collect data. The development of AKA instrument enables users worldwide to obtain information about the development of STEM as well as the problems and challenges faced by science teachers in the field. Further work is also suggested.

90-104

Authors: Ayşegül Ergün

In Turkey, it is predicted that the need for STEM employment in the 2016-2023 period will be close to one million and that about 31% of this need will not be met. Therefore, the identification of students’ interest in STEM careers in middle-school is regarded as important. The aim of this research was to identify the interest of middle-school students in STEM careers. The sample of the research was made up of 892 students who received education in four middle-schools in the Aegean region of Turkey. In this research which was of the descriptive survey model, the STEM Career Interest Questionnaire was used to collect data. As a result of research, it was determined that the interest of male students in STEM careers is more positive compared to the female students. It was found that the interest in careers in terms of grade level did not display any differences in the area of technology, whereas it displayed differences in the areas of science, engineering and mathematics. In addition, it was identified that the interest in STEM careers displayed differences in terms of grade level and that as the grade level increases, the interest in STEM careers decreases.

117-131

Authors: Zvezdan Z.Gagić, Sonja J. Skuban, Branka N. Radulović, Maja M. Stojanović, Olivera Gajić

Primary school students generally lack motivation for learning physics, which they perceive as a difficult subject. In order to overcome this problem, it is necessary to apply appropriate teaching approach. The aim of this research was to assess the educational efficiency of mind maps in physics and students’ involvement when this approach is used. A pre-test – post-test control group design was used. The sample of this research consisted of 113 seventh-grade students divided into an experimental and a control group. The students in the experimental group were taught physics using mind maps and the students in the control group were taught using conventional teaching approach. The data were collected by using two physics knowledge tests and perceived mental effort scale. The data were analyzed using ANOVA, t-test and chi-square test. The obtained results showed that the educational efficiency of teaching with the use of mind maps was greater than the efficiency of conventional teaching approach. Besides that, the students’ involvement in the experimental group was higher than the one in the control group. The implementation of mind maps in teaching physics in primary schools can increase students’ motivation for learning physics and lower their mental effort.

147-148

Authors: Editorial Board

End page, JBSE, Vol. 18, No.1, 2019

911

Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, Vol. 17, No. 6, 2018, JBSE

918-934

Authors: Vesna Oražem, Iztok Tomažič

Wolf (Canis lupus) conservation is multidimensional. Its aspects include the consensus between different interest groups. The present research aimed to assess the attitude and knowledge of the students (N = 483 students from three schools age 14-19) enrolled in the environmentalist, veterinary and agricultural technician study programmes through a questionnaire, as their profession represents a part of this multidimensional consensus. The research results indicate that students have neutral to positive attitudes toward wolves, generally. Their knowledge of wolves, however, is limited. Agricultural technicians showed the most negative attitudes toward wolves and the lowest knowledge. Overall, correlations between all attitudinal dimensions and correlations between attitudinal dimensions and knowledge were found, with the highest correlations between conservation dimension and all other dimensions including knowledge. The research findings support the widespread assumption that education within the above-mentioned study programmes should focus also on the current socio-scientific issues of animal conservation. Special attention should be given to the education of agricultural technicians as their utilitarian view could interfere with the effective conservation of large carnivores.

945-959

Authors: Zehra Ozdilek, Seda Okumus, Kemal Doymus

This research was conducted to facilitate the conceptual understanding of the solutions that contain abstract concepts and not to understand easily. The aim of this research is to determine the effect of applied methods on the achievement level of prospective science teachers and conceptual understanding level at the particulate nature of matter in solution chemistry. The research was conducted with 58 prospective science teachers and a pre-test/posttest non-equivalent quasi-experimental design was used. Three experimental groups were determined as model supported Reading Writing Application method of cooperative learning (n=20), model supported Students Teams Achievement Divisions method of cooperative learning (n=20), and model supported individual learning method (n=18). The data collected with a Particulate Nature of Matter Test (PNMT) and a Module Test (MT). For analyzing data descriptive statistics, one–way ANOVA, and ANCOVA were used. The results showed that there was no significant effect with respect to the achievement level. According to findings from the post test of MT, all groups were more successful in terms of correct understanding of the solutions compared with the pre-tests.

972-985

Authors: Nia Erlina, Endang Susantini, Wasis, Iwan Wicaksono, Paken Pandiangan

Evidence-Based Reasoning (EBR) is a framework of inquiry-based teaching for developing scientific reasoning. This research aims to analyze the effectiveness of EBR in inquiry-based Physics teaching to improve students' scientific reasoning. Applying Slovin formula for sample determination, the research involved 139 upper-secondary school students with similar prior knowledge. This research used one group pre-test post-test design with replication. The effectiveness of teaching on improving scientific reasoning was analyzed by using Paired Sample T-test. ANOVA was used to analyze the consistency of the teaching effectiveness across in test group. The findings indicated that EBR effectively improved students' scientific reasoning in inquiry-based Physics teaching based on two main grounds. On the first, the significance was ensured by N-gain category of scientific reasoning component, which proved (a) control of variables reaching high category, (b) proportional thinking at moderate category; c) probabilistic thinking reaching moderate category, (d) hypothetical-deductive reasoning attaining low category; and (e) correlational thinking achieving low category. In addition, the level of scientific reasoning has attained the experience characterized by slightly imperfect answers. Students voiced positive response to EBR, which stated that it helped them engage in scientific reasoning in Physics learning. They also voiced the general opinion on EBR and inquiry-based learning in general.

1005-1016

Authors: Gülşah Gürkan, Sibel Kahraman

Today, there is a great discrepancy between the number of recipient patients on waiting lists for an organ transplant and the number of donated organs. Negative attitudes toward organ donation are important factors in the lack of donors. Education is an important tool to change attitudes, so it is important to determine the attitudes of teachers and pre-service teachers. The aim of this research was to develop a reliable and valid scale to evaluate pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards organ transplantation and donation (OTD). The attitude scale development process was conducted on three different pre-service teachers’ groups for the purposes of performing the exploratory factor analysis (n=208), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (n=480) and test-retest correlation (n=62) of the scale. It was established that the scale had two factor structure consisting of a total of 20 items. It was determined that the two factors determined explain 61.749% of the total variance. The CFA values confirmed the two-factor model with acceptable goodness of fit indices. The Cronbach Alpha coefficient for the total scale was calculated as .900. Test-retest reliability was calculated as .951. Finally, the results demostrated that this scale is able to measure pre-service teachers’ attitudes related to OTD use reliably.

1034-1045

Authors: Päivi Kousa, Maija Aksela, Vesna Ferk Savec

School-industry collaboration can be an effective way to implement STSE issues to teaching. However, teachers´ negative beliefs, lack of knowledge, resources, support and opportunities to collaborate with companies can impede the efficient implementation. In this case-study, 42 Finnish and Slovenian pre-service teachers´ STSE beliefs were first examined before and after the school-industry collaboration course by survey. After the course, beliefs of 8 Finnish pre-service teachers were analyzed in more detail by open-ended questionnaires and reflective writing. The pre-service teachers were more confident to teach STSE issues after the course in both countries. However, they needed more support and knowledge from the community members they collaborated with (i.e. representatives of industries, university teacher, student colleagues and school teachers). The industry-based teaching material was considered beneficiary especially for mixed-ability classrooms and the whole course was regarded useful for future practices. The results of this research highlight the importance of pre-service teacher education and practices with STSE issues. The positive and negative beliefs should be examined frequently already during the pre-service education in order to develop tools for teacher support and encouragement. This research promotes a practical example and ideas of a local school-company collaboration.

1056-1060

Authors: Editorial Board

End page, Vol. 17, No. 6, 2018, JBSE