Gamtamokslinis ugdymas / Natural Science Education

4-6

Authors: Vincentas Lamanauskas

Recently, the issues of science education have been exhaustively discussed. The ques-tions of science education are debated at all levels. The today‘s situation in science educa-tion area puts forward set of problems to be indispensably solved. In this editorial such problematic aspects as qualification of science teachers, modernisation of system of preparation of science teachers in a context of the theory of constructivism, improvement of material resources of schools etc. Are shortly presented. It is stated that more attention it is necessary to give to school science textbooks and their effective usage in educational process. For example, in february 2007 an International Meeting of IOSTE on „Critical Analysis of School Science Textbook“ was organized in Hammamet (Tunisia). A lot of empirical results dealing with the anglysis of syllabuses and science textbooks were presented during the meeting. In Lithuania there are also some actual problems connected with school science textbooks, for example methodological level, quality of teaching /learning content, didactically well-founded visualisation etc. Such questions as scientific literacy, e-literacy, illiteracy, interests and motivation in science, quality of science education process at primary school level are the burning issues.

15-29

Authors: Vincentas Lamanauskas, Alina Palionienė

The Relevance of the Research. In the general programmes/curricula and the Standards of Education of the School of General Education of Lithuania (2003) it is stated that “preschool, primary and basic child education is considered as one of the most important priorities of contemporary education policy, as the basis for lifelong learning”. Contemporary preschool education regulations are an aspiration to help a child to acquire competencies necessary for everyday life and successful education/self-education at school, the basis of which is the sum total of already possessed value attitudes, gained abilities and skills, and experience. It is not enough to call child’s competencies an aspiration – it is important to attempt to “measure” them, and it is what has been emphasized in the present work. The importance of one of the competencies – the cognitive competency – is emphasized in Preschool Education Standards (2003). The straightest way to the development of child’s cognitive competency is the formation of natural environment in a preschool institution. Cognitive psychology considers per-manent investigation of environment as one of the most important factors of the development of child personality. In contemporary reformed nursery school the investigation activity, its importance, signifi-cance, functionality, relations between natural environment and the cognitive competency is little or almost not investigated area. The object of research - the importance of natural environment for the development of the cognitive competency. The aim of research - to analyze what kind of importance natural environment of a preschool institution has for the development of the cognitive competency. The Methodology. J. A. Comenius, J. J. Rousseau, J. H. Pestalozzi suggested naturality/nature as the example or means to cognize and investigate the world. In order to collect the data about the importance of natural environment for the development of the cognitive competency, in the work the reference has been made to J. Bruner’s theory of cognitive development. In modern cognitive conception of learning it is stated that only by investigating cognitive processes we may better perceive the behaviour of a person himself/herself. For the evolution of the development of cognition natural environment is important and closest to a child because there sensory abilities may develop. Results of research. Educators of preschool educational institutions positively evaluate value of a natural environment for formation of the cognitive competence. On the other hand it is not the main limiting factor. Experts understand essence and value of updating and formation of natural environment in preschool education institutions. Change of a situation is interfered by poor material resources, the low competence of preschool educators (teachers) in the field of natural science education, inadequate programs and standards. 68 percent of experts consider, that it is very important to establish close communications with a following level of education – primary and basic (lower secondary) school. In opinion of 59 percent of experts it is very important constant improvement of professional competence (skills) of teachers of preschool education. Half of experts (50%) recognize that virtual, instead of the natural environment today prevails. It is established, that in opinion of the majority of experts (72, 7%) the natural environment of preschool education institutions is artificial and limited.

38-46

Authors: Olga V. Sergeyeva

The closing article of the series is concerned with the problems of the creation of nanostructures with more or less sophisticated architecture. If the nanoparticles themselves are mainly of academic interest, their assemblies can be used as the working elements of future devices. Such assemblies perform completely new and unexpected properties, which can not be treated as the simple sum of the their constituent particles. Nanoparticles can be organized into the assembly by various ways – by means of electrostatic, capillary, Van-der-Vaalce and other interactions. Of the special interest is the self-assembly, being known as an attribute of the living matter, but possible in the more primitive form in the inorganic systems, as it is demonstrated with the examples of chemical assemblage and template synthesis. The role of the biomolecules and effects of biospecific recognition in the nanostructures formation is discussed, as well as the possibilities to arrange nanoparticles in the desired order using the atomic-force microscopes.

54-56

Authors: Rita Makarskaitė-Petkevičienė

Some words on the eve of the 80th anniversary of Professor Elena Šapokiene. An interview by associate professor Rita Makarskaitė-Petkevičienė (Vilnius Pedagogical University, Lithuania).