Gamtamokslinis ugdymas / Natural Science Education

4-7

Authors: Vincentas Lamanauskas

A problem of the notion natural science education (NSE) exists (English Science; Russian Естествознание /Естественнонаучное образование/, природоведение, окружающий мир, latvian Dabaszinatniskâ izglitiba/Dabas maciba, German Naturwissenschaft, French Sciences de la Vie et de la Terre, Norwegian Naturvitenskap/naturfag etc.). The concept is not properly and appropriately defined and this is a future task of didactics. On the other hand, in discussion on primary school this concept is not very suitable. Therefore, less complicated concepts basically defining natural science education such as The World Science, Me and the World, Nature and Human Being, Environment Study, We and the World, etc. are frequently applied. The most frequent and widely used term in Lithuania is natural science education. In the Lithuanian language – gamta (nature) + mokslas (science) + ugdymas (education) make one compound „gamtamokslinis“ and together with a term „ugdymas“ – „gamtamokslinis ugdymas“. Analogically the term is built in the Latvian language – daba (nature) + zinâtne (science) + izglitiba (education) – „dabaszinatniskâ izglitiba“. It should be emphasized that the present day educational terminology holds many obscurities. It is difficult to precisely choose an equivalent of the term in English. Researchers are expected to work hard as adjusting terminology is a very complex job in this field. I suppose that the explanation of the concept of natural sciences in a broad sense is logical. The concept „natural science education“ is the most appropriate in this context. The present natural science knowledge is related to the processes taking place in technical and social life, in the fields of ecology, health service, hygiene, demography, natural resources, etc. From this point of view, a term „natural science and technology education“ /NSTE/ seems to be reasoned today. The researchers’ communities have even certain problems in the field (for example, they have different attitudes towards natural science education and its place in the system of general education). In our opinion, natural science education is a field of social sciences (primarily educology). Public society approach to natural science education (general needs, general level of culture, traditions in the light of interaction with nature, the need to have society and the young generation of a privileged natural science background, etc.), its optimal conditions of implementation (the standards of natural science education and material, human, etc. resources undertaking their success), the development of the needs and motivation of nature study (in a broad sense) (improving the need to perceive nature throughout all studies in comprehensive school, enhancing cognitive relation with nature, etc.), natural science results: knowledge, abilities, relations (studying natural sciences, etc.) are the crucial components of natural science education. Secondary comprehensive education is the only stage for the young generation creating an opportunity to receive fundamental systemic natural science-technological education. Received NSTE (natural science-technological education) for the majority will be the only form to acknowledge this field as they will not have such a possibility for many reasons in the future. Having assessed the produced and expected changes of the educational system it is essential to stress that natural science education feels a lack of attention in the structure of the educational system (formal, informal).

15-24

Authors: Vincentas Lamanauskas, Dalia Augienė

The formation of scientific research activity (SRA) abilities in comprehensive school is undoubtedly, a very important sphere that has not received a proper attention yet. Current teaching and learning process has changed, in fact, from the point of view of paradigm – subjects taught are becoming a means of the realization of learners’ needs and interests. Scientific research activity is not an entertainment but responsible, thorough work requiring a lot of self-independence. During such an activity pupils’ analytical thinking gets stronger, information searching and using abilities are formed, they learn how to analyze gathered material, prepare reports, make research presentations and so on. A teacher who tends to organize pupils’ reproductive activity more often can achieve desired results, however, the fact that pupils have mastered ready-made information and have acquired knowledge and skills does not mean that they have mastered creative, scientific research activity experience. Learning only according to an example, a pupil does not acquire self-learning and searching skills. We will get a significantly bigger effect while throwing a pupil into a situation in which he will get a feeling of uncertainty and doubts and many questions will arise to him, rather than explaining everything and teaching according to an example. Such a situation is very easily created during a scientific research activity in which conditions are formed to create pupils’ scientific and critical thinking, insight, creativity and to develop personal features. While organizing scientific research activity, conditions are formed for pupils to work actively and independently. Working in that way pupils learn to explore, perceive a problem, formulate aims and tasks, raise a hypothesis, make its validation plan, analyze research results, check the reliability of received conclusions, raise a new problem in case of need and so on. In other words, pupils master scientific cognition elements. The research was carried out in January-April, 2010. 380 respondents – Natural science and Mathematics teachers participated in the research. The article deals with Natural science and Mathematics teachers’ opinion about factors stimulating and hindering scientific research activity in comprehensive school. Semantic categorization carried out of respondents answers to open questions is presented here, i.e., semantic structure of the opinions / attitudes to scientific research activity stimulating and hindering factors is revealed. After carrying out semantic respondents’ answer analysis it was stated that: • The most important scientific research activity stimulating factors are related to participants’ in education – teachers and pupils’ motivation. Professional information is the least influential in developing SRA in comprehensive school. • The most important hindering factors of SRA are related to material basis of educational institutions (laboratories, equipment, instruments and so on) also to participants’ in education - teachers and pupils’- motivation. • Insufficiency of teachers’ methodological preparation is also considered a serious hindering factor. Nuances of education policy are not viewed as an important factor limiting the development of SRA.

29-37

Authors: Violeta Šlekienė, Loreta Ragulienė

The article reveals the importance of demonstration tasks in physics teaching in secondary schools. Four demonstration of the liquid and gas properties are presented and analyzed. They are: Pressure dependence of gas flow speed; Pressure reduction in air-stream; Wing lift; Liquid surface tension. Reasoning schemes for giving a logical sense to these physics demo tasks are developed. The proposed reasoning schemes reach to activate students' thinking, understanding the demonstrations during the observed physical phenomena, i.e. help students to: understand the nature of the demo task, determine cause - effect relationships and dependencies, compare conditions and findings, summarize the results, do conclusions. Such using of demonstration tasks is useful to both of teacher and pupil: teacher controls the content of teaching and a learning of pupils, pupils - are focused to self-activities, encouraged to think, analyze, summarize and do conclusions.

42-47

Authors: Sergey Teleshov

Studying questions of application of various tutorials in practice of work of the school teacher of chemistry, we have addressed to educational texts XIX – beginnings ХХ centuries It is translation both original textbooks and books of problems not only in chemistry, but also on the physics. The matter is that the independent subject "chemistry" existed no more than in 25 % of average educational institutions of the Russian empire. For this reason chemical data inevitably joined in physics textbooks. Still in the end of XYIII centuries P.Gilarovsky, the professor of the Petersburg teacher's seminary, in the preface to his textbook of physics has noticed that it "has added" data from chemistry as it is necessary for the physicist. There upon by us have been considered over 200 textbooks and books of problems of physics and chemistry which found application in various types of average educational institutions of Russia. The most interesting are chosen from them 40 in the methodical plan and questions and problems which were offered in these texts to pupils are considered. The file of educational texts studied by us allows, on the one hand, when also what questions and settlement problems in chemistry have appeared in high school. Simultaneously we enrich a modern technique of training by those approaches and receptions which were applied by our predecessors since problems simultaneously are both tutorial and a training method. Possibility to estimate use of the mathematic device by the schoolboys who have passed a course more hundred fifty years ago is useful also. Comparison, by the way, unfortunately, is obvious not in our advantage.

55

Authors: Vincentas Lamanauskas

Proceedings of the Sixteenth National Scientific-Practical Conference, Anyksciai, 23-24 April, 2010, Lithuania.