Journal of Baltic Science Education

199

Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, Vol. 11, No. 3, 2012, JBSE

203-215

Authors: Esra Uçak, Hüseyin Bağ

This study is aimed at determining the 6th, 7th, 8th grade pupils’ level of self-efficacy towards Science and Technology lesson and also determining the levels of its sub-dimensions including confidence in Science and Technology lesson, the ability to cope with the difficulties in Science and Technology and the confidence in performing Science and Technology tasks. This study investigates whether there is a meaningful difference in elementary school pupils’ self-efficacy of Science and Technology and its sub-dimensions regarding variables such as gender, grade level, and the level of parents’ education, reading scientific books and watching scientific documentaries. With this aim, in this study “Personal Information Form” and “Science and Technology Lesson Self-Efficacy Scale” have been used. The sample of this study consists of 705 pupils. As a result of the study, it has been concluded that the elementary school pupils’ self-efficacy of Science and Technology and its sub-dimensions are at a high level (=agree level). In addition, while the elementary school pupils’ self-efficacy towards Science and Technology lesson differ in terms of grade, level of parents’ education and profession, reading scientific books and watching scientific documentaries variables, there hasn’t been found a meaningful difference for the gender variable.

224-235

Authors: Mutlu Pinar Demirci Guler, Ozlem Afacan

Sustainability is a term that presented itself especially in the late 1970s, when there was a considerable increase in environmental problems. In general, it can be defined as satisfying the present requirements with a consideration into future needs without using up natural resources. It is clear that education is part of the process of achieving it. Accordingly, sustainable environmental education includes enabling individuals to gain an awareness of environmental issues, to attain certain values and attitudes, and to adopt positive behaviours. The purpose of this study is to develop a valid and reliable scale regarding sustainable environmental education. The study was implemented on a total of 409 prospective teachers at Ahi Evran University. It was based on the 5-point Likert scale and consisted of 29 items. The data were transferred to the SPSS 15.0. Afterwards, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the data. The analysis yielded that the scale had three dimensions. In addition, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the scale was found to be 0.944.

248-266

Authors: Nilgün Tatar

This study investigated the effects of inquiry-based instruction on preservice teachers’ beliefs concerning learning science through inquiry and their performance to apply a scientific inquiry process. A case study design was used in the study and the data were collected through interviews, observations and written documents. Two preservice teachers with different experiences in their previous science education were selected. The preservice teachers learnt both science and scientific inquiry process through open inquiry activities. The results of the research show that past experiences of preservice teachers are effective on beliefs about learning science through inquiry. The open inquiry science activities which allow preservice teachers’ making discussion, collaboration, and interaction were effective in developing their beliefs concerning learning science through inquiry and increasing their ability to apply a scientific inquiry process. The overall findings indicate that inquiry-based activities should frequently be a preferred instruction method in preservice teacher education.

275-284

Authors: Chun-Yen Chang, Johannes-Geert Hagmann, Yu-Ta Chien, Chung-Wen Cho

A short look on any science center or science museum website reveals that significant amounts of online educational resources have been developed in recent years. However, how can the non-formal online learning resources of science centers/museums support learning activities inside schools? This study leverages the educational pathway of energy resources, designed by the European Open Science Resources project and the Deutsches Museum, to develop in-school learning activities. This research explores the impact of different instructional approaches incorporating the educational pathway, including the Self-Guided Educational Pathway (SGEP) and Teacher-Guided Educational Pathway (TGEP), on Taiwanese high-school students’ science learning outcomes. The results indicate that the TGEP approach provides students significantly higher knowledge gains than the SGEP approach. Moreover, the TGEP approach significantly maintained students’ positive attitudes toward science learning, museum learning, and online museum learning than did the SGEP approach. The results are discussed in terms of both pedagogical designs and the social culture of Eastern Asia.

293-296

Authors: Editorial Board

End page, Vol. 11, No. 3, 2012, JBSE