Journal of Baltic Science Education

149-150

Authors: Editorial Board

Cover page, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2014, JBSE

152-154

Authors: Jack Holbrook

It has been traditional to educate students in school, especially secondary schools, through subject domains and within lessons named according to the domain. Today in most countries, science lessons are offered in the curriculum, specified as science, or one of its sub-components e.g. biology, chemistry, physics, or perhaps a combination of these e.g. physical science. It does not have to be this way, of course, as can be amplified by the concept of an integrated day, implemented at the primary level in a number of countries. So what is intended in science lessons? A traditional view is that they are about information and concepts so as to provide an intellectual background for further subject learning at a higher level. This especially came about when education was selective and not all students were able to successfully compete for the opportunity to progress to the higher levels of learning. But even today, in systems where education is intended for all (and usually compulsory up to 15/16 years of age), content knowledge and conceptual understanding seems to prevail. One look at the standard science textbook will show chapter headings dominated by the subject and with heavy use of scientific terminology.

165-181

Authors: Cemal Tosun

The purpose of this study was to develop a scale to identify the levels of knowledge, perception and awareness of chemical hazard symbols of participants from a variety of backgrounds and ranging in age from 12 years to 40 and over. Experts were consulted for the contextual and the language validity of each item on the scale. In line with the opinions of the experts, the scale, consisting of a total of 25 items distributed under four sections, was applied to 462 participants of all age groups, so as to calculate the discrimination and difficulty indexes. In order to decide whether the third section of the scale is one-dimensional or two-dimensional, data obtained from the 13 multiple-choice questions constituting this section were examined using confirmatory factor analysis. Afterwards the items constituting the second and the third sections of the scale were tested in terms of their reliability. Finally, a useful scale of 24 items in four sections was prepared with tested validity and reliability.

191-200

Authors: Vassiliki Ntalakoura, Konstantinos Ravanis

The research presented here studied preschool children’s representations of light. A teaching intervention was also carried out, with an aim to construct in children’s thinking a precursor model according to which light is recognized as an autonomous entity, which is independent of the light sources and the results it causes. The teaching intervention was conducted through the use of special software created in a scratch environment. The study, consisting of three phases (pre-test, teaching intervention and post-test), included 30 children aged 4-6 years. The results of the research showed that in the children’s initial mental representations light is identified mainly with light sources. After the teaching intervention, a large percentage of the children had constructed a precursor model which was compatible with the scientific one, based upon which children recognize light as an autonomous entity.

216-230

Authors: Dilek Erduran Avci, Nazmiye Sadiye Onal, Muhammet Usak

The purpose of this study is to examine teacher opinions about science-technology-society-environment (STSE) acquisitions in Turkish Science and Technology Course Curriculum (TSTC). For this purpose, semi-structured interviews were performed with teachers. The participants were addressed questions about their awareness of STSE acquisitions and their in-class activity about these acquisitions. Learning fields of the teachers, the contents of these fields and the opinions of the teachers about STSE pointed out that their awareness level about STSE acquisitions was low. On the other hand, most of the teachers stated that there was enough and comprehensible information about STSE acquisitions in TSTC. The results of this study revealed that most of the teachers were not able to realize these acquisitions in the courses because of a lack of time or equipment and overcrowded classes.

243-258

Authors: Nermin Bulunuz, Mızrap Bulunuz, Hanife Peker

This study had three main purposes, to (a) determine students’ understanding of basic physics concepts, (b) analyze the science concepts and their connection to real-life context in science curricula and teaching materials, (c) evaluate effect of formative assessment probes on students’ understanding of selected key concepts. Subjects were 197, 8th grade students who had studied five basic physics concepts. To evaluate students’ understanding, a questionnaire consisting of formative assessment probes was administered with 4 multiple choice and 4 open-ended questions. Findings indicated that students had poor conceptual understanding of the concepts. Science curriculum, analyzed in terms of application to real-world contexts, indicated that textbooks included few practical explanations. In an intervention, one public school received formative assessment probes integrated with extra-curricular hands-on science instruction. Pre-post data showed significant increases in students’ understanding of basic physics concepts. Finding that these students significantly out-performed other groups implies: (a) the need to include students’ prior learning in instruction and (b) the need for more learning time to apply understanding of concepts to real-world contexts.

276-288

Authors: Derya Çobanoğlu Aktan, Emrah Oğuzhan Dinçer

The purpose of this study was to investigate pre-service science teachers’ understanding levels of Kepler’s second and third laws. The participants of the study were 38 pre-service science teachers who attended introductory astronomy class in their teacher education program. The participants’ understandings of Kepler’s laws were examined by their answers to ranking tasks, which required participants to rank the situations given in the question, and then to explain the reasons behind their answers. The findings showed that the participants’ understanding levels ranged from partial understanding with alternative conceptions to sound understanding. Moreover the number of the participants with partial understanding with alternative conceptions exceeded the participants with sound understanding. The participants’ explanations to ranking tasks also indicated that although participants knew the classic statements of Kepler’s laws, they had also alternative conceptions. Five different alternative conceptions were identified from the participants’ explanations. Two of them have not been reported in previous studies.