Journal of Baltic Science Education

159

Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, Vol. 14, No. 2, 2015, JBSE

162-171

Authors: Kosta Dolenc, Boris Aberšek, Metka Kordigel Aberšek

We live in a time of transition from print reading (off-line) to screen reading (on-line), where the role of the book and other literature is being taken over by different types of electronic devices (computers, tablets, smart phones). In the lives of young people, there is less and less printed media, because it is being pushed out by electronic media. Most written media that is still used is thus bound to the classroom. However, in recent years schools have also become more like e-schools. It is almost impossible to find a school that does not use e-material in its educational process. Research indicates that there are differences in reading comprehension when reading off-line and on-line. In a study in which 78 students from the 8th grade of elementary school participated at the course Technology and science (n=77; 53.2% female), it was shown that in order to overcome this difference, individualised and adaptive Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) can be used. The evaluation of the results also indicates that, for such a form of ITS, there is still plenty of space for optimisation, which is a permanent method of improvement and upgrade in such systems.

183-193

Authors: Nail Ilhan, Zeynel Abidin Yilmaz, Hülya Dede

One of the most necessary teaching competencies for science teachers concerns their self-efficacy belief. It is also necessary for teachers to benefit from educational research in order to develop their science teaching efficacy beliefs. However, studies are restricted. This study aims to analyze the attitudes of pre-service science teachers towards educational research and their science teaching efficacy beliefs, and the relationship between the two variables according to some demographical (academic achievement, gender, and the type of high school they attended). The study was conducted according to the survey research design. Sample of the study includes 517 pre-service science teachers (final year students) at five different universities in Turkey. ‘Teachers Attitude Scale towards Educational Research [TASTER]’ and ‘Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument [STEBI]’ were used as data collection tools. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18.0. Analysis of the data has revealed that there is a relationship between the attitudes of the pre-service science teachers towards educational research and their science teaching efficacy belief.

207-215

Authors: Bo Zhang, Jacob Misiak

This study aims to fill a gap in middle school science education that no direct comparison has been conducted on three popular grading methods - point based, rubric based, and rubric plus written feedback based - on science achievement and motivation. Participants in this quasi-experimental study are 136 7th and 8th grade students from Midwest USA. Results indicate that for both grades, the written feedback group performs significantly better than the point-based and the rubric-only groups on both achievement and motivation measures. However, science achievement under rubric-based grading but without written feedback is not different from that under the traditional points-based grading, underscoring the important extra power that written feedback delivers. This study recommends that written feedback be highly relevant (to the academic standard being assessed), limited in number (to the major misconceptions students have), and giving a second chance (for students to act on to improve learning).

227-236

Authors: Erol Çil, Mustafa Uğraş

The hybridization of carbon is an important problem of quantum chemistry. It means that atomic orbitals could mix giving hybrid orbitals. Orbitals are not physical objects; they are mathematical solutions of the Schrodinger equation. The aim of this study is to determine through phenomenographic method how Science Teaching undergraduate students comprehend "hybridization". 176 students, 78 of whom are male and 98 of whom are female, participated in the study. A semi-structured questionnaire form was used in the study as data collection tool. As a result of analysis of data, it was determined that students describe hybridization in 5 different categories and 4 different ways. According to these categories: "1) Hybridization is a kind of covalent bond, 2) an electronic transition between bonds, 3) an electronic transition between orbitals, 4) the mixing of atomic orbitals to form new orbitals suitable for bonding 5) a case observed as a result of interaction between particles. Among the categories, the one "a mixing of atomic orbitals to form new orbitals suitable for bonding" category was at the top of the list with 69 metaphors.

254-266

Authors: Marika Kapanadze, Claus Bolte, Vincent Schneider, Ekaterine Slovinsky

Decreasing motivation in science classes is often reported in many countries. Georgia, one of the post Soviet countries, has overcome the highly centralised educational system and nowadays implements a new national educational reform. National reforms demand more student-active and inquiry-based learning. Many Georgian teachers aren’t ready for these changes and need professional development training to enhance their professional skills in Inquiry-Based Science Education (IBSE). Therefore Ilia State University offers special continuous professional development (CPD) programs for science teachers in the frame of PROFILES project. The aim of the research was to determine what profession oriented attitudes and concerns Georgian in-service science teachers have regarding IBSE and what changes are visible after the implementation of PROFILES-based CPD programme. In order to conduct the research, the Stages of Concern model was used. 40 teachers took part in the two terms of the CPD programme. Research shows that the implemented CPD programme fosters the professional attitudes and concerns of Georgian science teachers in a positive manner. Therefore, it can be highly recommended to use the framework of the PROFILES-based CPD programme(s).

275-283

Authors: Murat Bursal

Thirty-nine American and 78 Turkish preservice elementary teachers’ personal science teaching efficacy (PSTE) beliefs were investigated during science methods courses with standard and retrospective pre-post testing methods. Significant differences in the PSTE gain scores, which indicate the changes in the mean PSTE scores from standard/retrospective pretests to the posttest, were found between the standard and retrospective measurements in both samples. Significant differences between the standard and retrospectively measured gain scores were detected among all subgroups under study, which were formed by participants’ PSTE levels and gender. It has been concluded that the differences between the standard and retrospectively measured PSTE gain scores are due to the difference in the nature of these measurement methods and can be seen in most research samples in educational studies around the world. The findings of this study suggest that the response-shift bias should be considered as a common threat to validity for research studies measuring self-efficacy beliefs with the standard pre-post testing method.