Journal of Baltic Science Education

165-166

Authors: Editorial Board

Cover page, JBSE, Vol. 20, No. 2, 2021

168-170

Authors: César Agostinis-Sobrinho, Inga Dailidienė, Alona Rauckienė-Michaelsson

World Health Organization (WHO) health policy for Europe “Health 2020” became a stimulus for many countries to renew their national health policies, and it is a guide of actions (WHO, 2013). Long-term studies proved that health is closely linked to socio - economic indicators, among which age plays a major role, and education. Given that there are as many healthy people as possible, it is especially important to form the most important young people attitude to health, to develop a personality who would take care of the health of yourself, your family and those around you. Schools, colleges, and universities are the medium in which a mature generation of future intellectuals are capable and possessed to have a major influence on the development of the state and, with knowledge of the principles of good health, to contribute to and to shape the health policy of the right country, its implementation and at the same time to the population of the country improving health (Misevičienė et al., 2017).

184-203

Authors: Milica M. Gajić, Tomka B. Miljanović, Snežana S. Babić Kekez, Vera D. Županec, Tamara T. Jovanović

Research studies aimed at finding a more efficient model of teaching biology are still sporadic and inconsistent in the contemporary literature. The main aim of the research was to examine the correlation between the application of teaching strategies in biology teaching and students' school achievements, depending on how much the teacher respects their learning styles. The method of theoretical analysis and descriptive method were applied in the research. The sample consisted of 151 third-grade students (39.7% male and 60.3% female) of upper-secondary school. Kolb’s Inventory of Learning Styles and Questionnaire for Assessing the Teaching Strategies of Biology Teachers were used as data gathering tools. Independent t-test, χ2 - square test, and One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze data. The results showed that there was a statistically significant correlation between teaching strategies, learning styles, and students' school achievement in biology learning. At the same time, students perceived the applied teaching strategies differently, and manifested different dimensions of learning styles. This was followed by the conclusion that students achieved better school achievements in biology teaching when they were taught in the ways that corresponded to their learning styles, which pointed to certain implications for inquiry-based teaching, as well as in education of future biology teachers.

223-236

Authors: Asila Halilović, Vanes Mešić, Elvedin Hasović, Andrej Vidak

Conventional teaching about the law of conservation of mechanical energy (LCME) often results with students trying to solve problems by remembering similar problems they already covered in classes. Consequently, many students fail to transfer their knowledge to simplest real-life problems. Therefore, a pre-test – post-test quasi-experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of an alternative, system-based approach to teaching about LCME. The study included 70 upper-secondary students from the First Bosniak Gymnasium Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Firstly, all students learned about energy in a conventional way. Then they wrote a test on LCME and had three additional hours of teaching about this topic, where one group of students learned in line with the forces-variant of the system approach (e.g., discussing conservative and non-conservative forces) and the other group with the process-variant of the same approach (e.g., discussing system’s states and processes like in thermodynamics). For both variants, only three hours of system-based teaching proved to substantially improve the students’ level of LCME understanding compared to the level of understanding they had after conventional teaching. It follows that the system approach may work well at the upper-secondary level, if it is introduced through the scaffolding-and-fading technique.

252-260

Authors: Milan Kubiatko, Karel Nepras, Tereza Strejckova, Roman Kroufek

Biodiversity is the result of long-term evolution. It is one of the fundamental global problems of today as it is declining in space and time. The aim of this research was to determine the relationship of man and nature and to analyze the influence of variables such as gender, age, pet ownership, cultivation of plants, and perception of popular and unpopular animals. A total of 549 respondents took part in the research survey. In addition to the above-mentioned demographic variables, the research also contained 5 items related to the perceived vulnerability of respondents and 37 items focused on the perception of wolves and bees as example of unpopular or popular animals. All variables except gender had a significant influence on man’s relationship to nature. Students who perceived their own vulnerability to a greater extent had a more negative attitude towards nature. Fear of both groups of observed animals had a negative influence on the relationship to nature. Other dimensions correlated positively, age as well as plant growing and pet breeding. In the end, the possibilities of improving the relationship to nature are suggested.

277-288

Authors: Tine Pajk, Karel Van Isacker, Boris Aberšek, Andrej Flogie

The presented research focused on developing and testing an innovative interdisciplinary STEM didactic model. The developed didactic model was introduced in the field of eco-farming. To the participants, it offers the possibility for non-formal training, which can take place anywhere and anytime. Participants require some knowledge of STEM subjects (especially chemistry and biology) as well as knowledge of ecology, technology, and engineering, in order to provide answers and solutions to environmental challenges while using knowledge of mathematics (especially combinatorics and statistics) to search for optimal solutions (in our case, a lean business plan). The model was tested in non-formal education settings, based on an interdisciplinary approach and modern technologies, such as monitoring the effectiveness of training using electroencephalography (EEG) and mobile applications. In the presented didactic model, special emphasis was placed on an interdisciplinary STEM approach to environmental protection, ecology, connatural forms of production and sustainable development. The presented research confirms the hypotheses that non-formal education is becoming an increasingly important form of education and training, and that the use of the interdisciplinary didactic model, contemporary technologies, and mobile applications, increases the time and intensity of concentration in learning and thus improves learning effectiveness.

305-315

Authors: King-Dow Su

This research focuses on students’ higher-order cognitive skill (HOCS)-oriented learning to construct effective hierarchical thinking abilities in their chemical particulate nature of matter. For in-depth knowledge and profound understanding, this research deals with students’ positive developments towards HOCS with a special guidance to Marzanos’ taxonomy. The methodology starts from the retrieval and comprehension of HOCS-centered assessment instrument to students’ analysis and knowledge utilization of transitional performances. 326 participants were assigned to take natural science curriculum in 2019 academic year. With the help of 7 scholars’ implements, the importance of content validity and inter-rate reliability were constructed through instrument developments of students’ HOCS performances. All research results indicated that more distributions of HOCS thinking abilities reached up to the target response of 38.0% analysis task and 27.30% knowledge utilization in Marzanos’ spectrum. This research is beneficial and advantageous that students will be capable of additional learning efficiency in their multiple interactive engagements with academic resources and suggestions from instructors, researchers, and science educators.

332-336

Authors: Editorial Board

End page, JBSE, Vol. 20, No. 2, 2021