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The objectives of the present study are to investigate both the history of the collection of scientific instruments from the Maraslean Teaching Center (MTC) and the potential for the collection's use in STEM education programs. Although MTC went by a number of different names during its long history, its institutional goal remained the same: training the Greek state's primary school teachers-to-be. To so do, it was necessary to assemble a collection of scientific instruments. The first objective of the paper is to present in detail the gradual enlargement of the collection from the last quarter of the 19th century through to the 1930s, along with the way the instruments were used in science lessons and the central role MTC played in relation to other regional teaching schools in Greece in terms of the distribution, administration, repair and maintenance of the equipment. The second objective is to investigate the role the historical scientific instruments can play not only in the history of science, but also in contemporary science teaching. The findings reveal that the history of laboratory physics education in MTC along with the corresponding collection of the historical scientific instruments can be a fertile ground for implementing STEM education programs. Finally, the findings imply the broader integration of STEM education and history of science in order to promote cultural and procedural aspects of science in student teachers and beyond. Such integration gives rise to broader research on introducing STEM education to cultural embedded environments, such as museums and historically important schools and laboratories, such as MTC.

In this paper, we investigate the intentions of kindergarten teachers to use the content and to apply the teaching methods that they acquired in a one-day teacher training seminar. According to the theory of planned behavior, the answer to this research question is directly related to a series of social-psychological personal criteria assessments, such as an assessment of the personal gains or losses, the opinions of important third persons, the teacher's own assessment of the value of the students' learning, and the perceived behavioral control assessment. A total of 114 participants completed a 5-point Likert-scale questionnaire that consisted of two sets of five questions each. The results show that the kindergarten teachers' intentions to use particular content and teaching methods are based on whether they have the skills to apply them successfully, and on their assessment of the ability of their students to acquire meaningful knowledge. The teacher's choice of teaching method is also associated with the assessment of the personal gains or losses, as well as with the opinions of important third persons. Furthermore, the study findings show that there are two distinct categories of kindergarten teachers: those whose teaching is based on the tradition of science education, and those whose teaching is based on the tradition of early childhood education. The teaching implications of the results are also discussed.

This paper addresses the use of e-materials in learning. Under pressure from the public, which is becoming increasingly conversant with IT, schools and also other non-formal types of learning are changing into e-classrooms and e-learning. Among parents and teachers, too, there is a widespread opinion that e-learning is more motivating and is more effective. On the other hand, a mass of research shows that e-materials are more effective only in specific areas, where a multimedia approach is needed, for instance in ophthalmic surgery, while everywhere else they are comparable to traditional teaching and learning in terms of both effectiveness and motivation. The paper also highlights the methodological problems of measuring motivation and learning success. Finally it presents e-material which was created taking into account the results of research in this field

Despite the increasing demand for non-formal science learning activities, few studies report on practitioners' perspectives and experiences with designing and implementing such activities worldwide. This paper focuses on their challenges by drawing upon twenty-two interviews with practitioners involved in diverse science learning activities in various non-formal settings in seven European countries. By including diverse activities and settings, this study contributes to the existing knowledge base, addresses the aforementioned gap in the literature, and informs future practices. Our findings suggest that despite the existing and celebrated diversity, practitioners face similar challenges related to (a) the activities' organisation and management, (b) the competencies required to run such activities, and (c) the attitudes held by the parties involved in them. Direct interview quotes exemplify each theme, further pinpointing the interconnection of multiple factors that inform the organisation and implementation of non-formal science learning activities. The findings allowed for a deeper understanding of challenges reported in the literature and shed light on the challenges voiced by the practitioners including the multiple competencies required and the workload. We conclude with a discussion foregrounding the need to build a knowledge base of shared practices in the field of non-formal science learning.

"Creative Little Scientists" was a 30-month (2011-2014) EU/FP7-funded research project focusing on the synergies between early years science and mathematics education and the development of children's creativity, in response to increasing interest in these areas in European educational policy. Using a variety of methods, including desk research, a teacher survey and classroom-based fieldwork, the research provided insights into whether and how children's creativity is fostered and appropriate learning outcomes, including children's interest, emerge. Based on these and ongoing collaboration and dialogue with participants and other stakeholders the project proposed recommendations for policy and teacher education. This paper presents these recommendations and the research on which they were based. Throughout the study, mixed methods were employed, combining quantitative approaches used in surveys of policy and teachers' views based on a list of factors, alongside qualitative approaches employed in case studies of classroom practice. A strong conceptual framework developed at the start of the project guided data collection and analysis, as well as the presentation of findings and the development of policy recommendations, thus ensuring the latter's strong and consistent relationship with the relevant theoretical knowledge, the comparative research, analysis of classroom practices and the production of guidelines for teacher education.

The present study aims to improve the quality and the effectiveness of Science Education in early grades along with the goals of UNESCO's emerging agenda for sustainable development and the 4th goal about quality in education. It examines the interaction between formal and non-formal education in designing and organizing complete educational programs directly connected with science education curriculum and utilizing innovative tools targeting to an attractive and rich context for science education. According to the second Science Centre World Summit (SCWS, 2017), museums promote scientific knowledge which is considered a pure cultural component and as such it is studied under the prism of cultural historical activity theory. Activity Theory is used in this research as a theoretical framework for the design and analysis of educational activities, with an emphasis on active and interactive learning processes. It is a predominantly socio-cultural theory offering a broad scope of design and implementation for linking science with culture and society. The educational program developed, "Thunderbolt hunt", is different from the usual educational programs offered because, although it cultivates scientific method skills, it is implemented in the Archaeological museum of Ioannina which constitutes a non-formal learning environment of general interest. The process of designing such programs is based on a number of principles and on numerous fields: the socio-cultural theory of activity, the science education and the museum education. The museum thus becomes a facilitator of scientific knowledge while at the same time functions as a dynamic meeting place for students with their social, cultural and historical environment. The preliminary results of the study are presented in this paper.

In this paper is describing an initiative in cultural, outdoor science education that took place in the west Crete-Greece (Chania & Rethymnon counties) in 2015, and organized in collaboration with teachers and social bodies, to connect Science, Education and Local Communities for a better quality of everyday life. The initiative concentrated in organizing the European Educational Conference "Mediterranean Sea Connects Us: Progress in Education with Local Communities", which hosted as a training program that can be applied elsewhere, with different target groups, promoting the aims of participatory acquisition of knowledge by sharing them in company, with experiential activities in moments of joy, happiness and wisdom. Educators-officials of high level and much experienced in the three levels of Education from Greece, Cyprus, Turkey and Romania, with representatives from local bodies, were invited to deposit experience, aspects, ideas and expectations on future educational collaboration in the area of Balkans, East Mediterranean and widely. As coexisting in the same geographical area, with long and important common past, as collaborators in educational projects from the past, intended to be partners in important and innovative future jointed actions in cultural STEM Education, for the progress of Mediterranean local educational communities.

This paper reports on a mixed-methods study with high school students. The study focused on the reasons they give with regard to "what they find interesting about their physics lesson" and "what makes them want to study their physics lesson" during a school year. The sample consisted of 219 students, who attended public high schools, located in various geographical regions of Greece. Journal entries made by all students--that is, students from junior high and senior high schools--were content-analyzed through a grounded theory approach. A total of eight categories were identified. Quantitative differences between these categories, and between the two groups of students, were also identified. Even though some of the identified categories are well-known motivators in science education, three specific categories deserve particular attention: "connection to one's own self", "purpose", and "utility". Notwithstanding the limitations of the present research design (i.e., volunteer sample, lack of standardization in students' and especially in teachers' activities), these categories, along with two quantitative indicators--that is, number of journal entries and student percentages--challenge us to rethink what makes the ideas of science, especially those of physics, meaningful or simply relevant to the life of the students.

Research on Junior and Senior high school students' attitude toward SE (Science Education) courses focuses on students' attitudes, views, interests and perceptions stemming from their school experiences related to the courses. This study examines the way third-year students of the Early Childhood Education Department in Ioannina have viewed and experienced SE teaching in Junior and Senior high school. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the members of the above target group, perceive in present time their future role as SE teachers and how their past role as students who have experienced Science teaching in Secondary Education has influenced their attitude toward Science. Factors that shape a positive attitude toward SE, so that students as future teachers and adults who care about being scientifically literate occupy themselves with it, are anxiety about SE courses, self-esteem related to the comprehensibility of the courses, their perception of how significant SE is, learning motivation, delight in dealing with SE, classroom environment, fear of failure or success in the course, but most of all, the way (teaching practices and strategies) SE was taught by Science teachers in Secondary Education.

Background: Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (NST) have been recognized as an emerging technology of the 21st century. The interdisciplinary nature and remarkable applications of NST have prompted science education researchers to recognize its potential in science teaching. NST have also been acknowledged as a vital field in technology in order to understand the socio-scientific issues of innovations as described by the EU framework of Responsible Research & Innovation (RRI). Purpose: The current paper focuses on the design and implementation of a teaching learning sequence (TLS) for 6th Grade primary students. Our aim is to investigate how primary students approach basic concepts of NST and to what extent they can reflect on RRI issues. Program description: The described TLS is focused on size and scale and on the change of properties at the nanoscale based on hydrophobic and hydrophilic materials, while RRI issues are discussed through newspaper articles and students' interaction with nanoscientists. Sample: 45 6th Grade primary students from Greece took part in the study during the academic school year 2014-15.Design and methods: The teacher who taught the TLS also assisted in creating its design through collaborating with experts from the field of NST, science education and science communication. Data was collected through students' worksheets and interviews with students. For the data analysis, qualitative methods of content analysis were used. Results: The results showed that primary students can successfully understand NST key concepts like 'size and scale' and 'size-dependent properties'. Regarding the dimensions of RRI, NST appear to be a useful context for enhancing students' discussions more about Ethics, Engagement and Science Education and less about issues related to Gender Equality, Open Access and Governance. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that teaching NST is worthwhile even in primary education. Moreover, NST provide an appropriate context for the introduction of RRI in science education.

In 2001, the Greek Government introduced sex and gender relationships education as a thematic unit for interdisciplinary Health Education activities. However, the diffusion of such programmes remains extremely limited. The present paper discusses how sex and relationships issues are presented in contemporary Greek primary school textbooks since textbooks play a central role in teaching and learning processes. It has been found that textbook references on a particular topic encourage teachers to select this topic for developing and implementing Health Education projects. In this paper the recent educational reform is presented, as well as the general guidelines for the development of the National Curriculum and Health Education Subject Curriculum, the contents of which determined the guidelines for the development of the new primary textbooks. Within this framework, the article discusses how sex education issues are being represented in primary "Environmental Studies"/"Science" and "Mother Tongue"/"Literature" textbooks. Findings support the claim that such representation is limited and single-dimensional, placing sex education at the margins of educational interventions in Greece at the moment. The marginalization of sex education, as it is argued, can be regarded as the effect of conflicting societal values. (Contains 2 tables, 1 figure, and 7 notes.)

In a previous publication, Jensen's scheme for the logical structure of chemistry was employed to identify a logical structure for physical chemistry, which was further used as a tool for analyzing the organization of twenty physical chemistry textbooks. In addition, science education research was considered for the study of the psychological structure of physical chemistry. In this companion paper, the findings are presented of a semi-structured interview study with seventeen chemistry graduates, which aimed to find out their opinion about the difficulties of the various areas of physical chemistry, their disposition towards the subject, and their explanations for the difficulties identified, and in this way to study further the psychological structure of physical chemistry. A mixture of an intensive inductive and a confirmatory data analysis was carried out that revealed ideas and trends and allowed for a reliable portrait of learners to emerge by identifying similarities and differences in the data. Students unanimously found the phenomenological subjects (classical thermodynamics, electrochemistry, chemical kinetics) easier than the submicroscopic subjects of quantum chemistry and statistical thermodynamics. The reasons invoked included that the latter subjects deal with more difficult and abstract concepts, and also their highly mathematical nature. Many students found classical thermodynamics simpler than quantum chemistry, because it "has logic", includes "tangible examples", and they had encountered related topics before (especially in high school). The findings for electrochemistry and chemical kinetics were more or less similar to those for classical thermodynamics. Implications, generalizability, and limitations of the findings and prospects for further research are discussed.

This paper reports on a mixed-model case study of designing and implementing a constructivist teaching intervention about reproduction and physical family resemblance for young children. The objective of the study was to explore whether the ways that preschoolers reason about the resemblance between offspring and parents can be improved with a teaching intervention that introduces a rudimentary idea of genes through reproduction. The participants were 60 preschoolers (age 5-5.5 years) from public kindergartens of Patras. The qualitative analysis of their pre- and post semi-structured interviews showed a remarkable improvement in their reasoning, which was found to be statistically significant as well. After the three-part teaching intervention, children appeared to recognize the biological contribution of both parents to a child's creation. Moreover, most of them appeared able to attribute a child's species and body traits to the parental genes passed to the child through reproduction and not to the parents' or child's intention.

In this paper, I describe the strong and reciprocal relations between the emergence of the specialized expert in the natural sciences and the establishment of science education, in early Modern Greece. Accordingly, I show how science and public education interacted within the Greek state from its inception in the early 1830, to the first decade of the twentieth century, when the University of Athens established an autonomous Mathematics and Physics School. Several factors are taken into account, such as the negotiations of Western educational theories and practices within a local context, the discourses of the science savants of the University of Athens, the role of the influential Greek pedagogues of the era, the state as an agent which imposed restrictions or facilitated certain developments and finally the intellectual and cultural aspirations of the nation itself. Science education is shown to be of fundamental importance for Greek scientists. The inclusion of science within the school system preceded and promoted the appearance of a scientific community and the institution of science courses was instrumental for the emergence of the first trained Greek scientists. Thus, the conventional narrative that would have science appearing in the classrooms as an aftermath of the emergence of a scientific community is problematized.

This paper is part of a larger study that aims at highlighting students' interpretations of the idea of the "Balance of Nature", as well as its use in their reasoning about the future of an ecosystem, in order to subsequently develop a learning environment that might promote a reconsideration of its validity and usefulness. Our focus here is particularly set on whether and how non biology-major students use this idea when making predictions about (a) the future of an ecosystem that is supposed to have suffered a human-driven disturbance, and (b) the future of an ecosystem that is supposed to be protected against such disturbances. Administering a questionnaire of 12 items--4 of which concern us here--to 61 1st-year educational sciences students at the University of Patras, we traced--among others--their reasoning about (a) the future of three ecosystems (forest, sea, lake), supposed to have suffered different human-driven disturbances (fire, oil spill, new population introduction), and (b) the future of a protected forest ecosystem of a national park. According to our findings, most of the students found it very likely for a disturbed ecosystem to fully recover its initial state--mainly due to a "recovery process" or inherent "recovery mechanisms"--showing a strong belief in an extremely resilient "Balance of Nature". Moreover, most of them appeared to believe that if human-protected, an ecosystem will be in a continuous "balance", while very few were skeptical enough to claim a non-predictable future for it.

The aim of this paper is to study the epistemological views of science teachers for the following epistemological issues: scientific method, demarcation of scientific knowledge, change of scientific knowledge and the status of scientific knowledge. Teachers' views for each one of these epistemological questions were investigated during semi-structured interviews. These issues were studied according to the following epistemological positions: empirico-inductivism, hypothetico-deductivism, contextualism and relativism. In general, the analysis of the interviews showed that a mixture of empirico-inductive and contextualist positions were dominant among science teachers for most epistemological issues. The hypothetico-deductive views appeared to have little support. For the question of scientific method teachers appear to have eclectic views. (Contains 4 figures and 2 tables.)

This paper presents a study concerning Greek primary school teachers' (n = 162) ideas about the particulate nature of matter and their explanations of physical phenomena. The study took place during an in-service training course where the effectiveness of a specially designed intervention was tested. A key feature was an approach based on the concept of a substance and its states rather than "solids, liquids, and gases". Pre-intervention, the teachers held misconceptions similar to those of pupils. Also, there seemed to be some relationship between the teachers' particle model ideas and their explanations of phenomena. Post-intervention, the teachers' descriptions and explanations were found to be significantly improved, with almost zero correlation between pre- and post-intervention scores. Implications for science education are discussed. (Contains 10 tables and 3 figures.)

In this paper, we describe empirical research on the recording of primary school and preschool student teacher conceptions of the concept of distant force interactions in different contexts related to the school curriculum for this subject. For this objective to be achieved, we undertook ten semi-structured interviews with student teachers. Based on the findings from these interviews, we developed a written ten-item questionnaire that was distributed to 264 first-year student teachers at three Greek universities. The main findings of our research are that a significant number of students: (i) experience difficulty in recognizing the interactions in different contexts, and even in different cases within the same context; (ii) place the arrow representing the force on the body that exerts it and not on that which accepts it; and (iii) hold the alternative view that the larger the body interacting, the greater the force it exerts. Based on the above results, as well as in the ways in which they seem to be related, we developed hypotheses, potentially able to lead to the construction of a teaching-learning sequence, which focuses on the comprehension of force as the measure of a unified concept of interaction between two entities.

Our paper presents an in-service primary school teachers' training program which is based on the idea that the history of science can play a vital role in promoting the learning of physics. This training program has been developed in the context of Comenius 2.1 which is a European Union program. This program that we have developed in the University of Athens is based on socioconstructivist and sociocultural learning principles with the intention of helping teachers to appropriate the basic knowledge on the issue of falling bodies. Moreover, it has the aim to make explicit through the exploitation of authentic historical science events, on the above topic (Aristotle's, Galileo's and Newton's theories on falling bodies) the Nature of Science (NoS), the Nature of Learning (NoL) and the Nature of Teaching (NoT). During the implementation of the program we have used a variety of teaching strategies (e.g. group work, making of posters, making of concept maps, simulations) that utilize historical scientific materials on the issue of falling bodies.

This paper reports on a study of pupils' knowledge and understanding of atmospheric pollution. Specifically, the study is aimed at identifying: 1) the extent to which pupils conceptualise the term "air pollution" in a scientifically appropriate way; 2) pupils' knowledge of air pollution sources and air pollutants; and 3) pupils' knowledge of air pollution consequences. The sample consisted of 132 Greek pupils, aged 7-13 years. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews during which pupils were asked to provide open responses articulating their views concerning issues related to air pollution. The analysis of the data revealed that children have a concrete and generalised conceptualisation of air pollution and air pollutants. Moreover, they are familiar with the anthropogenic sources of air pollution, with the impacts of air pollution on human health, and with the interdependence of this issue with a variety of environmental aspects. The outcomes of the study allow for the formulation of educational implications and suggestions for the discussion of air pollution in the science classroom. (Contains 4 tables.)

Copyright of Review of Science Mathematics & ICT Education is the property of Library & Information Center and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Research into early childhood children's understandings in science has a long history. However, few studies have drawn upon cultural-historical theory to frame their research. Mostly, what is known has come from studies which have examined individual understandings of science concepts, without reference to culture, context or the collective nature in which children learn, play and live. The cultural-historical study reported in this paper examines the process of constructing understandings about clouds by kindergarten children (16 children, aged 4.5 to 6 years, mean age of 5. 3 years) in an urban area of Greece. The research examines how children form relevant representations of clouds, how they conceptualize meteorological understandings in everyday life and how understandings transform through communications with others. The collection of the data was achieved through expanded, open-type conversations between pairs of children and one of the researchers, totalling 4 h of data. In depth analysis, using Rogoff's three foci of analysis (personal, interpersonal and context focusing) allowed for an examination of children's representations of clouds, how social and cultural factors framed thinking and gave insights into the processes of scientific thinking. On this basis, theoretical and methodological insights of this study of natural science by young children are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of dimension, one of the most fundamental ideas in mathematics, is firmly rooted in the basis of the school geometry in such a way that mathematics teachers rarely feel the need to mention anything about it. However, the concept of dimension is far from being fully understood by students, even at the college level. In this paper, we examine whether the Cartesian x-y plane is responsible for student difficulty in estimating the value of the dimension of an object, or is it only students misconceptions about dimension that lead them to a false estimation of the value of the dimension of various objects. A second question discussed in this paper examines whether the system of coordinates acts as an epistemological obstacle or whether it has only a didactical character. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contemporary academic literature and in many national curricula, there is a widespread acceptance that critical thinking should be an important dimension of Education. Teachers and researchers recognize the importance of developing students' critical thinking, but there are still great difficulties in defining and assessing critical-thinking skills. The multiple definitions of critical thinking indicate the need for further clarification of the concept. An important attempt for clarifying the concept was the "Delphi Report" (Facione, 1990a), where a qualitative research methodology, known as the Delphi Method, was used to develop a unified theoretical framework. The core critical-thinking skills identified in the "Delphi Report" as essential elements for workplace and educational success are targeted in the assessment tool entitled "The Test of Everyday Reasoning (TER)" (Facione, 2001). TER was translated from English into Greek and standardized for Greek population. TER has a series of questions engaging the participant in the interpretation and reasoning relating to the information provided in charts and graphs as well as to the accompanying them textual description. This paper presents the results from the standardization of TER in terms of graph/chart interpretation and reading comprehension skills. Implications for science education in Greece are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been argued that students' understanding of science ideas and concepts is based on their engagement in science and engineering practices. However, research studying science and engineering practices engaging in the content of school science textbooks is particularly limited. The aim of the present study is to develop a framework and investigate (through it) the level at which science and engineering practices engage in the content of Greek middle school Physics textbooks about forces and motion. The analysis was carried out on a total of 61 reports and activities on forces and motion that are included in school textbooks (student's book and lab workbook) used for teaching Physics to 13-year-old middle school students in Greece. Reports and activities were analyzed using content analysis. An assessment rubric called "Science and Engineering Practices Analytic Rubric" (SEPAR), which evaluates the level at which science and engineering practices engage in the above reports and activities, was used throughout the analysis. The analysis demonstrated the low level at which science and engineering practices engage in the analyzed content of these school textbooks. The SEPAR can be used for analyzing science instructional material. The results mean that no opportunities are provided to the students through the content of these school textbooks so that the students could use science and engineering practices and become familiar with them in order to better understand ideas and concepts about forces and motion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, primary school students’ and pre-service teachers’ ideas of seasonal change are investigated. The research was carried out in nine primary schools in Athens and in the Primary Education Department of the University of Athens. Written reports were used for gathering data while students also had the opportunity to support their answers with drawings. The results showed the following. (1) Pre-service teachers address notions which involve the movement of the Sun and/or the Earth, while primary school students address human centred, tautological and phenomenological notions as well. (2) Both primary school students and pre-service teachers mainly adopt two schemes of explanation: alterations in the distance between the Sun and the Earth and alterations in the Earth–Sun relative orientation/illumination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A popular and well-established image of scientists and science dominates in the public field, signifying a contradictory and multifaceted combination of stereotypes. This paper investigates crucial aspects of the visual self-image of Greek scientists and science as exposed in photographic material retrieved from relevant institutions’ websites. In total 971 photos were analysed along dimensions corresponding to the image of scientists and science. Analysis demonstrates ambivalence in Greek scientists’ self-images between traditional stereotypic characteristics and an intention to overcome them. Differences between the self-images of physics, chemistry and biology are determined, as well as between the “masculine” and “feminine” face of science. Implications concerning improvements in science and scientists’ self-images and further research are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports the findings of a study exploring the use of a software package to help pupils understand particulate explanations for melting and evaporation below boiling point. Two matched classes in a primary school in Greece (ages 11-12, n = 16 and 19) were involved in a short intervention of six one hour lessons. Covering the same phenomena and particle ideas, one class was taught using the software simulations, the other was not. Data were collected pre and post intervention through individual interviews (n= 2 × 12). In an approach which included the ideas of an 'ability to hold' and a distribution of energy, both groups made progress, but there were indications that the software had helped and more so for evaporation. However, in other cases, pupils could not escape from their initial views and created synthetic explanations with both macroscopic and microscopic characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper compares the nature of the textual construction of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) science test items and the Greek school science textbooks. This nature is determined by the interplay of the notions of classification (content specialization) and formality (code specialization) modulated by both the linguistic and the visual expressive modes. The results of the relevant analysis showed that the textual materials employed in PISA and in school textbooks are oppositional in nature. Specifically, while the linguistic mode of the PISA items tends to resemble texts falling within the public domain (nonspecialized content and code), the corresponding visual mode tends to resemble texts of the esoteric domain (specialized content and code) thus familiarizing students with the specialized conventions and ways of representing entities falling within the realm of technoscientific knowledge. On the other hand, school science textbooks tend to employ the linguistic and the visual mode in exactly the opposite way. These differences between PISA science items and school science textbooks could contribute to a disorientation of the students in relation to what is expected in each specific context. This disparity could potentially be one of the factors explaining the low level of Greek students' attainment in PISA. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed92:664–687, 2008 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Byzantion Nea Hellás is the property of Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Filosofia y Humanidades and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article presents in a comparative way the findings from two surveys conducted on primary (students in Y6) and secondary (students in Y10) students in Attica, Greece, in order to map their views on distance science education, which was emergently implemented due to the COVID-19 outbreak during the school year 2020–2021. The research was conducted in a sample of 378 primary and 197 secondary students. The findings revealed that students were not satisfied with the distance teaching and learning of science, either in primary or in secondary education, except for the increased use of audiovisual material. Technical issues, such as poor network and infrastructure, lack of face-to-face interaction with classmates and teacher, external and internal distractions, lack of sufficient experimental activities, and limited understanding of concepts were common findings in both levels of education. Concerning the differences between the levels, it seems that in primary education more technical problems were reported, while in secondary education more didactic problems were reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Review of Science Mathematics & ICT Education is the property of Library & Information Center and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Science process skills play an essential role in science education. The research assessing these skills in school science textbooks is limited. The aim of the current study was to examine the involvement of science process skills in the content of science school textbooks of the last two primary school grades in Greece. A specific analysis framework was adopted, based on 534 activities included in the two textbooks. It was concluded that the activities included in the two textbooks mainly involved the skills of communicating, observing, and inferring, while the involvement of the remaining science process skills was particularly limited. Therefore, the school textbooks fail to provide students satisfactory opportunities to engage in science process skills and facilitate a better understanding of sciences ideas and concepts. The findings of this study provide information about some strengths and weaknesses of the science textbooks that could be used by teachers in planning for teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Review of Science Mathematics & ICT Education is the property of Library & Information Center and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The study of teachers' conceptions about issues related to science teaching and learning is of particular significance because those conceptions often influence the way that teachers interact with students and apply the curriculum and teaching material. Although secondary science teachers' conceptions about teaching and learning have been extensively investigated, research on primary teachers' conceptions is limited. The present study investigates primary teachers' conceptions about issues related to science teaching and learning (meaning of learning and teaching, purpose of teaching, teaching tools, main teaching practice, classroom organization, teachers' strategies to deal with students' errors in science). A written questionnaire was used as a data collection method, which was based on the views about teaching and learning of the three dominant approaches to science teaching and learning (transmission, discovery and constructivist). The questionnaire was applied to 173 primary teachers in Greece. The frequencies and the percentage frequencies of teachers' answers per question were determined. It emerged that teachers' conceptions are related to the views of constructivist and discovery approach. In particular, it was concluded that the majority of teachers activated conceptions about the meaning of learning, purpose of teaching and classroom organization, which are consistent to the views of the discovery approach, whereas their conceptions about the meaning of teaching, teaching strategies and teachers' strategies to deal with students' errors are consistent to the views of the constructivist approach to science teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The image prevailing among the public of scientific research and researchers constitutes a contradictory and complex combination of traditional stereotypes. We explore central facets of the image of scientific research and researchers as reflected in Greek adolescent students’ drawings. Drawings were produced by 171 students participating in a drawing competition launched in the context of the “Researchers’ Night 2007” implemented by three research institutions in Greece. Analysis of students’ drawings involved dimensions related to the image of scientific researchers and of scientific research. Outcomes indicate that the students hold fairly outdated views of scientific researchers and their activity, involving stereotypic views of scientists and science, as well as gender stereotypes. Therefore there is an urgent need to promote a more relevant image of scientific researchers and their activity to young people and especially students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, students' understanding of the structure of matter and its changes of state such as melting, evaporation, boiling, and condensation was investigated in relation to three cognitive variables: logical thinking (LTh), field dependence/independence, and convergence/divergence dimension. The study took place in Greece with the participation of 329 ninth-grade junior high school pupils (age 14-15). A stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that all of the above-mentioned cognitive variables were statistically significant predictors of the students' achievement. Among the three predictors, LTh was found to be the most dominant. In addition, students' understanding of the structure of matter, along with the cognitive variables, was shown to have an effect on their understanding of the changes of states and on their competence to interpret these physical changes. Path analyses were implemented to depict these effects. Moreover, a theoretical analysis is provided that associates LTh and cognitive styles with the nature of mental tasks involved when learning the material concerning the particulate nature of matter and its changes of state. Implications for science education are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students' attitudes toward science have a strong impact on their achievement in science. Therefore, identification and influence of attitudes has become an essential part of educational research. This study analyses students' attitudes toward physics. One hundred and sixty seven 11th grade students' of first-generation immigrants in Greece took part in the research. A validated questionnaire measuring attitudes toward physics was administered to 91 male and 76 female students from four different regions in Western Macedonia, Greece, in the academic year 2008-09. In addition the study explores students' gender in relation to the attitudes toward the subject. The methods used for the analysis of data were the implicative statistical analysis and the principal components analysis. One of the findings of the study is that students' attitude toward physics is strongly affected by teacher identity (personality). This can be taken as a hint for future research. Implications concerning teacher diversity education are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effectiveness of a teaching conflict procedure whose purpose was the transformation of the representations of 12–16-year-old pupils in Greece concerning light emission and shadow formation by extended light sources. The changes observed during the children’s effort to destabilize and reorganise their representations towards a model that was compatible with the respective scientific model were studied using three groups of pupils belonging to different age groups. The methodological plan implemented was based on input from the History of Science, while the parameters of the geometrical optics model were derived from Kepler’s relevant historic experiment. The effectiveness of the teaching procedure was evaluated 2 weeks after the intervention. The results showed that the majority of the subjects accepted the model of geometrical optics, i.e. the pupils were able to correctly predict and adequately justify the experimental results based on the principle of punctiform light emission. Educational and research implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In view of the complex problems of this age, the question of the socio-ethical dimension of science acquires particular importance. We approach this matter from a philosophical and sociological standpoint, looking at such focal concerns as the motivation, purposes and methods of scientific activity, the ambivalence of scientific research and the concomitant risks, and the conflict between research freedom and external socio-political intervention. We then point out the impediments to the effectiveness of cross-disciplinary or broader meetings for addressing these complex problems and managing the associated risks, given the difficulty in communication between experts in different fields and non-experts, difficulties that education is challenged to help resolve. We find that the social necessity of informed decision-making on the basis of cross-disciplinary collaboration is reflected in the newer curricula, such as that of Greece, in aims like the acquisition of cross-subject knowledge and skills, and the ability to make decisions on controversial issues involving value conflicts. The interest and the reflections of the science education community in these matters increase its—traditionally limited—contribution to the theoretical debate on education and, by extension, the value of science education in the education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many science education research studies revealed students' difficulties in learning and understanding science concepts and phenomena. Regarding heat and temperature, students have difficulty in using a simple particulate model of matter to describe and explain thermal phenomena, even after traditional teaching (using mainly blackboard presentations and textbooks reading). In our study we used the Greek educational software 'M.A.TH.I.M.A.' which was developed within the frame of social constructivism to cope with students' learning difficulties in four science sections. In the present study we investigated the contribution of 'Heat' section of the software in the construction of Heat and temperature concepts by students in both the experimental and particulate level of matter. Sixty Greek lower high school students aged 13-14 years participated. The experimental group consisted of 20 students who worked with the software and special worksheets after they had attended traditional teaching on the topic. The other 40 students formed two comparison groups. All the students answered a written questionnaire before and after instruction. Data analysis showed that the additional teaching with the software 'M.A.TH.I.M.A.' had better learning results than traditional teaching, as the experimental group students could understand and use a simple particulate model of matter to describe and explain thermal phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The study investigated a small range of cognitive abilities, related to visual-spatial intelligence, in adolescents. This specific range of cognitive abilities was termed 'graphic abilities' and defined as a range of abilities to visualise and think in three dimensions, originating in the domain of visual-spatial intelligence, and related to visual perception and the ability to represent space. The educational importance of graphic abilities has received minimal attention from the educational community and, consequently, plays a limited role in educational practice. Purpose: In order to understand the particular educational importance of this range of cognitive abilities, we investigated how graphic abilities are connected with the performance and the subject preference of adolescents in several academic areas. Our hypotheses were, first, that there is a high degree of correlation between developed graphic abilities and high performance in mathematics and science, and second, that there is a high degree of correlation between developed graphic abilities and personal subject preference in these two areas. Sample: The sample consisted of 60 14-year-old students (30 girls and 30 boys) attending a public secondary school in a small town in northern Greece. The entire sample had followed the same mathematics courses, which did not involve any geometry or spatial representation tasks. Design and methods: We identified and defined a specific range of three graphic abilities, related to visual-spatial intelligence, and we investigated these abilities in the sample through several visual-spatial tasks designed for the study and measured the sample's performance in these tasks. The degree of adolescents' graphic performance (that is, the performance in these visual-spatial tasks) was correlated with their performance in mathematics and science and with their subject preference (mathematics, science and language). Results: Our findings confirmed both hypotheses. A high degree of correlation was found between developed graphic abilities and high performance in mathematics, and a lower but still significant degree of correlation was found between developed graphic abilities and high performance in science. The findings support the second hypothesis as well, suggesting that children with developed graphic abilities reported that their favourite subject was mathematics and second favourite subject was science. Conclusions: The research suggested that there is a particular relation between the level of graphic abilities performance and children's performance and in preference for mathematics and science. That is, children with developed visual perception, visual thought and representational skills are actually better with numbers and physical concepts. This particular relation might be relevant to the overall cognitive development of children, especially with respect to the increasingly developing communication technologies, and it would seem to deserve more attention and extended research from the educational community. The authorial position is that education would gain from a better understanding of: the nature of graphic abilities, how we can develop this range of abilities and how the development of visual thought and graphic expression contributes to several curriculum subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, our goal is to examine the attitude of the Greek scientific community towards Quantum Mechanics and establish the history of teaching of this theory in Greece. We have examined Physics textbooks written by professors of the University of Athens, as well as records of public speeches, university yearbooks from 1923 to 1970, articles in popular scientific magazines, political and philosophical publications and lemmas of encyclopedias that were influencing the public at the time. Our research shows that Quantum Mechanics in Greece was involved in the debate between the political left and right and the church organizations of the period, leading to an extremely idealistic misinterpretation of the theory. As a result, Quantum Mechanics was late to establish itself in Greece, with the first structured and autonomous course on Quantum Mechanics appearing as late as 1962. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]