Search

The purpose of this paper is to present an appraisal of a lesson-study implementation with pre-service biology teachers concerning a health education issue, how blood pressure works and how it is affected. The participants were 11 pre-service teachers, a secondary school biology teacher and three teacher educators from a local University. A qualitative and interpretative approach was followed. Data were collected through participant observation, content analysis of the pre-service biology teachers' individual written reflections, and their proposal of a lesson plan. The results evidenced the value of this formative approach, concerning the learning opportunities it offers, not only related to the scientific content knowledge but also the didactic knowledge developed by pre-service teachers. They seemed to develop a holistic understanding of how to teach a theme as multidimensional as this one, health education, but they also developed didactic knowledge related to different central aspects of the teaching process, concerning lesson planning, task development, classroom management, and communication, and became aware of the importance of developing several crucial competencies as science teachers. The lesson-study approach revealed to be a strategy for learning about teaching planning that has the particularity of bringing theory and practice remarkably closer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to map the scientific production concerning the inclusion of people with disabilities in Science Education to promote a reflection on the production of this area. Bibliometric analysis is used to help understand what stage of research a particular subject is at. Publications on the topic indexed at the Web of Science Core Collection (WoS) were evaluated. A total of 119 articles published between 2009 and July 2019 were selected as dealing specifically with the subject. An increase in the number of articles associating Science teaching (ST) and Inclusive Education (IE) was noted. The journals that published the most, the most productive authors in the area and their collaboration networks were identified. A content analysis of the research was also carried out and the main investigated topics were pointed out. Educational levels, types of disabilities, central themes and specific science areas prevailing in the mapped research were also indicated. We conclude that, despite the growing number of articles, scientific production associating SE and IE is still small, concentrated, and not shared with the scientific community through scientific education journals, and that most research is focused on the use of methodologies and resources, and not on their development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobilizing scientific knowledge for understanding the natural world and for critically appraise socio-scientific situations and make decisions are key competencies for todays' society. Therefore, it is essential to understand how students at the end of compulsory schooling use scientific knowledge for understanding the surrounding world. The objective of this study is to understand how students construct a scientifically oriented explanation while making sense of a phenomenon related to health. We analysed 526 answers to a question of a Portuguese national 9th grade science exam. The results reveal that most students present difficulties in explaining a phenomenon related to health supported by logical and clear reasoning, and in mobilizing scientific knowledge for connecting different scientific domains. We reaffirm the need to reconceptualize the role of health education within science education. Developing reading, writing and discussion activities related to health, which requires the use of scientific knowledge from different domains, would facilitate students' understanding and appropriation of scientific knowledge and its transference. This is a fundamental competence for promoting active and informed citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purposes of the study were to analyse the promotion of scientific literacy through practical research activities and to identify children's conceptions about scientists and how they do science. Elementary school children were engaged in two scientific experiments in a marine biology research laboratory. A total of 136 students answered a questionnaire about their previous habits towards science and carried out the following actions: (1) a guided visit to the laboratory, (2) a brief presentation of the research theme, (3) the development of two experiments, and (4) a questionnaire about the experiments and science conceptions. The research methods included observation, document analysis, and content analysis of the answers to the questionnaires. Additionally, each visit was video recorded in order to design learning materials. The results revealed that most of the pupils were able to follow every stage of experimentation. However, some of them misinterpreted results and conclusions. One implication of the study is that this type of outdoor activity is extremely important to promote meaningful science learning in children, but more care should be taken in practical science activities so that children can overcome some common difficulties when performing scientific inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this article the authors resort to a qualitative analysis of the plot of science fiction stories about a group of scientists, written by two 11th-grade Earth and Life Science students (aged 17), and to semi-structured interviews, with the double purpose of diagnosing their conceptions of the nature of science (namely, as regards scientists' activity), and discussing the potentialities of this methodology in terms of research and education in science. The adopted methodology proved particularly effective in diagnosing the students' conceptions of scientists' characteristics, scientific activity, and science-technology-society interactions. The limited content of certain conceptions and a certain lack of knowledge on the part of the students concerning the processes and the epistemology of science highlight the need to pay explicit attention in science classes to the nature of scientific activity. Some of the ideas brought up by the students clearly show the influence of stereotypes and catastrophic scenarios depicted in films, television programs, and books, revealing media's limitations when divulging scientific and technological themes to the general public and stressing the need for the school to promote a critical debate about science and technology images conveyed by the media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the results of a mainly qualitative study into possible impacts of recent controversial socio-scientific issues on a group of Portuguese secondary school students regarding their conceptions about scientists. The 86 participants: (1) answered a questionnaire with open-ended questions; and (2) wrote a science fiction story involving a group of scientists working on a particular situation of her/his choice. Next, semi-structured interviews were carried out to clarify and discuss the ideas embodied in the stories and mentioned in the questionnaire. All data underwent a process of content analysis. The socio-scientific controversies recently discussed, and the way science and scientists are depicted in the media, seem to have produced some impact on students' conceptions about scientists. Based on the results obtained, some remarks and educational implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]