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Nanoscience and nanotechnology (NST) focus on the creation and the exploration of materials’ properties at the nanoscale. The estimations about the impact of the field on our daily life, the industrial demands for ensuring skilled workforce, and the need to form a nano-literate citizenry have triggered the incorporation of aspects of this cutting-edge field into school curricula on behalf of education researchers. Teachers play a vital role in the success of this endeavor. However, only a few studies up to date examine teachers’ ideas of this field. In addition, there is not any analysis tool that would provide insights about how teachers’ ideas are related to the key concepts and principles of NST. Concerning this gap, we describe in detail a deductive content analysis method, having been conducted to examine the meanings that 419 Greek primary school teachers give to NST. Results reveal the insufficient content knowledge of primary school teachers regarding NST.

Background: It is stated that it is necessary that students develop their nanoliteracy in order to come up with everyday issues arising from Nanoscale Science and Technology (NST) applications, tak...

Most of the modern technological applications we use in our daily life originate from the progress of Nanoscience–Nanotechnology (NST). The projection, showing the great impact that these advances are going to have on society, exhorts science education researchers to incorporate the modern field into educational contexts. Among the several issues that have to be dealt with, NST’s educational significance comes to the fore. This pilot study aims to examine whether both nano-trained primary school teachers and nano-trained students acknowledge the need for the inclusion of the NST content to school contexts. Fourteen primary school teachers and ten students, after their participation in an NST training course, were interviewed in order to provide their justifications. The results show that the vast majority of the participants acknowledge the educational significance of NST. The main arguments were associated with career possibilities, the relevance of the content to everyday life, and the need for nanoliteracy attainment. The results of this study can be used by NST education researchers in order to formulate a NST content structure for primary school nanoeducation.

This study describes an attempt about facilitating primary student teachers to develop critical thinking through the implementation of a module regarding a modern scientific topic, namely Nanotechnology. Firstly, based on literature suggestions, we outline the specific skills and dispositions that are related to critical thinking. Secondly, we emphasize the salient features of the Nanotechnology content. Scrutinizing the Nanotechnology educational material that was implemented under the lens of critical thinking skills and dispositions, we seek to identify which tasks could have potential to promote critical thinking. On the one hand, findings indicate that skills such as analysis, explanation, interpretation and dispositions such as self-confidence and inquisitiveness could be promoted. On the other hand, we discuss that the need of enhancing or developing additional skills and dispositions may enlighten the design of future implementations.

Standards documents envision that students in grades K-6 engage in developmentally appropriate yet substantive learning in physics and physical science. Students are expected to engage in the practices of the discipline, trying to develop – and experimentally defend – their own explanations of rich everyday phenomena. Teachers need special preparation to meet this challenge. Traditional preparation in lecture-based science university courses or courses that emphasize engaging demonstrations with little intellectual ballast are unlikely to yield the kind of rich experiential and rich discourse-based instructional environment for young pupils to thrive. In this GIREP Symposium, speakers introduced promising models for teacher preparation and enhancement and contribute to a discussion in search of a coherent research-based agenda for like-minded GIREP members.

The aim of the present study was twofold. First, we aimed to replicate the findings of previous studies which had showed a substantial improvement on procedural and epistemological knowledge after direct instruction and their maintenance in time. Second, we aimed to examine the dynamic relationships of the procedural (control of variables strategy) and epistemological (nature of models) knowledge and the conceptual understanding of interrelated phenomena (floating–sinking) and subordinate abstract concepts (density) that have been developed to explain these phenomena across the learning process. A five-unit teaching learning sequence was organized and implemented in three 5th grade (N = 53) science classes. Participants answered at three time points—before, immediately following and 7 months after the implementation—in a questionnaire involving eight questions concerning the four abovementioned teaching and learning content areas. The collected data was used to test, with Path analysis, the validity of the theoretically designed model that depicted the causal relationships between the four areas. The inquiry-based activities were successful in bringing students’ ideas closer to the scientific knowledge. In addition, the model fitted in well with our data. So, the instruction of procedural and epistemological knowledge was crucial in the conceptual understanding of density in the frame of floating–sinking interpretation. In addition, understanding of the concept of density as a property of materials immediately following the implementation contributes significantly to students’ interpretations of floating–sinking phenomena even 7 months later.

In the present paper, we report on the idea of exchanging educational innovations across European countries aiming to shed light on the following question: how feasible and useful is it to transfer an innovation across different national educational settings? The innovation, in this case, Inquiry-Based Teaching Learning Sequences, is recognized as a crucial component of renewal science teaching in European countries. Two local working groups from two different Universities, in Finland and Greece, were created consisting of researchers and experienced primary teachers. The transfer from Greece to Finland was rather challenging because of the differences between the two educational contexts. The initial, as well as the revised Teaching Learning Sequence, were implemented for 11-12-year-old students including the content to be taught, that is Floating-Sinking phenomena and density, and the learning environment aspects such as learning Control of Variables Strategy. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods was implemented in order to formulate concrete recommendations on feasible and useful aspect. The feasible aspect adduces answers to the query of "how" this transfer worked in practice. Concerning this aspect, the recognition of what is innovative for each national partner was recognized as a crucial factor for the design and revision of both Teaching Learning Sequences. The useful aspect illuminates students' improvement in the achievement of conceptual as well as procedural knowledge. The results revealed that the psychological paths that bring about this success are ecumenical and independent of the history of the educational group.

In this project, we designed, developed, implemented and refined a teaching-learning sequence (TLS) on density as materials’ property, applied into floating/sinking (F/S) phenomena. The main features of the TLS are the promotion of inquiry-based learning, enhanced by ICT tools and real experiments. A real-life scenario aimed to increase students’ interest and motivation, while in parallel, it was a link between science and technology. The main aims of the TLS were to improve fifth graders’ conceptual understanding of density and F/S, as well as procedural and epistemological understanding related to the control of variables strategy and the nature and role of models. In this paper, we are focusing both on the process of design and the refinement of the TLS. More specifically, we describe and justify the refinements from the first to the second implementation of the TLS, classifying them according both to Pickering’s model of scientific practice and to the origin of the data indicating the refinement. Most of the refinements refer to the procedural and the epistemological knowledge, while few concern the conceptual content of the TLS. In addition, the majority of refinements were guided by educational factors, and only a few, by scientific factors. The educational factor guides local-guided refinements, while the scientific factor guides holistic-open refinements.

In this paper, we present the design, development, implementation and evaluation of educational software "Newton-3", aiming at the learning of Newton's Third Law by student-teachers who are not Physics majors. We describe the theoretical issues of our teaching approach and the various software tasks that we designed in order to promote students' understanding. Specifically, the software is designed for the teaching of gravitational and electrostatic interactions between two distant bodies at rest. It is a web-based application and runs on a simple web browser with Macromedia Flash plug-in installed. The development of software and its integration into teaching---learning sequence is based on three main characteristics: the range of contexts in which the concept of force interaction applies, in the specification of the concept, and in an appropriate teaching learning environment (IDRF). We trialled the software on two groups of 8 primary school and 8 pre-school student-teachers, for 3 teaching periods, in the School of Education of our University. The research results indicate that the implementation was effective as the majority of the teacher-students improved their own knowledge concerning the existence and representation of gravitational and electrostatic interactions. An interesting result reveals that student-teachers have difficulty in perceiving the equality of magnitudes of action and reaction forces. This problem seems to be overcome after the teaching of the Inverse square law.

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.

This study aimed to design a teaching sequence for science education that enabled lower secondary school students to enhance their motivation towards science. Further, it looked to examine the way the designed teaching sequence affected students with different motivational profiles. Industry site visits, with embodied theory-based motivational features were included as part of the designed teaching sequence. The sequence was implemented in Finland and Greece with 54 participants, 27 from each country. Quantitative data was collected using the Evaluation of Science Inquiry Activities Questionnaire, based on the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory but did not map the expected outcomes. Interviews, however, showed that students with different motivational profiles found aspects within the module that met their psychological needs as explained by Self-Determination Theory. The results offer a perspective to adolescents’ psychological needs along with some insights into how students mediate the way they value an activity in the context of science education.

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. © National Science Council, Taiwan 2008.

Περιέχει το πλήρες κείμενο This research is part of a project designed to promote children’s interest both in Science and scientific careers. The project focuses on the specific domain of Materials Science (i.e., the materials around us, their everyday applications and properties). In our research we designed and developed a 10 hour module for studying the density of materials commonly found in the environment, as well as hi-tech materials, and applied it in floating / sinking phenomena. Moreover, in this module, learning the control of variables strategy, as well as aspects of modelling, and the nature and role of models are all promoted, to create an inquiry learning environment of different guidance level. The module is enhanced with Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), namely, multimedia and simulation environments, a visual model for the introduction of density, plus real experiments. It has been implemented in the 5th class of Primary School (10 –11 year olds). In this paper we present the development and evaluation of the pilot module’s phase. The results show relative success in the conceptual part of the module, but moderate success in the procedural.

Research in science teacher thinking and constructivist pedagogy calls for an expanded knowledge base of teaching, and raising the issue of teaching and understanding of such knowledge by students during teacher education. In the present paper we discuss certain recent studies concerning teachers’ knowledge base; besides we present and discuss a framework for developing and investigating courses in science teacher education; finally, in the third part, we present aspects of a case study illustrating the suggested framework.

It is widely acknowledged today that an Inquiry-Based approach to Research and Innovation processes can improve the interest of students in studying scientific topics. Such approaches can enable students to have the opportunity to interact with cutting edge topics, research results and work with researchers and other societal actors to better align research processes and their outcomes with the values, needs and expectations of today's society. However, there is still no clear consensus between researchers about the impact that inquiry-based approaches have on the student scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding at different ages and cultural levels. This paper discusses these aspects from a vertical and interdisciplinary curriculum perspective. Firstly, the impact of a series of inquiry-based learning activities on the acquisition of scientific knowledge and in the development of pupils' positive attitudes toward science in pupils aged 10–13 is discussed. Secondly, a discussion on important preconditions needed for an introduction of cutting-edge topics to the classroom, and the role of the inquiry that has to be offered to students to effectively construct knowledge is considered at the pre-university level. Following this, an approach adopted by three large scale European projects (ESTABLISH, SAILS and OSOS) that focus on enhancing science education curricula, pedagogy and assessment practices and supporting science educators in embedding Inquiry-Based Education or Responsible Research and Innovation principles in science education is presented. Finally, an innovative Doctoral Degree in Sustainability Science, which seeks transformative education that challenges the attitudes of both professors and students is presented and some of its most relevant aspects are discussed.

Strand 14 of ESERA addresses an internationally increasingly recognized complex field of science education research: in-service teacher education and continued professional development of science teachers. It is obvious that the value and success of any educational system strongly corresponds with the quality of its teachers’ competences and practices. In this sense, it is not surprising that the strand on in-service science teacher education is always one of the most active strands of ESERA. Compared to the last ESERA conference proceedings, the number of papers presented in this strand was growing from 10 to 32 pieces.