TITLE: New possibilities of providing basic natural science education through experiments AUTHOR: Mgr. Veronika Köhlerová DEPARTMENT: Department of Chemistry and Chemistry Education SUPERVISOR: Prof. RNDr. Pavel Beneš, CSc. ABSTRACT: The thesis stems from the basic need to support and develop natural science education. Based on didactic, technical-economic and ergonomic requirements, a teaching tools kit has been created, which facilitates 100 natural science experiments. The kit includes a methodological manual; further methodological support is also provided on the webpage of the kit's manufacturer. To complement the kit, a concept of an optional teacher training course Natural Science Experiments for Preschools and Primary Schools has been created. The course will take place at the Pedagogical Faculty of Charles University in the school year 2013/2014. During the course of the thesis, didactic research methods were used to choose, process, test, organize, and optimise educational experiments. The pedagogical methods used included questionnaires and expert testimonials. The thesis provides a substantial response to the current educational needs in the field of natural science pre-literacy already at preschools and natural science literacy at primary schools. KEYWORDS: science experiment, natural science...

AbstractOutdoor education is a concept of the idea where you teach matters. This study asks the question of what significance outdoor education has for learning in natural science and how motivation influence the learning of the students.For young students in natural science it is important that they have the possibility to vary their environmental setting to be able to get firsthand and authentic experiences of life, nature, society and culture in its natural place, so that they can use that in their early education. A variety of how the students learn should mix between literal- and sense-based learning. Several of the studies that we have researched shows the same thing, outdoor education has an impact on the knowledge and skillset within natural science for the students. Yet it is rarely used to the extent that maybe it should within education. It does however not stop there; outside education also motivates students to learn both in the outside and inside settings.

Denna systematiska litteraturstudie behandlar naturvetenskaplig undervisning i förskolan genom lek som metod. Studiens fokus ligger på att undersöka om samt hur barns lek kan användas i undervisningssammanhang, med inriktning mot naturvetenskap. Enligt forskning framgår det att det naturvetenskapliga ämnet ofta uppfattas som avancerat och problematiskt av förskollärare. En stor orsak till detta anses vara på grund av bristande ämneskompetens och självförtroende hos förskollärarna. Att barn ges möjlighet till lärande inom naturvetenskap ökar bland annat deras kognitiva förmåga. Bristen på naturvetenskaplig undervisning i förskolan medför således didaktiska konsekvenser, eftersom barnen går miste om viktig utbildning. Studiens resultat bygger på en analys av 25 empiriska texter relaterade till naturvetenskap och lek i förskolan. Resultatet redovisar att förskollärares uppfattning och ämneskompetens gällande naturvetenskap är avgörande för kvaliteten av den naturvetenskapliga undervisningen. Det framgår att barn lär sig genom interaktion med andra och att förskolläraren därmed har en viktig roll att agera scaffolding. Att förskolläraren agerar scaffolding stödjer barnets utforskande samt utveckling inom ämnet. Studiens resultat belyser att barns lek är betydande för deras utveckling och lärande. I lekaktiviteter får barn möjligheter att reflektera, utforska och diskutera tillsammans med andra. Det framgår därmed att det är gynnsamt för barns lärande och utveckling att använda deras lek som undervisningsmetod.

<p>Bilder borttagna av upphovsrättsliga skäl.</p>

This diploma thesis deals with mushrooms (Fungi) and their inclusion in the teaching of natural sciences and biology. The theoretical part of the thesis deals with textbooks of natural history and biology in relation to the issue, the characteristics of the mushroom kingdom (Fungi), their structure, systematic division and meaning. The content also includes an analysis of the issue of fungi (Fungi) in the FEP for basic education, in the FEP for grammar schools and in selected school educational programs. The following is an analysis of a textbook of natural history and biology from various publishers focusing on the topic of fungi (Fungi). The work also includes proposals for worksheets and practical exercises that will introduce students to the issue of mushrooms in an interesting way. The thesis contains an interview with eight teachers form practice about how they implement the teaching of this topic in their lessons. In the research part, I present the results of the analysis of science and biology textbooks in the form of text, tables and graphs. I also present the results of interviews with teachers from primary schools and higher grammar schools in the form of text and tables. At the end of the work are the proposed worksheets and laboratory exercises on the topic of fungi (Fungi) together...

Syftet med arbetet är att undersöka lärares inställning till drama som inslag iundervisning i naturorienterande ämnen, grundskolans årskurser 4-6. Arbetet grundarsig i en intervjustudie bland NO-lärare och dramapedagoger i svenska skolor och omderas syn gällande hur drama i naturorienterad undervisning kan påverka utvecklingenav de kunskaper och förmågor som rör de naturorienterande ämnena.Tre grupper av lärare och pedagoger, NO-lärare och dramapedagoger på grundskolarespektive kulturskola, har intervjuats och därefter har intervjuerna transkriberats ochanalyserats.Resultatet av de semistrukturerade intervjuerna visar att respondenterna på olika sätt ärövertygade om att drama som metod kan användas och stärka NO-ämnet. Det finnsflera positiva faktorer, exempelvis ses möjligheter att drama kan klargöra abstraktabegrepp (exempelvis avståndet mellan himlakropparna) samt öka motivation (dåkroppen är i rörelse) och samarbete (drama kan inbjuda till diskussionstillfällen).

4 The Abstrakt: The main target of the thesis is to complete and check the materials of inquiry- based education on the topic of 'water in human life'. This thesis has been based on the ESTABLISH project and it is divided into the theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part deals with the characteristics of inquiry-based education, its benefits and history. It introduces us to the national and foreign project and works that treat this type of education. The main passage of the thesis deals with the compilation and verification of materials for the inquiry-based activities within the thematic unit of 'water in human life'. Part of the materials is methodical handbook for teachers and worksheets for individual activities. Further on this thesis includes the results of a questionnaire for students. The feedback reflected verification of the activities and course of materials content and suitability assessment. Consequently, the thesis also includes the application of the questionnaire for educators which evaluated the awareness of the inquiry-based education and its existing usage by biology teacher on Prague grammar schools. Practical part contains the analysis of the exercises focused on water in relation to humans in selected biology and natural science teaching books. The Keywords: Education,...

This study aims to describe and analyze how the development of technology and social change came to influence the Faculty of Science and Technology which during the fall of 2000 launched two new master programs in engineering. These programs were of a new kind where elements which traditionally had not been a big part of such educations made up a uniquely large part of the content. The ambition is to show how and why these elements came to be increasingly sought, and what they consisted of. To do this a study of meeting protocols from the elementary education committee from the years before the programs started was made. In these protocols the goal was to, from a perspective of technological development and social change, analyze how the contents of these programs were discussed. This was also connected to a perspective of education and learning – what should be taught during education and why?

Since studies points out declining interest in science among students in Swedish schools, I have in this paper chosen to examine how some students at the Social Science Programme are experiencing the lessons in Natural Science and how to make lessons more interesting according to these students. The purpose of this study was to gain a greater understanding of how teachers would develop new perspectives and tools to make lessons in Natural Science more interesting. I also wanted to investigate whether an intercultural perspective could be a possible tool to increase students’ interest and motivation. As a theoretical framework, I have assumed Vygotskij's sociocultural perspective, Habermas's theory of deliberative conversations and an intercultural perspective. Through a qualitative approach, I conducted interviews with students and teachers. The main results showed that students felt that natural Science lessons were too theoretical and undemocratic and that they wanted to have more student interactions, such as discussions and group works. One problem highlighted was the fear of saying the incorrect thing or for the teacher to reveal incompetence. The conclusion is that the students wanted to have more practical aspects of teaching, which can be relatively simple and that an intercultural education would benefit the school's democratic mandate, encourage more students' preferences of learning strategies and enable more students through more secure environment where everyone feels included.

Σκοπός της παρούσας εργασίας ήταν να μελετήσουμε τις εικόνες στα βιβλία των Φυσικών Επιστημών της ΣΤ΄ Δημοτικού που αναφέρονται σε έννοιες Βιολογίας ως ένα κοινωνικο – εποικοδομιστικό εργαλείο μάθησης. Η μελέτη προσανατολίστηκε σε δύο κατευθύνσεις. Αφενός μεν πώς οι εικόνες παρουσιάζονται στα βιβλία έχοντας κοινωνικά προσδιορισμένη λειτουργία (Σημειωτική προσέγγιση) και αφετέρου πώς τις κατανοούν οι μαθητές και αν μπορούν να λειτουργήσουν ως μέσο μάθησης και οικοδόμησης της γνώσης (Εποικοδομιστική προσέγγιση). Αρχικά οι εικόνες σε όλες τις θεματικές ενότητες της βιολογίας ταξινομήθηκαν ανάλογα με το είδος και τη λειτουργία. Στη συνέχεια επιλέχτηκαν κάποιες εικόνες που αφορούσαν το Αναπνευστικό και Κυκλοφορικό Σύστημα του ανθρώπου οι οποίες παρουσιάστηκαν με το συνοδεύον γραπτό κείμενο στους μαθητές για να δούμε πώς τις διαχειρίζονται, αν τις κατανοούν και τι δυσκολίες αντιμετωπίζουν. Τα αποτελέσματα έδειξαν ότι, (α) Οι εικόνες στα βιβλία ανάλογα με το περιεχόμενο (είδος και λειτουργία) είναι ρεαλιστικές παρά συμβατικές έχοντας ένα παιδαγωγικό ρόλο που συνάδει με την ηλικία των μαθητών και (β) οι μαθητές στις επιλεγμένες εικόνες αντιμετωπίζουν προβλήματα τόσο στη διαχείριση όσο και στην κατανόηση των εικόνων που οφείλονται όχι μόνο στις αδυναμίες που έχουν στην περιοχή της βιολογίας αλλά επιπλέον στην απουσία ικανοτήτων οπτικού γραμματισμού. / The present study aims at analyzing visual images, included in the sixth grade’s Natural Science textbooks, referring in biology concepts as a socio-constructivist learning tool. The analysis took two different approaches; on the one hand, researching how these images are presented in the textbooks while having a social pre-identified function (Semiotics approach) and on the other hand, researching how sixth grade students can understand these images and if they can serve as means of learning and constructing knowledge (Constructivist approach). Initially, the images in all biological topics were classified in relation with their type and function. The research then proceeded by selecting certain images concerning the human Respiratory and Circulatory System, which were presented with accompanying written text to the students in order to determine how they can handle them, if they understand them and what difficulties they face during this process. The results of this research showed that (i) the images in the books depending on their content (type and function) are naturalistic rather than abstract while having a pedagogical function consistent with the age of the students and (ii) the students in selected images encounter problems both in handling and understanding not only due to knowledge deficit in the area of biology but due to the absence of visual literacy skills as well.