Engagement with global children's literature is an effective way to introduce multiple perspectives into the classroom dialogue. Yet teachers are often unfamiliar with ways of helping students understand diverse cultural practices and beliefs. The result is that global children's literature continues to be an underused resource. This action research study looked at 25 highly diverse educator study groups as they used global literature with pre-K - 12 students. The goal was to support the development of intercultural understanding. The study groups received $1,000 grants from Worlds of Words (wowlit.org) to fund their yearlong inquiry. The groups met face-to-face throughout the year to reflect on the interactions taking place in their classrooms. All groups met online on a members-only site. Data collected included proposals, reports, teacher vignettes, and interviews. The data was used to document range of study group structures and interactions with global literature. The study groups and online forum were supported by a grant from the Longview Foundation. Through constant comparative analysis, new transformative understandings were identified. Key elements in the development of intercultural understanding included open inquiry, recognition of complexity and multiple perspectives, thinking about culture at a conceptual level, and engaging in open dialogue. Teachers reported an increased understanding of their competence as professionals, their student's competence as problem-posers and thinkers, and the parents' competence as important contributors to intercultural understanding. The study concludes with implications for practitioners wanting to engage in classroom inquiries using global literature to support developing intercultural understanding. A second set of implications suggests ways in which the study group process can be made more effective. New questions are proposed for future research related to the use of global literature in various contexts, including classrooms, online professional development, and libraries.

This diploma thesis responds to the innovative trends and the causes of these changes in the science education.. The theoretical part of the thesis deals primarily with Inquiry-Based (Science) Education. It is focused on its definition, main features and its position in the Czech educational system. The main goal of this thesis and an output of the practical part is creating a portfolio with Inquiry-Based Science Education tasks in the physical geography (geology, geomorphology, pedology and biogeography) intended for the 2nd stage of primary schools.

This diploma thesis evaluates the knowledge of plants' anatomy and morphology at primary schools. There is very important the type of textbooks used in biology education. The present work is divided into 2 parts: theoretical and practical. The theoretical part describes methods of evaluation of textbooks and educational results and also formation of didactic test, statistical methods and inquiry-based education. Because we wanted to know frequency of use of this approach in biology lessons. The practical part contains research results.

This diploma thesis called Estimations in Mathematics at Elementary School is created as an auxiliary teaching material. It acquaints the readers with the concept of mathematical estimation and presents its basic divisions. It also provides graphic instructions how to make estimations and it contains plenty of problems which serve as a systematic practicing and training of the ability of estimating. In addition, the form of individual problems shows spheres in which estimating is convenient to develop. At the end of the work there are presented research-oriented problems with the need of estimation.

The aim of this doctoral thesis is to appraise the efficiency of inquiry-based education in biology (IBSE, inquiry-based science education) and to compare this efficiency with the efficiency of the tuition that uses traditional teaching methods, during the schooling of chosen themes from the human physiology, on different educational levels in the Czech Republic. For the purpose of monitoring the efficiency of both educational attitudes, there were drawn up pretests and posttests. Thanks to them, the level of involved pupils' and students' knowledge of contents and skills, was measured before and subsequently after the application of inquiry based tasks to the laboratory classes. The variety of inquiry based tasks that met the requirements of IBSE, that focused on chosen topics from the human physiology and that complied with the knowledge and age of the given group, was made for the research purpose. The research was realized with elementary school pupils, grammar school pupils and university students. In the lump, there were 145 pupils from the elementary school and grammar school and 168 university students. Pupils and students were divided into the experimental groups, where they solved task with the elements of IBSE, and to the groups with traditional teaching. Conclusions of the researches that were based on the comparing of pupils and students success rate in pretests and posttest showed, the IBSE led to the better knowledge acquirement. But in the comparison with the results of pupils and students from the traditional teaching groups, the improvement was not statistically significant. It was discovered that IBSE leads to the significantly more effective acquirement of science skills (e.g. assessment and suggestion of the science research, design of the scientific and research questions, data interpretation and making of appropriate conclusions). The efficiency was influenced by the educational level (i.e. by the age of involved pupils and students and by the type of school) this approach was the most effective in grammar schools. Given research proves that the application of the IBSE to the teaching of human physiology presents felicitous innovation in the science education. In view of the fact that it leads to the identical or better knowledge adoption and it also significantly develops pupils' and students' scientific skills.

This diploma theses deals with a new trend of current teaching of science subjects and that is inquiry-based teaching. The main goal of this, for now in Czech environment unknown, teaching method is to make the teaching of science subjects more attractive and to renew the interest of pupils in these subjects. The theoretical part describes inquiry-based teaching, defines the educational subject of geography and it elaborates the connections with the generally educational programme the Primary education. The main part of the diploma thesis introduces created subjects of the teaching activities using the inquiry-based teaching of geography at the secondary school with the focus on the local region SO ORP Jindřichův Hradec. The submitted subjects of the teaching activities in socio-geographical region are thematically dedicated to transport, the quality of life and tourism, while the physically-geographical regions analyze the themes of meteorology and hydrology. The thesis includes the feedback on real created subjects of teaching activities. The attachment contains the worksheets related to the above mentioned activities.

As escolas de ensino médio vem mantendo um ensino de Biologia de forma bastante teórica e pouco ligada a realidade do mundo que cerca o aluno. Atualmente espera-se que um aluno que saia do ensino médio atuando com autonomia, lidando com as informações e fazendo uso dos conhecimentos adquiridos na escola, como já é esclarecido nos Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais (PCNs). Assim, usar metodologias que envolvam o Ensino de Biologia baseado na investigação pode dar ao aluno uma nova forma de pensar, uma oportunidade de construir o próprio conhecimento. Na educação baseada na investigação, existem três fatores de extrema importância a serem investigados: a motivação dos alunos em aprenderem e participarem das mais diversas atividades em aula, a emoção despertada nos alunos em relação às aulas e ao ambiente da escola e a ideia e concepção de Ciência que eles desenvolvem ao longo do seu período escolar. Esta dissertação relata um estudo onde foram utilizadas escalas para avaliar a emoção e a motivação dos alunos, além de um questionário que avaliou a concepção de Ciências deles, antes e depois da realização de atividades que envolviam o ensino por investigação. Em um primeiro momento, os dados gerados mostraram que havia pouca variação na emoção e motivação dos alunos antes e depois das atividades investigativas, porém, em relação à concepção de Ciências deles, a mudança foi surpreendente. Em um segundo momento foram analisados os discursos dos alunos ao longo do desenvolvimento das atividades investigativas, dessa análise apresentou-se dados que através de referenciais teóricos ligados a aprendizagem significativa demonstraram a relevância do uso de atividades que envolvam investigação na sala de aula. Assim, investigar a interferência do uso de metodologias que envolvam o ensino baseado na investigação na motivação, na emoção e na concepção de Ciência dos alunos do ensino médio, destaca a importância de estudos em ambientes educativos não tradicionais, que privilegiam oportunidades para que os alunos desenvolvam entendimento, expressem suas emoções, e que possam construir significado a partir de aplicações no mundo real. / The high school has maintained a teaching of Biology fairly theoretical and somewhat connected to reality of the world that surrounds the students. Currently it is expected that a student coming out of high school acting with autonomy, dealing with information and making use of the knowledge acquired in school, as is made clear in National Curricular Parameters (PCN). Thus, using methodologies that involve the inquiry-based learning can give the student a new way of thinking, an opportunity to build their own knowledge. In inquiry-based education, there are three very important factors to be investigated: motivation of students to learn and participate in various activities in the classroom, the emotion aroused in students in relation to school and the school environment and the idea and design of science they develop throughout their school years. This paper reports a study which scales to assess the excitement and motivation of students were used, plus a questionnaire that assessed the concept of Science of them before and after the completion of activities involving inquiry-based learning. At first, the data generated showed that there was little variation in emotion and motivation of students before and after the investigative activities, however, on the concept of Science of them, the change was amazing. In a second step the speeches of the students were analyzed during the development of investigative activities, this analysis presented data through theoretical frameworks linked to meaningful learning demonstrated the relevance of using activities involving research in the classroom. Thus, to investigate the interference of methodologies involving inquiry-based learning in motivation, emotion and concept of Science of high school students, highlights the importance of studies in none-traditional educational environments that emphasize opportunities for students develop understanding, express emotions, and they can construct meaning from realworld applications.

This diploma thesis proposes a modern way of teaching leaf morphology in elementary school. It includes research that builds on the bachelor thesis ,,The leaf as an organ of higher plants - creation of photographic collection of leaves". The theoretical part contains an analysis of the objectives and trends of contemporary learning and teaching methods, and also summarizes the interconnection of teaching leaf morphology with the FEP. The practical part contains an interactive learning program with elements of inquiry-based education aimed at teaching leaf morphology. The research in this paper compares the quality of students' knowledge learned by the compiled program and the students learned the traditional way.

abstract: To develop critical reasoning skills potentially advances students' ability to critically consume information, make informed decisions, and actively participate in a democracy. An inquiry-based pedagogical approach to science teaching remains an effective means to develop critical reasoning skills. Participating in scientific inquiry requires students to generate arguments and test alternative hypotheses using experimental evidence. Scientific inquiry demands that students use their critical reasoning skills. Unfortunately, many teachers fail to allocate an adequate amount of time for genuine experimentation in science classes. As a result, science classes often leave students unprepared to think critically and apply their knowledge in a practical manner. The focus of this study was to investigate the extent to which an inquiry-based professional development experience, including a two-day summer workshop and 18 weeks of follow up Professional Learning Community (PLC) support, affected the attitudes and pedagogical skills regarding scientific inquiry among six high school biology teachers. A concurrent mixed methods, action research design was used to measure changes in teachers' attitudes, perceptions, and skills regarding inquiry-based pedagogy was measured throughout the 22 weeks of the study. A survey instrument, card sorting activity, classroom observations using the Reformed Teacher Observation Protocol (RTOP), individual interviews, and PLC observations were used to gather data. Results indicated the professional development was effective in transforming the participating teachers' attitudes, perceptions, and skills regarding inquiry-based pedagogy. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2018

Syftet med min undersökning var att bidra med ökade kunskaper om vilka uppfattningar som finns bland fjärdeklasselever gällande syftet med NTA i kemi, och om dessa överensstämmer med lärarens syfte. Datainsamlingen har gjorts via gruppintervjuer med femton elever och deras lärare. Intervjusvaren har sedan kategoriserats induktivt. Resultatet har visat att eleverna inte uppfattar syftet med NTA-lådan så som läraren tänkt. Det verkar som att eleverna ser ett mer närliggande syfte och fokuserar på vad som händer. Läraren, å andra sidan, tycks ha ett mer övergripande syfte som utgår från kunskapskraven men som hon inte fullt ut lyckas kommunicera till eleverna. Hon syftar även till att eleverna utvecklar sin resonemangsförmåga genom diskussioner i helklass. Eleverna tycker dessutom att helkassdiskussionerna är intressanta och lärorika. Tid läggs på diskussionerna vilket ger en möjlighet till en naturvetenskaplig literacitet. / The purpose of my study was to contribute with increased knowledge on what ideas fourth grade pupils have about the aims of NTA in chemistry, and if their ideas correspond with the teachers´ aims. The data collection is made through group interviews with fifteen pupils and their teacher. The answers in these interviews have been inductively categorized. The results have shown that pupils don´t see the aims of the NTA-boxes as the teacher have in mind. It seems like the pupils´ see aims in each lesson and focus on what is happening. The teacher, on the other hand, has a much more overall aim that originates from the curriculum, but which she doesn´t manage to fully communicate to the pupils. She also intends that the pupils should develop their capability of reasoning, which they do during classroom discussions. In addition to this, the pupils also find classroom discussions both interesting and educational. Time is given for classroom discussions which gives an opportunity for scientific literacy.