!Under Construction!

Some Abstracts from 1999 - 2008

 
CECÍLIA GALVÃO, PEDRO REIS, SOFIA FREIRE
A Big Problem for Magellan: Food Preservation.
ABSTRACT: In this paper, we present data related to how a Portuguese teacher developed the module A big problem for Magellan: Food preservation. Students were asked to plan an investigation in order to identify which were the best food preservation methods in the XV and XVI centuries of Portuguese overseas navigation, and then establish a parallel between those methods and current ones. Students were involved in discussing the relationship between science and social issues, and about the impact that science evolution has on daily life practices. The teacher had professional experience and a Masters degree in science
education and considered that PARSEL and the specific module constituted a good approach to achieve his goals concerning science education. Students were attending a twelfth-grade biology class and wished to pursue university studies in science. We carried outparticipant observations, interviews with the teacher and four of his students, and we also administered a questionnaire to the students. Both teacher and students found the module popular and relevant for their lives. Despite positive assessment, some less positive issues, such as, time management and module extension, and the difficulty of making a connection
between science and social issues were also identified. 
KEYWORDS: Popularity, relevance, science education



CLAUS BOLTE
A Conceptual Framework for the Enhancement of Popularity and Relevance of Science Education for Scientific Literacy
ABSTRACT: Science educators express wide consensus about the importance of a modern scientific literate society. But focussing on the public understanding of science in Germany, there seems to be no general consensus, neither about how to enhance scientific literacy in the educational practice nor about what the major topics and dimensions of a modern science education are. With the help of the Curricular Delphi-Study in Chemistry (CDSC) a working group, this study analyzed topics and dimensions as well'as fields of dissent and consensus in the opinions of 114 experts from different stakeholder groups (students, teachers, educators, and scientists). Knowledge about this helps to improve science lessons and makes clear that projects, like PARSEL, are urgently need to enhance the popularity and relevance of science'education for scientific literacy.
KEYWORDS: Delphi study, stakeholder views, popularization, relevance, scientific literacy.


Mercè Izquierdo, Conxita Márquez, and Guaracira Gouvea
A Proposal for Textbooks Analysis: Rhetorical Structures
ABSTRACT: The present study relates to a research line in didactics of science that focuses on the function that sign systems or semiotic modes have in communicative interactions in science classrooms. The study was conducted by 20 secondary and university science teachers who belong to the same research group LIEC (Language and Science Teaching) at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). This group is devoted to the study of the relations between language and science teaching, and is centred on the analysis of textbooks, because these are still the most used didactical mediators in science teaching. The study
attempted to construct indicators in order to investigate whether textbooks are adequate fordidactical intervention. Such an investigation would provide useful information for better strategies both to read in class and to write more innovative textbooks from a didactical point of view, i.e., textbooks that are more appropriate to support students autonomous work in science classrooms. 
Keywords: Chemistry, rethorics, textbooks


HÜLYA YILMAZ ,HAKAN TÜRKMEN
An Accurate Picture of What is Currently Happening in Turkish Science Classrooms
ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which primary science teachers understand the new reform implemented in Turkey and to examine their perceptions regarding science instruction. Thus, it could be possible to show an accurate picture of what is currently happening in primary'science classrooms and identify the kind of support primary science teachers may need. In this study, a survey was distributed to all in-service primary school science teachers in the area of Izmir,Turkey. The sample consisted of 389 primary science teachers from 72 primary schools. This study was carried out using quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The Survey on K-12 Science Education was used for collecting quantitative data. For collecting the qualitative data, primary science teachers were asked to specify the main goals in their teaching science and what would help them in achieving these goals. The results showed that they were not enough actively engaged in classroom science activities, and that they should be trained to apply more effective teaching approaches, and how to integrate science with other subject areas and real life.
KEY WORDS: Science education, science teaching, Turkish education.


CLAUS MICHELSEN
Between Teaching and Researching: Envisaging Ownership Benefits of Involving Teachers from an In-service Teacher Training Program in the PARSEL Project
ABSTRACT: The Danish PARSEL team included 5 teachers from the region of Southern Denmark, of whom two enjoyed special status. These two teachers have been trained to develop, implement, and evaluate interventional modules similar to those of PARSEL, through a one year full-time equivalent masters degree program in science and mathematics education. This program took its lead from the model of educational reconstruction, and this engaged the participating teachers in having an intimate contact with researchers in implementation and evaluation processes very similar to the trying out phase of the PARSEL project. This paper presents the teachers background in the form of the masters degree program; it presents the teachers comments on the PARSEL project and the individual modules; and it moves to discuss and envisage special outcomes regarding ownership of PARSEL modules for intimate partnerships between teachers and researchers.
KEYWORDS: Educational reconstruction, professional development, teacher-researcher collaboration


KAI PATA, ENEKEN METSALU
Conceptualizing Awareness in Environmental Education: An Example of Knowing about Air-related Problems
ABSTRACT The notion of environmental awareness has been controversial in environmental literacy. Environmental awareness has been traditionally understood as conceptual awareness, but this study takes into consideration activity-related aspects of awareness, which should be integrated into an onto­logical model of developing environmental literacy. The empirical part of the study investigated the com­ponents of conceptual awareness using the model of air-related environmental issues. Eight classes of stu­dents (N=204) filled in an open-ended questionnaire one week after teaching about environmental issues was completed. The questionnaire investigated the extent of their awareness regarding the greenhouse effect, the depletion of ozone layer, acid rain and air pollution at general and local level. The teachers of the eight classes answered a different questionnaire relating to the teaching methods they used. The findings indicated that the students exhibited in their answers both conceptual and activity-related com­ponents of environmental awareness, and they faced difficulties in combining global and local aspects of environmental issues. Three types of students were identified on the basis of their awareness about the examined air-related issues: with mainly task- and process related and contextual awareness, with main­ly social and contextual awareness, and with awareness where all aspects were combined. The active stu-dent-centred teaching method was related with the development of mainly the social and contextual awareness. Some students who participated in student-centred activities outdoors belonged to the aware­ness type in which task- and process-related contextual awareness was prevalent. The teacher-centred tra­ditional methods developed both task- and process- related, and social and contextual awareness compo­nents.
KEYWORDS: Acid rain, air pollution, environmental awareness, environmental literacy, green­house effect, ozone layer depletion. 


ANDREAS CHIRAS, NICOS VALANIDES
Day/night Cycle: Mental Models of Primary School Children
ABSTRACT The study investigated the mental models of primary school children related to the day/night cycle. Semi-structure interviews were conducted with 40 fourth-grade and 40 sixth-grade children. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data indicated that the majority of the children were classified as having geocentric models. The results also indicated that a large number of primary school children did not appropriately conceptualize the essential prerequisites for understanding the day/night cycle, and that their observational skills were limited. It was also concluded that childrens age (class) and their mathematical achievement were good predictors for the quality of their mental models.
KEYWORDS: Alternative conceptions, day/night cycle, mental models


Pierre Clement, Lassaad Mouelhi, Mohamed Kochkar, Nikos Valanides, Olia Nisiforou,Seyni Mame Thiaw, Valdiodio Ndiaye, Paula Jeanbart, Daniel Horvath,
Do the Images of Neuronal Pathways in the Human Central Nervous System Show Feed-back ? A Comparative Study in Fifteen Countries
ABSTRACT: In the human brain, the neuronal pathways are networks which support our learning, memory and thought, and which work with permanent feedback. However, only 19% of illustrations of these neuronal pathways, in the 55 analysed school textbooks coming from 15 countries, were showing feedbacks. The neuronal pathways related to movements were generally introduced by linear spinal cord reflexes, and sometimes mostly reduced to reflexes. In consequence, in most countries, the scientific knowledge taught with these images of neuronal pathways was linked with an implicit ideology: A clear behaviourism associated with reductionism, and even sometimes with innatism or spiritualism. Two thirds of the few images with feedback were related to vegetative functions: the neuro-hormonal control of female and male reproduction, and of heart and breathing rhythms. Nevertheless, even for these vegetative controls, there was not any feedback in several of the 55 analysed textbooks. Only in three countries, the double innervation (gamma and alpha) of striated muscles, with the regulatory function of the neuro-muscular spindle, was illustrated with only one image in each of the three corresponding textbooks. Few images illustrated neuronal pathways in the brain, and only exceptionally as the neuronal networks (with feedback)which are the supports of our memory and of our thought. The persistence of the same kind of images in school textbooks of these contrasted countries suggest that the conceptionsof human brain are less linked to national socio-cultural contexts rather than to international dominant ideologies.
KEYWORDS: Feedbacks, human brain, school textbooks.


CHRIS KING, PETER KENNETT, and ELIZABETH DEVON
Earthlearningidea Update
There have been many Earthlearningidea developments since our update in August. By early November, we had over 8500 visits to our site from 115 countries and we have decided to continue the project into 2009. However, for next year, we are asking you to contribute; details of what to do can be found on the home page of our website www.earthlearningidea.com. Throughout next year, we shall be publishing
one new activity per month. Also, on the home page, you will find an invitation to evaluate the ideas; the results of these evaluations should help future educators to use their time and resources most effectively to support global learning.

HULYA YILMAZ , HAKAN TURKMEN
Evaluating Science Education Reform via Fourth-Grade Students Image of Science Teaching
ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate fourth-grade students image of current science teaching by using a Draw-A-Science-Teacher-Test Checklist (DASTT-C), and give a glance whether the new restructured science education reform in Turkey is implemented successfully or not. Fifty-five (34 girls and 21 boys) fourth-grade students from three different primary schools participated in this study. The results of study showed that 18.2% of Turkish fourth-grade students view their science classrooms as student-centered, 56.4% as neither student-centered nor teacher-centered, and 25.4% as teacher-centered. These results indicate that Turkey is in the process of a big positive change, and that traditional education perspective started switching over to constructivist perspective, while attempts for implementing the reform put emphasis on elementary teachers and their professional development.
KEYWORDS: Curriculum development, DASTT-C, science education reform

MEHMET ERDOGAN, MUHAMMET USAK
Examining Prospective Science Teachers Satisfaction with Their Department
ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to explore how satisfied prospective science teachers are with their department (academic staff and administration) at different Faculties of Education in Turkey. For'this purpose, Prospective Science Teachers Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSTSQ) was developed by considering related literature. PSTSQ consists of two parts and seven dimensions, namely, General Satisfaction, Administration, Curriculum, Academic Staff, Facilities, Skills Promoted by Courses and Laboratory and its Facilities, respectively. In order to explore prospective teachers satisfaction level, PSTSQ was administered to 410 fourth-year students who enrolled in science education programs at six different Faculties of Education. The participants of the study were asked to respond to the 82 items on'a 5 point Likert-scale (1=strongly disagree and 5=strongly agree). The reliability analysis indicated that'the Cronbachs alpha reliability coefficient ( ·) of the instrument was 0.89. For the purpose of the present'study, only the administration and academic staff dimensions of the questionnaire were used. The participants reported that they were dissatisfied with some aspects of their department, but there was no'significant mean difference between male and female students. On the contrary, significant mean differences among students from different universities in terms of their satisfaction with their departments were found. 
KEY WORDS: Academic department, prospective science teacher, satisfaction.

JACK HOLBROOK
Foreword- Introduction to the Special Issue of Science Education International Devoted to PARSEL
This special issue of the ICASE journal is devoted to the PARSEL project. This project is supported by a European Commission grant SAS6-CT-2006-042922- PARSEL. Why is PARSEL considered important for readers ? This is answered from three perspectives. 1. This project is geared to identifying and structuring teaching materials for enhancing scientific literacy among secondary school students. ICASE has been involved in the need to recognize the attributes of scientific and technological literacy for many years and, together with UNESCO, co-chaired an international conference in this area is 1993. ICASE feels it has a mandate from its member organizations to consider this an area of importance for further promotion. 2. ICASE is a partner in this project and has played a strong role in guiding the type of teaching materials to be developed. ICASE feels these teaching materials will be of interest to its member organizations, either in totality, or by adopting the PARSEL 3-stage model through modifications that better suit the local situation.
3. These materials go further that simply providing science teaching material that relate to the subject content of the curriculum. The materials promote a wider view of science education and guide teachers to consider student involvement in inquiry based investigations, the development of communication skills above and beyond written records and also the need to include socio-scientific decision making in science teaching. PARSEL teaching modules are to be found on the following website www.parsel.eu. All modules are in English, but selected modules also appear on national websites in German, Portuguese, Hebrew, Swedish, Danish, Estonian and Greek. The modules indicate the grade level for which they are written and are ready for teacher use in total or in part.


Pitombo, Maiana Albuquerque, Ana Maria Rocha de Almeida and Charbel Niño El-Hani
Gene Concepts in Higher Education Cell and Molecular Biology Textbooks
ABSTRACT: Despite being a landmark of 20th century biology, the classical molecular gene concept, according to which a gene is a stretch of DNA encoding a functional product, which may be a single
polypeptide or RNA molecule, has been recently challenged by a series of findings (e.g., split genes, alternative splicing, overlapping and nested genes, mRNA edition, etc). The debates about the gene concept have important implications on biology teaching, and, thus, it is important to investigate whether and how these are addressed in this context. In this paper, we report results of an investigation relating to the treatment of genes in higher education cell and molecular biology textbooks. These results indicate that, despite several findings challenging time-honored ideas about genes, these ideas continue to be widely used in textbooks, even though the textbooks themselves discuss part of those findings. Textbooks also harbor a proliferation of meanings about genes that may make the concept look vague and confused, and even lead to ideas that are at odds with our current knowledge about genomes. 
KEYWORDS: Biology teaching, gene, higher education, textbooks.


Jérémy Castéra, Pierre Clément, Mondher Abrougui, Olympia Nisiforou, Nicos Valanides,Tago Sarapuu, Jurga Turcinaviciene, Boujemaa Agorram, Florbela Ca
Genetic Determinism in School Textbooks:A Comparative Study Conducted Among Sixteen Countries
ABSTRACT: Genetic concepts have significantly evolved over the last ten years, and are now less connected to innate ideas and reductionism. Unique reference to genetic determinism has been replaced by the interaction between the genes and their environment (epigenetics). Our analyses relate to how current school biology textbooks present this new paradigm in 16 different countries (12 from Europe, and Tunisia, Morocco, Senegal, and Lebanon). Two precise criteria were used to analyse and compare the chapters dealing with the topic Human Genetics. The first criterion was the occurrence of the expression genetic program (which is typical of innate values). This was present in the textbooks of some countries, but were totally missing in some others. The existing differences seem to support the following: (i) in Eastern European countries, the absence is long-standing, and it is possibly linked to a previous influence of Lyssenko, (ii) in some other countries, the absence could be linked to various reactions during the Nazi period, (iii) in other cases, the observed diminution might be due to a modernisation of the scientific content, and, finally, (iv) in several countries, the notion of genetic program is still present, without any attempt for
change. In contrast, there were no differences between countries with relation to the second criterion, that is, the twins pictures present in the textbooks. The monozygotic twins were always dressed identically, and had the same hairstyle and body posture, as if these features could be genetically determined, providing thus evidence of a persistent implicit deterministic ideology. These results are discussed as interactions between implicit values and taughtscientific knowledge. 
KEY WORDS: Human genetics, school textbooks, twins.

CHOKCHAI YUENYONG, JIRAKARN YUENYONG
Grade 1 to 6 Thai Students Existing Ideas about Energy
ABSTRACT This study explored 30 Grade 1 to 6 (6 12 years old) Thai students existing ideas about energy. The study employed the Interview about Event (IAE) approach. During IAE, the cards of an
event or things were showed to students in order to probe their views of energy concepts. Findings indicated that young students held various alternative conceptions about energy that could be categorized into five different groups relating to electric energy, potential energy, mechanical energy and forces, heat energy, and fuel. Most of Grade 1 to 3 students considered energy as mainly mechanical energy and forces, or electric energy, while the majority of Grade 4 to 6 students clarified their ideas about energy by referring to potential and electric energy. The paper discusses the findings and their implications for teaching and learning with reference to a teaching unit that was developed and evaluated using Thai primary school students. 
KEY WORDS: Energy, transformations of energy, teaching and learning.

KATERINA MALAMITSA , PANAGIOTIS KOKKOTAS
Graph/Chart Interpretation and Reading Comprehension as Critical Thinking Skills
ABSTRACT: 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). TERwas 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. 
KEYWORDS: Science education, Test of Everyday Reasoning (TER), visual literacy

Peter Borrows
Health and Safety in Practical Science in Schools : A UK Perspective
ABSTRACT The tendency for the press and public to over-react on safety. The need to balance risk against benefit. The difference between hazard and risk. Preventative or protective steps (control measures) to reduce the risk from particular hazards. Examples in school science, including the use of eye protection and alternative strategies, if eye protection is not available. The ability of teachers to supervise a class depen­dent on the size of the class. The need for supervision dependent on the nature of the practical activity and the risk involved in it, as well as the nature of the class, and the skills and behaviour of the students.
KEYWORDS: Class size, health and safety, risk assessment

PETER BORROWS
Health and Safety in Practical Science in Schools:A UK Perspective 2, Using Model Risk Assessments
The previous article in this series explained the difference between hazard (something which could cause harm) and risk (a combination of the likelihood and magnitude of harm actually being caused by the hazard). If the risk is too high,steps must be taken to reduce it to a sufficiently low level by adopting suitable protective (control) measures. If a practical activity in a science lesson has some risk associated with it then one way of reducing the risk might be to avoid the activity altogether. In that case, very little practical work would ever take place. If you are using glass apparatus, there is always a possibility of breakage and hence cuts. If you are using hot apparatus, there is always the possibility of burns. We accept a low level of risk because the benefit of practical science outweighs the risks. Teaching students how to handle safely fragile or hot objects under the relatively organised conditions of a science lesson may teach them something of value about risk management for life outside the laboratory and when they have left school.

Marie-Pierre Quessada, Pierre Clément, Britta Oerke, and Adriana Valente
Human Evolution in Science Textbooks from Twelve Different Countries
ABSTRACT: What kinds of images of human beings illustrate human evolution in school textbooks? A comparison between the textbooks of eighteen different countries (twelve European countries and six non-European countries) was attempted. In six countries (Algeria, Malta, Morocco, Mozambique, Portugal, and Tunisia), we did not find any chapter on the topic of human evolution in the textbooks consulted. When analysing all the images in the human evolution chapters in the 30 textbooks from the other twelve countries, we found that the great majority of these images show adult males, few images show females
(one female for every four males), very few show children (one child for every nine adults), few images show ethnic diversity (one image with ethnic diversity for every eight images without ethnic diversity). When analyzing the images of timelines or trees depicting human evolution, we found in all the chapters on biological evolution the representation of Homo sapiens, who was found in 28 textbooks from twelve different countries. Homo sapiens is nearly always an archetype of a male with white skin, either naked or dressed in occidental clothing. Only in four cases, there was also a woman (and never a woman alone), such as in a
Lithuanian textbook as well as in a French one, an Italian one, and a German one. This last German image is a unique one where ethnic diversity was illustrated by three people. These results show that scientific messages related to the origins of humankind are generally mixed with implicit values. It is important to identify these values, whilst teaching this topic, in order to favour the ability of students to develop a critical outlook for better citizenship. 
KEYWORDS: Human evolution, images of humankind, science textbooks

SHU-NU CHANG
Implementing Science across the World in a Resource-Based Learning Activity regarding Sustainable Development Issues
ABSTRACT The rapid development of science and technology has become a global issue in modern society, since it will not only bring conveniences into peoples lives but it may also cause extensive environmental damage to the planet earth. Therefore, it is important to propagate the notion of Science Technology and Society (STS) and the awareness of sustainable development. The purpose of this study was to implement a Science across the World (SAW) activity in a resource-based environment regarding two sustainable issues, global warming and renewable energy, and to investigate students responses to this SAW activity. Seventy-eight non-science major freshmen participated in the study. The results from participants questionnaires indicated that students felt most interested in exploring ideas locally via Internet, and exchanging information with students from other countries globally. Through this activity, students also presented the positive results of the acquisition of knowledge, and they felt that their inquiry abilities got improved. Implication of STS teaching on students learning and attitudes are discussed. 
KEY WORDS: Resource-based learning, science across the world, STS, sustainable development.

RON BLONDER, MIRA KIPNIS, RACHEL MAMLOK-NAAMAN, AVI HOFSTEIN
Increasing Science Teachers Ownership through the Adaptation of the PARSEL Modules: A Bottom-up Approach
ABSTRACT: The study describes the process of adopting new curriculum materials, which had been developed in the PARSEL project in several European countries, into the local educational science classroom of another country. The goal of the PARSEL project was to raise the popularity and relevance of science teaching by enhancing students scientific and technological literacy and by identifying suitable teaching/learning materials, based on relevant context-based educational approaches. All PARSEL materials are organized in a website and are freely accessible by science teachers around the world. In order to increase the teachers ownership towards the new materials, a bottom-up approach that included a teacher workshop for modifying the PARSEL modules for the needs of teachers was implemented.
The teachers used the modified modules in their classes and reflect upon the whole process, after it was completed. Data have been collected using various research tools, such as, teachers questionnaires, teachers interviews and teachers focus group interviews. The results indicate that the bottom-up process increased teacher ownership towards the PARSEL modules and helped the teachers to align their teaching with the philosophy and the teaching style of the PARSEL project. It was also indicated that the students found the modules to be popular and interesting.
KEYWORDS: Adopting new curriculum, bottom-up strategies, popularity, relevance,teachers ownership.

Pierre Clement
Introduction to the Special Issue of SEI Relating to Critical Analysis of School Science Textbooks
The use of school textbooks strongly differs from one country to another. In some cases, the textbook is used like the bible, and students should prepare the lesson, for example, of biology by reading one chapter, and the lesson is mainly an explanation of the chapter paragraph by paragraph. Students try to understand, summarize, and finally know the content by heart. In other countries, the textbook is only a tool besides many other tools.Teachers and learners can use the textbook depending on the lesson or the context and, in some cases, the textbook is not used at all. Nevertheless, in all cases, the school textbooks are aligned to the syllabus and represent the way of teaching in the respective country. Critical analysis of textbooks is thus interesting, even without having any information of the way they are used, and reflects, to a certain extent, aspects of the real classroom situation in any country.


DECLAN KENNEDY
Linking Learning Outcomes and Assessment of Learning of Student Science Teachers
ABSTRACT: The signing of the Bologna Agreement in 1999 has major implications for all involved in third level education throughout the world. By 2010 in the 45 countries that have signed up to the Bologna process, all modules and programmes in third level institutions will be written in terms of learning outcomes. In addition, many countries outside the Bologna process are aligning their third-level educational systems to be compatible with the Bologna process in order to facilitate description of qualifications, mutual recognition of degrees, and mobility of students. This paper covers the background to the concept of Learning Outcomes, the use of Blooms Taxonomy to write learning outcomes, the relationship between learning outcomes and competences, and the linking of learning outcomes to both teaching and learning activities as well as to assessment. In addition, the author discusses the effects of the introduction of learning outcomes into the teacher-training programme for science teachers in his own university with particular reference to the assessment of student learning. 
KEYWORDS: Aims, assessment, Bologna Agreement, learning outcomes, objectives.


KENNETH RUSSELL ROY
Safety in the Hood!
On 15 June 2006, one of the United States California - adopted safety regulations
titled Ventilation Requirements for Laboratory-type Hood Operations. By definition, a Laboratory-Type Hood is a device enclosed except for necessary exhaust purposes on three sides and top and bottom,
designed to draw air inward by means of mechanical ventilation, operated with insertion of only the hands and arms of the user, and used to control exposure to hazardous substances.
Whitfield Green, and Devika Naidoo Science Textbooks in the Context of Political Reform in South Africa:Whitfield Green, and Devika Naidoo

ABSTRACT: The post-apartheid National Physical Science Curriculum was implemented for the first time in South Africa in grade 10 during 2006. A variety of new textbooks for grade 10 have been published. This study was a comparative analysis of three popular textbooks, one prepared to support the previous curriculum, and two prepared for the new curriculum. The study employed an eclectic theoretical approach and a mixed mode (qualitative and quantitative) methodology. The comparative analysis of the three textbooks showed that the old textbook presented pure, decontextualised physical science knowledge; presented
conventional academic hard science knowledge as strongly separated from the real world; and assumed that English was the first language of students. It emphasized factual and conceptual knowledge that students must remember and understand. It was underpinned by an objectivist epistemology and a rationalist philosophy of knowledge. One of the new textbooks was similar to the old. The other new textbook was inclusive, and presented science knowledge using a popular format and an interactive style. In addition to academic science knowledge, utilitarian knowledge was also presented. There was also an emphasis on factual and conceptual knowledge that students must remember and understand. The boundaries between science and the real world were weakened, and an obvious attempt to incorporate indigenous knowledge in the textbook was made. The new textbook seemed to be less mono-cultural, white, Eurocentric, and male-centered. Various language tools mediated English for second-language learners. In addition, it situated science knowledge in social,historical, and cultural experiences that students could identify with. Meta-cognitive reflection on the acquisition of academic and social competencies was consistently expected and
there was also an expectation for higher cognitive processes, such as, analysis and evaluation. The textbook was underpinned by a social-constructivist epistemology and a humanistic philosophy of knowledge. The findings of this study support the conclusion that the new textbooks differ in terms of their potential to improve access to science for groups which have historically been marginalized. 
Key words: Equity, knowledge representation, social representation, textbook analysis.


THEMOS APOSTOLIDES, NIKOS VALANIDES
Secondary School StudentsConceptions Relating to Motion under Gravity
ABSTRACT: The study investigated tenth-, eleventh-, and twelfth-grade students alternative ideas relating to the motion of a body travelling in the field of gravity with an initial horizontal velocity. The sample of the study consisted of 40 tenth-grade students, and 33 and 40 eleventh-grade students that attended different sections of upper secondary school where the time devoted to physics teaching is quite diverse. Open-ended questions related to three different problems were used. The first problem concerned the motion of a metallic ball after reaching the edge of a horizontal surface on which it was moving with constant velocity.
The second problem concerned the motion of a ball, which was held in the hands of a runner who was moving on a horizontal surface with constant velocity, after the ball was released by the runner. The third problem concerned the motion of a body that was thrown upwards from a vehicle that was moving horizontally with constant velocity. Students answers were analyzed qualitatively and were grouped into different categories based on their main conceptual characteristics. Students conceptions were similar to the pre-Newtonian theories of motion, resembling to Aristotles ideas about motion and aspects of the theory of impetus, developed by Buridan during Middle Ages. Comparison of students answers to the three similar problems indicated students difficulties to transfer the same conceptual framework from one problem to the other. Differences also existed among the three Groups of students that differed in terms of their educational experiences. Based on the results, suggestions related to curriculum revisions and constructivistic teaching interventions are put forward. 
KEYWORDS: Alternative perceptions, constructivism, inertia, independence of motions.

Sandie Bernard, Pierre Clément, Graça Carvalho, Alves Gilda, Dominique Berger,Seyni Mame Thiaw, Selmaoui Sabah, Khzami Salaheddine, Grita Skujiene, Sa
Sexually Transmitted Infections and the Use of Condoms in Biology Textbooks.A Comparative Analysis Across Sixteen Countries
ABSTRACT: Our study focused on two topics, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and their control using condoms. For this, we analysed and compared 42 school textbooks from 16 countries on the general topic Human Reproduction and Sex Education using a specific grid designed by the BIOHEAD-Citizen project. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was a common topic in all the textbooks that were analyzed, although it appeared in quite different chapters, such as, Human Procreation (the control of reproduction, the hygiene of reproduction, or in chapters devoted to STIs and AIDS), Immunology (with AIDS as an example of immune deficiency), and Personal Protection.Some textbooks provided information about other STIs in addition to AIDS. There appeared important differences among countries concerning both the number of images in the textbooks and the number of STIs that were discussed in the textbooks. There were also differences among various textbooks addressing the same educational level that came from
different publishers in terms of the way that STIs were presented. More than half of the analyzed textbooks did not link the presentation of STIs with their prevention via the use of condoms, and only a few textbooks illustrated an unrolled male condom on the penis. Our results also indicated that (i) for most of the analyzed biology textbooks there was a preference for the biomedical model of health education that provided sufficient scientific knowledge, (ii) only in Finland, there was an attempt for promoting competencies relating to a healthy sexual behaviour, and (iii) the textbooks from Morocco and Tunisia illustrated how traditional values could be promoted in parallel with biomedical knowledge by using injunctive moral content. Interactions between scientific knowledge (K), values (V), and social practices (P) had been found and seemed to determine what was present (and how)in school textbooks. 
KEY WORDS: Multiculturality, school textbooks, sex education, sexually transmitted infection.

Christine Greenhow
Teacher Knowledge about Technology Integration: An Examination of Inservice and Preservice Teachers Instructional Decision-making
ABSTRACT This study compared the abilities of inservice and preservice teachers to demonstrate an understanding of technology integration and to apply such knowledge to instructional decision-making. Using a set of online content-specific multimedia scenarios to resolve complex problems of teaching with technology in a simulated school environment, inservice teachers outperformed preservice teachers on criteria measuring practical and pedagogical content knowledge about technology integration; however, preservice and inservice teachers scored similarly in their ability to make an instructional decision about technology. In addition, both preservice and inservice teachers demonstrated a lack of weighing competing options in the case and a lack of orientation toward reflective and adjustable practices. Overall, inservice teachers demonstrated consideration of a broader range of classroom- and school-level factors in making a technology integration decision. Understanding, capturing, and measuring these differences is essential to advance theory on the dimensions of technological pedagogical content knowledge, and how it develops in different teacher sub-groups to advance the work of teacher educators concerned with designing courses about technology integration appropriate to learners needs.
KEYWORDS: Teacher education, teacher knowledge, technology, 

KALLIOPI THEODORAKI, SPIRIDON KAMPIOTIS
The Development of Movement Synthesis Ability Through the Teaching of Creative Movement and Improvisation
ABSTRACT The purpose of the present study was to examine whether the teaching of creative movement and improvisation can influence the development of movement synthesis ability. Movement synthesis ability refers to the production of a movement composition. Twenty-five female freshmen, physical education students, participated in the study. They created their own series of movements improvising within a frame of fundamental movements. Their movement synthesis ability was measured on two occasions, before and after the experimental treatment. The experimental group received 10 lessons of creative movement and improvisation, while the control group did not receive any lessons of this kind. The movement syntheses of the subjects were evaluated by a 10-items scale. The statistical analysis of the data showed that three variables of synthesis ability were improved, namely, turns, changes of levels, and changes in speed and intensity, indicating that the teaching of creative movement and improvisation in the present study had a positive impact on the development of these variables. 
KEY WORDS: Creative movement, improvisation, movement composition, synthesis ability, teaching methods.

WOLFGANG GRAEBER, MARTIN LINDNER, IPN Kiel
The Impact of the PARSEL Way to Teach Science in Germanyon Interest, Scientific Literacy,and German National Standards
ABSTRACT: This paper shows how PARSEL modules help to realize the German standards in practice. After analyzing the disappointing results of the TIMSS- and PISA-studies, which caused a kind of PISA-shock in Germany, and looking at school systems of winning nations, several changes have been initiated in the German educational system. The most radical change to the German school system may be the introduction of national education standards in 2004. These standards do not only focus on the content as did the former curricula, but also stress the development of competences, which should be attained by the ninthand tenth-grade students who reach the middle level (Secondary I) examination. Pre-tests (questionnaire and group interviews) indicated that the students like to do experiments, like to work on topics from their everyday life, and they consider science (chemistry) to be an important school subject. Furthermore, the pre-tests showed that students like to self-regulate their work, to choose their own content and goals, and to invent their own ways to solve problems. But, this was only partly true; deeper interviews revealed that at least low-achieving students aim to be prepared for the next test, and they prefer well-structured lessons,
which are usually dominated by a well explaining teacher. More surprisingly, we identified that student opinions changed after studying PARSEL modules. For example, after completing the module Which soap is best? students reported that they really enjoyed the feeling of autonomy and the inclusion of everyday life topics during their self-regulated learning process. 
KEYWORDS: Interest, intrinsic motivation, self-regulated learning, socio-scientific decision making.

Pangratios Papacosta
The Mystery in Science: A Neglected Tool for Science Education
Of the many valuable tools available to science education, the mystery in science is the one that is the most ignored, underused, or misunderstood. Whenever it is used, it is only as mere entertainment or as an attention grabber. In a recent essay titled Impedance Matching1 Robert P. Crease praises the efforts of his colleague Clifford Swartz, a physicist at Stony Brook, for his ability to use wonder and mystery in keeping students interest in physics alive. But the mystery quality in science should do much more than that. Appropriately integrated in teaching, the mystery in science can improve student attitudes and generate a life-long interest in science. It may even prompt students to take a closer look at science as a possible career.
 
JOSÉ ANTONIO TORRES GONZÁLEZ
The Union of the Cultures in the School: Education and Audio-visual Communication
ABSTRACT: The item in the environment which is going to turn this work is multiculturalism, namely, the existence of several different cultures in one nation or in the same geographical reality, which accepts diversity and tolerates the maintenance of the cultural identity of all and each of minority groups (Advanced Teaching English Dictionary, 1998 edition, Ed. SM page. 841).This happens in the school due to the current immigration movement. Therefore, after establishing the legal and theoretical base of our work, we will record the importance that schools have remedial education, thus justifying the need to implement our project. This first part will be more theoretical, and, with it, we will give rise to a second practice that is to be proposed in a draft standard for those centers that are displayed in various cultures. Our intention is that through it, our students (whether immigrants or not) be prepared to function in different social networks in which, within a dynamic of dialogue, contact with other schools exposures and via videoconference, so our students will have theopportunity to learn more about other cultures.
KEY WORDS: Education, cultures, inmigratory, multiculturality, videoconference.

GEORGIOS TSAPARLIS
Using PARSEL Modules to Contextualizing the States-Of-Matter Approach (SOMA) to Introductory Chemistry
ABSTRACT: SOMA (States-Of-Matter Approach) is an introductory chemistry program for all students in the tenth or eleventh grade (age 16-17), which introduces chemistry through the separate study of the three states of matter. SOMA is basically a formalistic approach. In this paper, we discuss the use of PARSEL modules in providing a teaching approach to SOMA. This has been realized using two PARSEL modules. One module (which can be covered within the SOMA major unit on Gases) is about carbon dioxide in carbonated beverages and relates to gas solubility in liquids, gas pressure, gas laws, physical and chemical equilibrium, and acidbase chemistry. The second module (which can be covered within the SOMA major unit on Solids) includes salt, salts, crystals and crystal structure, ionic bonding, uses of salt, and its role in human health. It is proposed that a large number of other PARSEL modules can also be coupled with and used in SOMA.
KEYWORDS: PARSEL approach, scientific literacy, States-Of-Matter Approach (SOMA).