In this study, it is aimed to examine the cognitive structures of pre-service science teachers regarding the concept of "micro teaching". The study was carried out with 25 teacher candidates studying in the 4th grade of science teaching at Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University Faculty of Education in a 4-week period within the scope of the…

In this study, first the level of interconnectedness of the key concepts concerning the topic of physical and chemical changes in pre-service chemistry teachers' (PSCTs') semantic memories was explored. Second, the group cognitive structures of the PSCTs that contain associations between these key concepts and the response concepts that appeared…

The perceptions of students who study environmental science related to pollution are certainly different because they are influenced by various circumstances. These circumstances, among others, depend on what they observe around them and their prior knowledge. This study aimed to determine the concept of pollution according to the cognitive…

Background: It is now essential for students to learn in the science classroom about climate change and the part they can play in ameliorating its consequences. This requires science teachers to have a secure understanding of climate change. Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of a two-day outdoor educational…

In particular, it is of great importance that teacher candidates are trained to develop awareness of ecology and to protect ecological systems. Because they are the ones who will be educate future generations. Ecology is generally a conceptual field. In this study, it was aimed to determine the conceptual structures related to ecology of science…

This present study aims to determine the prospective science teachers' cognitive structure about the domain of buffer solution with word-association test. The research was conducted in the spring semester of the academic year of 2018-2019 with a sample of 71 prospective science teachers in the department of science teaching program at a state…

These proceedings contain papers of the 3rd International Baltic Symposium on Science and Technology Education (BalticSTE2019) held in Šiauliai, Lithuania, June 17-19, 2019. This symposium was organized by the Scientific Methodical Center "Scientia Educologica" in cooperation with the Institute of Education, Šiauliai University. The…

The development of rich, reliable, and robust measures of the composition, structure, and stability of student thinking about core scientific ideas (such as natural selection) remains a complex challenge facing science educators. In their recent article (Nehm & Schonfeld 2008), the authors explored the strengths, weaknesses, and insights provided…

Concept mapping is discussed as a tool for the visualisation of knowledge structures that can be exploited within biological education. Application of this tool makes it possible to relate the structure of the curriculum to the structure of the discipline, in order to support the development of robust student knowledge structures in ways that…

Over the past three decades, science educators have accumulated a vast amount of information on conceptions--variously defined as beliefs, ontologies, cognitive structures, mental models, or frameworks--that generally (at least initially) have been derived from interviews about certain topics. During the same time period, cultural studies has…

Investigated the nature of biology teachers' global content understandings, and sources and formation of subject matter structures (SMSs). Reports that the initial formation of SMSs was credited to college content courses and modified by the act of teaching. Variables that differentially affected SMS translation included teacher intentions,…

Analyzes the concept of teaching from various aspects. Reviews research on students' conceptions of natural phenomena, conceptual change, and teacher thinking. Suggests an appropriate conception of teaching science. (YP)

Perspectives on the need for consistency in considering the promotion of conceptual change in science students and teachers (and in some circumstances, researchers) are presented in this paper. The parallels between the consequences of this consistency and the literature on educational change are also highlighted. A particular focus is directed to…

This paper attempts to show that it is possible to analyze a problem solving protocol in which the subject spontaneously generates a series of analogies. The qualitative physics problem given to the subject describes a situation where that which is unfamiliar is often solved by relating it to several analogous situations that are more familiar.…

Research on propositional reasoning is summarized. Retrieval of facts and concepts, linkages, short-term memory limitations, and the processing advantages are discussed. Suggestions for maximizing teaching are presented. (CW)