Eliza Rybska

Children’s ideas about the internal structure of trees: cross-age studies

Abstract Trees are important to the environment owing to their ecological services. However, many aspects of their form and function are poorly understood by the public. From their earliest years, children have an elementary knowledge about plants which they gain from their everyday observations, their parents and other people and from their kindergarten and primary schooling. The goal of this research was to investigate Polish children’s understanding of trees’ internal structure. This cross-age study involved 5-year-old children from kindergarten (n = 57, 26 boys and 31 girls) and 7-year-old children (n = 105, 57 boys and 48 girls) and 10-year-old children (83 children, 36 boys and 47 girls) from primary school. Participants were asked to draw the internal structure of a tree. The results of the study showed that there were some significant differences in the responses between age groups and between the genders. Nevertheless, there were some ideas that were shared among all age groups indicating that they might be resistant to change. The study also identified some alternative conceptions about the internal structure of plants and the influence of the media on children’s ideas.

Mesostigmatic mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) in nests of the Eurasian griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) in Croatia

We examined the species composition and community structure of mites of the order Mesostigmata (Acari) in nests of the Eurasian griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus Hablizl, 1783) in Croatia. Material collected from 18 nests included 565 mites belonging to seven species. The most abundant species were Leiodinychus orbicularis (C.L. Koch, 1839) (Trematuridae) and Androlaelaps casalis (Berlese, 1887) (Laelapidae). The results were compared with the community structure and frequency of dominant species of Mesostigmata in nests of 32 other bird species. Leiodinychus orbicularis occurred in the nests of 13 species of birds. It is a typical nidicolous species which occurs most frequently in the perennial nests of birds of prey. In contrast, A. casalis rarely occurs in the nests of birds of prey.

Teaching about Water Relations in Plant Cells: An Uneasy Struggle

University students often struggle to understand the role of water in plant cells. This study attempted to identify student difficulties (including misconceptions) concerning osmosis and plasmolysis and examined to what extent the difficulties could be ameliorated during a plant physiology course.

Promoting IBSE Using Living Organisms: Studying Snails in the Secondary Science Classroom

Inquiry-based science education (IBSE) is a pedagogic strategy that combines scientific experimentation, observation and sense-making through collaborative learning. This chapter reports on the use of live snails to explore the extent to which hosting living organisms in the classroom might provide a productive context for promoting IBSE. Even though animals are often more appreciated by children than are plants, snails commonly invoke feelings of disgust. The study is set within the educational reconstruction paradigm. Initially we carried out a content analysis of the core curriculum and a review of the existing research literature on children’s conceptions about snails. We made use of this background work in an iterative process of developing, implementing and redesigning workshop materials for teacher professional development in the form of a teaching-learning sequence (TLS) with emphasis on reflection on teachers’ own learning to guide their pedagogy. The resulting TLS follows a process of observing, hypothesizing, collecting and analysing evidence and debating the interpretation of the data. All those activities are in line with scientific practices fostered in classroom inquiry in science education. Workshops were carried out in eight upper secondary schools (four for the iteration and four for the validation phases) in which a total of 115 students participated. None of the students had previously participated in a lesson with live animals, even though all of them had previously been taught about molluscs. Students’ attitudes towards snails and nature conservation were measured, as well as their content knowledge of the morphology, anatomy and ecology of snails. Findings revealed marked improvement in students’ attitudes and conceptual learning gains, especially on ecological aspects.

What Is Inquiry-Based Science Teaching and Learning?

Inquiry-based science education (IBSE) has been proposed as a framework for conceptualizing the priorities and values of authentic science teaching and learning. The main features of this framework include active pupil engagement in the learning process with emphasis on supporting knowledge claims with observations, experiences or complementary sources of credible evidence; tackling of authentic and problem-based learning activities; consistent practice and development of the skills of systematic observation, questioning, planning and recording with a purpose to obtain credible evidence; committed participation in collaborative group work, peer interaction, construction of discursive argumentation and communication with others as the main process of learning; and the development of autonomy and self-regulation through experience as important goals of learning. IBSE has also been misconstrued as a teaching method for better engaging students or as scaffolding structure for designing learning environments. In this chapter, we will first elaborate on these distinctions and will discuss the implications for science education reform. We will present an overview of the educational policy priorities that have been formulated at European level for IBST/L, and we will discuss the opportunities and constraints that these efforts have generated for science education and science teacher professional development across European contexts. The chapter provides a framing text for the case studies in the remainder of the book. As such, it identifies issues and sets the tone for what follows, alerting the reader to both the problematics and the unavoidable complexity that emerge from efforts to highlight broad educational objectives at a level that is far removed from student and teacher experience as well as local societal priorities.

Are We Aware of What Is Going on in a Student’s Mind? Understanding Wrong Answers about Plant Tropisms and Connection between Student’s Conceptions and Metacognition in Teacher and Learner Minds

Problems with understanding concepts and mechanisms connected to plant movements have been diagnosed among biology students. Alternative conceptions in understanding these phenomena are marginally studied. The diagnosis was based on a sample survey of university students and their lecturers, which was quantitatively and qualitatively exploratory in nature (via a questionnaire). The research was performed in two stages, before and after the lectures and laboratory on plant movements. We diagnosed eight alternative conceptions before the academic training started. After the classes, most were not been verified, and in addition, 12 new conceptions were diagnosed. Additionally, we report that teachers are not aware of students’ possible misunderstandings. They do not perceive students’ troubles with switching between levels of representations, nor their alternative conceptions. A case of “curse of knowledge” was observed and academic teacher training is recommended. Additionally, the need for metacognition as a crucial element in laboratory activities seems supported by our presented results. Such metacognition refers to students as well as teachers, which leads to the conclusion that teachers should be aware of students’ way of thinking and the development of knowledge in one’s own mind.