Milan Kubiatko

Slovakian Students' Knowledge of and Attitudes toward Biotechnology

This study examined university students’ knowledge of and attitudes (n = 378) toward biotechnology in Slovakia, a conservative country where the distribution of genetically engineered products are banned by law. We found a significant positive correlation between attitudes and the level of knowledge; however, although students enrolled in biology courses have better knowledge of biotechnology, their attitudes toward genetic engineering were similar than those of students who do not study biology. Females showed poorer knowledge and lower acceptance of genetically engineered products than did males. Overall, Slovakian students have poor knowledge and numerous misunderstandings about what genetic engineering means, which suggests that science curriculum with respect to this topic should be greatly re‐evaluated and teaching strategies should be improved accordingly.

Slovak high school students' attitudes to ICT using in biology lesson

The impact of information and communication technologies and computers on our daily lives has been steadily increasing. This fact influences the change of attitudes toward information and communication technologies. In our contribution we focused on finding the differences between gender and age according to computer attitudes. A questionnaire with 33 Likert type items was used in our research. The sample consists of 518 students from 9 high schools. Students attended the all of grades (first, second, third and fourth). They were 15- to 19-years old. Data were evaluated with factor analysis and the ANOVA. The results of the questionnaire were divided into five dimensions in the concrete. (1) The positive influence of ICT; (2) the negative influence of ICT; (3) advantages of ICT; (4) ICT used in biology lesson; (5) disadvantages of ICT. Totally, boys have more positive attitudes than girls and the younger students had more positive attitudes toward information and communication technologies using in biology lesson in comparison with the older students.

Czech Student Attitudes towards Geography

This study investigates 540 Czech lower secondary students’ attitudes towards geography. It examined the general influence of gender and grade level on attitudes towards geography with an emphasis on four specific areas in particular: geography as a school subject; geography and the environment; the importance of geography; and the relevance of geography lessons to pupils’ lives. The results suggest that grade level significantly influences attitudes towards geography, but gender does not. It also comments on drawbacks within the Czech curriculum that limit geography instruction.

Slovak High School Students' Attitudes toward Computers

The pervasive involvement of information and communication technologies and computers in our daily lives influences changes of attitude toward computers. We focused on finding these ecological effects in the differences in computer attitudes as a function of gender and age. A questionnaire with 34 Likert-type items was used in our research. The sample consisted of 659 students from 14 high schools, aged 15–19 years attending the first, the second, the third, and the fourth years of study. The results of the questionnaire were divided into the two dimensions of concrete computer enjoyment and computer anxiety. On the first dimension both younger students and girls have positive attitudes. On the second dimension both younger students and boys have more positive attitudes. Overall, girls have more positive attitudes than boys. This is interesting because in the existing literature there is evidence that boys have more positive attitudes toward computers than girls. Perhaps a change is taking place.

Oborové didaktiky: vývoj – stav – perspektivy

Oborove didaktiky jsou vědnimi disciplinami zaměřenými na oborově specifickou dimenzi vyucovani a uceni ve skole i mimo ni. Jejich agenda saha od vymezovani a zdůvodňovani cilů oboroveho vyucovani a uceni přes výběr, legitimizaci a didaktickou transformaci obsahů až k metodicke strukturaci ucebnich procesů. Problemem ceskeho skolstvi je, že oborove didaktiky u nas nebyly po dlouhou dobu s naležitými naroky systematicky pěstovany. Přesto se rozvinuly do podoby relativně svebytných vědnich disciplin, jak o tom svědci tato kniha. Jejim cilem je podat pohled na vývoj a stav oborových didaktik v Ceske republice a naznacit perspektivy jejich dalsiho směřovani.

PUPILS' UNDERSTANDING OF MAMMALS: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE COGNITIVE DIMENSION OF MISCONCEPTIONS

This study is focused on finding misconceptions about mammals among elementary school children of various ages (from 10 to 15). A questionnaire consisting of 35 multiple choice and open-ended questions was used. This questionnaire was administered to 468 children from 6 elementary schools. We divided the questionnaire items into five categories according to their character. We focused on finding the differences in results between the gender and age of the respondents.

The influence of gender, grade level and favourite subject on Czech lower secondary school pupils’ perception of geography

Geography is an important school subject that brings pupils’ description and explanation of social, economic and/or political aspects of the changing world. It has been affirmed that the interest in a subject depends on the attitude to this subject. This study investigates Czech lower secondary school pupils’ perception of geography. The research was performed on a sample of 540 pupils from six lower secondary schools. The investigation focused on the influence of gender, grade level and favourite subject on the perception of geography in general and in four specific dimensions: Geography as a school subject, Geography and environment, Importance of geography, and Relevance of geography lessons to pupils’ lives. Results suggest that the grade level and subject popularity significantly influence the perception of geography, but gender does not. The implications for teaching practice are also presented.

VLIV POUŽÍVANÍ GEOINFORMAČNÍCH SYSTÉMŮ NA VNÍMÁNÍ ZEMĚPISU

The using of geoinformation systems (GIS) in the geography teaching is becoming important aspect of the educational process, which support motivation, imagination and also success of pupils and students. The investigation was realized at the lower secondary school pupils and the main aim was to find out the influence of the GIS using in the geography lessons on the geography perception. As the other factors, which were analyzed, were gender and grade of study. The sample size was created by 348 pupils, 96 of them used GIS in the geography lesson and 252 not. As the statistical methods were used the determination of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the reliability purpose and analysis of variance for the determination of the influence of selected factors on the geography perception

Kvalita kurikula a výuky: výzkumné přístupy a nástroje

V knize jsou pojednany vybrane nastroje umožňujici podchycovat kvalitu kurikula a výuky a výsledky výzkumů zaměřených na některe aspekty teto problematiky. Kniha představuje výzkumne nastroje vyvinute ci adaptovane v ramci disertacnich praci studentů, a tim navazuje na publikaci Nastroje pro monitoring a evaluaci kvality výuky a kurikula.