Pedro Membiela

Classroom environment in the implementation of an innovative curriculum project in science education

A curriculum project can be positively or negatively influenced by the environment of the classroom in which it is implemented. Analysis of the perceptions of students, teachers, and external observers has allowed us to study the influence of classroom environment in the implementation of an innovative project in science education. The main conclusions indicate that even though the global evaluation is positive, more so among teachers than among students, there are differences between the perceptions of the participants, probably due to differences in interests and needs. Moreover, in the classroom environment, the teacher and the actual dynamic and spatial organization are of great importance, and it can be difficult to maintain interest or to achieve a satisfactory evaluation on the part of those students whose academic performance is lowest.

Preconceptions of students about the natural urban environment in a small Spanish city

SummaryThe preconceptions of secondary students from a small Spanish city, mainly about natural aspects, have been studied. The main characteristic of their conceptions about the urban natural environment was that it was always linked to negative aspects and was generally seen as something essentially problematic. Moreover, it seems that their knowledge of smaller living beings, of wild animals, plants and fungi, was worse than for other urban living beings. The analysis of these alternative conceptions has led the authors to propose some recommendations for curricular design and development for schools in urban environments.

A sense of place in the science classroom

Place‐based science education engages with the laboratories of complex reality where natural processes combine with social practice, going beyond the physical world, to encompass the meanings and sense of attachment local residents feel for places. This brief report describes how a university science methods class in a primary teacher training programme situated scientific understandings in the rich cultural context of the historically rural and socio‐economically disadvantaged area of Galicia in north‐western Spain, where agrarian traditions continue to influence local culture. Focusing on student responses to two assignments, this brief report explores how the preparation of lesson plans related to food and environmental investigation projects served to integrate aspects of the natural, social and cultural environment to foster a critical pedagogy of place.

On teaching the scientific complexity of germination: a study with prospective elementary teachers

This study reveals and discusses the problems of future elementary teachers after they have completed a practical on germination, including the fact that such practice is conceptually more complex than is usually considered, at least when the aim is to experiment with the determinant factors for germination. In this case there seemed to be some conflict between everyday knowledge and school knowledge. Thus, nearly half of the subjects indicated the need for soil to germinate seeds, an idea probably associated with their personal experience, because in everyday life seeds are placed in the ground. We believe that seed germination must remain a key part of elementary science teaching, but it should be reoriented taking into account its complexity.