Meaningful understanding of chemistry, among others, includes the ability of an individual to think simultaneously at macroscopic, submicroscopic and symbolic levels, and this presupposes the competence to translate between different types of chemical representations. In this study, we investigated 11th grade Greek students' and 3rd year…

Technology enhanced learning applications are used more and more in terms of curriculum in primary and secondary education as it has been shown that they have a positive impact to the learning outcome of youngsters. However, for tertiary education this is not the case, since more traditional methods of teaching are still dominant. Despite this…

Chemical bonding is a fundamental but complex topic, which has traditionally been associated with learning difficulties, misunderstandings, and misconceptions. This paper reviews some previous studies, concerning students' conceptual difficulties and reports the findings from a research study with Greek students, which set out to examine their…

The primary objective of this research was to compare various groups of Greek university students for their level of knowledge of Evolution by means of Natural Selection (ENS). For the purpose of the study, we used a well known questionnaire the Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection (CINS) and 352 biology majors and non-majors students from…

In this study, we make an effort to compare studies that explore the factors related to acceptance of evolutionary theory among Greek and Turkish students-future teachers, using conceptual ecology for biological evolution as the theoretical framework. We aimed to look into the acceptance and the understanding of evolutionary theory and also to…

The present study aimed at adapting in the Greek language the Students' Motivation Towards Science Learning (SMTSL) questionnaire developed by Tuan, Chin, and Shieh ("INT J SCI EDUC" 27(6): 639-654, 2005a) into a different cultural context, a different age group, that is, in university students and with a focus on physics learning. Three…

This paper focuses on connecting natural sciences education with Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). In this sense, natural sciences education is considered as a lifelong learning procedure, not seen as an individual but as a collective activity. Moreover, learning becomes a human activity in which theory and praxis are strongly connected…

This paper is part of a larger study that aims at highlighting students' interpretations of the idea of the "Balance of Nature", as well as its use in their reasoning about the future of an ecosystem, in order to subsequently develop a learning environment that might promote a reconsideration of its validity and usefulness. Our focus…

This article describes the principles, applications and performances of methods to measure gas-phase air pollutants that either utilise passive or active sampling with subsequent laboratory analysis or involve automated "in situ" sampling and analysis. It focuses on air pollutants that have adverse impacts on human health (nitrogen…

As research shows that the knowledge and use of models and modelling by teachers is limited, particularly for predicting phenomena, we developed and applied a sequence of three representations of a simulated model focusing on polarization and specifically showing the behaviour of an atom, and forces exerted on a dipole and an insulator, when a…

This paper presents results of an empirical research study on Newton's laws classical mechanics and its perceptions on freshman students at the Physics Department, University of Ioannina, Greece. Results and outcome measures reveal misconceptions on students' perceptions in consideration of the fundamental concepts in freshman Physics education.…

Discussed in this study is whether there are differences in the assessment of student understanding as measured by written tests versus oral tests. Age and sex differences as well as the impact of different languages and cultures were investigated. (KR)