Unit:
Τομέας ΙΙΙ [Ανόργανη Χημεία – Ανόργανη Χημική Τεχνολογία – Περιβαλλοντική Χημεία]Library of the School of Science
Dissertation committee:
Σκούλλος Μιχαήλ Καθηγητής Ε.Κ.Π.Α., (επιβλέπων), Καραμάνος Ανδρέας Καθηγητής Γεωπονικού Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών, Αριανούτσου Μαργαρίτα Καθηγήτρια Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Original Title:
Διερεύνηση και ενσωμάτωση σημαντικών περιβαλλοντικών βιογεωχημικών διεργασιών στα προγράμματα δευτεροβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης.
Translated title:
Investigation and integration of important environmental biogeochemical processes in secondary school programs
Summary:
Biogeochemical cycles are affected by anthropogenic activities and therefore
are dynamically interlinked with global environmental and socioeconomic
problems. A limited number of these cycles are included in the “science”
curriculum and the textbooks of the Greek secondary schools.In an effort to
find effective ways to combine Science/Chemical education with EE/ESD, a survey
was designed focussing on biogeochemical cycles and their connection to
sustainable development. The research identified misconceptions and knowledge
gaps of learners and difficulties of teachers due, at least partly, to the lack
of interdisciplinary approaches. The latter was proven to be necessary in order
to teach not only the processes involved in biogeochemical cycles but also
their connection with socioeconomic and cultural issues. Based on the above, a
new didactic material for students and teachers was designed, produced and
validated. The aforementioned material wasexperimentally applied by educators
with the assistance of the principal researcher in 16 schools from various
parts of Greece through an intervention lasting for one semester. Under the
newly introduced compulsory “school project”, the above approach fully
exploited the “window of opportunity” offered and utilized the biogeochemical
cycles of water and basic chemical elements as a suitable vehicle for
introducing SD principles, notions and practices since these are extremely
important for the environment,natural resources and human societies.
Experimentalandcontrolgroupswereusedinallcases.The impact of the material was
assessed through pre- and post- intervention questionnaires applied to all
control and experimental groups. The results were analyzed statistically and
indicated a positive impact of the intervention on students’ knowledge.Learners
were able to minimize misconceptions, understand better the cycles and
comprehend their connection to the various aspects of sustainable development.
Certain components of the students’ attitudes were clearly influenced
positively whereas this was not the case for others.Neither the educational
background of students’ parents nor their previous participation in EE/ESD
programmes had any noticeable impact.At the same time, the results clearly
demonstrated that the students who benefited more were those who performed
better at school. More specifically, girls performed better than boys since
their learning capacity and critical thinking was apparently more readily
developed.
The above mentioned results, in combination with the interviews of the
educators involved, indicate that the use of the biogeochemical cycles as a
vehicle for the introduction of knowledge related to sustainable developmentat
secondary school levelwas, in general, very successful. The initial fears of
some educators concerning difficulties linked to the complexity of the natural
processes involved, were not confirmed.
Keywords:
Science/Chemical education, Environmental Education(EE), Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), Biogeochemical cycles, Didactic material
Number of index pages:
xvii, xviii, xxi, xxiii, xxv
Number of references:
344
