Research in Science Education in Europe

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

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2. Presidential Address

   1. Educational demands and science education research: the role of ESERA

      • Dimitri Psillos

      Pages 1-6

3. State of Art in Science Education Research

   1. Biology

      1. State of the Art of Biology Didactic Research in Europe — An Overview

         • Horst Bayrhuber, Jürgen Mayer

         Pages 7-14

      2. Opacity of Radiography, Perplexity of Teachers and Pupils in Primary School

         • Pierre Clément, Céline Fisseux

         Pages 15-21

      3. A Longitudinal Study of Pupils’ Understanding of Conditions for Life, Growth and Decomposition

         • Gustav Helldén

         Pages 23-29

      4. Plant, Animal or Thief? Solving problems under the Microscope

         • M. Pilar Jiménez-Aleixandre, J. Díaz de Bustamante, R. A. Duschl

         Pages 31-39

      5. Biology Students’ Forming and Justifying of Opinions on Predictive Genetic Testing. Towards a Practicable and Effective Teaching Strategy

         • Arend Jan Waarlo

         Pages 41-48

   2. Chemistry

      1. The State of the Art in Research in Chemistry Education

         • Ryszard M. Janiuk

         Pages 49-56

      2. Understanding Energy in Nature and Society — What Conception do Swedish Ninth Graders Have?

         • Björn Andersson

         Pages 57-63

      3. The Use of Van Hiele Levels as a Tool in the Development of Curricula for Science Education

         • Martin J. Goedhart

         Pages 65-71

      4. Problems of Communication in Chemistry Classes

         • Elke Sumfleth, Anja Pitton

         Pages 73-80

      5. Using Metaphors for Learning to Develop Metacognition in Chemistry Students

         • Gregory P. Thomas, Campbell J. McRobbie, Lyn D. English

         Pages 81-87

      6. Is an Iron Atom Made of Iron?

         • Jouni Viiri, Pekka E. Hirvonen, Heikki Saari, Kari Sormunen, Stanislav U. Nisimov

         Pages 89-95

   3. Physics

      1. Physics Educators and Physicist: Two Communities Apart?

         • Matilde Vicentini

         Pages 97-102

      2. Students and the Wave Geometrical Model of the Wave Propagation in a Three Dimensional Medium

         • Laurence Maurines

         Pages 103-112

      3. How to Deal with the Concept of Mechanical Energy in Dissipative Systems? A Study on Conceptual Development of First-Year University Students in Mozambique

         • Inocente V. Mutimucuio, Eduardo Mondlane, Gerard D. Thijs

         Pages 113-121

      4. Problem Solving in School Physics: A Metacognitively Developed Field Study

         • António J. Neto, Maria Odete Valente

         Pages 123-131

      5. Can Untraditional Learning Methods Used in Physics Help Girls to be More Interested and Achieve more in this Subject?

         • Johanne Tveita

         Pages 133-140

      6. Learning in Basic Electricity: How do Motivation, Cognitive Factors, and Classroom Climate Influence Achievement in Physics?

         • Christoph von Rhöneck, Karl Grob, Gerhard W. Schnaitmann, Bruno Völker

         Pages 141-147

   4. Earth Science

      1. Teaching Earth Science Today

         • Antonio Praturlon

         Pages 149-155

This volume presents a "photograph" of the state of the art in Science Education Research in Europe as it has emerged from the first ESERA Conference held in Rome in September 1997. The Conference saw the participation of more than 280 researchers from European and some extra European countries distributed as follows U. K. 46 The Netherlands 10 Germany 35 Finland 9 Italy 28 Switzerland 6 Spain 26 Portugal 6 France 18 Israel 5 Sweden Argentina 15 3 Denmark 14 Australia 3 Greece 14 USA 3 Brasil 11 Others 18 Norway TOTAL 11 281 As it can be seen from the table, although the group from U. K. where research in science education has a well established tradition is the most consistent one, quite a large number of researchers has come from Germany and the Scandinavian countries, sign of the increasing attention these countries pay to scientific education at all levels. The presence of researchers from extraeuropean countries has allowed a comparison of experience over a wider basisthan the national one. The themes of research, identified a priori by the organizers as important, were: of the Art in Science Education Research (Biology, - The State Chemistry, Physics and Earth Science) - Science Teaching and Learning - Science, Science Teaching and Society - Teachers' Education and its Cultural Components The Scientific Committee of the Conference decided to publish a selection of the papers presented and we accepted the task of the editing.

• ESERA
• European science education
• Training
• education
• educational research
• learning
• science education
• science education research
• learning and instruction

• Dipartimento di Biologia, Università “Roma Tre”, Rome, Italy

  M. Bandiera

• Istituto di Psicologia, CNR, Rome, Italy

  S. Caravita

• Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica e Industriale, Università “Roma Tre”, Rome, Italy

  E. Torracca

• Dipartimento di Fisica, Università “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy

  M. Vicentini

Policies and ethics