Vol.10, No.

1, 2011
ISSN 1648-3898
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
Editorial Board ISSN 1648–3898
Editor-in-Chief
Prof., Dr. Vincentas Lamanauskas Siauliai University, Lithuania
Deputy Editor-in-Chief
Prof., Dr. Andris Broks University of Latvia, Latvia
Deputy Editor-in-Chief
Prof., Dr. habil. Aarne Tõldsepp Estonian Chemistry Teachers Association, Estonia
Executive Secretary
Dr. Laima Railienė Scientific Methodical Center “Scientia Educologica”, Lithuania

Editors:
Prof., Dr. Martin Bilek University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
Prof., Dr. Hana Čtrnáctová Charles University, Czech Republic
Dr. Peter Demkanin Comenius University, Slovakia
Prof., Dr. Jānis Gedrovics Riga Teacher Training and Educational Management
Academy, Latvia
Prof., Dr. Ryszard M. Janiuk Maria Curie Sklodowska University, Poland
Dr. Rita Makarskaitė-Petkevičienė Vilnius Pedagogical University, Lithuania
Dr. Todar Lakhvich Belarusian State Pedagogical University named after Maxim
Tank, Republic of Belarus
Prof., Dr. Jari Lavonen University of Helsinki, Finland
Prof., Dr. Aadu Ott Göteborg University, Sweden
Dr. Paul Pace Malta University, Malta
Prof., Dr. Valfrids Paškevičs Daugavpils University, Latvia
Dr. Raffaele Pisano European Society for the History of Science, Italy
Dr. Pavol Prokop Institute of Zoology, Bratislava, Slovakia
Dr. Miia Rannikmäe Tartu University, Estonia
Dr. Alona Rauckienė Klaipėda University, Lithuania
Dr. Kurt Riquarts Kiel University, Germany
Prof., Dr. Heimo Saarikko Helsinki University, Finland
Dr. Uladzimir K. Slabin University of Oregon, USA
Prof., Dr. Valery P. Solomin Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, Russia
Prof., Dr. Borislav V. Toshev Sofia University, Bulgaria
Dr. Georgios Tsaparlis University of Ioannina, Greece
Dr. Muhammet Usak Dumlupinar University, Turkey

A scientific journal JBSE issued by the SMC Scientia Educologica, Lithuania, emphasizes theoretical, ex-
perimental and methodical studies in the field of science education. JBSE is an international academic
journal. In order to maintain the high standards appropriate to such a journal, all contributions re-
ceived are submitted for anonymous review by two experts, additionally to review by the Editor. The
decision of the Editor on the acceptance of articles is final and no correspondence can be entered into
on reasons for rejection of a submitted contribution.

Published since 2002

The journal is published four times per year in March, June, September and December.

Address:
Scientific Methodical Center “Scientia Educologica”
Donelaičio Street 29,LT-78115 Siauliai, Lithuania
E-mail: mail.jbse@gmail.com
Phone: +370 687 95668
Home page: http://www.jbse.webinfo.lt

ISSN 1648–3898 © Scientific Methodical Center „Scientia Educologica“ /Lithuania/,

The associated member of Lithuanian Scientific Society and ICASE
The articles appearing in this journal are indexed/abstracted in British Education Index
(http://www.leeds.ac.uk/bei/bei.htm), Copernicus Index (http://journals.indexcopernicus.com), The Asian
Education Index (http://www.asian-education-index.com/sciences_index.php), EBSCO: Academic Search
Premier (http://search.ebscohost.com), Social Scisearch (Thomson Reuters)
2 (http://science.thomsonreuters.com/index.html) and Journal Citation Reports / Social Sciences Edition
(Thomson Reuters) (http://thomsonreuters.com/products_services/scientific/Journal_Citation_Reports)
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 Contents

Contents

Editorial

DIFFERENT WAYS OF DESCRIBING
EXPECTED STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES IN SCIENCE
Jari Lavonen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Articles

QUESTIONING AS A MEDIATION TOOL FOR

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY SCIENCE TEACHING
Vlasta Hus, Metka Kordigel Aberšek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

THE PREDICTORS OF PRE-SERVICE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’

ANXIETY ABOUT TEACHING SCIENCE
Nejla Yürük . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

EXPLOITING LANGUAGE IN TEACHING OF ENTROPY

Fredrik Jeppsson, Jesper Haglund, Helge Strömdahl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

PATHWAYS OF STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUALISATION

DURING A PROBLEM SOLVING TASK: LESSONS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS
Bernardino Lopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

EMOTIONS EXPRESSED TOWARD GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS

AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS AND PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS
Andrej Šorgo, Jana Ambrožič Dolinšek, Iztok Tomažič, Franc Janžekovič . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Information

INFORMATION FOR CONTRIBUTORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

IN NATURAL SCIENCE EDUCATION – 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

PROBLEMS OF MANAGEMENT IN THE 21ST CENTURY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

3
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898

Different ways of describing expected student learning

outcomes in science

Dear Readers!

The best way of describing what and how a teacher should teach science or what a student should
learn in a national level curriculum is not self-evident. Descriptions of “learning outcomes” are increasingly
used and have been considered as an important basis for the quality of science education. However,
there are variations in the descriptions and also whether they are written as a form of teacher behaviour
or as a form of student learning. For example, in the UK the descriptions in the beginning of 1990 in the
National Curriculum were written in the form of what students should learn. But the policy has changed
and the new curriculum will describe what topics a teacher should introduce to students.
Definitions, uses and descriptions of learning outcomes were discussed in mid-March 2011 in
an international seminar in Kiel, organised by the IPN - Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics
Education at the University of Kiel and the Science Education Group at the University of York. Some
outcomes of the discussions among the science education researchers from Australia, Finland, France,
Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Switzerland, Taiwan, the Netherlands, Turkey, United Kingdom and USA will
be briefly described here.
The discussion on learning outcomes is not straight forward because the education context and
the terminology used in the curriculum documents and, moreover, the meanings of these terms vary
between countries and people. For example, the use and definitions of the terms knowledge, skills,
objective, aim, goal, ability, proficiency, proficient, learning outcome, competence, competent and
competency vary and have different meanings in the national level curriculum in different countries.
However, there is a consensus, at least at some level, that goals are used typically to describe the overall
purpose of a subject or a course in a national level curriculum. Goals indicate general intentions and are
not easily validated. Aims break down goals into measurable behaviours. Objectives are stated in nar-
rower, precise, concrete and measurable terms. They are nowadays stated in terms of what the learner
should know or be able to do or have attained by the end of a course or compulsory school and are
called learning outcomes. Several countries have started to use the concept “competence” in order to
describe “learning outcomes”. However, there are several hundred definitions or interpretations of the
concept “competence”. In the English language, the concept “competence” does not exist, instead there
are the concepts “competent” and “competency”. In Germany several researchers interpret the concept
“competence” in a similar way to the concept “skill”. The PISA framework defines three competencies
which describe the use of science subject knowledge and knowledge about science and, moreover,
willingness to use this knowledge in three situations: in identifying scientific issues, in explaining sci-
entific phenomena and in drawing evidence-based conclusions.
In Europe, the Bologna Process has put the focus on learning outcomes in terms of this concept
being a “common language” to describe the curricula in countries throughout the world. The general
idea behind transforming the educational aims into the form of learning outcomes is to enhance trans-
parency and accountability of learning outcomes, and to increase the quality of learning. Moreover, the
description of learning outcomes of a learning sequence is assumed to enable learners to have an active

4
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898

role in the learning process alongside their teachers. Learning outcomes are typically described in a
way they could be used or modified for assessment criteria and for designing items for national level
external examinations. Therefore, use of learning outcomes has a direct link to teacher and national
level assessment.
The basic idea of use of learning outcomes is old. The roots are argued to be close to the behav-
iouristic tradition of teaching and learning of the 1970s in the US. Robert Mager proposed the idea of
writing specific statements about observable outcomes, instructional objectives. The idea was to define
the ‘end behaviour’ in precise terms in order to create a basis for optimal instructional treatment. This
kind of simplistic idea of teaching and learning could lead to an approach that does not consider learning
as a process. Furthermore, use of learning outcomes could create the phenomenon of ‘teaching for the
test’. This approach is especially claimed to decrease the amount of science inquiry in science education.
However, the descriptions and use of learning outcomes have developed since the time of Mager. In the
Kiel seminar, novel approaches to the definitions and use of learning outcomes were discussed.
In the UK, there is a long tradition of use of learning outcomes and national external examinations
in science. Several other countries, like Germany and France, have followed or are following the UK.
However, several interesting novel approaches could be recognised in this movement. For example, in
Germany the German psychologist Weinert uses competencies for describing “learning outcomes” as
“clusters of cognitive prerequisites that must be available for an individual to perform well in a particular
content area”. The operationalisation of this definition is challenging. In practice, in German standards,
there are three dimensions: basic concepts, domain (e.g. communication) where the concepts are used,
and demand in the use of the concepts (reproduction, application, transfer). In the USA some researchers
have introduced a term “learning progress” to describe learning outcomes. These researchers are planning
to introduce in the next curriculum as “learning progress” a small number of core ideas and practices.
There are also countries, like Finland, where the learning outcomes, similar to other countries, have
not been used to express the aims of science education. Pre-defined learning outcomes are not the only
way to assure the quality of science education: the quality assurance of education can be approached
from different perspectives. There is a general international interest, for example, in using the informa-
tion from classroom-based assessment not only for improving teaching and learning but also for the
purposes of educational decision-making and maintaining the quality of education. Recent research
has focused also on the shift towards teacher-conducted procedures such as alternative and formative
forms of assessment.
Several countries, like the UK, Germany and Finland, are preparing or are planning to prepare in the
near future national level curricula. It will be interesting to follow how different demands, like quality
assurance, EU harmonising policy, research on teaching, learning and assessment, are realised in 2010
or 2020 curricula.

Jari Lavonen
Professor of Physics and Chemistry Education,
University of Helsinki, Finland,
Member of the Editorial Board of JBSE

5
 QUESTIONING AS A
MEDIATION TOOL FOR
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
IN EARLY SCIENCE
TEACHING

Abstract. In this article are presented the Vlasta Hus

results of an empirical study, which tried
to find the explanation for the relatively
Metka Kordigel Aberšek
unsatisfactory results of Slovene pupils
in the Trends in International Mathemat-
ics and Science study (TIMSS) in the area
of early natural science. Questions from
teachers and those from children in the
Introduction
process of teaching the school subject of
Environmental Studies in the first grade of
The results of TIMSS research from 2003 (TIMSS, 2003) showed
nine-year primary school were examined
that Slovene pupils have a good self-image regarding their knowl-
and also the communication that the
edge of natural sciences; unfortunately, they do not know as much
teacher, as a mediator of a learning proc-
as they think they do. Their knowledge is mainly factual – descrip-
ess, initiates with children. More precisely:
tive; they grasp the questions at lower taxonomic levels, while they
the quantity and quality of teachers’, and
attain higher level knowledge less often than their coevals around
consequently also of children’s questions.
the world. They have difficulties with research work and with the
18 teaching hours in two elementary
process of understanding. Most children can neither write down
schools were observed and recorded with
the explanation of a phenomenon nor use diagrams in reporting
the defined protocol during the teaching
on natural findings (Japelj Pavešić et all, 2005).
of three thematic topics. The results show
How successful pupils solve the TIMSS’ test exercises is also
that teachers ask too many questions and
influenced by the cognitive level on which the question is posed
that those questions are at lower taxo-
and thus also reflects the pupil’s ability to solve problems with the
nomic levels. The research also showed
help of higher cognitive (thinking) processes. Among the countries
that children seldom ask questions and
compared, the greatest difference lies between knowledge at the
that these are also generally at lower
first level (knowing the facts) and at the second (understanding
taxonomic levels. These types of questions
of concepts) cognitive level; between the second and third levels
cannot be used as a mediation tool and
(inference, substantiation, analysis), the difference is small. It can
consequently do not stimulate the cogni-
be concluded that Slovene pupils in early natural science adopt
tive processes of pupils.
knowledge mainly on the level of verbal understanding, includ-
Key words: cognitive development, early
ing basic concepts and facts that they cannot use in solving more
natural and social science education,
exacting exercises.
questioning, primary school.
Such results left many in the professional public in Slovenia
guessing what could be the reason. The curriculum for the subject
of Environmental Studies (that is the name for the school subject
Vlasta Hus, Metka Kordigel Aberšek which covers early natural and social science teaching in the
University of Maribor, Slovenia Slovene curriculum) is based on constructivist and humanist
theories of learning and teaching which both place the pupils and
their cognitive development at the centre of attention. Its goals

6
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 QUESTIONING AS A MEDIATION TOOL FOR COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY
SCIENCE TEACHING
(P. 6-16)

and didactic recommendations aim to ensure that the outcome of lessons in natural science and the
humanities in Slovene schools should be not only reproductive knowledge but also development of
the ability to think on the higher cognitive levels (Krnel, 2005).

The Environmental Studies Curriculum

In Slovene 9 year’s compulsory school, the natural sciences are taught as special school subjects that
are designated differently at different levels of schooling. Specialized school subjects, such as physics,
chemistry and biology are taught in the last three years (ages 12 – 14); at the ages of 9 – 11, the natural
sciences and technics (technology) are taught as a single school subject: Natural Science and Technics.
In the first triennium, which means at the ages of 6 – 8 Slovene curriculum does not divide natural and
social science education. Both fields of knowledge are taught within the frame of the school subject,
called Environmental Studies (ES). We must point out that this subject covers topics from the natural
and social sciences and should not be confused with the subject of environmental education, as the
international English speaking audience might expect.
Environmental (ecological) education, in the international meaning of the word, is defined in the
Slovene curriculum as a cross-curricular topic and integrated as a general teaching goal; however, it is
important to point out that the main focus on ecological education takes place in the frame of natural
science education and in the first triennium in the frame of ES. In short: ecological education in first
triennium is cross-curricular, but it is mainly taught in ES. In recent years environmental education, envi-
ronmental awareness and the development of ecological responsibility within the school curriculum has
received careful attention from the scientific community (Erdogan, Usak, 2009; Erdogan, Marcinkowsky,
Ok, 2009; Erdogan, Kostova, Marcinkowsky, 2009; Baba, Fraser, 2004), but there has been far less attention
paid integrated social and natural science education, which is the subject of our study.
The purpose of the subject Environmental studies in the first triennium is to show the complex-
ity, variety and intertwining factors which are present in the human, natural and social environment.
It includes elements from different scientific fields – natural, technical and social sciences. The subject
Environmental Studies consists of 315 hours in the first triennium; altogether, there are 105 hours in a
school year; 3 hours per week and three days of activity (3 times for 4 hours) annually (Krnel, 2005, p.5).
The subject matter is divided into ten units connected in terms of content and goals, which have been
progressively structured from one school year to another. These units are as follows: Who I Am, You
and Me, You and Us, My school and Me, We Celebrate, My Past, Once there was, Nature and Me, Health
and Me, I Look Around, What I Can Do. Environmental Studies classes represent a continuation in the
direction of the child´s spontaneous exploration of the world and the discovery that phenomena and
processes are co-dependent and intertwined in the natural and social environment. The knowledge
gained through direct experience in the environment or through the media is expanded and deepened
during these classes (Krnel, 2005).
In the curriculum for the subject Environmental Studies (ES) (Krnel, 2005) goals are primarily de-
fined with expressions relating to processes: pupils familiarize themselves with; pupils recognize; pupils
develop; pupils experience and pupils distinguish. The goals defined in terms of processes point to the
fact that the authors of the curriculum mainly took learning processes as a starting point. They were
oriented towards the development of the child’s abilities and skills rather than towards “knowledge”.
Therefore, if the goal of the first triad is (defined) to be the development and mastery of methods such
as observation, comparison, classification, organizing, measuring, research, application, creative use of
evaluation, then the effects of applying these methods should be the development of different dimen-
sions of a child’s cognition.
In the curriculum didactic recommendations guide teachers in organizing lessons by suggesting
methods, procedures and teaching instruments. The curriculum for Environmental Studies places greater
emphasis in planning the lessons on the experiences and ideas of the pupils. Special attention is paid
to the pupils’ activities within the teaching process, where they can develop their ideas and make new
discoveries in the course of concrete activities. The role of the teacher is to lead the pupils and guide
them towards various activities. “Unlike in the traditional school, the teachers’ attention here is redi-

7
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
QUESTIONING AS A MEDIATION TOOL FOR COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY
SCIENCE TEACHING
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 6-16)

rected from the program to the students. Teachers should monitor the development and progress of
their students. The curriculum merely presents the means to achieve the desired or anticipated goals”
(Bezjak, 1996, p. 14-15).
At this point we can conclude that observation and analysis of the curriculum for ES does not
provide answers to the question of why the TIMMS results show relatively low levels for the thought
processes used by Slovene pupils in solving test exercises. Obviously, we must seek answers elsewhere.
Could the problem originate in the constructivist model of learning? For an answer, we must address the
following questions: Where does pupils’ knowledge of the world come from? How does pupil’s cognition
develop? Do pupils have to communicate with others in the learning process?

The Constructivist Concepts and Question as a Mediation Tool

The Constructivist theory is based on J. Piaget (1951, 1952, and 1954) and his research into the
universal mechanisms of child’ development. He assumed that the human child has a genetically
transmitted readiness to construct knowledge from every encounter with the physical world. In Con-
structivism, universal developmental changes are believed to come about through a general cognitive
mechanism for processing information. Vygotsky (Vygotsky, 1987) assumed, however, that education
constitutes cognitive growth, meaning that the child would get support at sensitive stages – “zone of
proximal development”, from engagements with more experienced others. In social situations, parents
and siblings, and later peers and other adults, would take responsibility for the child’s developing
mind. In last decade of 20th century B. Rogoff pointed out the social context in which cognition oc-
curs. In her research she observes the “generic individual as the basic unit of analysis and adds social
factors as external influences” (Rogoff, 1998, p. 680). Specifically, the documentation of what teachers
do, say and think, alongside pupils’ interactions is critical for determining how participation changes
over time. According to Rogoff (1998), research into a child’s cognitive development also needs to in-
clude detailed observations of teacher interaction. The research focus may be on how pupils influence
each other and, equally important, on how what the teacher says and does influences thinking. Social
factors as external influences indicate not just pupils and their interactions with each other and the
learning environment, but also mediation by other cultural tools, such as the teacher and his questions
(O’Loughlin, 1992). In other words, the constructivist model of teaching is based on cognitive conflict
between a child’s existing scientific concept and a problem in the learning environment that cannot
be solved with the content of existing scheme. In the social cognitive model a teacher by mediations
in the learning situation, draws the child’s attention to the facts that generate cognitive conflict and
to those that can generate a possible solution to the problem. The most frequent form of such teacher
mediation in school is questioning by the teacher. Some research shows more than 80-100 questions
per teaching unit (Marentič- Požarnik, Plut, 1980; Hus, 2001).
With different kind of question we raise different process in the pupils mind. From this point of view,
it is crucial what kinds of questions are used during teachers’ mediation of the cognitive process. Not
every teacher question stimulates pupils’ cognitive processes. The connection between questions and
cognition development should be observed with the aid of classification of questions from the perspec-
tive of those cognitive processes the question aims to initiate in the student. Sometimes a question is
used as a tool for initiating the thinking process; sometimes questions can guide the process. Research
into the questions that teachers ask in the classroom has been mostly connected with reading com-
prehension research. Much of this body of research has traditionally focused on the development of
skill hierarchies or taxonomies designed to delineate levels of questions. The assumption has been that
questions based on the lower levels of the taxonomy encourage literal thinking, while questions based
on higher levels of the taxonomy encourage inferential and evaluative thinking (Barrett, 1976; Bloom,
Engel- hart, Furst, Hill, & Krathwohl, 1956; Pearson & Johnson, 1978; Raphael, 1986; Thompson, Gipe, &
Pitts, 1985). The use of teacher questions can encourage children to think critically and creatively. Recent
research suggests that questions should be part of the support structure, or scaffolding, that teachers
use to enable readers to interact with increasingly complex and sophisticated texts and to reflect on
the text along ever-expanding dimensions (Dole, Duffy, Roehler, & Pearson, 1991).

8
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 QUESTIONING AS A MEDIATION TOOL FOR COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY
SCIENCE TEACHING
(P. 6-16)

For the needs of the present study we shall focus on three promising taxonomies, the taxonomy
of Pearson and Johnson (1978), the taxonomy of T. E. Raphael (1982, 1984, 1986) and the taxonomy of
Pečjak (Pečjak 1995, Pečjak, Gradišar, 2002).
Pearson and Johnson’s taxonomy is designed to capture the relationship between information in
the text and that which must come from the reader’s store of prior knowledge. It classifies relations that
exist between ‘questions’ and ‘responses’. The data by which a reader generates a response is critical to this
taxonomy. There are three kinds of responses: textually explicit, textually implicit and “scriptally” implicit.
A response is classified as textually explicit if it is right there on the page. A response is classified as textu-
ally implicit if both the question and the answer are present in the text, but at least one step of logical
inference is necessary to justify the answer as a reasonable response to the question. In other words, the
response is there on the page but is not obvious, as in the case of a textually explicit response. Finally,
a response is classified as “scriptally” implicit if the question is derived from the text but the response is
not. That is, the data base of the response is in the reader’s store of prior knowledge. A reader must use
his or her script or schema in order to come up with the answer (Pearson and Johnson, 1978).
For the purpose of investigation Raphael’s taxonomy (1984, 1986, 1992) is useful. His taxonomy has
four levels: Right There, Think and Search, the Author and You, and On My Own. This provides students
with a way to think about questions and answers. First level questions: the answer is textually explicit
(can be found in the text), usually as a phrase contained within one sentence. Questions on this level
often begin with what, who, when and where. Second level questions: the answer is in the text; the
answer is implicit; and the student is required to combine separate sections or chunks of text to answer
the question. Questions on this level often begin with: contrast, explain or compare. Third level ques-
tions: these require students to think about what is already known from their reading and experience
(schema and prior knowledge) to formulate an answer. Questions on this level often begin with: How
can you conclude? How do you know? Fourth level questions: the student draws on prior knowledge
(schema) and what the author has written to answer the question. Questions on this level often begin
with: Do you believe? How would you? (Raphael, 1982, 1984, 1986).
The third taxonomy which should be mentioned is that of Pečjak (Pečjak, 1995; Pečjak, Gradišar,
2002). She categorizes questions according to the level of understanding the student must attain to
be able to answer the question: informative (literal) understanding, interpretative understanding and
adaptive, critical, creative understanding.
Thinking on the level of informative (literal) understanding in Pečjaks’ taxonomy, a student can an-
swer what, who, when and where questions. These are questions that can be answered by remembering
what was explicitly mentioned in the text. On the level of interpretative understanding, a student can
answer questions that require conclusions. And on the level of adaptive, critical, creative understanding,
a student can answer questions that require the adoption of new knowledge in unknown situations,
which require a student to argue the advantages of proposed solutions to the problem, or to discuss
what the cause is and what the consequences are.
A closer look at the selected taxonomies shows that most question taxonomies have a dichotomous
character. So, the first category of Pearson and Johnson’s taxonomy (textually explicit) does not, in fact,
involve any inference but literal comprehension. This, then, means that Pearson and Johnson’s taxonomy
has only two types of inference: text - explicit and text – implicit, which correspond to ‘propositional’
and ‘pragmatic’ inferences, respectively. Similarly, Raphaels’ taxonomy also has two groups of ques-
tions: in the first there are questions that can be answered by “looking in the text”, and in the second
there are questions with answers that can be “found in students head«. Pečjaks’ taxonomy also reveals
a dichotomy, since on the first level a student must remember, and on the next two levels, he must
think. The first group of questions in such taxonomies with a dichotomous character could be called
questions on the lower cognitive level, and the second group of questions could be called questions
on the higher cognitive level. Lower cognitive level questions require only a reproduction process for
the answer. Higher cognitive questions engage higher cognitive processes and create new knowledge
and new levels of cognitive skills.

9
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
QUESTIONING AS A MEDIATION TOOL FOR COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY
SCIENCE TEACHING
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 6-16)

Methodology of Research

The study is based on a descriptive and causal-nonexperimental method of empirical pedagogical

research (Sagadin, 1993). The descriptive method is indicated in the frequency of type and quality of
teachers’ questions and the students’ answers, the causal-non-experimental method in the empirical
verification of differences in the thematic units and schools.
 
Aim and Hypothesis of the Research

The curriculum for Environmental Studies (ES) emphasizes the importance of questions during
the lessons. In the didactic recommendations it is mentioned that the activities in the first grade with
smaller children should be led. A teacher should ask questions, so that children can learn to ask ques-
tions. The questions should be of that kind that children can find answers for themselves by testing,
research or finding the information in the literature (Krnel, 2003). The learning plan expects the teacher
to be the mediator in the education process (O’Loughlin, 1992). The research of the presented study
therefore focused on the question how many questions a teacher asks during lessons and what kind of
thinking processes encourage in the children (level of questions); how children answer questions; how
often they ask questions and what the typology of their questions is. It was stated from the following
hypothesis:

H1: In Environmental Studies a teacher asks between 80 and 100 questions per lesson.
H2: Questions at lower level prevail; questions at higher levels do occur but they are rare.
H3: The pupils mostly answer the teacher’s questions correctly.
H4: The pupils ask few questions.
H5: The questions of pupils during Environmental Studies are at a lower level.

Main aim of the research is to find out, if the quantity and quality of questions in early science class,
that don’t encourage the thinking process, are/could be the reason for bad results, Slovene students
reach in the international tests, which measure the natural science knowledge

Description of the Sample

For our research two primary schools from the Maribor region were selected randomly. The only
restriction is that chosen schools were among the first to opt for implementation of the new curriculum
for the subject Environmental Studies (ES). Their teachers were also among the first to participate in
teacher training according to the constructivist model for teaching ES.
At each of these two selected elementary schools (school A and school B) one class of the first
grade was chosen for observation. This means that according to Slovene legislation the students were
between 5.8 and 6.8 years old on the 1st of September in relevant (= first) school year. Our observation
took place in April and May.

Data Collection and Analysis

The observation was performed during the teaching of three thematic topics; one in social science
and two in the natural science field. For each of these topics a teacher planned three school hours of
45 minutes each. Thus, the research team observed 9 hours of class interaction at each of two schools.
All together 18 hours of school lessons were observed, classified according to the protocol, described
and evaluated.
Data about the quantity and quality of questions in student – teacher communication were col-
lected during the observation on the base of a protocol described below. ES lessons with following
topics were observed: We Celebrate, The Garden and The Orchard (the relationship between observed
social science and natural science teaching was 1:2). According to teachers’ plans, each topic lasted three

10
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 QUESTIONING AS A MEDIATION TOOL FOR COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY
SCIENCE TEACHING
(P. 6-16)

school hours. For this research the qualitative and quantitative observation were used.

Description of the Instrument – Protocol

For the data collection about the quality and quantity of teachers’ and student’s questions dur-
ing the ES lessons, Pearson & Johnson’s taxonomy, Raphael’s taxonomy and S. Pečjak’s taxonomy were
adopted. Considering that all these taxonomies have a dichotomous character, our protocol questions
were divided into two groups:

• questions on the lower cognitive level and

• questions on higher cognitive level.

The lower cognitive level questions in the used protocol required only a reproductive process for
the answer. These were questions that could be answered with pure date recall from the text or from
the teachers’ lesson. To be precise, these are questions such as:

• What do plants need for growth?

• Who works in a garden?
• Give me the word for his profession?
• When do we celebrate Independence day?
• Where do we plant lettuce?
• Count at least three meadow flowers, etc.

The higher level cognitive questions, according to used protocol, were these that engaged higher
cognitive processes and created new knowledge and new level of cognitive skills. To be precise, these
are the questions such the following:

• What’s the difference between a plum and an apple tree?

• Why do you think that fruit trees need spraying?
• How do you use secateurs in the orchard, etc.

The data were collected by the research team, which comprised researchers (the authors) and
two assistant researchers. The assistant researchers were specially trained for these tasks. They had
received literature about cognitive development in the social environment, the mediation role of teach-
ers’ questions and the taxonomies of the questions. Subsequently they participated in a training unit for
classifications of the questions according to different taxonomies and according to the protocol of the
present research. The assistant researchers observed 18 hours of ES lessons. They used a tape recorder
to record the teaching units; later they transcribed the communication during lessons and drew special
attention to questions asked by the teachers and children. After that, they labeled teachers and children’s
questions according to the protocol.
Subsequently, the whole research team checked the selected data and preliminary results and
solved any problems arising at that stage of research. Some teachers and children’s questions couldn’t
be classified. In these cases the transcript of the lesson was consulted and the question was classified
with the help of the context in which it was used.

Statistical Analyses and Data Presentation

The statistical analyses are simply and indicated in the frequency of type and quality of teachers’
questions and the students’ answers, where in tables are:

N - number of questions
f - frequency in %

11
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
QUESTIONING AS A MEDIATION TOOL FOR COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY
SCIENCE TEACHING
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 6-16)

Data from the study are shown in the form of simple and contingent tables where we recorded the
absolute and percentage frequencies. First, tables showing the topics individually for each school were
made, later followed by the comparative tables for both schools according to each category. These are
also shown under the results of the research.

Results of the Research

The Number and Level of Questions during Environmental Studies Lessons

The quantity and quality of questions during all three topic at all 18 lessons were observed, to
establish how often a teacher asks a pupil an individual question. Then these questions were sorted
on the dichotomy principle into lower cognitive level questions that keep the pupil on the actual level
of cognitive development, and higher cognitive level questions, which encourage higher thinking
processes, support the development of logical thinking and inference as well as guiding pupils towards
creative thinking. The results are presented in next Tables, where means:

• TOPIC 1: We Celebrate
• TOPIC 2: Garden
• TOPIC 3: Orchard

Table 1. The number and the level of teacher’s questions shown by topic and school.

Thematic topics
Cognitive level
of questions per Topic 1 Topic 2 Topic 3 Together
school
N f (%) N f (%) N f (%) N f (%)

A 12 5.1 11 12.62 5 6.94 28 7.10

Higher level
B 3 1.23 13 13.4 5 5.1 21 4.80

A 223 94.9 76 87.36 67 93.06 366 92.90

Lower level
B 240 98.77 84 86.6 93 94.9 417 95.20

A 235 100.00 87 100.00 72 100.00 394 100.00

Total
B 243 100.00 97 100.00 98 100.00 438 100.00

The teachers/aids both schools together asked 832 questions (394 at school A in 438 at school
B). On average the teachers/aides asked 46 questions per lecture. The percentage of questions at the
lower cognitive level is the highest (94.1%) in both schools. Slightly more questions on this level were
asked at School B, where pupils were also asked more questions. By asking lower cognitive level ques-
tions teachers ensured that alternative, additional and single meaning questions dominated. Among
higher cognitive level questions (5.9%) the most often asked questions those about understanding and
usage. The highest number of questions was asked in the first topic: We celebrate, where pupils were
learning about more difficult (abstract) concepts, like holiday, artist, gallery and therefore additional
questions were needed.

Pupils’ Answers to Teacher’s Questions

For all three topics the pupils’ answers to the teacher’s questions were marked and sorted quali-
tatively, to establish how many questions pupils could answer, how many answers were correct and
how many incorrect.

12
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 QUESTIONING AS A MEDIATION TOOL FOR COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY
SCIENCE TEACHING
(P. 6-16)

Table 2. Pupils’ answers shown separately by topic and schools.

Thematic topic

Answer per school Topic 1 Topic 2 Topic 3 Together

N f (%) N f (%) N f (%) N f (%)

A 158 67.23 65 74.71 69 95.83 292 74.10

Correct
B 188 77.37 80 82.47 85 86.74 353 80.60

A 19 8.09 2 2.3 0 0 21 5.30

Incorrect
B 14 5.76 1 1.03 3 3.06 18 4.10

A 58 24.68 20 22.99 3 4.17 81 20.60

No answer
B 41 16.87 16 16.50 10 10.20 67 15.30

A 235 100.00 87 100.00 72 100.00 394 100.00

Total
B 243 100.00 97 100.00 98 100.00 438 100.00

A look at the data in Table 2 suggests that the teacher’s questions in all three topic were too easy
since more than three-quarters of answers are correct. In comparison, it seems that the number of
incorrect answer is negligible. It is interesting to compare the results for numbers of correct and incor-
rect answers is each topic. It is evident that the teacher’s questions in the natural sciences topics were
much easier than those in the social sciences. In the natural sciences topics, there were no incorrect
answers. The percentage of questions to which pupils did not know the answers in social and natural
sciences is no different.
This is a positive finding since it implies that teachers in sociology units as well as in the natural
sciences are asking questions in a balanced way. However, the frequency of questions (Table 1) shows
that pupils don’t have enough time to think (and to find solutions) because the teacher asks the next
question too fast (and this is mostly an easier question).
Hypothesis 3, that pupils mostly answer the teacher’s questions correctly can be ratified. This is
in logical correlation with Hypotheses 1 and 2 (with the number and quality of questions asked on the
teacher’s part). Teachers asked too many questions; therefore the answers were possible only by quick
response without thinking.

Pupil’s Questions – Quantity and Quality

From the transcript of the tape recordings of the lessons and from the Hopkins protocol that was
in use there were also observed the quantity and quality of pupil’s questions during the lessons. Pupils
asked few questions during lessons; in all 18 hours they asked only 41 questions (18 questions in school
A and 23 questions in school B). On average this means only two pupils’ questions per learning unit. All
questions were those from lower level.
These data can be interpreted in many ways. First one could say that this as a consequence of the
rule, “As teachers do so pupils”. The data in Table 1 show a prevalence of lower cognitive level questions.
The correlation between the number of teachers’ questions and the number of questions that pupils
ask must also be pointed out. If a teacher asks more than 35 questions in 45 minutes, there is no time
for questions from pupils. The hierarchy of relationships in school is not in doubt: the teacher’s words
are more important than the pupil’s words. Pupils may speak only when a teacher plans it; all other
speeches by pupils are treated as disturbance.

13
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
QUESTIONING AS A MEDIATION TOOL FOR COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY
SCIENCE TEACHING
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 6-16)

Discussion

Comparing a child who learns in the real world and a child who learns in the school environment
gives us the opportunity for discussion about the results of present investigation. In the natural world,
learning comes from the child’s curiosity, where certain information in the existing thinking concept
is missing or is incompatible with this concept. A child forms a question and accepts answers from
adults in such a way that the new knowledge is compared with the existing thought concepts. Appar-
ently there is a difference in school during Environmental studies lessons. Pupils seldom ask questions,
which means that their existing concept/ existing thought scheme does not come in contact with the
new knowledge. A pupil with “school” knowledge creates a parallel thinking scheme. This means that
it does produce the cognitive conflict in which conditions are created for the development of higher
thinking processes.
The results of the study showed that the implementation of the curriculum is more important
than the curriculum. The teachers we observed did plan and perform at the outer realization level the
experiments and practical work, as required in the didactic recommendation of the curriculum. However,
the questions that should have directed the child’s thinking in the didactic situation were not at the
higher level that could develop the child’s ability to think on higher levels but were mainly reproductive,
deciding and organization questions. These questions were answered correctly by the children who did
not need to draw upon more demanding thinking processes. We can conclude that the new concept of
teaching on the realization level does not contribute to the development of higher thinking processes
by pupils. If teachers don’t know; don’t understand the theoretical (constructivist) starting points on
which the curriculum is based, if they only take over the form, if they don’t understand to which process
goals (cognitive functions) the achievement of operational goals is directed, then these will produce no
significant changes in the area of development of higher cognitive processes by pupils.
How is it possible that Slovene elementary teachers don’t know and don’t understand the con-
structivist basics of a learning plan for early science teaching and their process goals? These teachers
were obliged to participate in training before the implementation phase of this learning process during
which training they learned the exact content that now represents the core problem.
The reason probably lies in the method of teacher training. The teacher trainers forgot that the
teachers’ knowledge is also “constructing”. Thus teachers, too, acquire new knowledge only in such way
as to compare it with existing thinking schemes. In the case of early science teaching, teachers should
confront the classical constructivist theory of teaching, the Piaget theory that they learned during their
studies and their pedagogical experiences with the newest – cognitive theories (Rogoff, 1998) that stress
the importance of social interaction during learning and pupils’ cognitive development. In this way
the teachers could recognize the importance of this social interaction, of what teachers’ do, say and ask
during the process of their pupil’s investigation of the world, acquisition of new knowledge and in the
process of his/her development of thinking capabilities. In other words, teachers would learn that, in
a social model of cognition development, the teachers’ mediation in the learning situation draws the
child’s attention to the facts that generate a possible solution to the problem. They would than realize
that the most powerful and most frequently used form of mediation in school involves teachers’ and
students’ questions.
In the pre-implementation process of the curriculum for the subject Environmental studies, Slovene
teachers did participate in thorough training. Paradoxically, the training for the constructivist teaching
model of early science was not based on the constructivist method of teacher training. The teachers
were set in a classic traditional situation in which they built a parallel thinking scheme. So in learning
“knowledge about a new concept of acquiring knowledge”, they did not change their previous didactic
concepts.
The results show that there is much to be done in the area of teacher training. Teachers need to
acquire skills in asking questions during Environmental Studies lessons if we want to follow one of the
most important goals of the lesson, and this is “teaching children the important basic skills: how to form
questions and how to find answers for them”. If pupils are expected to ask more qualitative questions

14
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 QUESTIONING AS A MEDIATION TOOL FOR COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY
SCIENCE TEACHING
(P. 6-16)

that lead to exploration (questions of higher cognitive level), then the teachers themselves should ask
more questions at a higher cognitive level and fewer questions at a lower level.

Conclusion

By observing lessons in Environmental Studies in the first class at the selected schools, it was dis-
covered that the percentage of questions at the lower cognitive level is the 94.1%, (alternative questions,
additional and single meaning – recall questions), which required short, simple answers. There were few
questions at a higher cognitive level, which could have encouraged the development of logical think-
ing and directed pupils to creative work. Among higher cognitive level questions (5.9%) the most often
asked questions those about understanding and usage. A look at the data suggests that the teacher’s
questions were too easy since more than three-quarters of answers were correct. It is evident that the
teacher’s questions in the natural sciences topics were much easier than those in the social sciences.
However, the frequency of questions shows that pupils don’t have enough time to think (and to find
solutions) because the teacher asks the next question too fast (and this is mostly an easier question).
The correlation between the number of teachers’ questions and the number of questions that
pupils ask must also be pointed out. If a teacher asks more than 35 questions in 45 minutes, there is no
time for questions from pupils. If the pupils rarely asked any questions during lessons, all their questions
were on a lower cognitive level. The hierarchy of relationships in school is not in doubt: the teacher’s
words are more important than the pupil’s words. Pupils may speak only when a teacher plans it; all
other speeches by pupils are treated as disturbance.
The results show that there is much to be done in the area of teacher training. Teachers need to
acquire skills in asking questions during early science class, if they want to follow one of the most impor-
tant goals of the lesson, and this is “teaching children the important basic skills: how to form questions
and how to find answers for them”.

References

Baba, T. L., Fraser, B. J. (2004). Student Attitudes to UNDP Social Science Curriculum in Fiji – Personal and Envi-
ronmental Influences. International Review of Education, 29(4), 465-483.
Barrett, T. C. (1976). Taxonomy of Reading Comprehension. In: R. Smith, T. C. Barrett (Eds.), Teaching Reading in
the Middle Grades. Reading (pp. 51-58). Addison-Wesley.
Bezjak, Z. (1996). Didaktična prenova in opisno ocenjevanje. In: Opisno ocenjevanje v nižjih razredih osnovne
šole (iz prakse za prakso). Zavod RS za šolstvo, Ljubljana.
Bloom, B., Engelhart, M. D., Furst E.J., Hill, W. H., Krathwohl, D. R. (1956). Taxonomy of Education Objectives: The
Classification of Educational Goals. Handbook I: Cognitive Domain. David McKay, New York.
Dole, J. A., Duffy, G. G., Roehler, L. R., Pearson, P. D. (1991). Moving from the Old to the New: Research on reading
comprehension instruction. Review of Educational Research, 2 (61), 239-264.
Erdogan, M., Marcinkowsky, T., Ok, A. (2009). Content Analysis of Selected Features of K-8 Environmental Educa-
tion Research Studies in Turkey, 1997-2007. Environmental Education Research, 15(5), 525-548.
Erdogan, M., Kostova, Z., Marcinkowsky, T. (2009). Components of Environmental Literacy in Elementary Science
Education Curriculum in Bulgaria and Turkey. Eurasian Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education,
5(1), 15-26.
Erdogan, M., Usak, M. (2009). Curricular and Extra-curricular Activities to Develop the Environmental Awareness
of Young Students: A Case of Turkey. Odgojne Znanosti – Educational Sciences, 11(1), 73-83.
Hus, V. (2001). Pouk spoznavanja okolja v prvem razredu devetletne osnovne šole (doktorska disertacija). Filozofska
fakulteta, Ljubljana.
Japelj Pavešić, B. et all. (2005). Slovenija v raziskavi TIMSS 2003: mednarodna raziskava trendov znanja matematike
in naravoslovja: (TIMSS 2003). Pedagoški inštitut, Ljubljana.
Krnel, D. et all. (2003). Učni načrt: program osnovnošolskega izobraževanja. Spoznavanje okolja. Ministrstvo za
šolstvo znanost in šport: Zavod Republike Slovenije za šolstvo, Ljubljana.
Marentič-Požarnik, B., Plut, L.(1980). Kakšno vprašanje, takšen odgovor. Zavod SR Slovenije za šolstvo, Lju-
bljana.
Marentič-Požarnik, B., Plut Pregelj, L.(2009). Moč učnega pogovora: poti do znanja in razumevanja. ���������DZS, Lju-
bljana.
Miller, P. H. (1996). “Mapping the mind”: Where are the state lines? Cognitive Development, 1 (11), 141-155.

15
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
QUESTIONING AS A MEDIATION TOOL FOR COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY
SCIENCE TEACHING
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 6-16)

O’Loughlin, M. (1992). Rethinking Science Education: Beyond Piagetian Constructivism toward a Sociocultural
Model of Teaching and Learning. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 8 (29), 791-320.
Pečjak, S. (1995). Ravni razumevanja in strategije branja. Založba Different, Trzin.
Pečjak, S., Gradišar, A. (2002). Bralne učne strategije, Zavod Republike Slovenije za šolstvo, Ljubljana.
Piaget, J. (1951). Play, Dreams and Imitation in Childhood. Routledge, London.
Piaget, J. (1952). The Origins of Intelligence in Children. International Universities Press, New York.
Piaget, J. (1954). The Construction of Reality in the Child. Basic Books, New York.
Pearson, P. D., Johnson D. D. (1978). Teaching Reading Comprehension. Holt, New York.
Raphael, T. E. (1982). Teaching Children Question-answering Strategies. The Reading Teacher, 2 (36), p. 186-
191.
Raphael T. E. (1984). Teaching Learners about Sources of Information for Answering Comprehension Questions.
Journal of Reading, 3 (27), p. 303-311.
Raphael, T. E., (1986). Teaching Question-and-answer-relationships, Revisited. The Reading Teacher, 6 (39), p.
516-522.
Rogoff, B. (1998). Cognition as Collaborative Process. In.: W. Damon, D. Kuhn (Eds.), R. S. Siegler. Handbook of
Child Psychology: Cognition, Perception, and Language Cambridge, (pp. 679-744). Cambridge University Press.
Sagadin, J. (1993). Poglavja iz metodologije pedago kega raziskovanja [Chapters from the pedagogical research
methodology]. Ljubljana: Zavod Republike Slovenije za olstvo in port, Ljubljana
Silvén, M. (2002). Origins of Knowledge: Learning and Communication in Infancy. Learning and Instruction, 3
(12), p. 345-374.
Thompson, B., Gipe J. P., Pitts M. M. (1985). Validity of the Pearson-Johnson Taxonomy of Comprehension
Questions. Reading Psychology, 6, p. 43-49.
TIMSS 2003 Technical Report, (2004), Martin, M.O., Mullis, I.V.S., & Chrostowski, S.J. (Eds.) Chestnut Hill, MA:
TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, Boston College.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1987). The Collected Works of L. S. Vygotsky, Volume 1: Problems of General Psychology. Plenum,
New York.

Received: December 4, 2010 Accepted: January 15, 2011

Vlasta Hus PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Maribor, Faculty of

Education, Koro ka 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia.
E-mail: vlasta.hus@uni-mb.si
Website: http://www.pfmb.uni-mb.si/
Metka Kordigel Aberšek PhD, Professor, University of Maribor, Faculty of Education,
Koro ka 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia.
E-mail: metka.kordigel@uni-mb.si
Website: http://www.pfmb.uni-mb.si/

16
THE PREDICTORS OF PRE-
SERVICE ELEMENTARY
TEACHERS’ ANXIETY
ABOUT TEACHING SCIENCE

Abstract. The aim of this study was to

Nejla Yürük
investigate the nature of the relationship
between pre-service elementary teachers’
anxiety about teaching science and their
self-efficacy beliefs about science teaching,
their perceptions of the nature of their
past experiences in science teaching, the
Introduction number of science courses they took in
college and their previous grades in these
Preservice teachers enter into the teacher education pro- science courses. The data was collected
grams and teaching profession with different beliefs, motivations, from 82 pre-service elementary teachers
experiential backgrounds and concerns (Olson & Appleton, 2006;
enrolled in an M.Ed program. The results
Riggs, 1995; Yılmaz-Tuzun, 2008). Their beliefs, backgrounds and
indicate that personal science teaching ef-
concerns may have positive or negative impact on their behaviors
and performance in teacher education programs and in their future ficacy and number of science courses taken
classrooms (Brookhart & Freeman, 1992; Czerniak, 1989; Enochs & in college are the significant predictors of
Riggs, 1990; Hollingsworth, 1989). One of these attributes related to science teaching anxiety. Pearson correla-
their affective state is their anxiety about teaching. Anxiety about tions among the variables show that their
teaching is an affective state which is expressed in unpleasant feel-
perception of their experiences in science
ings, physical symptoms, and coping behaviors (Sinclair & Nicoll,
teaching, grade point average of science
1980). Thomas (2006) defined teaching anxiety as the feelings,
beliefs, or behaviors that interfere with a person’s ability to start, courses and perception of science back-
continue, or finish teaching tasks. ground indirectly influence science teach-
Anxiety arises when individuals’ feeling of self-adequacy and ing anxiety. The effect of these variables on
security are threatened (Sinclair, Heys and Kemmis (1974). If anxiety science teaching anxiety was mediated by
arises individuals behave in a way to avoid the threat to increase
personal science teaching efficacy.
the feeling of control over the situation. A number of studies have
Key words: perception of past experiences
showed that anxiety interferes with the direction of attention
(Wine, 1971) and with the memory processes, such as remember- in science courses, science teaching anxi-
ing and selecting correctly from various related set of information ety, self-efficacy.
(Seiber, O’Neil & Tobias, 1977). Reduction in anxiety often leads to
an enhanced achievement (Zoller & Ben-Chaim, 1988).
Teaching anxiety may have dramatic impacts on teachers’ Nejla Yürük
professional effectiveness and in-class behaviors. For example, Gazi University, Turkey
teaching anxiety may result in the use of authoritative techniques
of classroom management or abandoning the planned lessons
(Sinclair& Nicoll, 1980). Teaching anxiety may reduce teachers’

17
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
THE PREDICTORS OF PRE-SERVICE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ ANXIETY ABOUT
TEACHING SCIENCE
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 17-26)

creativity with lesson plan design and their energy level in the classroom and their intention to integrate
new teaching methods into their teaching practice (Thomas, 2006). Teaching anxiety may also influ-
ence teachers’ performance and persistence in the profession in an undesired way. Koran and Koran’s
study (1981) demonstrated that highly anxious preservice teachers who did not received any memory
support performed worse at acquisition of teaching skills than those who were provided with protocol
models including a set of teacher questions. Anxiety about teaching in teacher candidates was found
to be related to their attrition from teaching. In a longitudinal study, Marso and Pigge (1998) reported
that teacher candidates with high level of teaching anxiety and less positive attitudes towards teaching
did not become certified as teachers. Byrne (1994) reported teaching anxiety as a major component
of teacher burnout.
A number of studies suggested that some level of teacher anxiety might become detrimental not
only to the teachers’ professional well-being but also to their students. Koran and Koran (1981) reported
that teacher anxiety was negatively related with students’ performance. Doyal and Forsyth (1983) found
teachers’ anxiety to be positively related to students’ anxiety but negatively related to their rapport and
acceptance by the students.
A more domain specific dimension of teaching anxiety among preservice elementary teachers is
their anxiety about science teaching. Preservice elementary teacher’s anxiety about science teaching
may result in poor performance in both teacher preparation programs and in their future classrooms,
poor acquisition of teaching skills and knowledge about science, avoidance of science teaching and
undesired students’ outcomes in the future. Westerback and Long (1990) suggested that teachers who
were more comfortable with science were likely to devote more time to teaching it, and approached
teaching science with more creativity and diversity. Less anxious elementary science teachers are more
likely to use open-ended inquiry and students-centered instructional strategies. On the other hand,
teachers with higher sense of anxiety relied upon teacher-directed instructional strategies (Czerniak &
Schriver, 1994; Czerniak & Haney, 1998).
A number of studies have explored the relationship between science teaching anxiety and self-
efficacy beliefs (Czerniak & Chiarelott, 1990; Czerniak & Lumpe, 1996). Among all the beliefs that influence
human functioning, self-efficacy belief is critical in explaining and predicting human actions (Bandura,
1997). Self-efficacy belief is defined as “people’s judgments of their capabilities to organize and execute
courses of action required to attain designated types of performances” (Bandura, 1986, p. 391). As pro-
posed by Bandura (1997), self-efficacy is specific to a particular set of behaviors and comprises two com-
ponents: efficacy expectations and outcome expectations which are respectively related to the beliefs
in personal capacity to affect a behavior and belief that the behavior will result in a particular outcome.
In science teaching contexts, self-efficacy is an individual’s belief that one has the ability to effectively
perform science teaching behaviors (called personal science teaching efficacy) as well as one’s belief
that his/her students can learn science given factors external to the teacher (called science teaching
outcome expectancy), such as gender, ethnicity, etc. (Ramey-Gassert, Shroyer & Staver, 1996).

Purpose and Significance of the Study

The aim of this study was to investigate the predictors of pre-service elementary teachers’ science
teaching anxiety. In other words, the variables that influence or are related to science teaching anxiety
were identified in this study. In doing this, the degree of the simultaneous relationship between pre-
service elementary teachers’ science teaching anxiety and some variables such as their self-efficacy
beliefs about teaching science, their perception of their past experiences in science teaching, the
number of science courses they took in college and their previous grades in the science courses they
took in college was examined. Pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy about teaching science in relation to
their science teaching anxiety was examined by considering its two components, namely, personal sci-
ence teaching efficacy and science teaching outcome expectancy. Although the bivariate relationship
between teaching anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs about teaching has been studied by a few researchers
the simultaneous contribution of self-efficacy beliefs and the other variables considered in this study
has not been investigated in the literature.

18
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 THE PREDICTORS OF PRE-SERVICE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ ANXIETY ABOUT
TEACHING SCIENCE
(P. 17-26)

Previous studies have shown that teaching anxiety is detrimental to teachers’ professional well-
being and consequently to their students’ performance. For the improvement of elementary science
teachers’ performance in teacher preparation programs and in their future professional life their anxiety
about teaching science should be reduced. In order to reduce this undesired affective state its predictors
should be investigated. As the factors that influence science teaching anxiety are identified, the teacher
preparation programs can be shaped into less anxiety-arousing environments. It was the purpose of this
study to identify the triggers of pre-service elementary teachers’ science teaching anxiety.

Methodology of Research

Participants

The participants of the study consisted of preservice elementary science teachers who were enrolled
in a M.Ed program in elementary education at a university in Ohio in USA. This M.Ed program is a gradu-
ate level program which admits students who have baccalaureate degree in science related areas. The
program includes a series of professional courses leading to teacher licensure for teaching science to
elementary school students. The data of this study was collected from 82 preservice elementary science
teachers who were taking a science teaching methods course. These preservice teachers were selected
as the participants because of the group’s diversity in terms of their experience in science teaching. Al-
though they had not started student teaching by the time the instruments were administered they had
had experience in formal or informal field settings. Among 82 participants, 41 of them had had science
teaching experience in settings, such as in formal classrooms, summer camps and museums.

Instruments

The instruments used to collect data in this study are described below.

The Science Teaching Anxiety Scale

The existing and frequently used anxiety scales constructed by other researchers (e.g., Parsons,
1973) already include items measuring teaching self-efficacy (e.g., I feel confident about my ability to
improvise in the classroom). In order to prevent this overlapping a 20-item Science Teaching Anxiety
Scale constructed by the researcher was used to assess pre-service teachers’ anxiety about science teach-
ing. In the items of this scale, situations that are in line with science teaching demands are provided
and preservice teachers are asked how they would feel about the given context. The items consist of
statements, such as “Imagine that you are conducting an experiment to explain a science concept. How
would you feel?”“Imagine that you are in front of the class explaining a science concept? How would you
feel?”“Imagine that you need to collaborate with other teachers to prepare lesson plans about science.
How would you feel about working with other teachers about planning lesson plans for science?” and
“Imagine that a student in your class asks you to explain how a scientific principle works. How would
you feel about answering the question?” In this scale participants are required to choose one among
the 14 verbal descriptors that best describes their feeling about the given situation. The rating scale
includes verbal descriptors, such as wonderful, fine, comfortable, steady, does not bother me, indifferent,
timid, unsteady, nervous, worried, unsafe, frightened, panic, and scared stiff. These verbal descriptors
were given to 3 professors in the field of educational psychology and 11 graduate students in science
education program. They were asked to rank the verbal descriptors from the least to the most anxious
affective state. All of them arranged the given verbal descriptors in the above provided order in which
the unpleasantness of the feeling increases as we go from the adjective “wonderful” to “scared stiff.” The
face and content validity of the items were checked by a professor who taught a course about motivation
and a professor who taught science teaching courses. Based on the feedbacks of the experts 7 items of
the scale were modified. The reliability coefficient (Cronbach Alpha) of this scale was found as 0.92.

19
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
THE PREDICTORS OF PRE-SERVICE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ ANXIETY ABOUT
TEACHING SCIENCE
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 17-26)

Science Teaching Self-Efficacy Belief Instrument

In order to assess pre-service elementary teachers science teaching self-efficacy beliefs Science
Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument (STEBI-B, pre-service version) developed by Enochs and Riggs (1990)
was administered. This instrument has two subscales one of which aims to measure personal science
teaching efficacy (PSTE), which refers to teacher’s belief in his/her ability to perform science teaching
behavior. The second subscale aims to assess science teaching outcome expectancy (STOE), which reflects
a teacher’s belief that students’ learning can be influenced by his/her teaching. This scale consists of 25
Likert type statements, such as “Even teachers with good science teaching abilities cannot help some
kids to learn science” and “I will find it difficult to explain to students why science experiments work.”
The published Cronbach alpha for the PSTE subscale was found as 0.89 and for STOE it is 0.76.

Past Experience in Science and Science Teaching Questionnaire

In order to assess preservice teachers’ grades in previous science courses, their perceptions of their
background in science, the number of science courses they took in college and their perception of the
nature of their past experiences about science teaching, a questionnaire constructed by the researcher
was used. The questionnaire constructed consists of three sections. In the first section of the question-
naire, preservice teachers were asked to self-report the number of science courses they took in college
and their grades for science courses pursued in college. The second section of the questionnaire includes
7 Likert type items about preservice teachers’ perceptions of their background in science. Examples to
the items are “I had done poorly in science content classes”“I did not learn well in science classes” and “I
had difficulty in learning science concepts.” The reliability coefficient (Cronbach Alpha) of this subscale
was found as .89. In the third section of the questionnaire, preservice teachers were asked whether they
have had an experience in science teaching. They were requested to briefly explain the nature of their
experiences and select one of the negative or positive descriptors that describe best their experience.
Examples to these descriptors are scary, stressful, unpleasant, enjoyable, relaxing and comfortable.

Procedure

The self-reporting instruments were administered to the preservice elementary teachers in a M.Ed
course. Because of the sensitive nature of anxiety inventories (Westerback & Long’s, 1990), the science
teaching anxiety scale was administered prior to the other questionnaires. Completion of the surveys
by the preservice elementary teachers took about 40 minutes.

Data Analysis

The data collected was analyzed by multiple regression analysis to examine the extent to which
(a) the dimensions of science teaching efficacy (PSTE and STOE), (b) grade point averages of science
courses taken in college, (c) perception of background in science, (d) number of science classes taken
in college and (e) the nature of past experiences in science teaching predict science-teaching anxiety.
Pearson correlations among all the variables were computed to get an idea about the nature of correla-
tions among the variables in this study. ANOVA was generated to compare science teaching anxiety of
preservice teachers who have no experience, positive experience and negative experience in science
teaching.

Data Management

In order to classify preservice elementary teachers with respect to their perception of their past ex-
periences, they were requested to choose one of the six descriptors (i.e., enjoyable, relaxing, comfortable,
scary, stressful, and unpleasant) which describe best their experience in science teaching. Participants
who chose one of the positive descriptors (enjoyable, relaxing, and comfortable) were categorized as

20
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 THE PREDICTORS OF PRE-SERVICE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ ANXIETY ABOUT
TEACHING SCIENCE
(P. 17-26)

having positive experience in science teaching. Likewise, participants who chose one of the negative
descriptors (scary, stressful, and unpleasant) were classified as having negative experience in science
teaching. In terms of the nature of past experience in science teaching, three groups of preservice el-
ementary teachers emerged: (1) preservice elementary teachers with no experience in science teaching
(n=41); (2) preservice elementary teachers with positive experience in science teaching (n=26); and (3)
preservice elementary teachers with negative experience in science teaching (n=15). For the purpose
of multiple regression analysis 2 dummy variables were created to explore the relationship between
science teaching anxiety and the nature of preservice teachers past teaching experience. In the first
dummy variable, preservice elementary teachers who had had a positive experience were coded as 1
and the others were coded as 0 (pre-service teachers with positive teaching experience: 1; others: 0). In
the second dummy variable, preservice teachers with no experience in science teaching were coded as
1 and the rest were coded as 0 (pre-service teachers with no teaching experience: 1; others: 0).
In order to calculate students’ grade point average of science courses taken in college, number of
credits of each science course was multiplied by the numeric value of the grade received for that course.
Then, this value was added up for each course and divided by the number of total credits received for
science courses.

Results of Research

Pearson correlations were computed to determine the significant relationships among the variables
in this study. The results of Pearson correlations are displayed in Table 1.

Table 1. Inter-correlations for science teaching anxiety and other variables.

Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1. Science Teaching Anxiety __

2. Number of Science Courses Taken in -0.274* __

College

3. Grade Point Average of Science -0.286** 0.093 __

Courses

4. Perception of Science Background -0.465** 0.317** 0.533** __

5. Positive Experience vs. No Experience -0.339** 0.170 0.210 0.412** __

and Negative Experience-Dummy Vari-
able 1
6. No Experience vs. Positive and Nega- 0.187 -0.208 -0.168 -0.226* -0.681** __
tive Experience- Dummy Variable 2

7. Science Teaching Outcome Expect- -0.151 0.015 0.197 0.072 -0.051 0.017 __
ancy
(STOE)
8. Personal Science Teaching Efficacy -0.613** 0.143 0.245* 0.644** 0.484** -0.298** 0.155 __
(PSTE)
* p<0.05; **p< 0.01

As Table 1 suggests, science teaching anxiety was found to be significantly correlated with the
number of science course taken in college, grade point average of science courses, pre-service teachers’
perception of their background in science, positive experience vs. no or negative experience (dummy
variable 1), and personal science teaching efficacy. It should be noted that the correlations are all

21
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
THE PREDICTORS OF PRE-SERVICE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ ANXIETY ABOUT
TEACHING SCIENCE
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 17-26)

negative. This means, for example, that the more pre-service teachers had personal science teaching
efficacy the less anxious they felt about science teaching. Similarly, the more they perceived to have
positive experience rather than negative experience or no experience the less anxious they felt about
science teaching. Table 1 also shows that personal science teaching efficacy is highly correlated with
the perception of science background and dummy variable 1. That is, the more pre-service teachers
perceive that they had a good background in science the more they believed that they had the ability
to teach science. Likewise, pre-service teachers who perceived that they have had a positive experience
in science teaching had higher personal science teaching efficacy compared to those who had not had
experience or had a negative experience in science teaching. The results of Pearson correlations also
show that science teaching outcome expectancy was not found to be significantly correlated with either
science teaching anxiety or personal science teaching efficacy.
In order to determine the degree to which each variable simultaneously contributes to the science
teaching anxiety, multiple regression analysis was generated. Simultaneous entry procedure was used
to provide a detailed view of the strengths of the associations between the dependent variable and
the predictors. The results of the multiple regression analysis are summarized in Table 2. The results
of multiple regression analysis show that the linear combinations of predictor variables and science
teaching anxiety significantly explained 44% (adjusted R2= 0.44) of the total variance in science teach-
ing anxiety (F (7, 74) =8.18, p<0.001).
As Table 2 suggests, only personal science teaching efficacy and number of science courses taken
in college accounted for a significant percent of variance in predicting science teaching anxiety. The
values of standardized βs indicate that personal science teaching efficacy was a relatively more signifi-
cant predictor of science teaching efficacy.

Table 2. Regression analysis summary for predicting science teaching anxiety.

Variables B SEB β

Science Teaching Outcome Expectancy -2.08 4.96 -0.038

Personal Science Teaching Efficacy -21.19 4.69 -0.57**
Number of Science Courses Taken in College -18.21 8.47 -0.20*

Grade Point Average of Science Courses -63.43 45.09 -0.15

Positive Experience vs. No Experience and Negative Experience -48.12 67.41 -0.09
No Experience vs. Positive and Negative Experience- -46.94 57.44 -0.10
Perception of Science Background 2.78 6.02 0.07
Note. R2= .436 N=82 *p< .05. **p<. 01

Although the Pearson correlation between the science teaching anxiety and dummy variable 1
(positive experience vs. no experience and negative experience)was significant, this variable did not
account for a significant portion of the variance in science teaching anxiety when it was entered with
the other variables in the model. This is due to the high correlation between this variable and personal
science teaching efficacy. When it was simultaneously entered into the model along with personal sci-
ence teaching efficacy, the common variance explained by both of these variables was excluded from
the common variance explained by science teaching anxiety and dummy variable 1. Thus, the unique
variance explained by dummy variable 1 did not account for a significant portion of the variance in sci-
ence teaching anxiety. Similarly, although Pearson correlations show that grade point average of science
course taken in college and perception of science background were found to be significantly correlated
with science teaching anxiety, these variables did not account for a significant portion of the variance in
science teaching anxiety when they entered with other variables into the regression model. This result
emerged also due to their correlation with personal science teaching efficacy.
In order to compare preservice teachers’ science teaching anxiety across the levels of the perceived

22
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 THE PREDICTORS OF PRE-SERVICE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ ANXIETY ABOUT
TEACHING SCIENCE
(P. 17-26)

nature of their experience in science teaching (no experience, positive experience and negative experi-
ence) ANOVA was generated. The results of ANOVA are displayed in Table 3.

Table 3. The Summary of ANOVA.

Source SS df MS F

Between 539883.77 2 269941.89 5.32**

Within 4009888.48 79 50758.08
Total 4549772.26 81
Note. Dependent variable: Science teaching anxiety; Independent variable: Nature of Experiences in science teaching. **p< 0.01

As Table 3 indicates, ANOVA was resulted in significant F (F (2, 81) =5.32, p< 0.01). This means that
there was a significant mean difference in pre-service teachers’ science teaching anxiety across the
different levels of the nature of their experiences. The results of Scheffe Test indicate that there was a
significant mean difference between pre-service elementary teachers who have had positive experience
and negative experience or no experience in science teaching in terms of the science teaching anxiety.
On the other hand, there was not found a significant mean difference between pre-service teachers who
had no experience and negative experience in science teaching in terms of science teaching anxiety.
However, it should be noted that the effects of the nature of science teaching experience on science
teaching anxiety was mediated by personal science teaching efficacy.

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to investigate the predictors of preservice elementary teachers’
science teaching anxiety. The results of multiple regression analysis show that preservice elementary
teachers’ personal science teaching efficacy and number of science courses taken in college are the
significant predictors of science teaching anxiety. However, the results of Pearson correlations and
ANOVA indicate that preservice elementary teachers’ perceptions of the nature of their experiences
with science teaching, their grade point average of science courses taken in college and their percep-
tion of science background indirectly influence science teaching anxiety. The effect of these variables
on science teaching anxiety was mediated by personal science teaching efficacy.
It is possible to explain the results of this study from the perspectives of different motivational
theories, such as social cognitive theory and drive theory. According to Weiner (1992), Hull and drive
theorists contend that pleasure and pain are determined by attainment or nonattainment of a goal. This
conception has been called hedonism of the past. Once pain-inducing stimulus-response association
is learned through experiences, emotional reactions such as anxiety and fear are instigated whenever
threatening situation emerges. In other words, emotional reactions like anxiety depends on the extent
to which a person perceives a situation as psychologically threatening which is greatly influenced by
individuals past experiences.
In terms of science teaching anxiety, individuals who have had a negative or positive science
teaching experience may generalize this past experience to subsequent science teaching experiences.
Sarte (1970) defined anxiety as a fear of failure to meet a standard. Preservice teachers, who perceived
that they met the demands of science teaching in the past, may be less afraid of failing to teach science
effectively and, thus, feel less anxious about science teaching. In this study, it was found that preservice
elementary teachers who have had positive experience with science teaching were less anxious than
those with negative experiences. However, it should be taken into consideration that the effect of the
nature of past experiences was confounded by personal science teaching efficacy. Based on the nature
of their experiences preservice teachers may anticipate pessimistic or optimistic scenarios that are in
line with their past experiences. Once preservice teachers have had positive experiences with science
teaching their perception of their capabilities may be raised. This could lead preservice teachers to
preconceive positive images of ability and result in lower anxiety toward science teaching. On the other

23
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
THE PREDICTORS OF PRE-SERVICE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ ANXIETY ABOUT
TEACHING SCIENCE
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 17-26)

hand, individuals with negative or no experiences in science teaching may harbor pessimistic thoughts
about their future accomplishments.
In this study preservice teachers’ personal science teaching efficacy was found to be the strongest
predictor of their anxiety about teaching science. The relationship between science teaching anxiety
and self-efficacy beliefs was reported in previous studies (Czerniak & Chiarelott, 1990; Czerniak & Lumpe,
1996). Among the other thoughts that affect human functioning self efficacy beliefs provide a foundation
for human motivation and accomplishments. Bandura (1986) believes that stress and anxiety primarily
arise when individuals believe that they can’t handle the approaching problem. Believing that you are
likely to succeed or cope with the problem results in good feelings, such as pleasure, while expecting
failure brings about bad feelings, such as anxiety. In the context of science teaching, a preservice teacher
who does not believe that he/she can cope with the demands of science teaching will feel uncomfort-
able with teaching science and produce anxiety.
According to Bandura (1986), individuals form their self-efficacy beliefs by interpreting the infor-
mation from different sources. The most influential source is the interpreted result of one’s previous
performance, or personal mastery experience. Having successful experiences lead people to believe
that they can succeed while failure in past experiences gives rise to lower self-efficacy. In this study, it
was found that higher grade point average of science courses taken in college, better science content
background and more positive experiences in science teaching resulted in higher personal science
teaching efficacy and, thus, lower science teaching anxiety. The number of science classes taken in col-
lege was found to be another significant predictor of science teaching anxiety. Preservice teachers who
took higher number science courses in college perceive science teaching less threatening. In a previous
study Westerback and Long (1990) documented a similar result. They found that increased content
knowledge reduced experienced elementary teachers’ anxiety about science teaching.
In this study one of the independent variables entered into the multiple regression model was
science teaching outcome expectancy. The results of both Pearson correlations and multiple regression
analysis show that science teaching outcome expectancy did not significantly predict preservice teachers’
science teaching anxiety. That is preservice teachers’ beliefs that a teacher can affect a positive learning
outcome in their students was not found to be related to their anxiety levels about science teaching.

Conclusions and Implications

For many teacher education programs, the development of effective teacher is one of the primary
goals. The results of this study offer potential implications for the improvement of elementary teacher
training programs. Preservice teachers’ positive beliefs about their capabilities in science teaching
generated less anxiety in science teaching. This result indicates that teacher training programs should
focus on raising preservice elementary teachers’ teaching efficacy. In order to enhance science teach-
ing efficacy, stronger content background in science should be supported. The role of having a strong
science content background in enhancing science teaching self-efficacy beliefs was also emphasized in
previous studies (Butts, 1988, Oliver, 1995, Riggs, 1995; Borko & Putnam, 1995).In this study, preservice
teachers who reported taking more science content courses reported feeling less anxious about sci-
ence teaching. Thus, in order to decrease their science teaching anxiety they may be required to take
several science courses or participate in science related extracurricular activities which result in a good
science content background. Teacher training programs and departments that offer science content
courses may work in collaboration to enhance preservice elementary teachers’ perception of their sci-
ence content background.
One way of enhancing science teaching self-efficacy is to provide preservice teachers with posi-
tive experiences in science teaching. Preservice teachers are rarely exposed to good role models during
field experience because many in-service teachers have also difficulty with science and avoid teach-
ing it (Skamp, 1995). Teacher training programs should assure that field experiences are effective and
positive experiences under the supervision of good role models. Microteaching experiences can be
provided in which preservice teachers receives constructive feedback on their effectiveness. Techniques,
such as modeling, counseling and desensitization, can be used to change preservice teachers’ beliefs

24
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 THE PREDICTORS OF PRE-SERVICE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ ANXIETY ABOUT
TEACHING SCIENCE
(P. 17-26)

about their capabilities. Effective science teaching methods courses that focus on developing preser-
vice teachers’ conceptual understanding of core science concepts and their teaching skills should be
provided to enhance their beliefs about their capabilities to teach science and thus lower their science
teaching anxiety. Finally, preservice teachers’ science teaching anxiety levels and efficacy beliefs may
be monitored as they progress teacher education program. Early detection of high science teaching
anxiety and low science teaching self- efficacy beliefs is critical for teacher education programs to take
necessary actions for the prevention of these undesired affective states.

References

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice Hall.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.
Bleicher, R. E. & Lindgren, J. (2005). Success in science learning and preservice science teaching self-efficacy.
Journal of Science Teacher Education, 16, 205–225.
Borko, H., & Putnam R. T. (1995). Expanding a teachers’ knowledge base: A cognitive psychological perspective
on professional development. In T. R. Guskey, & M. Huberman (Eds.), Professional Development in Education: New
paradigms and practices, (pp. 35-65). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Brookhart, S. M, & Freeman, D. J. (1992). Characteristics of entering teacher candidates. Review of Educational
Research, 62, 37-60.
Butts, D. P. (1988). Invited commentary. Science Education, 74(3), 280-284.
Byrne, B. M. (1994). Testing for the factorial validity, replication, and invariance of a measuring instrument: A
paradigmatic application based on the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 29, 289-311.
Czerniak, C. M. (1989). An investigation of the relationships among science teaching anxiety, self-efficacy, teacher
education variables, and instructional strategies. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, Colum-
bus.
Czerniak, C. M., & Chiarelott L. (1990). Teacher Education for effective science instruction- A social cognitive
perspective. Journal of Teacher Education, 41(1), 49-58.
Czerniak, C. M., & Haney, J. J. (1998). The effect of collaborative concept mapping on elementary preservice
teachers’ anxiety, efficacy, and achievement in physical science. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 9(4), 303-320.
Czerniak, C. M., & Lumpe, A. T. (1996). Relationship between teacher beliefs and science education reform.
Journal of Science Teacher Education, 7(4), 247-266.
Czerniak, C. M., & Schriver, M. L. (1994). An examination of preservice science teachers’ beliefs and behaviors
as related to self-efficacy. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 5(3), 77-86.
Doyal, G. T., & Forsyth, R. A. (1983). Relationship between teacher and student anxiety levels. Psychology in
Schools, 10, 231-233.
Enochs, L. G., & Riggs, I. M. (1990). Further development of an elementary science teaching efficacy belief
instrument: A preservice scale. School Science and Mathematics, 90(8), 694-706.
Hollingsworth, S. (1989). Prior beliefs and cognitive change in learning to teach. American Educational Research
Journal, 26, 160-189.
Koran, J. J., & Koran, M. (1981). The effects of teacher anxiety and modeling on the acquisition of a science
teaching skill and concomitant student performance. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 18, 361-370.
Marso, R. N., & Pigge, F. L. (1998). A longitudinal study of relationships between attitudes toward teaching, anxiety
about teaching, self-perceived effectiveness, and attrition from teaching. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the
Association of Teacher Educators, Dallas, TX.
Olson, J. K., & Appleton, K. (2006). Considering curriculum for elementary science methods courses. In K.
Appleton (Ed.), Elementary science teacher education: International perspectives on contemporary issue and practice
(pp. 127–152). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Oliver, S. (1995, April). An examination of interview and self report measures of elementary teachers self-efficacy
in teaching science. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National association for the Research in Science
Teaching, San Francisco, CA.
Parsons, J. S. (1973, March). Assessment of anxiety about teaching using the teaching anxiety scale: Manual and
research report. Paper presented at Annual Meeting of American Educational Research Association. New Orleans,
Louisiana.
Ramey-Gassert, L., Shroyer, M.G., & Staver, J.R. (1996). A qualitative study of factors influencing science teach-
ing self-efficacy of elementary level teachers. Science Education, 80(3), 283-315.
Riggs, I. M. (1995, April). The characteristics of high and low efficacy elementary teachers. Paper presented at the
Annual Meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, San Francisco CA.
Sarte, J. P. (1970). Freedom. In R. Cormier, E. Chinn, & R. H. Lineback (Eds.) Encounter: An introduction to phi-

25
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
THE PREDICTORS OF PRE-SERVICE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ ANXIETY ABOUT
TEACHING SCIENCE
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 17-26)

losophy. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman.

Seiber, J., O’Neil, H., & Tobias, S. (1977). Anxiety, learning and instruction. Hillsdale, NJ Erlbaum.
Sinclair, K.E., Heys, T.A., & Kemmis, S. (1974) Anxiety and cognitive processes in problem solving. Australian
Journal of Education, 3, 239-254.
Sinclair, K., & Nicoll, V. (1980). The sources and experience of anxiety in practice teaching. Paper presented at
the Annual Conference of the South Pacific Association of Teacher Education, Canberra.
Skamp, K. (1995). Student teachers perceptions of how to recognise a good primary science teacher: Does two
years in a teacher education program make a difference? Paper presented at the 26th conference of the Australasian
Science Education Research Association, Bendigo, Victoria.
Thomas, B. (2006). Composition studies and teaching anxiety: A pilot study of teaching groups and discipline- and
program-specific triggers. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Bowling Green University, Bowling Green.
Westerback, M. E. &, Long, M. J. (1990). Science knowledge and the reduction of anxiety about teaching earth
science in exemplary teachers as measured by the science teaching state-trait anxiety inventory. School Science and
Mathematics, 90, 361-374.
Weiner, B. (1992). Human motivation: Metaphors, theories, and research. New York: Sage.
Wine, J. (1971). Test anxiety and direction of attention. Psychology Bulletin, 76, 92-104.
Yılmaz-Tuzun, O. (2008). Preservice elementary teachers’ beliefs about science teaching. Journal of Science
Teacher Education, 19, 183-204.
Zoller, U., & Ben-Chaim, D. (1988) Interaction between examination type, anxiety state, and academic achieve-
ment in college science: An action-oriented research, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 26(1), 65-77.

Received: March 3, 2010 Accepted: January 16, 2011

Nejla Yürük Assistant Professor at the Science Education Programme, Faculty

of Education, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey.
Phone: 0090 (312) 2028197.
E-mail: nejlayuruk@gazi.edu.tr
Website: http://websitem.gazi.edu.tr/nejlayuruk

26
EXPLOITING LANGUAGE IN
TEACHING OF ENTROPY

Abstract. The words disorder, informa-

Fredrik Jeppsson
tion, freedom and spreading are used
Jesper Haglund
as metaphors and analogies in science
Helge Strömdahl
teaching to capture the scientific quali-
tative sense of entropy. In addition, the
Introduction identification of entropy with the everyday
conception of heat has been proposed.
Entropy, among other concepts in thermodynamics, is
considered to be an abstract concept that is difficult for novices While physical sciences are regarded as ex-
to grasp. Sears (1944, p. 447) claims that: ”There is no concept in act disciplines, in which terms have precise
the whole field of physics which is more difficult to understand definitions, the words being used in the
than is the concept of entropy, nor is there one which is more
qualitative interpretation of entropy have
fundamental.” He adds: “It has been said regarding some of the
equations of thermodynamics, ‘Experience indicates that it is many senses. This may provide an obstacle
much less difficult to use [certain] formulae than to understand to achieving a scientific understanding of
them’. The same may be said of the entropy concept; it is much entropy. In this study, the metaphors for
less difficult to use it than to understand it.” As a result, after an
entropy and seeing entropy as heat were
introductory course in thermodynamics, the lasting impression
may be that entropy is S, a letter, whose value may be calculated analysed by use of the different entries
according to the rules of quantity algebra. In an early study on for the words in a dictionary. The present
conceptions in thermodynamics among Scottish upper secondary paper is a contribution to highlighting the
school students, Johnstone, MacDonald and Webb (1977, p. 249)
importance of making any metaphors and
state that “one is left with the impression from the test results and
from casual conversations with pupils and students that they have analogies and their benefits and limita-
little or no conception of entropy.” tions explicit.
It is an objective of science teaching that the students’ knowl- Key words: entropy, metaphor, science
edge and abilities should go beyond mere calculations and incor-
education, semantics, thermodynamics.
porate a conceptual understanding, for example of the entropy
concept. One way to introduce abstract scientific concepts is to
use metaphors and analogies. In the case of entropy, the disorder
metaphor, often corresponding to the messy room analogy, has
historically been used extensively in thermodynamics teaching.
However, due to several drawbacks of the metaphor ‘entropy is
disorder’, Lambert (2002) concludes that it is a “cracked crutch”
for learning. Partly based on Lambert’s argumentation, several Fredrik Jeppsson, Jesper Haglund,
American science textbooks have removed the disorder metaphor Helge Strömdahl
from their accounts of entropy in later editions. Linköping University, Norrköping, Sweden
One common reaction among teachers to the misconceptions

27
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
EXPLOITING LANGUAGE IN TEACHING OF ENTROPY
(P. 27-35)
ISSN 1648–3898

that have been found to be induced among students in empirical studies of their conceptual under-
standing is to give them a correct definition of a new term, by the use of a formal scientific language.
For instance, Lambert (2002, p. 187) claims: “Entropy is not disorder. Entropy is not a measure of disor-
der or chaos. Entropy is not a driving force. Energy’s diffusion, dissipation, or dispersion in a final state
compared to an initial state is the driving force in chemistry. Entropy is the index of that dispersal within
a system and between the system and its surroundings.” However, we claim that exposing students to
definitions like this is not sufficient when scientific concepts are introduced, but that we have to make
full use of the language of the students. If the disorder metaphor is removed, the question remains of
how the students can build a conceptual understanding of entropy. Apart from disorder, several other
metaphors for entropy are available in the science education literature, including seeing entropy as
information, freedom and, spreading. In addition, Falk, Herrmann and Schmid (1983) propose that
entropy should be thought of as the everyday conception of heat.
Williams (1999) claims that many words used when teaching science have many different mean-
ings, both within science and in non-scientific domains; examples are given from dictionaries, spoken
language and science textbooks. Within the field of linguistics, different senses of a word refer to stable
interpretations, typically found as entries in a dictionary. By contrast, meanings of a word refer to the
subjective interpretation in a given context. Although specific senses of a word may have been agreed
upon within a scientific community, the word typically has many other and vaguer senses in colloquial
language. When a student meets a scientific field, the use of known words in new ways provides a chal-
lenge to learning. In a previous study about the senses of entropy (Haglund, Jeppsson, & Strömdahl,
2010), we found evidence to support and reinforce Williams’s position. Five distinct senses of entropy
were identified: the macroscopic thermodynamic sense; the microscopic statistical mechanical sense;
the information theory sense; the disorder sense; and the homogeneity sense. The fact that there are
many alternative senses of entropy may be one source of confusion when trying to understand its
scientific meaning.
Another source of confusion is related to the use of metaphors and analogies when teaching the
scientific interpretation of terms, such as entropy. The word in the source domain of the metaphor, e.g.
‘disorder’ in the case of ‘entropy is disorder’, also has different senses, which contributes to the ambiguity
in the interpretation of the metaphor.
The purpose of the present study was to analyse how four common metaphors, seeing entropy
as disorder, information, freedom and spreading, respectively, and the identification of entropy as the
everyday understanding of heat can be interpreted from a student perspective.

Metaphors in Science Education

Metaphor was regarded as one of the main tools of rhetoric in ancient Greece, characterised by
the following form: A is B, e.g. ‘Achilles is a lion’, where A is compared with B. The intention is figurative
and not literal in that Achilles is not identical with a large feline carnivore, but perceived as strong and
brave. Typically, a new or abstract target domain is compared with a more familiar, concrete base or
source domain. As opposed to the more explicit analogies, metaphors are typically implicit and focus
on language use.
Gentner’s Structure Mapping Theory (1983) of metaphors and analogies has been influential within
science education research. In the analogy ‘the hydrogen atom (target) is like our solar system (base)’,
the focus should be on relationships, e.g. the electron revolves around the atomic nucleus, just as the
planets revolve around the sun, and not on attributes such as the assumption that the atomic nucleus
is yellow and warm, like the sun. In our analysis of metaphors, we argue that, in addition to structural
relationships, attributes of the word in the source domain influence the interpretation of the target. This
contention is supported by Gick and Holyoak (1983), who found that students often focus on attributes
rather than the intended relational structures when interpreting analogies presented by a teacher.
Commonly used metaphors may shift from a figurative to a literal interpretation, thus forming into
a ‘dead metaphor’. As an example, the biological interpretation of a cell developed by metaphor from the
private space of a monk, but has taken on a sense in its own right. Overall, metaphors pick out and amplify

28
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 EXPLOITING LANGUAGE IN TEACHING OF ENTROPY
(P. 27-35)

certain characteristics, but at the same time put less emphasis on others. There is no complete match
between the source and target domains and when unintended characteristics of the source domain are
transferred, the metaphor breaks down. One approach to dealing with this situation is to present several
metaphors to students, so that misleading features of each metaphor can be controlled.
Lakoff and Johnson (1980) introduced the term ‘conceptual metaphor’ in the field of cognitive
linguistics, based on the assumption that metaphor is an ubiquitous feature of language. For example,
many statements can be based on the conceptual metaphor ‘argument is war’, such as “He attacked
every weak point in my argument.” Within science education, Brookes (2006) has identified conceptual
metaphors in the teaching of thermodynamics. Particularly state functions, such as energy (or entropy),
are difficult to handle. They cannot be spoken about in a direct way, but only metaphorically, primarily
as a substance or a location.
Another type of metaphor, an extension of the traditional metaphor, is ‘grammatical metaphor’,
a concept introduced by Halliday (1985). One grammatical form is used in place of another, seemingly
more natural, form. In science language, nominalisation is common; here processes normally expressed
by verb phrases are presented in the form of nouns. For example, ‘pH measurements were taken’ may
replace ‘pH was measured’. Another example of ‘grammatical metaphor’ is the process variable ‘heat’,
which is frequently mentioned in terms of a substance-like quantity, i.e. as a noun.

Methodology of Research

Four metaphors for entropy, used in science education as deliberate instructive tools for learning,
are analysed herein; namely, entropy as disorder, information, freedom and spreading. In addition, the
proposal to regard entropy as the everyday conception of heat is analysed. In connection to each con-
strual, we apply different senses of the source domain words from an online dictionary (http://diction-
ary.reference.com/), and discuss possible interpretations. In the analysis of the metaphors, we follow
the approach of Gentner (1983) in primarily trying to identify relational comparisons, corresponding
to analogies. Only entries in the dictionary where such comparisons can be made are included in the
results section. In some cases, the relational comparisons are complemented by attributes, such as the
negative connotation of ‘entropy is disorder’.

Results of Research

Entropy is Disorder

As mentioned earlier, the metaphor ‘entropy is disorder’ has been used extensively in teaching and
has taken on a distinct sense of entropy in its own right, as identified in Haglund et al. (2010). Through
the process of conventionalisation, ‘entropy is disorder’ has become a dead metaphor that is also used
in non-science settings. Due to strong criticism, however, the metaphor has become less popular in
science teaching. The following senses of the noun ‘disorder’ are listed in the dictionary (http://diction-
ary.reference.com/):
1. Lack of order or regular arrangement; confusion: Your room is in utter disorder.
2. An irregularity: a disorder in legal proceedings.
3. Breach of order; disorderly conduct; public disturbance.
4. A disturbance in physical or mental health or functions; malady or dysfunction: a mild
stomach disorder.
Leff (2007), Lambert (2002) and Styer (2000) claim that spatial configuration is emphasised in the
metaphor ‘entropy is disorder’, in line with sense 1. Here, the source domain represents a system model
involving two levels, in which the system at one level comprises a set of elements at a lower level, in
different degrees of disorder relative to each other. This relational structure is transferred by analogy to
the thermal domain. The typical example is the messy room analogy, as presented by Ekstig (2002, p.
90) in a textbook for teacher education in Sweden:

29
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
EXPLOITING LANGUAGE IN TEACHING OF ENTROPY
(P. 27-35)
ISSN 1648–3898

The entropy is a measure of the disorder in a system. If I empty a box of Lego pieces on the floor, there is
disorder among the Lego pieces. They are randomly scattered over the floor. The entropy of the Lego pieces
is higher when they are scattered than when they are arranged in the box.

The intended target of the metaphor is the statistical mechanics sense of entropy, where one mac-
rostate of a system is linked to a large set of corresponding microstates. The configuration of the Lego
pieces is supposed to correspond to a microstate of the thermodynamic system. However, there are
obstacles to mapping the two domains. While the source domain refers to a snap-shot of one configura-
tion in time, the target domain involves fluctuation between the microstates corresponding to a single
macrostate. Brosseau and Viard (1992) point out the weakness of the disorder metaphor in practical
problem solving, i.e. the failure to take into account the energy distribution and the overemphasising
of spatial configuration. Similarly, Sözbilir and Bennett (2007) found that the disorder metaphor is not
useful in problem solving situations among chemistry undergraduate students.
The ‘messy room’ analogy requires a system with two levels. Therefore, it is not suitable for in-
troductory thermodynamics teaching that takes a classical, macroscopic approach, where there is no
apparent connection between the source and target domains. There is no match between a macro-
scopic description of entropy, based on characteristics of a heat engine, and the spatial configuration
emphasised by disorder.
An alternative to the messy room analogy is presented by Atkins (2003, pp. 122-123):

The analogy I like to use… is that of sneezing in a busy street or in a quiet library. A sneeze is like a disorderly
input of energy, very much like energy transferred as heat. It should be easy to accept that the bigger the
sneeze, the greater the disorder introduced in the street or in the library. That is the fundamental reason
why the ‘energy supplied as heat’ appears in the numerator of Clausius’s expression, for the greater the
energy supplied as heat, the greater the increase in disorder and therefore the greater the increase in
entropy. The presence of the temperature in the denominator fits with this analogy too, with its implica-
tion that for a given supply of heat, the entropy increases more if the temperature is low than if it is high.
A cool object, in which there is little thermal motion, corresponds to a quiet library. A sudden sneeze will
introduce a lot of disturbance, corresponding to a big rise in entropy. A hot object, in which there is a lot
of thermal motion already present, corresponds to a busy street. Now a sneeze of the same size as in the
library has relatively little effect, and the increase in entropy is small.

With an explicit educational aim, Atkins guides the reader through this analogy, pointing out the
structure mapping between the source and target domains. The sound volume or level of activity in the
surrounding environment corresponds to the temperature of the system receiving heat and the ‘size’
of the sneeze is mapped to the amount of heat transferred. Atkins focuses mainly on the macroscopic
perspective, but he also shows how the analogy is linked to the metaphor ‘entropy is disorder’, typi-
cally aimed at a statistical mechanics interpretation. This particular analogy also has the advantages
that, as opposed to the messy room analogy, the sneeze is a dynamic process and not limited to visual
configuration. As all analogies and uses of everyday language, however, also this example suffers from
vagueness, e.g. in the introduction of an undefined ‘size’.
Apart from the relationships mapped, misleading attributes of ‘disorder’ may be inherited in the
resulting interpretation of ‘entropy’. For instance, irregularity, health problems and disorderly conduct
in senses 2, 3 and 4 can give negative associations to unnatural or abnormal processes.

Entropy is Information

The connection between entropy and information was pointed out by Shannon (2001), when he
adopted the term ‘entropy’ with a new sense in information theory. Eight senses of the source, the noun
‘information’ are listed in the dictionary (http://dictionary.reference.com/); we consider the following to
be the most relevant for our analysis:

30
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 EXPLOITING LANGUAGE IN TEACHING OF ENTROPY
(P. 27-35)

1. Knowledge communicated or received concerning a particular fact or circumstance; news:

information concerning a crime.
2. Knowledge gained through study, communication, research, instruction, etc.; factual data:
His wealth of general information is amazing.
3. The act or fact of informing.…
7. (In information theory) an indication of the number of possible choices of messages, ex-
pressible as the value of some monotonic function of the number of choices, usually the
logarithm to the base 2. …

Within the field of information theory (sense 7 above), entropy is interpreted literally, i.e. not
metaphorically, as a measure of the amount of information. Originally, it was adopted metaphorically
in information theory, due to the similar mathematical formalism as in statistical mechanics, but it has
since become a dead metaphor. However, the domains of information theory and statistical mechan-
ics are different, particularly as the former relates to items of information and the latter to physical
quantities, such as energy and temperature. Therefore, from the perspective of statistical mechanics,
‘entropy is information’ is still interpreted metaphorically. Entropy can be seen as the lack of informa-
tion pertaining to the unique microstate, given only knowledge of the macrostate. Alternatively, from
inside the system, entropy represents information relating to the particular microstate (Brissaud, 2005;
Jaynes, 1957). Overall, analogies between information theory and statistical mechanics can be used in
both directions, providing additional nuances to the interpretation of entropy.
Sense 7 mainly invokes a neutral, objective interpretation, related to elements in communication or
data processing. In relation to knowledge, senses 1 and 2 have more positive, subjective connotations, sug-
gesting that data has to be selected and processed in order to be called information. Information is regarded
as valuable and useful, thus potentially giving rise to anthropomorphic interpretations of entropy.

Entropy is Freedom

Styer (2000) proposes the use of the metaphor ‘entropy is freedom’, the freedom to choose between
several microstates. There are 17 entries for the noun ‘freedom’ listed in the dictionary (http://dictionary.
reference.com/); of these, we consider the following four to be the most relevant for our analysis:

1. The state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint:
He won his freedom after a retrial.
2. Exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
…
8. Ease or facility of movement or action: to enjoy the freedom of living in the country.
…
17. Philosophy. The power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraint from within
or without; autonomy; self-determination.

It is difficult to pin-point the intended source domain of the metaphor ‘entropy is freedom’. However,
in general, freedom suggests liberty to ‘move about’ at random without restrictions or external influence.
When transferred to the target domain, this can be interpreted as an explanation of the postulate of
equal a priori probability, that all possible microstates of an isolated system are equally likely. Freedom
also allows a dynamic interpretation, focusing on the next possible microstates, which according to
Brissaud (2005) complements the more static metaphor ‘entropy is information’.
A characteristic of all senses of freedom is that they relate to human endeavour, rather than to the
domain of natural laws. Although senses 1 and 8 may be regarded literally as being related to inanimate
phenomena, this is not the most likely interpretation for a novice. There is an underlying implication
that they involve a human being, able to act in a purposeful way. ‘Freedom’ does not lead the thoughts
towards causal scientific reasoning. Rather than looking for laws that determine the behaviour of nature,
the learner is led to believe that nature has the opportunity to do whatever it likes to do; it is imbued

31
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
EXPLOITING LANGUAGE IN TEACHING OF ENTROPY
(P. 27-35)
ISSN 1648–3898

with free will. This may create an obstacle to grasping the mechanisms of spontaneous processes, where
the random fluctuation between possible microscopic states is bound to lead to the most probable
macroscopic state.
Styer (2000) points out that the senses of freedom are emotionally positive, in contrast to disorder. He
argues that ‘freedom’ and ‘disorder’ in combination may offer two complementary emotional perspectives.
One additional challenge to the freedom metaphor is that the concept ‘degrees of freedom’ is
already established in a specific sense within thermodynamics, referring to for example translational,
rotational and vibrational modes of motion, which may cause confusion.

Entropy is Spreading

Leff (2007, p. 1744) argues that “it is appropriate to view entropy’s symbol S as shorthand for spread-
ing” and that ‘the spreading metaphor’ is powerful in the introduction of entropy in thermodynamics
teaching. There are 41 senses of the word ‘spread’ according to the dictionary (http://dictionary.reference.
com/). Seven of these senses may be relevant for our analysis:

– Verb (used with object)

1. 1. To draw, stretch, or open out, esp. over a flat surface, as something rolled or folded (often
fol. by out).
…
3. 3. To distribute over a greater or a relatively great area of spaceor time (often fol. by out): to
spread out the papers on the table.
…
9. To extend or distribute over a region, place, period of time, among a group, etc.
10. To send out, scatter, or shed in various directions, as sound, light, etc.
11. To scatter abroad; diffuse or disseminate, as knowledge, news, disease, etc.: to spread the
word of the gospel.
…

The spreading metaphor may be used to convey a microscopic understanding of entropy, where
microstates correspond to material objects (senses 1, 3 and 9), events in time (sense 3) or other enti-
ties, such as sound, information or disease (senses 10 and 11). The emotional neutrality of spreading is
appropriate for describing natural phenomena.
By using the ‘spreading metaphor’, Leff (2007) wants to capture the sense of dynamics and tempo-
ral fluctuations over microstates at equilibrium. We argue that fluctuation at equilibrium is difficult to
convey in this way, due to fact that in colloquial language spreading is typically interpreted as a radial
expansion in space. In addition, we interpret spreading in time as occasions, distributed as widely as
possible, rather than a uniform Newtonian time arrow, clocking up new microscopic configurations. In
thermodynamics, spreading has come to be applied on the coverage of all accessible microstates in
phase space, but this specific interpretation of spreading has to be made explicit in education.
Spreading is proposed as an interpretive tool for thermodynamic processes and equilibrium states.
However, the fact that spreading, from the infinitive ‘to spread’, is a verb makes it difficult to convey
entropy as a state function. Even though entropy is central for understanding the second law of thermo-
dynamics and the dynamics of spontaneous processes, it does not represent the process itself, but is an
index determining the state at a given point in time. As discussed in the study by Brookes (2006), the use
of conceptual and grammatical metaphors in spoken and written language within science is common.
However, we consider that the metaphor ‘entropy is spreading’ uses grammatical metaphor in an unusual
way, using a verb to represent a state function. This is the opposite approach to nominalisation, where a
process is spoken about as a noun. In this respect, by using the noun ‘dispersal’, which is closely related
to spreading, for example proposed by Lambert (2002), these problems would be avoided. Another
way to modify this approach in order to avoid the grammatical mismatch can be to explain ‘increase of
entropy’ as connected to ‘energy and/or particle spreading’, which are related processes.

32
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 EXPLOITING LANGUAGE IN TEACHING OF ENTROPY
(P. 27-35)

Entropy is Heat

The Physics group at the University of Karlsruhe have developed an alternative approach to teach-
ing physics (Falk, et al., 1983; Herrmann, 2000). Within this framework, entropy is seen as the everyday
conception of heat. There are 25 senses of the word ‘heat’ provided by the dictionary (http://dictionary.
reference.com/), of which we consider the following to be most relevant for our analysis:

- Noun
1. The state of a body perceived as having or generating a relatively high degree of warmth.
2. The condition or quality of being hot: the heat of an oven.
3. The degree of hotness; temperature: moderate heat.
4. The sensation of warmth or hotness: unpleasant heat.
…
6. Added or external energy that causes a rise in temperature, expansion, evaporation, or other
physical change.
7. Physics. A nonmechanical energy transfer with reference to a temperature difference be-
tween a system and its surroundings or between two parts of the same system. Symbol: Q
...
– verb (used without object)
23. To become hot or warm (often fol. by up).
24. To become excited emotionally.

In the Karlsruhe Physics Course, entropy is regarded as a ‘substance-like quantity’, corresponding to

the everyday conception of heat (Herrmann, 2000). In the statement ‘entropy is heat’, two words within the
same domain, i.e. the thermodynamic domain, are being compared. In other words, this is not a typical
example of a metaphor, which involves a comparison between two different domains. Instead, ‘heat’ can
be regarded as an explanation of what the more abstract word ‘entropy’ means, in everyday language.
As seen in the excerpts from the dictionary, heat has many, different senses. One interpretation of heat
is the ‘degree of hotness; temperature’, i.e. the intensive physical quantity of temperature, which should
not be identified with entropy. Within the Karlsruhe framework, Job and Landau (2003) propose that one
way to avoid this unintended interpretation is to identify entropy with ‘quantity of heat’. However, this still
leaves room for alternative interpretations.
In the view of Karlsruhe Physics, substance-like quantities may be conserved, but not necessarily so,
as seen in the cases of entropy and amount of substance. Analogies are made between different subfields
of physics, where energy is seen as a unifying concept.
The Karlsruhe approach is appealing since it allows the use of the everyday understanding of heat
and provides a mathematical structure shared across different subfields of physics, thus enabling the use of
analogies. However, one limitation to the identification of entropy with the everyday understanding of heat
is that it focuses on the macroscopic perspective of entropy and does not contribute to the understanding
of the microscopic statistical sense. In fact, some taught aspects of entropy may have to be ‘unlearned’, if
the students would later take a course on statistical mechanics. In addition, the everyday conception of
heat is not in line with entropy for all thermal phenomena. For example, during the process of free expan-
sion of an ideal gas in an isolated system, the temperature and internal energy remain unchanged, but the
entropy increases, due to the increased number of possible spatial configurations. This is counterintuitive
from the perspective of the everyday conception of heat. From a practical point of view, the identification
of entropy with heat may lead a person that looks for a ‘good heat source’ in everyday terms to settle for
an object of high entropy and end up with an object that has big volume, but relatively low temperature;
obviously a poor heat source.
Another challenge is the tension between entropy as a substance-like, yet not conserved, quantity.
Christensen, Meltzer and Ogilvie (2009) have found that the idea that entropy is conserved is one of the
most common misunderstandings among students. This misunderstanding may be reinforced by the
Karlsruhe approach.

33
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
EXPLOITING LANGUAGE IN TEACHING OF ENTROPY
(P. 27-35)
ISSN 1648–3898

Reif (1999) argues against a macroscopic approach to the introduction of thermodynamics, partly
because it is difficult for students to visualise the concepts. However, Fuchs (2007) has demonstrated
how the Karlsruhe approach enables students to use their existing conceptions of fluid substances in
the macroscopic interpretation of entropy. To see entropy as a substance-like quantity is attractive in
engineering thermodynamics, where flows of entropy and energy are dealt with from a macroscopic
perspective.

Discussion

Williams (1999) has shown that many words in science have many senses. We show that, in addi-
tion, words commonly used as sources in metaphors for entropy also have many senses. While it may
be perfectly clear to a teacher which one of the senses is intended in a given metaphor, this is not nec-
essarily so for the students. This semantic ambiguity adds further to the challenge of learning abstract
scientific concepts. Therefore, the structures of the analogies corresponding to a metaphor have to
be presented in detail and the limitations and points at which the metaphor breaks down have to be
communicated explicitly.
Lambert (2002) suggests that entropy should not be taught by using the metaphor ‘entropy is
disorder’, and suggests that correct literal explanations should be given. However, as Brookes (2006)
points out, it is difficult to talk about a state function, such as entropy, in a direct, literal way in natural
language. The use of metaphors is one possible way to handle this problem. We contend that metaphor is
one of many educational tools that should be considered as long as it is well designed and its limitations
are recognised and communicated to the students. Disorder is one possible starting point, and can be
applied by the use of a dynamic and rich analogy, like the sneezing analogy proposed by Atkins.
Another alternative to presenting analogies and metaphors is to invite students to come up with
their own self-generated analogies in order to explore a phenomenon. In this way, the risk of students
misinterpreting the source domain and how it is linked to the studied phenomenon is reduced. In a cur-
rent investigation of self-generated analogies for thermodynamic processes, we have found the students’
analogies and their analyses of where they break down useful tools for identifying and discussing their
conceptions of central terms, such as ‘entropy’ and ‘reversible processes’.
As found in the present analysis, however, presentation of shortcomings of metaphors when they
are introduced is rarely found in science education literature. In our view, this lack expresses an unprob-
lematic perspective on metaphor. For instance, stating boldly that entropy is disorder or heat, words
that in themselves are ambiguous and problematic, or identifying it with the verb spreading may lead
the thoughts in wrong directions and without tools for further reflection.

Acknowledgements

We thank our colleagues within the Swedish National Graduate School in Science and Technology
Education for useful comments and suggestions, particularly Richard Hirsch for support in the field of
linguistics, Roland Kjellander for his reading from a thermodynamics and pedagogical point of view and
Gunnar Höst for his thorough comments on disposition and phrasing.

References

Atkins, P. (2003). Galileo’s finger. The ten great ideas of science. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Brissaud, J.-B. (2005). The meanings of entropy. Entropy, 7(1), 68-96.
Brookes, D. T. (2006). The role of language in learning physics. The State University of New Jersey, New Bruns-
wick, NJ.
Brosseau, C., & Viard, J. (1992). Quelques réflexions sur le concept d’entropie issues d’un enseignement de
thermodynamique. Enseñanza de las Ciencias, 10(1), 13-16.
Christensen, W. M., Meltzer, D. E., & Ogilvie, C. A. (2009). Student ideas regarding entropy and the second law
of thermodynamics in an introductory physics course. American Journal of Physics, 77(10), 907-917.
Ekstig, B. (2002). Naturen, naturvetenskapen och lärandet [Nature, science and learning]. Lund, Sweden: Stu-
dentlitteratur.

34
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 EXPLOITING LANGUAGE IN TEACHING OF ENTROPY
(P. 27-35)

Falk, G., Herrmann, F., & Schmid, G. B. (1983). Energy forms or energy carriers? American Journal of Physics,
51(12), 1074-1077.
Fuchs, H. U. (2007). From image schemas to dynamical models in fluids, electricity heat and motion.Retrieved
13 Oct, 2009, from https://home.zhaw.ch/~fusa/COURSES/JO/Files_V/PER_Essay.pdf
Gentner, D. (1983). Structure-mapping: A theoretical framework for analogy. Cognitive Science, 7, 155-170.
Gick, M. L., & Holyoak, K. J. (1983). Schema induction and analogical transfer. Cognitive Psychology, 15(1),
1-38.
Haglund, J., Jeppsson, F., & Strömdahl, H. (2010). Different senses of entropy - Implications for education.
Entropy, 12(3), 490-515.
Halliday, M. A. K. (1985). An introduction to functional grammar. London, UK: Edward Arnold.
Herrmann, F. (2000). The Karlsruhe Physics Course. European Journal of Physics, 21, 49-58.
Jaynes, E. T. (1957). Information theory and statistical mechanics. Physical Review, 106(4), 620-630.
Job, G., & Landau, T. (2003). How harmful is the first law? Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 988,
171-181.
Johnstone, A. H., MacDonald, J. J., & Webb, G. (1977). Misconceptions in school thermodynamics. Physics
Education, 12(4), 248-251.
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Lambert, F. L. (2002). Disorder - A cracked crutch for supporting entropy discussions. Journal of Chemical
Education, 79(2), 187-192.
Leff, H. S. (2007). Entropy, its language and interpretation. Foundations of Physics, 37, 1744-1766.
Reif, F. (1999). Thermal physics in the introductory physics course: Why and how to teach it from a unified
atomic perspective. American Journal of Physics, 67(12), 1051-1062.
Sears, F. W. (1944). Principles of physics I. Mechanics, heat and sound. Cambridge, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Press.
Shannon, C. E. (2001). A mathematical theory of communication. SIGMOBILE Mobile Computing and Commu-
nications Review, 5(1), 3-55.
Styer, D. F. (2000). Insight into entropy. American Journal of Physics, 68(12), 1090-1096.
Sözbilir, M., & Bennett, J. M. (2007). A study of Turkish chemistry undergraduates’ understanding of entropy.
Journal of Chemical Education, 84(7), 1204-1208.
Williams, H. T. (1999). Semantics in teaching introductory physics. American Journal of Physics, 67(8), 670-680.

Received: September 10, 2010 Accepted: January 20, 2011

Fredrik Jeppsson PhD student at the Swedish National Graduate School in Science,
Technology and Mathematics Education Research, Linköping
University, Sweden.
E-mail: fredrik.jeppsson@liu.se
Website: http://www.isv.liu.se/fontd
Jesper Haglund PhD student at the Swedish National Graduate School in Science,
Technology and Mathematics Education Research, Linköping
University, Sweden.
E-mail: jesper.haglund@liu.se
Website: http://www.isv.liu.se/fontd
Helge Strömdahl Dr, Professor Emeritus at the Swedish National Graduate School
in Science, Technology and Mathematics Education Research,
Linköping University, Sweden.
E-mail: helge.stromhdahl@liu.se
Website: http://www.isv.liu.se/fontd

35
 PATHWAYS OF STUDENTS’
CONCEPTUALISATION
DURING A PROBLEM
SOLVING TASK: LESSONS
FOR TEACHING PHYSICS

Abstract. This study aims to characterise Bernardino J. Lopes

the pathways of students’ conceptualisa-
tion during a problem solving task in
order to understand the role of concep-
tualisation in conceptual learning and to
Introduction
identify salient points for the practice of
teaching physics. The study took place in
This study aims to characterise the pathways of students’
a Portuguese classroom with 15 physics conceptualisation process during a problem solving task in order
students, all aged 17. The “global concep- to understand the role of conceptualisation in conceptual learn-
tualisation” emerged from this research ing, and in order to identify points that are relevant to teach-
as an important construct to explain ing physics. The relationship between conceptualisation and
scientific learning is an important issue in scientific education,
how students mobilise their conceptual
and has been studied by several authors (e.g. Borges & Gilbert,
knowledge during a problem solving task
1999; Clement, 2000; Greca & Moreira, 2000; Taylor, Barker, &
Six other salient characteristics of the Jones, 2003). However, we are interested in understanding the
pathways of students’ conceptualisation process of how students cognitively represent complex physical
were also identified. In addition, some phenomena and the pathways that different groups of students
conditions related to teaching which could follow in the process of achieving a higher level of understand-
ing of a particular problem in physics. Currently, these issues are
help to improve students’ conceptualisa-
not widely studied (Clement, 2000). Any attempt to use physical
tion and conceptual learning were also
knowledge in reference to a problem task requires students to
uncovered. These results are discussed idealise, simplify, conceptualise and/or describe the problem. This
and are presented alongside conclusions implies that there is an interconnection between the internal and
about the focus and direction of teacher external representations (Toth, Suthers, & Lesgold, 2002). Repre-
intervention. sentation, as a mental model (Greca & Moreira, 2000; Norman,
1983), is therefore a guide for the student’s actions and thoughts,
Key words: conceptualisation pathway,
particularly in the personal domain. This activity of representation
modelling, problem-solving, physics edu-
should progressively materialise in public forms of communication
cation, teaching. within the classroom, referred to as “external representation” (Toth
et al., 2002). Representation may, in particular, provide a way of
describing a physical situation, taking into account the problem
which must be solved; such descriptions then become the objects
Bernardino J. Lopes of reasoning (Vergnaud, 1991). The research regarding the need
University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, for representation in problem-solving in physics is largely docu-
Portugal mented’ (e.g. Chi, Feltovich, & Glaser 1981; Larkin, 1983; De Jong
& Ferguson-Hessler, 1991). In general, learning about physics also

36
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 PATHWAYS OF STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUALISATION DURING A PROBLEM SOLVING
TASK: LESSONS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS
(P. 36-52)

requires a qualitative approach towards problems (e.g. Dumas-Carré, Goffard, & Gil-Perez, 1992; Stinner,
1995; Leonard, Dufresne, & Mestre, 1996; Van Heuvelen, 1991) and context-rich problems (Heller, Keith,
& Anderson, 1992; Heller & Hollabaugh, 1992).
Recent literature has emphasised the role of problem solving in conceptual understanding (Gaigher,
Rogan, & Braun, 2007) and the role of conceptual understanding in problem solving (Hung & Jonassen,
2006). This relationship is not simple, because students who better perform in terms of their conceptual
understanding obtain the same or slightly worse results when solving quantitative problems in their
final exams than students with poorer conceptual understanding (Hoellwarth, Moelter, & Knight, 2005).
One the other hand, some literature has stressed the importance of students’ structured collaboration
in solving physics-related problems (Harskamp, & Ding, 2006) or the importance of intuitive knowledge
in problem solving in physics (Sherin, 2006).
The purpose of this research is to contribute to the understanding of the process of students’
idealisation, simplification, conceptualisation and/or description of a problem solving task in order to
provide research-based insights for teaching. In order to reach this goal it is not sufficient to analyse
manifest representations, written in acceptable scientific language (Greca & Moreira, 2000). Therefore,
this study aims to describe the internal implicit representations (mental models) that are inferred from
students’ actions and the symbolic languages used (Vergnaud, 1991) during the process of construct-
ing a model.

Pathways of Students’ Conceptualisation of a Problem Solving Task

Conceptualisation (Lopes, Costa, Weil-Barais, & Dumas-Carré, 1999; Lopes & Costa 2007) involves attrib-
uting certain traits to objects and characterising the relevant events through a set of descriptors. Doing this
allows the adoption of a global approach, guiding the subject’s actions during the problem solving process.
Conceptualisation has four characteristics: (a) it is not a facsimile copy of an epistemic object (Damásio, 2000;
Vergnaud, 1994) but it is homomorphic; (b) it is dependent on the knowledge which is available regarding
the subject, as well as its structure; (c) it is appropriate for problem solving (Marques, 1997), and (d) it may
change during the problem solving process. A recent study (Lopes & Costa, 2007) indicated the importance
of conceptualisation in the modelling process. However, the process of using and constructing conceptual
models is not yet clearly understood (Clement, 2000), in spite of its importance in conceptual understand-
ing in science. Therefore, this research must “look at both content and process goals” (Clement, 2000).
Recently, a study by Borges and Gilbert (1999) showed how subjects’ mental models of electricity evolved
as they acquired experience and conceptual knowledge of the subject. The study was performed with
different subjects and consequently, from this study, it was not possible to establish what happened
in terms of the mental models of the same subjects during a problem solving task. Lopes and Costa
(2007) carried out a transversal study where several characteristics of the conceptualisation of subjects
with different physical background were identified. However, this study, like the previous one, did not
focus on the conceptualisation process.
We aim to study the construction of mental models as a conceptualisation process that can lead to
conceptual learning based on conceptual models. Conceptual learning through modelling comprises:
(a) integrating the problem solving task into a class of problems known to the student or creating a
new class of problems (Vergnaud, 1991; Lemeignan & Weil-Barais, 1994); (b) clarifying assumptions,
correcting ambiguities and incorporating acceptable scientific knowledge into the mental model in
order to transform it into a conceptual model (Norman, 1983; Duit & Glynn, 1996; Kleer & Brown, 1983),
and (c) structuring and extending the set of concepts and what can be done with them (Vergnaud,
1991; Lemeignan & Weil-Barais, 1994). There has been some discussion about the connection between
mental model building and conceptual learning (e.g. Taylor et al., 2003). These authors discovered
contradictory results regarding this connection, however, they recognised that the learners also then
need to affirm what has become ‘their’ mental model by using it to resolve related problems that are
new to them and then by defending their problem solving to their peers in interactive debate. Similar
results were also found by other researchers (e.g. Greca & Moreira, 2000), emphasising that there is no
simple and direct relationship between a conceptual model and a mental model, because the students

37
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
PATHWAYS OF STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUALISATION DURING A PROBLEM SOLVING
TASK: LESSONS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 36-52)

did not have the necessary knowledge of the field to interpret them as conceptual models or often do
not understand that a conceptual model is a simplified and idealized representation of phenomena or
situations, without being told the actual phenomenon or situation. Consequently, this research must
address the process of the transformation of a mental model when students solve a new problem and
how teachers can help students in this process.

Research Questions

Taking into account the gaps identified above, this study will devote particular attention to the
pathways of students’ conceptualisation when they are trying to solve a problem, and the elements
of this process that require the intervention of a teacher. In the context of this paper, the expression
“pathways of students’ conceptualisation” is used to refer to the temporal sequence that occurs when
students attempt to conceptualise a problem solving task in any way.
In particular, we will try to answer the following research questions: (a) what are the salient char-
acteristics of the pathways of students’ conceptualisation when they are trying to solve a problem
solving task? In particular, do they depend on the student’s academic achievements? and (b) under
what conditions can conceptualisation lead to conceptual learning? In particular, what are the issues
regarding conceptualisation pathways that need a teacher’s support in order to lead to conceptual
learning?

Methodology of Research

General Description of the Study and the Participants

In order to study the research questions presented above, the hammer task, as a context-rich
problem (Heller, Keith, & Anderson, 1992), was chosen for students to solve in a normal classroom.
Hammer task (based on Walker (1975))

Physical situation:
John is sitting on a chair with a plank on his right leg, which he can change to other planks of differ-
ent thickness, although all are of the same width and length. His friend Mario can use a hammer to
hit the planks “normally” or karate-style. In order to study this situation we suggest that you, rather
than hammering the plank on the leg, hammer on the plank(s) on top of an electronic scale. Like this,
the force exerted on the electronic scale can be measured. Hammering is substituted by the fall of an
object at a fixed height of 15 cm.
Experimental demonstration: the teacher execute the experience using: several planks with similar
masses and bases with the same area which can be overlapped, an electronic scale, three balls with
equal mass (one made of plasticine, one of glass, and the other one made of lead), a measuring tape,
and a device to drop the objects.
Problem:
In order to interpret, understand and describe the physical situation establish a relationship between
the force measured on the electronic scale and other quantities, in accordance with the conditions under
which the hammering takes place. Express the required relation as precisely as possible.

The students worked in four groups. Each group was heterogeneous in terms of the students’
results at school. On the other hand, all of the groups, between them, were heterogeneous. Therefore,
it should be possible to create conditions under which it would be feasible to improve the students’
interaction and facilitate the “thinking together” effect (Mercer, 2000). Using groups who obtained
different results at school, it is possible to study the importance of academic levels in terms of the
pathways of students’ conceptualisation.
The problem solving process took six lessons (50 minutes each), spread out over a two month

38
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 PATHWAYS OF STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUALISATION DURING A PROBLEM SOLVING
TASK: LESSONS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS
(P. 36-52)

period. The class included 15 students (all aged 17), all studying physics. The teacher divided the class
into four groups, with the purpose of solving the hammer task: these groups were A, B, C and D. The
students were spread out according to their results in physics up until that point, as follows: group A
comprised two students who were type G* and two students who were type M, group B comprised
one type G student and two type M students, and groups C and D were made up of two type M and
two type P students in each group. The topic of collisions had already been approached in the class
by the teacher and several exercises on the subject had already been solved by all of the students.
The hammer task involved a physical situation in which a hammer hits planks of variable mass.
The problem to be solved involved discerning the functional relationship between the force exerted
on the planks and the force exerted on the object under the planks.
The structuring of the student’s activities while they solved the hammer task was done through
a sequence of subtasks (Table 1) and guidance tools (e.g. an object-interaction diagram (a diagram
representing all of the pertinent objects and interactions in the relevant physical situation) and a car-
toon of the situation in order to help to identify the main phases and instants (Dumas-Carré & Goffard,
1997), and a systems interaction diagram (similar to the object-interaction-diagram) (Lopes, 2004)).

Table 1. Sequence of salient aspects of the modelling process.

Presentation of Student homework: To read the task and to try to understand the problem to be solved.
the task
Teacher discussion with class: Discuss the task in order to guarantee that the students have appropriated the
problem. Discuss the role of experimentation and previsions in the problem solving process. Teacher executes
experimental demonstration more than once. Students observe and ask the teacher questions.

Subtask 1 To draw a cartoon in order to identify the main phases and instants in temporal evolution of events.
To make an object-interaction diagram and identify the relevant systems in the interaction diagram.

Subtask 2 To identify variables. To choose appropriate concepts to the problem’s resolution. To build a functional relationship
which will be tested.

Subtask 3 To identify the physical data and the number of values to be obtained in an experimental way in order to test the
functional relationship.

Subtask 4 To analyse a table of experimental data without treatment and to construct a graphic functional relationship from
the table.

First dialogic synthesis (Scott, Mortimer, & Aguiar, 2006). Teacher discusses with students and helps them to
structure and enrich their conceptual model of collision, extending it to situations which have not been dealt with
up until that point, and taking into account the students’ ideas and difficulties. The students identify the pertinent
systems and sub-systems in other tasks.

Subtask 5 To build a theoretical mathematical expression in order to solve the problem. To compare the two functional
relationships (one obtained theoretically, the other obtained from experimental results).

Second dialogic synthesis. Teacher discusses the main aspects of the solving process which the students have
already been through. Teacher also discusses the role of the variables and parameters in the functional relation-
ship.

Final subtask To analyse the new model and extend it to other similar situations.

The teacher helped the students only when strictly necessary, or when the students were not
making any progress. Under these conditions, the teacher helped the students with their difficulties
by asking questions and clarifying ideas but avoided giving any particular indications in terms of
how to solve the problem.
This study consisted of: (a) the students’ productions; (b) a transcription of the dialogues between
the students within each group and between each group and the teacher; (c) a transcription of the
teacher’s interventions in the class during the execution of the task; (d) tasks and subtasks which were

39
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
PATHWAYS OF STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUALISATION DURING A PROBLEM SOLVING
TASK: LESSONS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 36-52)

given to the students; and (e) the final model produced by each group of students.

Data Analysis

In order to analyse the pathways of the students’ conceptualisation in facing and solving a
problem, three categories have been proposed (see Lopes & Costa, 2007): (a) conceptualisation of
the objects; (b) conceptualisation of the events, and (c) global characteristics of conceptualisation.
The first two categories are directly based on the framework presented above. The third category is
an open coding category, also based on the framework which has been previously presented.
Conceptualisation of objects. The students attribute, explicitly or implicitly, traits and/or physical
variables or parameters to the objects of the physical situation that may be relevant to solving the
problem. The objects represented may be a part or all of the objects that are relevant to the problem
solving task.
Conceptualisation of events. The students attribute, explicitly or implicitly, a set of descriptors
or physical relationships to the event during the temporal evolution of the physical situation of the
problem. The events that are represented may be a part or all of the events that are relevant to the
problem.
Global characteristics of conceptualisation. This involves evaluating whether the conceptualisa-
tions of objects and events are coherent and whether they are suited to solving the problem, and
identifying any global characteristics of the conceptualisation.
In order to examine the pathways of students’ conceptualisation, the analysis was performed
in four steps:
First step: To select the areas of the study that are relevant to each student group’s conceptu-
alisation pathway;
Second step: To divide each part identified in the first step into units of analysis. Each unit was
changed when there was a change in the conceptual aspects involved in the students’ activity;
Third step: To analyse each unit of analysis with the pre-defined categories and the open cod-
ing category. The existence, or lack thereof, of conceptualisation of the objects or events involved
in the problem and the global characteristics of the conceptualisation of the problem solving task
were analysed;
Four step: To construct the pathway of the students’ conceptualisation for each group. A group
was considered to have a new attempt in their pathway of conceptualisation when: (a) a new set of
conceptualisations of objects and/or events occurred; and/or (b) a new global characteristic of the
conceptualisation appeared. For each group, the pathways of the students’ conceptualisation were
composed of the sequence of attempts to conceptualise the problem.
These four steps were carried out independently by two researchers and then verified by the
research team. Initially, there were about 90% of accords. The remainder of disaccords were resolved
after a discussion between the research team.
Conceptual learning. In order to examine conceptual learning, the quality of the final model
produced by each group of students was analysed. Three criteria were used in order to characterise
the quality of the final model: the conceptualisation of the problem, the explanations and predictions
produced using the model, and the possibility of the extension of the model to other situations.This
analysis was also carried out independently by two researchers and then verified by the research
team. Initially, there were about 92% of accords. The remainder of disaccords were resolved after a
discussion between the research team.

40
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 PATHWAYS OF STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUALISATION DURING A PROBLEM SOLVING
TASK: LESSONS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS
(P. 36-52)

Results of the Research

The results in this section are organised around the two research questions.

Pathways of Students’ Conceptualisation

Global Conceptualisation and its Characteristics

Using the open coding category “global characteristics of conceptualisation”, the analysis of the
students’ models and the transcriptions of the dialogues between the students within each group and
between each group and the teacher led to an emergent category that we have called “global concep-
tualisation” (GC). The characteristics of this category were identified from the data analysis. GC exists
when a clear formulation of the direction of students’ thoughts and actions helps in conceptualising
the problem as a whole in a certain phase of the problem solving process, and mobilises the students
in solving the problem, even if the solution is inadequate. Excerpt 1 illustrates the students’ mobilizing
idea of the problem solving task, viewing it as a whole, at the beginning of the problem solving process.
In this excerpt, the students mobilised their attention towards a pertinent aspect of the experience. The
students were convinced that their comprehension of the problem was good, judging by their smiles.

Excerpt 1 (group B)

Dialogue Students’ production

…Teacher: What is the problem? This group of students observed

Student E: Study the force exerted on electronic scale… the relations between the forces and… the experiment conducted by the
for example, if I hammer on a plank over my leg will it hurt more with 1, 2 or 3 planks? [Smiles] teacher and asked her to repeat it
successively with 1, 2 or 3 planks.

The same group of students tried to quantitatively relate the force to the kinetic energy of the fall
based on the data available. This was a mobilising conceptualisation, which allowed the students to carry
out their modelling work. However, as can be seen in the following excerpt, the students were able to
conclude by themselves that their conceptualisation was wrong, that is, the students’ GC allowed them
to evaluate their actions and thoughts (see the final part of Excerpt 2). This excerpt clearly indicates that
GC is refutable by the students themselves.

Excerpt 2 (Group B)

Dialogue Students’ production

Student E: How do you relate [kinetic energy] with the force? Ei = Ef

Student A: You know that F = m.a… will have the velocity … of course you already have m.g.hi + ½.m.vi2 = m.g.hf + ½.m.vf2
gravity, you have the height of 15 cm… just lacks the velocity… m.g.hi = ½.m.vf2 (vi = 0 and hf = 0)
Student F: We know that the acceleration is equal to v2… that centripetal acceleration is v2/r F ↑ ↔ ↑Ek
or v2/h… so we have acceleration…
Student E: No… because we have no centripetal acceleration…
[smiles]
Student A: This destroys everything…

In conclusion, these two excerpts demonstrate the following characteristics of GC: i) the students
view the problem as a whole, and this is significant as it allows the students to start solving the problem.

41
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
PATHWAYS OF STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUALISATION DURING A PROBLEM SOLVING
TASK: LESSONS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 36-52)

That is, they have a mobilising idea which consists of some kind of representation of the situation as
whole, which allows the students to think and operate with the range of aspects that they recognise in
the situation; ii) the mobilising idea allows the students to evaluate their own conceptualisation during
the problem solving process; iii) the students are convinced, at a certain time, that their own concep-
tualisation can lead them to the problem’s solution. Between the first and the second excerpt, the GC
becomes supported by an external representation and therefore becomes more refutable.
In the instances when the first characteristic feature of GC (the mobilising idea) did not occur, the
other characteristics subsequently did not occur, even though the conceptualisation was itself refut-
able. As can be verified in Excerpt 3, the idea is refutable but does not assume that a mobilising idea is
present for students, because their concern is to find a mathematical expression and not to solve the
problem. In addition, in this excerpt, the students’ idea is fragmented and does not mobilise any action:
there are several long pauses containing neither work nor dialogue.

Excerpt 3 (group C)

Dialogue Students’ production

Student D: Following the Newton law to relate the force with the speed that can only be made
through the acceleration… [Pause] F = m.a v
Student M: There is another one, isn’t there? [another Mathematical expression]…
Student D: There is! This is our formula … calculating this… [Pause] v2 = v02 + 2.a.∆s
Student A: the systems are the ball and the other the electronic scale. [pause] v2 = v02 + 2.a.∆s
Student Ab: What interests us is the force… we can go for this [formula]… this here… but I don’t v2 = 2.a.∆s
know if we can go with this… a = v2/[2.∆s]
[long pause, about 6 minutes].
F = m. v2/ [2.∆s]

In fact, in Excerpt 3, there are none of the main characteristics of GC: a) the problem is not viewed
as a whole with significance; b) the students do not evaluate their conceptualisation; c) the students are
not convinced that their own conceptualisation will lead them to the solution to the problem.

Description of the Conceptualisation Pathways

The conceptualisation pathway was identified for each group according to the criteria indicated in
the data analysis section. The identification of GC in each pathway of the students’ conceptualisations
used the characteristics presented in the previous section. More details of group B’s modelling process
will be presented, because this was the group with the greatest variety of conceptualisations.

Description of the conceptualisation pathways of group B

When group B analysed the hammer task, they made the first attempt to conceptualise the prob-
lem: it was a GC (Table 2, first attempt) of the problem, even if it was inadequate (see Excerpt 1). There
was no conceptualisation of objects or events. After this, group B analysed the events of the hammer
task and had a second attempt at conceptualising the problem (Table 2, second attempt). The students
focussed their attention on aspects such as the impact of glass on the plank, the elastic collision, the
impact of plasticine on the plank and the non-elastic collision. Events including the fall, the impact and
the rebound were conceptualised. However, there was no mobilising conceptualisation that allowed
the students to search for a solution. In the third attempt at conceptualisation, the students focussed

42
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 PATHWAYS OF STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUALISATION DURING A PROBLEM SOLVING
TASK: LESSONS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS
(P. 36-52)

on their GC of the hammer task and on the conceptualisation of its objects and events. The pertinent
systems of the problem were identified and the students also tried to relate the relevant concepts to
mathematical expressions by searching for the relationship between force and energy. There was GC,
but it remained inadequate. In the fourth attempt, the students tried to quantitatively relate the force
with kinetic energy. There was a conceptualisation of the ball falling as an object point within gravity
field. There was also a mobilising conceptualisation, which guided their approach to the problem and
allowed the students to conclude that their conceptualisation was wrong. Therefore, the students
had clearly achieved GC (Excerpt 2). When group B tried to analyse the experimental data regarding
the situation (Table 2, fifth attempt), they did not advance to the point of GC. However, after the first
dialogic synthesis, group B worked on the hammer task in an attempt to solve it. They explicitly tried
to conceptualise the problem and attempted to become operational (Table 2, sixth attempt). The sixth
attempt to conceptualise the hammer task led an adequate GC (see Excerpt 4): group B conceptualised
the problem as needing to be solved using the relationship between force and the temporal variation
of ∆P in the pertinent system.

Excerpt 4 (group B)

Dialogue Production

Student E: The variation of P is final P minus initial P … there is conser-

vation… this was an isolated system…
Student A: Why do we need to know if the speed and mass of the plank Ball Planks Electronic scale
is quiet?
Student E: The ball falls on the plank knocking it down.
Student A: The plank? -∆P2 ∆P1
Student F: Having the electronic scale under plank?
Student E: Down, down! ∆P = Pf-Pi
∆P = Pf-Pi = (-mb.√(2.g.hr) + mP.vP) – mb.√(2.g.hi) =
-mb.√(2.g).[√ (hr)+ √ (hr)] + mP.vP
After the teacher helped him, the student wrote:
F∝∆P’ = -∆P = mb.√(2.g).[√ (hr)+ √ (hr)] - mP.vP

The following was an attempt to characterise the model and expand it in order to make it relevant
to other situations (Table 2, seventh attempt). As can be seen above, group B did not distinguish between
variables and parameters. Therefore, the teacher needed to make a dialogic intervention with regards
to that issue. It was only in the seventh attempt that the model became explicit and was completed.
This conceptualisation helped to identify the relevant systems in the interaction and the mass of the
interposed object as relevant physical data. When the task asked the students to imagine other situations
in which the use of the same physical model would be possible, group B described a pertinent situation.
Only on the sixth attempt did their GC become a conceptual model, and it only became explicit and
operational on the seventh attempt.

43
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
PATHWAYS OF STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUALISATION DURING A PROBLEM SOLVING
TASK: LESSONS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 36-52)

Table 2. The conceptualisation pathways of group B.

Type of conceptualisation present

Stage Brief description of conceptual activity in terms of
of work representing the hammer task (in attempts)
Events Objects Global

Inadequate
Adequate
Complete
Rebound

Collision

Planks
Scale
Ball
Fall
Subtask 1st attempt: The extent of the force exerted on the electronic scale X
1 depends on the type of balls and the number of planks used.
2nd attempt: The main events were identified: fall, rebound and col- X X X
lision (qualifying the collision as elastic for the impact of the glass
ball and non-elastic for the impact of the plasticine). The temporal
separation of each event was also completed.

3rd attempt: The problem was analysed in terms of events (fall, X X X X X X X

collision and rebound) and the relevant objects (electronic scale,
ball, planks), and interactions between the objects were identified.
The group identified the systems in terms of interactions: scale and
ball + planks.
Subtask 4th attempt: The group tried to associate force with the ball’s kinetic X X X X X X
2 energy. The idea was explored and it was concluded that it was not
valid. The relationship between the speed of the ball and its initial
potential energy remained.

Subtasks 5th attempt: It was identified from experimental data that the force X X X
3/4 varied according to the type of collision involved (this depended
on the height of the rebound) and on the height and mass of the
planks.
First dialogic synthesis with students
Subtask 6th attempt: The group identified the interaction between the X X X X X X X
5 electronic scale system and the ball-planks system; P was
conserved in the ball-planks-electronic scale system; the force
exerted on the electronic scale was proportional to the variation
of P in the ball-planks system; the height from which the ball fell
(rebound) determined its initial speed (final); the linear moment
of the plank was not nil.
Second dialogic synthesis with students
Final 7th attempt: This included the same aspects as the sixth at- X X X X X X X
sub-task tempt as well as the following: (a) the force exerted on the plank
was greater than the force exerted on the electronic scale (op-
erational relation); (b) in another context, the vital step would be
to identify the systems in interaction; and (c) the plank was an
interposed object, and its mass was the relevant physical data.

Description of the conceptualisation pathways of the four groups

The conceptualisation pathways of group A were similar to those of group B (see Table 3). The
main differences were that a GC appeared later (subtask 2), and that in the final subtask the GC was
not complete.
In groups C and D (Table 3) conceptualisation practically only existed when it was explicitly requested. A
GC did not occur for group C. Group D formed inadequate GCs in subtask 5 and the final subtask.

44
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 PATHWAYS OF STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUALISATION DURING A PROBLEM SOLVING
TASK: LESSONS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS
(P. 36-52)

Table 3. Synthesis of the conceptualisation pathways of groups A, B, C and D.

Type of conceptualisation present

Stage of
work
Events Objects Global

Inadequate

Adequate

Complete
Rebound

Collision

Planks

Scale

Ball
Fall

Subtask 1 ╬

▌ ╬ ▲☼ ▌ ╬ ▲☼ ▌ ╬ ☼ ☼ ☼

▌ ╬ ▌ ╬ ╬ ╬ ╬ ╬ ╬

Subtask 2 ╬ ▲☼ ▌ ╬ ╬ ╬ ▌ ╬ ▌ ╬

Subtask 3/4 ╬ ╬ ☼ ▌ ╬ ▌ ☼ ▌ ☼

First dialogic synthesis with students

Subtask 5 ▌ ╬ ▲☼ ▌ ╬ ▲☼ ▌ ╬ ▌ ╬ ☼ ▌ ╬ ▌ ╬ ▲☼ ☼ ▌ ╬

Second dialogic synthesis with students

Final ▌ ╬ ▲ ▌ ╬ ▲ ▌ ╬ ☼ ▌ ╬ ▲ ▌ ╬ ▲☼ ▌ ╬ ▲☼ ☼ ▌ ╬
subtask

▌, ╬, ▲ or ☼ indicates the presence of conceptualisation in groups A, B, C or D respectively. The number of lines for each group indicates
the number of attempts: six for group A, seven for group B, four for group C and five for group D

Analysis of the Quality of the Final Models

The characteristics found in the students’ work following the final subtasks for each group are
presented in Table 4. The order of the quality of the final models produced by each group, in terms of
the best to the worst, were B, A, D and then C. The models of groups A and B were very sophisticated.
However, these groups did not consider all the consequences, particularly in terms of their previsions.
The data on the extension of the model (Table 4) gave us indicators of the students’ conceptual learning
through the modelling process. The conceptual learning process was consistent for groups A and B and
autonomous for group B. There are no indicators of the conceptual learning involved in the modelling
process for groups C and D. Taking into account the quality of the final models and comparing these
models with the characteristics of each group’s conceptualisations, it can be argued that the students’
conceptualisation of the problem clearly affected the quality of their final models and their conceptual
learning.

45
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
PATHWAYS OF STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUALISATION DURING A PROBLEM SOLVING
TASK: LESSONS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 36-52)

Table 4. Characteristics found in the each group’s work during the final subtasks.

Characteristics Groups

A B C D

Model quality The situation was conceived as a collision between system S1 (the elec- P P - -
(conceptualisation, expla- tronic scale) and system S2 (ball + planks)
nations and predictions)
They derived the functional relationship of force P P P P

They considered that the force exerted on the electronic scale was related P P - -
to the force exerted on the planks

The force exerted on the electronic scale was well explained - P - -

Some previsions were made according to the model P P - P

Conceptual learning The model was used in the proposed situation P P - -

(extension of the model)
Other situations were chosen where the use of the model was possible - P - -
“P”, means that a characteristic is present; “-” means that a characteristic is absent

Salient characteristics of the pathways of the students’ conceptualisation

Each group had its own conceptualisation pathway. However, comparing the various conceptu-
alisation pathways (Tables 3 and 4) allows us to identify some salient characteristics of the pathways of
students’ conceptualisation:
1. In general, the conceptualisation of events precedes the conceptualisation of objects (groups
A, B and C). This may be more relevant when the conceptualisation of objects is more difficult
as they have an usual function, as is the case in the hammer task.
2. When there is any type of GC, all objects and events are considered for conceptualisation
(group A, fifth and sixth attempts; group B, third, sixth and seventh attempts). However: (a)
GC can exist in cases where some objects or events are not conceptualised (group A, third
attempt; group B, first and fourth attempts; group D, fourth and fifth attempts), and (b) if the
GC is adequate, all objects and events are conceptualised (group A, fifth and sixth attempts;
group B, sixth and seventh attempts).
3. In general, it is necessary condition having a conceptualisation of the collision for have any
type of GC (group A, third, fifth and sixth attempts; group B, third, fourth, sixth and seventh
attempts; group D, fourth and fifth attempts). That is, the conceptualisation of one event is
crucial for the existence of any type of GC.
4. The conceptualisation pathway is influenced by the sequence of proposed subtasks. In fact,
in general, there were new attempts at conceptualisations only when a new subtask was
proposed. However: (a) There were some subtasks (subtasks 3 and 4) that did not excite any
type of GC in any of the groups or any type of conceptualisation, for that matter (group C),
that is, some subtasks may not have been well formulated, or the students may have had
particular difficulties with this particular kind of work, and (b) there was one subtask (subtask
1) that elicited more than one attempt at conceptualisation (groups A and B), that is, some
tasks, either by their formulation, or due to guidance tools, stimulate conceptualisation.
5. Each conceptualisation attempt has its own pattern. In particular: (a) Some conceptualisa-
tions of events or of objects may be not have been taken into account in the subsequent
attempts (all groups), and (b) the conceptualisations of events or of objects are taken into
account in subsequent attempts if there is an adequate GC (group A, fifth and sixth attempts;

46
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 PATHWAYS OF STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUALISATION DURING A PROBLEM SOLVING
TASK: LESSONS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS
(P. 36-52)

group B, sixth and seventh attempts) so it is not enough to have any type of GC (group D,
fourth and fifth attempts).
6. Conversations with the teacher were very important for all the groups, as they increased the
number of conceptualisations (from conceptualisations in subtasks 3 and 4 to conceptualisa-
tion in subtask 5), the likelihood that a GC would form (group D), and improved quality of
GCs (groups A and B). However, conversations with the teacher were only effective (through
helping the student to form an adequate GC and conceptualise all relevant objects and
events) if there was previously some kind of GC (groups A and B). This effect was greater
in group B, as they had formed more GCs before the dialogic synthesis (conversation). The
main difficulties were conceiving of the situation as a unique interaction between systems,
and consequently considering the exchange of a linear moment between systems.
7. There was a significant relationship between the number of GCs and the number of concep-
tualisations of events and objects in each group (Figure 1). This relationship emphasises the
importance of the GC in conceptualising a problem. That is, the activity of conceptualisation
increases drastically when attempts to perform a GC increase. Without any kind of GC, there
is a minimum of conceptualisation activity. In particular: (a) GC seems to play an important
role in the conceptualisation pathway since it may occur prior to any specific analysis of the
problem (see group B, first attempt) and can occur without a complete conceptualisation
of all of the relevant objects and events (see group A, third attempt and group B, first, third
and fourth attempts), (b) the quality of GC increases with consistent external representation
(groups A and B), and there is a moment at which it becomes a conceptual model since when
this occurs, the students are able solve the problem and later extend their model to other
problems, and (c) the groups that searched for a GC from the beginning of the problem solv-
ing process then evaluated this process (see, for example, group B: systematically worked
towards a GC) since it seems that this guided the problem solving process by facilitating the
conceptualisation of objects and events (see also 5.).

35
Nunber of conceptualisations of

30
events and objects

25

20

15

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

Number of global conceptualisations

Figure 1: Number of GCs versus the number of conceptualisations of events and objects for each
group (Pearson’s correlation, r = 0.993, significant at p<0.01).

Conditions Under Which Conceptualisation Can Foster Conceptual Learning

The data regarding the final model (especially its potential extensions) produced by each group
(Table 4) and the data concerning their conceptualisation pathways allows us to state that conceptual

47
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
PATHWAYS OF STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUALISATION DURING A PROBLEM SOLVING
TASK: LESSONS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 36-52)

learning was made possible through modelling. However, it was necessary to perform explicit work on
the extension of the model (with the teacher’s help) and personal work on conceptualisation, especially
GC.
The hierarchy of the student’s previous results was, as referred to above: first - group A, second -
group B, third - groups C and D. On the other hand, the levels of conceptualisation were: first – group B
(five GCs and 34 conceptualisations of objects and events), second – group A (three/25), third – group D
(two/18) and fourth – group C (zero/11). These results show that school results are not sufficient to facili-
tate the generation of conceptualisations by the students. These results also show that prior knowledge
is a necessary condition, but not sufficient, for the adequate representation of a problem. The comparison
of groups A and B with groups C and D indicates the need for a structured and expansive conceptual
model of collisions in order to produce a satisfactory solution. The comparison between groups A and
B indicates that it is not sufficient to be able to extend the model to other situations. The quality of the
model and its potential usage in other situations (Table 4) is related to the quality and number of con-
ceptualisation attempts. If students’ academic results are, in any way, an indicator of the structure and
extension of the conceptual models they will produce, then our results corroborate the hypothesis that
global conceptualisation is a skill that involves using a conceptual model in a flexible way.
The data analysis allowed us to identify three conditions under which conceptualisation can foster
conceptual learning:
i. The systematic search for a GC can foster conceptual learning;
ii. The existence of subtasks and guidance tools fosters conceptual learning;
iii. The existence of a dialogic synthesis between the student’s work and knowledge fosters
conceptual learning.
In summary, the groups that searched for a GC from the beginning of the problem solving process
had a more explicit and operational final model as well as having a richer and more operational exten-
sion of the model for use with other problems. For example, group A, who made less use of GCs, was not
able to imagine a new situation in which the use of their physical model would be possible. Therefore,
the data supports the main conclusion of this section: the conceptualisation of a problematic situation
can promote conceptual learning, and this is related with the systematic search for a GC.
The student’s activities were supported through subtasks and guidance tools. The sequence of
subtasks formed the structure of the students’ activities. In fact, as can be seen above, in the majority
of cases, the groups only made a fresh attempt to conceptualise the problem when the subtask was
changed. The representational guidance tools which were proposed (see Table 1) were used by all the
groups, and some of them appropriated them: for example, group B used the systems interaction dia-
gram, as proposed in subtask 1, in subtask 5 (see Excerpt 4).
Each dialogic synthesis (see Table 1) was conducted after a careful examination of the students’
products and dialogues aimed at identifying the type and the nature of their difficulties. In this analysis,
the teacher and the researcher identified the students’ sets of concepts of collision in terms of their
structure, extension, relationships and operational use in problem solving tasks. The former was char-
acterised by a long dialogue, in which the teacher tried to structure the use of the main concepts of
force, energy, linear momentum, system, and collision in different situations without using technical
details. This dialogic synthesis achieved four important objectives: i) it clarified the relationship between
the concepts; ii) it extended the range of situations where the conceptual model of collision could
potentially be used; iii) it structured the conceptual model of collision, and iv) it clarified the use of the
conceptual model of collision in different situations. As the results regarding the students’ pathways
of conceptualisation suggested, this dialogic synthesis facilitated the elaboration of their conceptual
models of the problem. However, its influence was different for different groups: it was greater for the
groups who systematically used GC. The second dialogic synthesis was characterised by the clarification
of the statute of variables and parameters in the physical model of the hammer task. In both dialogic
syntheses, the teacher helped the students to work with their conceptual models.

48
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 PATHWAYS OF STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUALISATION DURING A PROBLEM SOLVING
TASK: LESSONS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS
(P. 36-52)

Discussion

Our results confirm several well known results of problem solving research, namely: i) the erratic
component within each conceptualisation pathway is related to the need for a solution to the problem
that guides the students to make several attempts at conceptualisations (Dumas-Carré et al., 1992); ii)
the structure and extent of a conceptual model is not static and may be improved in order to solve new
problems (Vergnaud, 1991), and iii) the quality of a representation is closely linked with the available
knowledge and with the way in which it is organised (Johsua & Dupin, 1993).
As the teacher’s role in the students’ conceptualisation pathways was to intervene only when the
students could not, by themselves, advance in their solution of the problem, it was possible to identify
the salient characteristics of the conceptualisation pathways in which the teacher could have a deter-
minant role and the conditions for their effectiveness. Therefore, the results indicate new opportunities
for teaching problem solving, as we will now discuss.
There is one type of conceptualisation (GC) that is different from the most common kinds of
conceptualisation (the conceptualisation of objects and events) and influences, in a certain way, the
pathway of students’ conceptualisations. The results indicate three characteristics of GC: i) the existence
of a mobilising idea that includes an overview of the problem, avoiding gross errors (Ikonicoff, 1999)
and allowing the students to operate within the problem; ii) allowing the students to systematically
evaluate their work; and iii) that the students are convinced that their GC can lead them to the solution
to the problem. The GC becomes more operative if it is supported by an external representation.
These results support the concept that a GC can precede any analysis of a problem, or a complete
conceptualisation. This result is in line with the results obtained by an investigation into mathematical
reasoning (Ikonicoff, 1999). In addition, these results support the idea that students who systematically
try to design a GC: i) improve their conceptualisation pathways; ii) obtain more conceptualisations; iii)
consider their own previous conceptualisations, and iv) better appreciate the teacher’s help. Therefore
the students can obtain a better final model and improve their conceptual learning, since they can
extend their model to new situations. These results indicate that one condition for problem solving
improving conceptual understanding, as suggested by Gaigher et al. (2007), is trying, systematically, to
achieve a GC of the problem. This can be aided by a teacher because the students can initially design a
GC without a deep understanding of the problem. The results suggest that whether or not the teacher
can help students understand the main events to be conceptualised and their roles, the students may
develop the skill of being able to use their conceptual models in a flexible way, building GCs ad initio
while attempting to solve the problem.
These results show that if a student’s knowledge is not well structured (regarding the problem to
be solved) the physical situation of the problem to be solved appears as an obstacle in the extension of
their conceptualisation, according to the findings of Hung and Jonassen (2006). These results also show
that the students who had better GCs (not necessarily the ones with better prior knowledge) underwent
a deeper process of conceptual learning; they used the model of the problem as a conceptual model.
Therefore, the relationship between problem solving and conceptual understanding is not simple. The
fact that some students with poorer academic results created more complete GCs supports the hypoth-
esis that conceptualisation is a skill which entails the flexible use of a conceptual model in accordance
with the physical situation. This skill is one way of articulating the elements of a conceptual model,
which is necessary in order to approach and solve a problem. The role of a GC appears to be crucial for
understanding the way in which someone mobilises his or her conceptual model when confronted by a
physical situation in order to solve a problem. GC may be able to create the conditions for the students
enrich and structure their conceptual models, with the teacher’s help. As these results have shown, the
conceptualisation pathway improved (more conceptualisations, consideration of previous conceptualisa-
tions and raising or improving the GC) when there was a greater level of intervention from the teacher
(through dialogic synthesis), or when the subtask gave the students some control over what they could
do (Lopes et al., 2008); in this case, this occurred through the use of guidance tools (e.g. object interac-
tion diagrams). Therefore, conceptual understanding facilitates problem solving if the teacher can help
the students to restructure their own conceptual field through appropriated dialogic synthesis and/or

49
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
PATHWAYS OF STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUALISATION DURING A PROBLEM SOLVING
TASK: LESSONS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 36-52)

giving students sufficient control over their work.

One the other hand, it is important to find a solution to a problem and be able to extend it to other
situations because conceptual learning is not the construction of a particular model but the elaboration
of a conceptual model in order to face a range of problems (Walliser, 1977). An appropriate conceptual
understanding is a necessary condition for the formation of a suitable GC, but it is not enough; in ad-
dition, persistent attempts to form a GC facilitate conceptual learning. The confluence of the students’
efforts (systematic attempts to form a GC), alongside the teacher’s efforts (e.g. dialogic synthesis and/or
giving the student control over their own work, namely through the task design), as the results showed,
are very important for student success. In spite of the limitations of this study (e.g. the role of the teacher
was not investigated in any depth), the need for the systematic confluence of the efforts of the students
and the teacher has emerged as a clear direction for future research.
These results support the concept that external representations associated with a GC may become
themselves the objects of reasoning (Vergnaud, 1991), and thus contribute to the adjustment and en-
richment of conceptualisation itself, as well as, of course, the quality of the final models. In particular,
the GC is generally richer if it integrates external representations.

Conclusions and Implications

As expected, the study has confirmed, once again, certain concepts regarding the modelling
process in a problem solving task. Nevertheless, it has also provided new insights into teachers’ roles
in students’ conceptualisation pathways. As GC plays an important role in the pathway of students’
conceptualisation, students require some kind of GC in order to: i) form more conceptualisations; ii)
fully understand the teacher’s help; iii) take into account previous conceptualisations, and iv) consider
all relevant objects and events.
The teacher has two fundamental roles in students’ conceptualisation pathways: i) in task design,
and ii) in teacher mediation.
In task design it should be checked whether the subtasks may induce the conceptualisation activ-
ity, in particular if they may give students control over their own work.
In teacher mediation, any interventions by the teacher, when students are trying to solve a problem
solving task, should focus on:
- The student’s efforts to conceptualise the central event of the problem;
- The student efforts to form a general picture of the solution in order to construct an adequate
GC. The focus here is to discern whether the students have formed a GC, by searching for
the answers to these questions: are the students convinced about the potential of their
idea? Can the students evaluate the progress of their work using their mobilising idea? Any
assistance should take this direction: from the conceptualisation of the central event to the
remaining relevant events and from the conceptualisation of events to the conceptualisation
of objects, which is always supported by any type of GC. The students’ prior knowledge is a
necessary condition for this purpose, but not sufficient to ensure it;
- Dialogic synthesis of several conceptualisations, taking into account the students’ conceptual
field.
Through synthesis, the teacher can improve the students’ approach to a problem if he/she encour-
ages the students to form a global approach to the problem before any specific analysis occurs, even
if, at first, the approach is not clear and precise. The teacher can help the students to elaborate on their
GC by encouraging them to be flexible and creative in using the conceptual model according to the
physical situation.

Note

* A student is “type G” if his/her school results (SR) in physics are SR>14 on a scale from 0 to
20, “type M” if his/her SR in physics are 10≤SR≤14 and “type P” if SR<10.

50
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 PATHWAYS OF STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUALISATION DURING A PROBLEM SOLVING
TASK: LESSONS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS
(P. 36-52)

References

Borges, A.T., & Gilbert, J.K. (1999). Mental models of electricity. International Journal of Science Education, 21,
95-117.
Chi, M.T.H., Feltovich, P.J., & Glaser, R. (1981). Categorization and representation of physics problems by experts
and novices. Cognitive Science, 5, 121-152.
Clement, J. (2000). Model based learning as a key research area for science education. International Journal of
Science Education, 22, 1041-1053.
Damásio, A. (2000). O Sentimento de Si [The feeling of what happens]. Lisboa: Publicações Europa-América.
De Jong, T., & Ferguson-Hessler, M. (1991). Knowledge of problem situations in physics: A comparison of good
and poor novice problem solvers. Learning and Instruction, 1, 289-302.
Duit, R., & Glynn, S. (1996). Mental modelling. In G. Welford, J. Osborne & P. Scott (Eds.), Research in Science
Education in Europe: Current issues and Themes (pp. 166-176). London & Washington: The Falmer Press.
Dumas-Carré, A., & Goffard, M. (1997). Rénover les activités de résolution de problèmes en physique [To renovate
problem solving activities in physics]. Paris: Armand Colin.
Dumas-Carré, A., Goffard, M., & Gil-Perez, D. (1992). Difficultés des élèves liées aux différentes activités cognitives
de résolution de problèmes [Students’ difficulties linked to the different cognitive activities of problem solving].
ASTER Recherches en didactique des sciences expérimentales, 14, 53-75.
Gaigher, E., Rogan, J.M., & Braun, M. (2007). Exploring the development of conceptual understanding through
structured problem-solving in physics. International Journal of Science Education, 29, 1089-1110.
Greca, I.M., & Moreira, M.A. (2000). Mental models, conceptual models, and modelling. International Journal
of Science Education, 22, 1-11.
Harskamp, E., & Ding, N. (2006). Structured collaboration versus individual learning in solving physics problems.
International Journal of Science Education, 28(14), 1669-1688.
Heller, P., & Hollabaugh, M. (1992). Teaching problem-solving through cooperative grouping 2. Designing
problems and structuring groups. American Journal of Physics, 60(7), 637-644.
Heller, P., Keith, R., & Anderson, S. (1992). Teaching problem-solving through cooperative grouping .1. Group
versus individual problem-solving. American Journal of Physics, 60(7), 627-636.
Hoellwarth, C., Moelter, M.J., & Knight, R. D. (2005). A direct comparison of conceptual learning and problem
solving ability in traditional and studio style classrooms. American Journal of Physics, 73(5), 459-462.
Hung, W.E., & Jonassen, D. H. (2006). Conceptual understanding of causal reasoning in physics. International
Journal of Science Education, 28(13), 1601-1621.
Ikonicoff, R. (1999). La biologie des maths [The biology of maths]. Science et Vie, 984, 46-51.
Johsua, S., & Dupin, J.J. (1993). Introduction à la didactique des sciences et des mathématiques [Introduction to
the didactics of science and maths]. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
Kleer, J., & Brown, J. S. (1983). Assumptions and ambiguities in mechanistic mental models. In D. Gentner & A.
Stevens (Eds.), Mental Models (pp. 155-190). London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Larkin, J. H. (1983). The role of problem representation in physics. In D. Gentner & A. Stevens (Eds.), Mental
Models (pp. 75-98). London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Lemeignan, G., & Weil-Barais, A. (1994). A developmental approach to cognitive change in mechanics. Inter-
national Journal of Science Education, 16(1), 99-120.
Leonard, W., Dufresne, R., & Mestre, J. (1996). Using qualitative problem-solving strategies to highlight the role
of conceptual knowledge in solving problems. American Journal of Physics, 64, 1495-1503.
Lopes, J.B., & Costa, N. (2007). Evaluation of modelling competences: Difficulties and potential for the learning
of sciences. International Journal of Science Education, 29(7), 811-851.
Lopes, J.B. (2004). Aprender e Ensinar Física [To Learn and to Teach Physics]. ������������������������������
Lisboa: Fundação Calouste Gul-
benkian.
Lopes, J.B., Costa, N., Weil-Barais, A., & Dumas-Carré, A. (1999). ������������������������������������������������
Évaluation de la maitrise des concepts de la mé-
canique chez des étudiants et des professeurs [Evaluation of students’ and teachers’ mastery of mechanics concepts].
Didaskalia - Recherche sur la comunication et l’apprentissage des sciences et des tecnniques, 14, 11-38.
Lopes, J.B., Cravino, J.P., Branco, M., Saraiva, E., & Silva A.A. (2008). Mediation of student learning: Dimensions
and evidences in science teaching. PEC 2008 - Problems of Education in the 21st Century, 9(9), 42-52.
Marques, A. (1997). Representação e linguagem [Representation and language]. Revista da Faculdade de Ciências
Sociais e Humanas – Lisboa Edições Colibri, 10, 13-23.
Mercer, N. (2000). Words and Mind. London: Routledge.
Norman, D. (1983). Some observations on mental models. In D. Gentner & A. Stevens (Eds.), Mental Models (pp.
7-14). London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Scott, P., Mortimer, E., & Aguiar, O. (2006). The tension between authoritative and dialogic discourse: A fundamen-
tal characteristic of meaning making interactions in high school science lessons. Science Education, 90, 605-631.
Sherin, B. (2006). Common sense clarified: The role of intuitive knowledge in physics problem solving. Journal
of Research in Science Teaching, 43(6), 535-555.

51
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
PATHWAYS OF STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUALISATION DURING A PROBLEM SOLVING
TASK: LESSONS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 36-52)

Stinner, A. (1995). Contextual settings, science stories, and large context problems: Toward a more humanistic
science education. Science Education, 79, 555-581.
Taylor, I., Barker, M., & Jones, A. (2003). Promoting mental model building in astronomy education. International
Journal of Science Education, 25, 1205-1225.
Toth, E.E., Suthers, D.D., & Lesgold, A.M. (2002). ‘‘Mapping to know’’: The effects of representational guidance
and reflective assessment on scientific inquiry. Science Education, 86, 264-286.
Vanheuvelen, A. (1991). Learning to think like a physicist - A review of research-based instructional strategies.
American Journal of Physics, 59(10), 891-897.
Vergnaud, G. (1991). La théorie des champs conceptuels [The conceptual field theory]. Recherches en Didactique
des Mathématiques, 10, 133-170.
Vergnaud, G. (1994). Homomorphismes réel-représentation et signifié-signifiant. Exemples en mathématique
[Homomorphism: Real-representation and meant-meaning. Examples in mathematics]. Disdaskalia - Recherche sur
la communication et l’apprentissage des sciences et des techniques, 5, 25-34.
Walker, J. (1975). O grande circo da física [The flying circus of physics with answers]. Lisboa: Gradiva.
Walliser, B. (1977). Systèmes et modèles introduction critique à l’analyse de systèmes [Systems and models critical
introduction to systems analysis]. Paris: Éditions du Seuil.

Received: April 10, 2010 Accepted: January 30, 2011

Bernardino J. Lopes PhD, Associate Professor at University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto

Douro, Physics Department, School of Science and Technology,
5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
E-mail: blopes@utad.pt
Phone: + 351 259350783
Website: http://www.utad.pt

52
EMOTIONS EXPRESSED
TOWARD GENETICALLY
MODIFIED ORGANISMS
AMONG SECONDARY
SCHOOL STUDENTS AND
PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS

Andrej Šorgo, Jana Ambrožič Dolinšek Abstract. Active student-centered instruc-

Iztok Tomažič tional methods bring more emotion into
Franc Janžekovič science teaching, especially in the case of
socioscientific issues, like research on and
usage of genetically modified organisms
(GMOs). We tested the strength of ten basic
emotions (fear, anger, joy, disgust, sadness,
Introduction
shame, contempt, guilt, surprise and inter-
Nowadays the profession of science teacher is becoming est) toward different GMOs. Students ex-
more and more complex, profession and common awareness of pressed high levels of interest, surprise and
declining interest in Science and Science careers works against
joy towards GMOs, emotions that could
choosing a science teaching career as a first choice (Osborne et
al., 2003; Tomažič & Vidic, 2009). The quantity of knowledge in be used as possible motivators to raise the
science disciplines doubles every couple of years, and to make level of interest in Science. Students do not
things worse, new knowledge is not only added to the existing express an equal level of negative emo-
body of knowledge but also renders previous knowledge obsolete
tions toward GMOs as a general category,
(Sternberg, 2001; Rebernik & irec, 2007). Owing to information
overflow and its availability to students, literally in seconds any but take a standpoint towards each item
day, the old ways of teaching, with the teacher as the dominant or practice separately. Knowing this, the
source of information and its interpreter, and direct instructions teacher can choose list of GMOs ranked
and lectures as the prevailing methods of school work, become not
from more acceptable to the least accept-
just old fashioned but even inappropriate. As a consequence, the
basic question in the educational field becomes “how to educate able GMOs, to avoid any obstruction of
students so that they could appropriately perform in situations reasoning toward GMOs based on strong
that were unknown in their educational period” (Illeris, 2008, p. negative emotions.
2), leading to the conclusion that school work must be shifted
Key words: emotions, genetically
towards student-centered methods and strategies based on their
active work (e.g. Dean & Kuhn, 2007; Michael, 2006). Shifting school modified organisms, pre-service teachers,
work from teacher-centered toward student-centered methods
inevitably brings more emotion into teaching.
Andrej Šorgo, Jana Ambrožič Dolinšek
Schools were never emotionally free institutions, and emo-
University of Maribor, Slovenia
tions are an important part of education (Čagran, Grmek Ivanuš
Iztok Tomažič
& Štemberger, 2009), occurring at unequal intensity at different
University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
school levels. Hargreaves (2000, p. 811) recognized that “Elementary
Franc Janžekovič
teaching is characterized by physical and professional closeness which
University of Maribor, Slovenia
creates greater emotional intensity« and that “Secondary teaching is

53
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
EMOTIONS EXPRESSED TOWARD GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS AMONG
SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS AND PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 53-64)

characterized by greater professional and physical distance leading teachers to treat emotions as intrusions
in the classroom”.
In science education emotions is a seriously neglected dimension (Alsop & Watts, 2003), even if it is
well known that emotions constitute an important part in forming and expressing attitudes. Attitudes
have been defined as ‘feelings based on our beliefs that predispose our reactions to objects, people,
and events’ (Myers, 2007). Kraus (1995) argues that the basic assumption about attitudes is that they
‘guide, influence, direct, shape or predict behavior’. According to the tripartite model, attitudes are
based on three different sources: cognitive, affective and behavioral, which are not always consistent
(Bizer, 2004). Of special interest here is the affective component of attitudes, although it is argued that
in forming appropriate attitudes, both a balanced amount of information and direct participation is
needed (Morgan, 1992).
Our interest lies in emotion triggered by the object of the lesson. Well known examples of such
objects in biology teaching are some animals (Prokop & Tunnicliffe, 2008, 2010; Prokop et al., 2009a, b,
Tomažič, 2008), animal experiments (Silberstein & Tamir, 1981), and the dissection of animals or their
organs (de Villiers & Monk, 2005; Holstermann et al., 2009). For example, disgust sensitivity can negatively
influence the quality of instruction, when working with various natural objects in the field (Bixler & Floyd,
1999). If students experience negative emotions such as disgust, their beliefs about their mastery of
the situation decrease which consequently leads to lower achievement (Holstermann et al., 2009). Less
is known about the different emotions that are triggered when learning about various ways of using
genetically modified organisms (GMOs) (Prokop et al. 2007; Erdogan et al., 2009; Uşak et al., 2009).
Biotechnology has become one of the most dynamic Life Sciences disciplines, one which is rec-
ognized not only as something beneficial but also as a threat (Pardo et al., 2002; Christoph et al., 2008).
Because debates concerning biotechnological practices such as genetic engineering, genetic healing,
and reproductive cloning have escaped from scientific circles and are causing concern in society, such
issues are called socioscientific issues (Sadler, 2004; Sadler & Zeidler, 2005a; Sadler & Zeidler, 2005 b).
Schools and teachers, as parts of the society, cannot evade the inclusion of socioscientific issues into
education, yet they are not well prepared for such work. Curricula organized by subject are not an ap-
propriate framework for the teaching of issues that span different disciplines, and teachers cannot simply
trigger the development of competences such as critical thinking, scientific reasoning or the ability to
solve problems simply by the addition of new facts or by teacher-provided explanations. Chen and
Raffan (1999) suggest that the absence of ethical discussion in Taiwan is responsible for less favorable
attitudes to GMO. In our previous studies (Šorgo & Ambrožič, 2009; Šorgo & Ambrožič, 2010), we have
shown that there is only a weak correlation between knowledge of biotechnology and acceptance of
GMOs and a strong correlation between attitudes and acceptance, a finding which conforms to rela-
tions in other socioscientific issues as well (Allum et al., 2008), leading to the conclusion that meaning-
ful debate concerning socioscientific issues in a classroom cannot neglect attitudes and the emotions
what shape them.
The conceptualization of a socioscientific curriculum considers the role of emotion and character
as key component in science education (Sadler & Zeidler, 2005b) and occupies a central role in the
promotion of science literacy. This investigation and analysis of how students think and feel about a
series of related socioscientific issues in science education showed that emotions have a facilitative
effect in student engagement with controversial issues and that emotions contribute significantly to
their consideration and resolution (Sadler & Zeidler, 2005b).
Only a few studies have connected emotion with opinions about, knowledge of, attitudes toward,
and acceptance of GMOs and GM products, even though emotion could be an important factor in at-
titudes toward GMOs and their acceptability. In relation to genetic engineering and GMOs emotions
can most often be described in terms of emotional involvement (Spence & Townsend, 2006) from a care
perspective, in which empathy and concern for the well-being of others or relations (relatives) lead to
guided decisions or courses of action (Sadler & Zeidler, 2005b). Emotions are often hidden in related
concepts, such as concern (James, 2004), moral acceptability (Črne-Hladnik et al., 2009), personal or
general risk and uncertainty (Finucane, 2002; Ronteltap et al., 2007; Cristoph et al., 2008). The most
frequently reported emotions concerning GMOs are negative ones such as worry (anxiety) and anger

54
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 EMOTIONS EXPRESSED TOWARD GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS AMONG
SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS AND PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS
(P. 53-64)

(Stewart and McLean, 2005) and even fear (Laros & Steenkamp, 2004). Reports of fear concerning ge-
netically modified food (GMF) frequently appear in the mass media. These have played a crucial role in
creating widespread fear of GMF (also known as “Frankenstein food” among the fearful) in many parts
of the world (Laros & Steenkamp, 2004). Fear of GMF is positively influenced by consumers’ concern for
the environment and negatively affected by their faith in the technology of food production. Consum-
ers who are more fearful of GMF have a more negative attitude towards genetically modified food and
towards genetic modification of animals, and exhibit greater interest in information related to food
production (Finucane, 2002; Laros & Steenkamp, 2004), and humans were found to be much more
emotionally connected to animals than to plants. Because of their commercial importance, emotions are
often evaluated in relation to GM food and food products (Finucane, 2002; Laros & Steenkamp, 2004).
From the educational point of view interesting finding is that people expressing anxiety (worry) tend
to collect more information before deciding for or against an action or decision, but those who express
anger are likely to take immediate action (Stewart & McLean, 2005).
There exist different lists of and grouping criteria for the emotions important for school work
(Čagran, Grmek Ivanuš & Štemberger, 2009), and there is a plethora of different theories of emotions
(Strongmann, 2003). Although there is still no definite agreement on the existence or appropriateness of
the term ‘basic emotions’ (Ekman, 1992, 1999; Barret et al., 2009; Smith & Schneider, 2009), some general
characteristics of basic emotions should be taken into account (Ekman, 1999). For the present study,
we have chosen the emotions that students should easily be able to define and interpret. We used the
emotions defined by Izard (1977, see Izard et al., 1993), who defined 10 basic emotions: fear, anger, joy,
disgust, sadness, shame, contempt, guilt, surprise and interest. The dilemma that influenced our decision
was whether students should be asked to respond to GMO use in general, or if they should be offered a
list of statements to each of which they would assign a level of potential emotional response. We decided
to use the latter and formulated statements that were related to potential real life situations. In this way
we sought to find student responses for 10 individual emotions on each statement (item).

Purpose of the Study

Because biotechnology based on modification of genetic material in organisms in good or

bad will change the quality of life either for good or for ill for future generations we, as educators, must
educate students about this issue. School is not a value- or emotion-free environment, and teachers
and students do not necessarily share the same system of attitudes, values or emotions towards issues.
As a result, latent conflict is always present in the classroom. The purpose of the study was to measure
differences in emotions expressed toward genetically modified organisms between secondary school
students and their potential teachers. As teacher educators, we would like to prepare pre-service teach-
ers to be aware of the possible differences between them and their students, not only on the level of
knowledge but on the emotional/attitudinal level too, to prepare appropriate teaching-learning strate-
gies for including socioscientific issues in classroom. In the present study we set out to discover, (1) which
of the selected positive or negative emotions students would rate as those that produce a moderate or
high response when different ways of using of GMOs are considered, (2) which of the selected positive
or negative emotions would prevail when students are specifically asked about different ways of us-
ing GMOs, (3) the degree of difference in emotions toward different kind of GMOs between secondary
school students and prospective teachers.

Methodology of Research

Structure of the Sample and Sampling

The sample comprised secondary school students and pre-service teachers. The questionnaire
was administered in the year 2009 to secondary school students from the schools participating in the
project “Development of Science Competences”, and to pre-service biology teachers and pre-service
elementary teachers at the Universities of Maribor and Ljubljana. We collected 573 questionnaires. Nine

55
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
EMOTIONS EXPRESSED TOWARD GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS AMONG
SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS AND PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 53-64)

questionnaires were excluded because more than half the fields were left blank, so we ended with 564
valid cases: 341 (60.5%) from secondary schools and 223 (39.5%) from universities.
Questionnaires were delivered to the secondary students at six secondary schools in Slovenia.
The questionnaires were anonymously delivered in two classes at every school. Five schools from the
sample are general 4-year secondary schools, offering a general programme, and one school is 4-year
technical school with a technical programme. The main purpose of the general secondary school, called
“gimnazija” in Slovenia, is to prepare students for university studies and qualify them for final external
“matura” examinations as a prerequisite for entering university. All students were in the first class of
upper secondary school and had already completed 9-year compulsory school, which means that they
were about 15 years old at the time of sampling. Our sample comprises 128 boys and 211 girls, and 2
students who chose neither gender. We collected 223 questionnaires from pre-service teachers; 166
were prospective elementary teachers and 57 prospective biology teachers in their second (N=129,
third (N = 40), and fourth (N = 54) study year which means that they were between 20 and 25 years old
at the time of sampling. There were 211 females and 12 males, a sample showing the feminization of
the teaching profession in Slovenia.

Structure of the Questionnaire

To find out students’ emotions towards GMOs, a questionnaire was assembled. It was completed
anonymously.
We decided to collect only a minimal amount of personal data (name of the faculty and study pro-
gramme; type of secondary school, year of study and gender). The reason was that seeking differences
between subgroups in our sample was not a leading idea of our work because, as teacher educators,
we cannot form study groups or prepare courses based on gender, age, religion, etc, nor will teachers
form classes or prepare courses on such a basis.
To find relations between emotions and GMOs, we chose emotions that students should easily be
able to define and interpret. We used emotions as defined by Izard (1977, see Izard et al., 1993), who
defined 10 basic emotions. We formulated statements that were related to potential real life situations.
In this way we sought to find students’ responses for 10 individual emotions on each statement (item).
The general introduction was as follows:

We will propose some potential situations where you could make contact with genetically
modified organisms (GMOs). We are interested in establishing the strength of your emotional
response to such contact. On the list are ten basic emotions, but we have provided two blank
fields where you can add additional emotions of your choice. We ask you to indicate the strength
of your response by circling the appropriate numbers in the table. Values: 0 – 5. 0 = cannot make
a decision; 1= no response; 5= maximal response.

In a table a list of basic emotions was provided as follows: Fear; Anger; Joy; Disgust; Sadness; Shame;
Contempt; Guilt; Surprise; Interest, and two blank fields.
All statements are in Appendix 1.

Data Analysis

The data analysis was carried out with the statistical software SPSS® 17.0. Correspondence analy-
sis was carried out using the CANOCO package. A Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) was
conducted to produce a two-dimensional plot of the major variation in the dataset and to display the
results in ordination space. Correspondence analysis was first introduced to ecology in the early 1970s
and quickly gained popularity because of its better recovery of a one-dimensional simulated gradient,
compared to principal components analysis. DCA was developed to overcome the distortions inherent
in correspondence analysis ordination, in particular the tendency for one-dimensional gradients to
be distorted into an arch on the second ordination axis and the tendency for samples to be unevenly

56
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 EMOTIONS EXPRESSED TOWARD GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS AMONG
SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS AND PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS
(P. 53-64)

spaced along the axis (Legendre & Legendre, 1998).

Chi-square (χ2) statistics were used to identify differences in frequencies of answers between differ-
ent groups of respondents. The Mann-Whitney non-parametric test was used to identify differences in
frequencies of answers concerning emotions among different groups of respondents. To make parallel
comparisons of the differences in means among different groups of teachers, the F–test was performed,
showing generally the same pattern as a Mann-Whitney test. We tested our data for normal distribution
with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and found that all the variables did not follow normal distribution at
the level of p<0.01. Owing to the distribution of data, only means and outcomes of the non-parametric
test are reported in the tables. Differences between groups (gender and secondary school students:
pre-service teachers) are reported only for emotions where at least one item exceeds the value of the
mean = 2.5 (fear, anger, joy, disgust, surprise, interest). Thus we excluded sadness, shame, contempt,
and guilt from the reports.

Results of Research

Table 1 presents the mean values for each of the statements and for each emotion. Averages greater
than 2.5 were considered as indicating an important level of emotional response. Students are gener-
ally not bothered by GM but by the thought of its being used in particular contexts. They seem not to
respond at least negatively to the thought of eating GM plants, living near GM animals and plants, using
them for the production of chemical substances and using them for the production of biofuels.

Table 1. Means of emotions expressed toward genetically modified organisms.

Contempt
Sadness

Surprise
Disgust

Interest
No. Item
Shame
Anger

Guilt
Fear

Joy

1 You have eaten genetically modified food from 2.53 2.58 1.27 2.56 2.09 1.46 1.98 1.74 2.90 2.53
animals

2 You have eaten genetically modified food 2.11 2.09 1.31 2.02 1.68 1.35 1.78 1.57 2.62 2.46
from plants

3 Living with genetically modified animals 1.85 1.96 2.35 1.68 1.87 1.34 1.56 1.53 3.56 3.49

4 Genetically modified plants growing in your 1.84 2.03 1.28 1.67 1.63 1.33 1.70 1.29 2.64 2.64
immediate neighborhood

5 Transplantation of an organ from a genetically 3.87 2.28 1.97 2.65 2.41 2.00 1.86 1.86 3.44 3.17
modified animal

6 Medicines from genetically modified yeast 2.66 2.21 1.35 2.15 1.72 1.45 1.72 1.46 2.82 2.65

7 Genetically modified microorganisms in the 2.01 1.86 1.29 1.57 1.59 1.35 1.58 1.32 2.63 2.56
production of chemical substances

8 Genetically modified plants in the production 1.54 1.50 2.21 1.32 1.38 1.20 1.37 1.21 2.95 3.07
of biofuels

9 Genetic healing 3.62 1.70 2.98 1.54 1.98 1.34 1.32 1.65 3.44 3.95

10 Contact with material produced from geneti- 1.61 1.52 2.49 1.50 1.37 1.30 1.37 1.35 3.10 3.09
cally modified plant

57
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
EMOTIONS EXPRESSED TOWARD GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS AMONG
SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS AND PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 53-64)

Ratings on the emotions of sadness, shame, contempt and guilt did not exceed values greater than
2.4 on any rated statement except for one – sadness – for the statement “transplantation of an organ
from a genetically modified animal”. On several statements, three “negative” emotions were rated as
intense: fear, anger and disgust. Ratings of fear were the highest where usage of GMO for transplanta-
tion of organs (M=3.9) and for genetic healing (M=3.6) was considered, followed by using medicines
from genetically modified yeast (M=2.7) and eating genetically modified food from animals (M=2.5).
Participants expressed quite high levels of anger only to the thought of eating genetically modified food
from animals (M=2.6). Ratings of disgust were quite high on statements of transplantation of organs
from GM animals (M=2.7) and of eating GM food from animals (M=2.6).
For “positive” emotions such as joy, participants favor using GM for genetic healing (M=3.0). The
second statement that emerged was the one about contact with GM plants (M=2.5).
Interest and surprise were emotions which students rated for each statement very near or above
the value of 2.5. For surprise, it is difficult to discern whether students were rating an individual state-
ment in a positive or negative sense (negative or positive surprise). The ratings for both emotions were
similar for every statement except the first (eating GM food from animals), where participants expressed a
greater degree of surprise (M=2.9) than interest (M=2.5) and the ninth (genetic healing), where students
expressed greater interest (M=4.0) than surprise (M=3.4).
3.0

Fear

Sadness
Joy
Disgust Guilt Interest

Shame
Surprise
Anger

Contempt
-2.0

-1.5 2.5

Figure 1: Detrended correspondence diagram displaying relationship between emotions according

to GMOs. Axes I (69.0%, horizontal) and II (19.1%, vertical) 88.1% of variance explained
together.

In the detrended correspondence analysis included the means data of emotions expressed (Table
1.) The eigenvalue of the first axis was 0.018, and of the second axis only 0.005. Among others, Disgust
and Anger are at the other end of the first axis. All these emotions are clearly “negative”. At the opposite
end of the axis are the positive emotions Joy and Interest. The first axis corresponds to a gradient from
“negative to positive emotion”.

58
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 EMOTIONS EXPRESSED TOWARD GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS AMONG
SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS AND PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS
(P. 53-64)

Differences in Expressed Emotions by Gender and School Level

We analyzed only emotions where the expressed mean of the sample was above 2.5.
Interest: We did not find statistically significant differences in expressed Interest between male
and female students. Pre-service teachers are statistically significantly (p< 0.05) more interested than
high school students in four items (You have eaten genetically modified food from animals; Genetically
modified plants in the production of biofuels; Genetic healing; Contact with material produced from
genetically modified plants), a finding which can be at least partially explained by the study field (Biology
or Biology in combination with other subjects) of about one third of the prospective teachers.
Surprise: We did not find statistically significant differences in expressed Surprise between male
and female students, and pre-service teachers and secondary school students.
Joy: Males find more Joy in genetically modified plants in the production of biofuels than females
do (p<0.001), a result which can most probably be explained by the higher level of interest on the part
of males toward technology. Pre-service teachers find more Joy in the possibility that a life could be
saved by transplantation (p< 0.01).
Fear: Female students expressed much higher levels of Fear than male students on 6 items (Items
1, 2, 5,6,8,9, Table 1). On the other hand, they do not fear GMO’s more extensively in general. The differ-
ences are statistically insignificant (p < 0.05) or near significance (p < 0.06) when expressed fear is very
low. Such items include living with genetically modified animals and plants, contact with GM cotton, and
the use of genetically modified microorganisms in the production of chemical substances. Statistically
significant differences (p < 0.05) between secondary school students and pre-service teachers were found
only on two items, both connected with health (Transplantation of an organ from a genetically modified
animal, and Genetic healing), and the means are in both cases higher for pre-service teachers.
Anger: A statistically significant difference appeared (p < 0.01) between genders on two items.
Females expressed higher levels of Anger for both statements about the consumption of GM food. In all
other cases we found no differences. The difference between secondary school students and pre-service
teachers in the level of anger expressed is greater by youngsters (p < 0.05) in the case of transplantation
of an organ from a genetically modified animal.
Disgust: we found statistically significant differences (p < 0.001) only on eating food from a GM
animal, and these values were higher for males. Secondary school students expressed higher levels of
disgust (p<0.05) on four items (see appendix, variables 4, 5, 6, 10).

Discussion

The inclusion of ten basic emotions (Izard, 1977, see Izard et al., 1993) to find the emotional
response to potential use of or contact with different kinds of GMOs, followed by “classical” and corre-
spondence analysis, gave us better insight into the premises to be used in planning teaching activities
about GMOs.
First of all we identified emotions connected with GMOs that were not included in other studies.
Such emotions are high-rated Interest, Surprise and sometimes Joy (Table1). Most studies reported nega-
tive emotions such as worry (anxiety), anger (Stewart & McLean, 2005), and fear (Laros & Steenkamp,
2004) usually connected with risk and its perception (Spence & Townsend, 2006). Interest, Surprise and
Joy were never mentioned. Positive emotions are usually associated with potential needs and benefits
and are connected with trust (Spence & Townsend, 2006), with empathy, caring and sympathy (Sadler
& Zeidler, 2005b), with morality and ethics (Sadler & Zeidler, 2004). To increase our understanding of the
role of these positive emotions, future studies are necessary. To understand the needs, benefits, trust,
empathy, sympathy, morality and ethics, it is necessary to gain insight into these positive emotions, as
well. More research is needed to clarify the direction of these relations.
The statements used in our questionnaire were connected to various possibilities for GMO use.
These differences would probably guide student approval of individual use of GMOs and consequently

59
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
EMOTIONS EXPRESSED TOWARD GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS AMONG
SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS AND PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 53-64)

their willingness to learn about the use of GMOs. As is known, if negative emotions are experienced,
they may cause reactions such as withdrawal (fear), attack (anger) or rejection (disgust). Before including
an organism in class debate special attention should be given to the finding (Table 1) that on several
items students expressed quite high levels of fear and disgust. We speculate that the main reason for
this was not GMOs as such but terms such as “transplantation” and “genetic healing”. Education concern-
ing GMOs should therefore at the same time engage students in discovering the benefits of genetic
healing, organ donation and transplantation in order to lessen disgust sensitivity. Statements that did
not mention any direct harming of the body envelope or potential contamination or illness (use of
medicines) did not produce higher ratings on negative emotions (e.g., living with a GM animal, grow-
ing GM plants near home, GM microorganisms for the production of chemicals, GM plants for biofuels
and materials from GM plants). Interestingly, participants rated eating GM plants lower – less afraid,
angry and disgusted – then they did for eating GM animals, although both were defined as the intake
of food (possible contamination). Differences between gender also exists with possible explanation
that females invest more to reproduction, thus risk less than males and consequently have greater fear
of risky products (Ozden et al, 2007).Eating GM animals was also the statement that elicited the most
anger from participants. That discovery led to the conclusion that acceptability of a particular GMO is
not a one-dimensional issue (presence of genes) but is a complex issue that could be connected, for
example, with exploitation on abuse of animals or related issues. No other statement produced average
ratings of anger higher than 2.5.
Positive emotions, on the other hand, include a component of positive affect and function as
internal signals to approach and continue. As Fredrickson (2001) points out, these are often neglected.
The main reasons may be that there are fewer positive emotions and that they are harder to study, while
psychology is oriented towards solving problems, a category usually exclusive of positive emotions
(Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000; Fredrickson, 2001); finally, theories of emotion tend to describe
emotions in general.
What was particularly surprising to us was that students rated the emotions of Surprise and Inter-
est above the level determined as important on all the statements. Since we know that surprise can be
researched as both positive and negative (Talarico et al., 2009), we can only speculate on whether the
surprise, where Fear, Anger or Disgust ratings were elevated, was positive or negative.
The term Interest, as reviewed by Abrahams (2009), can be viewed as personal and situational. That
is of great importance in education. Teachers can effectively influence situational interest but can be
quite ineffective in changing students’ personal interest. The latter is more resistant to external influence,
while the first depends on a given situation.
Also interesting was the statement about the use of GM for genetic healing, where participants
rated Joy extremely high in comparison with other ratings on the same emotion. That is probably due
to the beneficial effects of this type of healing on human - personal health. This statement at the same
time produces the fear of getting ill or simply fears of something still untested.
The good news from the teaching standpoint is our study’s’ discovery that students at the secondary
school and university levels are interested in topics concerning GMOs. Their general interest, combined
with Surprise and Joy (Figure 1) could form a basis for teaching about GMOs. Additionally, our finding
could provide the impetus toward inclusion of such topics in teaching, in order to raise student interest
in Science and Science careers, which is declining globally. The finding can be even more important lo-
cally in countries like Slovenia, where Science is unpopular among students as early as in upper primary
school, and attitudes concerning Science subjects are even more negative than in other parts of the
world. Recognizing this problem, many educators worldwide are trying to find a way to make Natural
Sciences more attractive, while not losing quality but even raising it. Based on findings from many
studies (Michael, 2006), it is possible to conclude that raising the quality of teaching and learning can
only be achieved with fully engaged students, who expect the teaching of science to involve a mixture
of interesting, multimedia-supported lectures with frequent laboratory and field work. Additionally
choosing balanced kinds of GMOs as a topic in teaching can be used to raise interest in science in both
genders (Jones et al., 2000).
At the other end of the scale are the emotions of fear, disgust and anger, which can work against

60
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 EMOTIONS EXPRESSED TOWARD GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS AMONG
SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS AND PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS
(P. 53-64)

intended teaching outcomes, which is to educate a person who will make his/her decisions concerning
socio-scientific issues on the basis of scientific facts, understanding and critical thinking. Because not all
applications or GMOs triggered an equal response and are not equally acceptable ( orgo & Ambrožič,
2009; Šorgo & Ambrožič, 2010), we should plan teaching activities carefully to prevent any strength-
ening of negative emotions, with special attention given to Fear. Additionally, we can recognize from
Figure 1 that fear and disgust are not connected. Our findings contradict finding that disgust and fear
toward parasites correlate (Prokop et al., 2010 a; Prokop et al, 2010 b) showed that fear and disgust of
GM products are different from evolved mechanisms protecting humans against harmful animals. In-
depth research in this field is necessary.
So, in dealing with fear, one could start with a GMO that does not produce disgust as a response.
The reason is that disgust would be understood as emotion that protect individuals against potentially
harmful objects or subjects and males showed higher mean disgust score in the case of GM products.
Further research in the protective role of disgust and gender differences is required, because recent
research show inconsistent results in this field (Prokop & Fančičova, 2010).
When thinking internationally we have to take into account that there should be differences in
strategies between countries or states where GMOs are openly used in food production and countries
where students do not have first hand experience with GMOs, or are unaware of them, even if they are
available the on market (e. g. drugs from GMOs).
All the above clearly shows the need to further investigate the role of emotion, especially positive
emotions, not only in the case of GMOs, but in other socioscientific topics to raise not only interest and
knowledge about important science topics but also willingness to participate in public debate from the
standpoint of the scientifically literate citizen.

Acknowledgement

The study was partly supported by the Slovene Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technol-
ogy, within the Biodiversity research programme (P1-0078).

References

Abrahams, I. (2009). Does Practical Work Really Motivate? A study of the affective value of practical work in
secondary school science. International Journal of Science Education, 31(17), 2335-2353.
Allum, N., Sturgis, P., Tabourazi, D., & Brunton-Smith, I. (2008). Science knowledge and attitudes across cultures:
a meta-analysis. Public Understanding of Science, 17, 35–54.
Alsop, S., & Watts, M. (2003). Science education and affect. International Journal of Science Education, 25(9),
1043–1047.
Barrett, L. F., Gendron, M., & Huang, Y. M. (2009). Do discrete emotions exist? Philosophical Psychology, 22(4),
427–437.
Bixler, R. D., & Floyd, M. F. (1999). Hands On or Hands Off? Disgust Sensitivity and Preference for Environmental
Education Activities. Journal of Environmental Education, 30(3), 4–11.
Bizer, G. Y. (2004). Attitudes. Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology. Spielberger C. D. et al. (eds.). San Diego (CA),
Academic Press/Elsevier, 245–249.
Chen, S. Y., & Raffan, J. (1999). Biotechnology: student’s knowledge and attitudes in the UK and Taiwan. Journal
of Biological Education, 34(1), 17–23.
Christoph, I. B., Bruhn, M., & Roosen, J. (2008). Knowledge, attitudes towards and acceptability of genetic
modification in Germany. Appetite, 51(1), 58–68.
Čagran, B., Grmek, Ivanuš, M., & Štemberger, T. (2009). External Differentiation and Emotional-Personal Views
of Learning. Didactica Slovenica-Pedagoska Obzorja, 24(2), 3–19.
Črne-Hladnik, H., Peklaj, C., Košmelj, K., Hladnik, A., & Javornik, Branka. (2009). Assessment of Slovene secondary
school students’ attitudes to biotechnology in terms of usefulness, moral acceptability and risk perception. Public
Understanding of Science, 18(6), 747–758.
Dean, D., & Kuhn, D. (2007). Direct instruction vs. discovery: The long view. Science Education, 91(3), 384–397.
de Villiers, R., & and Monk (2005). The first cut is the deepest: reflections on the state of animal dissection in

61
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
EMOTIONS EXPRESSED TOWARD GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS AMONG
SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS AND PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 53-64)

biology education. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 37(5), 583–600.

Ekman, P. (1992). Are there basic emotions. Psychological Review, 99(3), 550–553.
Ekman, P. (1999). Basic Emotions. Handbook of Cognition and Emotion. Dalgleish T. (ed.), Power M. J. (ed.). Sus-
sex: UK, John Wiley & Sons, 45–60.
Erdoğan, M., Özel, M., Uşak, M., & Prokop, P. (2009). Development and validation of an instrument to measure
university students’ biotechnology attitude. Journal of Science Education & Technology, 18 (3), 255–264.
Finucane, M. L. (2002). Mad Cows, mad corn and mad communities: the role of socio-cultural factors in the
perceived risk of genetically-modified food. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 61, 31–37.
Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology - The broaden-and-build theory
of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226.
Hargreaves, A. (2000). Mixed emotions: teachers’ perceptions of their interactions with students. Teaching and
Teacher Education, 16(8), 811–826.
Holstermann, N., Grube, D., & Bögeholz, S. (2009). The influence of emotion on students’ performance in dis-
section exercises. Journal of Biological Education, 43(4), 164–168.
Illeris, K. (2008). Competence Development - the key to modern education, or just another buzzword? Asia
Pacific Education Review, 9(1), 1-4.
Izard, C. E., Libero, D. Z., Putnam, P., & Haynes, O. M. (1993). Stability of emotion experiences and their relations
to traits of personality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64(5), 847–860.
James, J.S. (2004). Consumer knowledge and acceptance of agricultural biotechnology vary. California Agri-
culture, 58(2), 99–105.
Jones, M.G., A. Howe, and M.J. Rua. 2000. Gender differences in students’ experiences, interests, and attitudes
toward science and scientists. Science Education, 84 (2): 180–92.
Kraus, S. J. (1995) Attitudes and the prediction of behaviour: a meta-analysis of the empirical literature. Per-
sonality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21(1), 58–75.
Laros, F. J. M., & Steenkamp, J. E. M. (2004). Importance of Fear in the Case of Genetically Modified Food. Psy-
chology & Marketing, 21(11), 889–908.
Legendre, P., & Legendre, L., (1998). Numerical Ecology. Elsevier: Amsterdam, 853 pp.
Michael, J. (2006). Where’s the evidence that active learning works? Advances in Physiology Education, 30 (4),
159–167.
Morgan, J. M. (1992). A theoretical basis for evaluating wildlife-related education programs. American Biology
Teacher, 54(3), 153–157.
Myers, D. G. (2007). Psychology. New York, Worth Publishers: 928 pp.
Ortony, A., & Turner, T. J. (1990). What is basic about basic emotions. Psychological Review, 97(3), 315–331.
Osborne, J., Simon, S., & Collins S (2003). Attitudes towards science: a review of the literature and its implications.
International Journal of Science Education, 25(9), 1049-1079.
Özden, M., Uşak, M., Prokop, P., Türkoglu, A., & Bahar, M. (2008). Student teachers’ knowledge of and attitudes
toward chemical hormone usage in biotechnology. African Journal of Biotechnology, 7(21), 3892–3899.
Pardo, R.; Midden, C., & Miller, J. D. (2002). Attitudes toward biotechnology in the European Union. Journal of
Biotechnology, 2002, 98(1), 9–24.
Prokop, P., Fančovičová, J., & Kubiatko, M. (2009). Vampires are still alive: Slovakian students’ attitudes toward
bats. Anthrozoös, 22(1), 19–30.
Prokop, P., & Fančovičová, J. (2010). The association between disgust, danger and fear of macroparasites and
human behaviour. Acta Ethologica, 13 (1): 57 – 62.)
Prokop, P., Lešková. A., Kubiatko, M., & Diran, C. (2007). Slovakian students’ knowledge of and attitudes toward
biotechnology. International Journal of Science Education, 29(7), 895 – 907.
Prokop, P., Özel, M., & Uşak, M. (2009). Cross-cultural comparison of student attitudes toward snakes. Society
and Animals, 17(3), 224–240.
Prokop, P., & Tunnicliffe, S. D. (2008): ‘Disgusting animals’: Primary school children’s attitudes and myths of bats
and spiders. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 4(2), 87–97.
Prokop, P., & Tunnicliffe, S.D. (2010). Effects of keeping pets on children’s attitudes toward popular and unpopular
animals. Anthrozoös, 23(1), 21–35.
Prokop, P., Uşak, M., & Fančovičová, J. (2010). Health and the avoidance of macroparasites: A preliminary cross-
cultural study. Journal of Ethology, 28(2), 345 – 351.
Prokop, P., Uşak, M., & Fančovičová, J. (2010). Risk of parasite transmission influences perceived vulnerability
to disease and perceived danger of disease-relevant animals. Behavioural Processes, 85(1), 52 – 57.
Rebernik, M., & irec, K., (2007). Fostering innovation by unlearning tacit knowledge. Kybernetes, 36(3-4),
406–419.
Ronteltap, A., Van Trijp, J. C. M., Renes, R. J., & Frewer, L. J. (2007). Consumer acceptance of technology-based
food innovations: Lessons for the future of nutrigenomics. Appetite, 49(1), 1–17.
Sadler, T. D. (2004) Informal reasoning regarding socioscientific issues: A critical review of research. Journal of
Research in Science Teaching, 41(5), 513–536.

62
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898 EMOTIONS EXPRESSED TOWARD GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS AMONG
SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS AND PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS
(P. 53-64)

Sadler,T. D., & Zeidler, D. L. (2004). The morality of socioscientific issues: Construal and resolution of genetic
engineering dilemmas. Science Education, 88(1), 4–27.
Sadler,T. D., & Zeidler, D. L. (2005a). The significance of content knowledge for informal reasoning regarding
sociescientific issues: applying genetic knowledge to genetic engineering issues, Science Education, 89, 71–93.
Sadler,T. D., & Zeidler, D. L. (2005b). Patterns of informal Reasoning in the Context of Socioscientific Decision
Making. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 42(1), 112–138).
Seligman, M. E. P., Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology - An introduction. American Psychologist,
55(1), 5–14.
Silberstein, M., & Tamir, P. (1981). Factors Which Affect Students‘ Attitudes towards the Use of Living Animals
in Learning Biology. Science Education, 65(2), 119–130.
Smith, H., & Schneider, A. (2009). Critiquing Models of Emotions. Sociological Methods & Research, 37(4),
560–589.
Spence, A., & Townsend, E. (2006). Examining consumer behaviour toward genetically modified (GM) food in
Britain. Risk Analysis, 26(3), 657–670.
Sternberg, R. J. (2001). What is the common thread of creativity? Its dialectical relation to intelligence and
wisdom. American Psychologist, 56, 360–362.
Stewart, A. P, & McLEan, W. P. (2005). Public opinion toward the first, second and third generations of plant
biotechnology. In vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology – Plant. 41, 718–724.
Strongman, K. T. (2003). The psychology of emotion: from everyday life to theory. Chichester, England, John Wiley
& Sons: 340 pp.
Šorgo, A., Ambrožič-Dolinšek, J. (2009). The relationship among knowledge of, attitudes toward and accep-
tance of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) among Slovenian teachers. Electronic Journal of Biotechnology,
12(3), 1–13.
Šorgo, A., Ambrožič-Dolinšek, J. (2010). Knowlege of, attitudes toward, and acceptance of genetically modified
organisms among prospective teachers of biology, home economics, and grade school in Slovenia. Biochemistry
and Molecular Biology Education, 38(3), 141–150.
Talarico, J., Berntsen, D., & Rubin, D. (2009). Positive emotions enhance recall of peripheral details. Cognition
& Emotion, 23(2), 380–398.
Tomažič, I. (2008). The Influence of Direct Experience on Students’ Attitudes to, and Knowledge about Amphib-
ians, Acta Biologica Slovenica, 51, 39–48.
Tomažic, I., Vidic, T. (2009) A biology teacher – a second career choice. Acta Biologica Slovenica, 52(1), 49–59.
Uşak, M., Erdogan, M., Prokop, P., Özel, M. (2009). Turkish high school and university students’ knowledge and
attitudes regarding biotechnology. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 37(2), 123–130.

Appendix 1

V1: You have unknowingly eaten a meal containing food produced from genetically modified animals (e.
g., Salmon with an additional gene for fast growth, or a pig with a genes to change the relation between the
content of saturated and unsaturated fats). Shortened: You have eaten genetically modified food from
animals.
V2: Unknowingly you have eaten a meal containing food produced from genetically modified plants (e.
g., Potato resistant to viral diseases, tomatoes with genes that delay softening). Shortened: You have eaten
genetically modified food from plants.
V3: In the apartment where you live your roommate has brought home a genetically modified animal (e.
g., A cat with non-allergenic fur, or a fish that glows in the dark). Shortened: Living with genetically modi-
fied animals.
V4 You have recognized that in your immediate neighborhood genetically modified plants are being
cultivated (e. g., Maize MON 810). Shortened: Genetically modified plants growing in your immediate
neighborhood.
V5: One of your internal organs is losing its function, and you have been offered replacement of the damaged
organ by an organ from a genetically modified animal. Shortened: Transplantation of an organ from a
genetically modified animal.
V6: You have learned that an active substance in your prescription drugs is produced from genetically
modified yeast. Shortened: Medicines from genetically modified yeast.

63
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
EMOTIONS EXPRESSED TOWARD GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS AMONG
SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS AND PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS
ISSN 1648–3898
(P. 53-64)

V7: You have learned that a biotechnical plant in your immediate neighborhood is producing chemical
substances for use in the paper industry by using genetically modified microorganisms. Shortened:
Genetically modified microorganisms in the production of chemical substances.
V8: You have been informed that a nearby biotechnological plant is using genetically modified plants
(e.g., corn) for the production of biofuels. Shortened: Genetically modified plants in the production
of biofuels.
V9: Your child or relative has diabetes and will be dependent on insulin throughout his life. You have learned
that there is a possibility for genetic healing, where new intact genes will be transferred into the cells of the
pancreas of the ill person. Shortened: Genetic healing.
V10: You have learned that the cotton shirt you are wearing was produced from genetically modified cotton
resistant to insects. Shortened: Contact with material produced from genetically modified plant.

Received: August 10, 2010 Accepted: February 22, 2011

Andrej Šorgo Professor, University of Maribor, Faculty of Natural Sciences

and Mathematics, Koro ka cesta 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia.
Phone: +38622293709, Fax: +38622518180.
E-mail: andrej.sorgo@uni-mb.si,
Website: http://www.uni-mb.si/
Jana Ambrožič Dolinšek Assoc. Professor, University of Maribor, Faculty of Natural
Sciences and Mathematics, Koro ka cesta 160, 2000 Maribor,
Slovenia.
Phone: +38622293704, Fax: +38622518180.
E-mail: jana.ambrozic@uni-mb.si
Website: http://www.uni-mb.si/
Iztok Tomažič Assistant, University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty,
Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Phone: +3864233388, Fax: +38612573390.
E-mail: iztok.tomazic@bf.uni-lj.si
Website: http://www.bf.uni-lj.si/
Franc Janžekovič Professor, University of Maribor, Faculty of Natural Sciences
and Mathematics, Koroška cesta 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia.
Phone: +38622293704, Fax: +38622518180.
E-mail: franc.janzekovic@uni-mb.si
Website: http://www.uni-mb.si/

64
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898

INFORMATION
EDITORIAL POLICY FOR CONTRIBUTORS
Journal of Baltic Science Education (JBSE) publishes original scientific research articles in the field of Natural Science Education
and related areas for all educational levels in the Baltic countries. It is possible to publish special (thematic) issues of JBSE. The
papers should be submitted and will be published in English. JBSE will promote to establish contacts between researchers and
practical educators both in the Baltic countries and countries around.
The authors of the manuscripts are responsible for the scientific content and novelty of the research materials. Articles,
published before in other international journals or papers’ collections will not be accepted for publication in JBSE.
As a publication that represents a variety of cross-disciplinary interests, both theoretical and practical, the JBSE invites manuscripts
on a wide range of topics, especially in the following areas:
• Didactics of natural sciences. • Philosophical, political, economical and social aspects
• Theory and practice in natural science teacher of natural science education.
education. • The supplementary natural science education.
• Integrated natural science education. • ICT in natural science education.
• Natural science and technological literacy. • The standardisation of natural science education etc.
• General and professional natural science education.

MANUSCRIPTS GUIDELINES
The structure of the research paper presented to the Journal of Baltic Science Education should be as follows: abstract - short
report of the investigation; introduction inc. aim and subject of the research; research methodologies and methods; results of the
research incl. discussion; conclusions; list of references in APA style.
The papers should be submitted in English. If English is a second language for the author, please consider having the
manuscript proof read and edited before submitting. The preliminary text of the article can be sent as a.doc file in the attachment
by e-mail: mail.jbse@gmail.com  
The text must be elaborated in Word for Windows, using 12 point Times New Roman letters. An article should not exceed 7-10 A4
pages, included figures, tables and bibliography. Publishing of longer articles should be negotiated separately. Texts margins: top and
bottom 20mm, left - 25mm, right - 20mm. The title: capital letters, 14pt, bold; space between the title and the author’s name is one line
interval. Author’s name and surname: small letters, 12pt, bold. Under the name, institution: 11 pt, italics; space between the title and the
text: 1 line interval. Abstract – about 100-150 words - precedes the text.  The text: 12pt Single or Auto spacing, in one column. Key words:
no more than five words. The language must be clear and accurate. The authors have to present the results, propositions and conclusions
in a form that can suit scientists from different countries.
 Titles of the tables and figures: 11 pt, small letters. Space between figures or tables and the text: 1 line interval. Introduction, titles
of chapters and subchapters: 12pt, bold, small letters. Numbers: Arabic, subchapters numbered by two figures (1.1, 1.2, etc.). Figures,
tables and captions should be inserted within the manuscript at their appropriate locations. Diagrams and graphs should be provided
as finished black and white line artwork or electronic images. When there are a number of illustrations, the author should endeavour to
reduce the amount of text to accommodate the illustrations in the limited space available for any article.
References in the text should be presented in brackets (Knox, 1988; Martin, 1995). If necessary, the page can be indicated:
(Martin, 1995, p.48). The list of references should be presented after the text. The Words List of References: 11pt, bold, small letters.
The references should be listed in full at the end of the paper in the following standard form:
For books: Saxe, G.B. (1991). Cultural and Cognitive Development: Studies in Mathematical Understanding. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
For articles: Bekerian, D.A. (1993). In Search of the Typical Eyewitness. American Psychologist, 48, 574-576.
For chapters within books: Bjork, R.A. (1989). Retrieval Inhibition as an Adaptive Mechanism in Human Memory. In: H.L. Roediger III
& F.I.M. Craik (Eds.), Varieties of Memory & Consciousness (pp. 309-330). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
On a separate page, author - related data should be presented in English: name, surname, degree and academic title, institution,
full correspondence address in the clearest and most complete form /ordinary post and e-mail addresses /, position (to ensure anonymity
in the review process). The author (authors) should confirm in writing, that the manuscript has not been published in other
journal or handed over (transferred) to other journal for publication.
EDITORIAL AND REVIEW PROCEDURES
Manuscripts will be sent anonymously to reviewers with expertise in the appropriate area. All manuscripts will be rewieved
by two experts before JBSE’s accept them for publication. This process usually takes about two months. The journal co-editors
will make minor editorial changes; major changes will be made by the author(s) prior to publication if necessary. JBSE’s redaction
will sent to author(s) only one correcture which must be sent back within 2 weeks. JBSE will not review submissions previously
published elsewhere through print or electronic medium.
         Manuscripts submitted to the JBSE cannot be returned to authors. Authors should be sure to keep a copy for themselves.
Authors’ signatures should be at the end of the paper and its second checked proofs.
Authors who are not JBSE subscribers are required to pay the fee of 150 euros in order to publish a paper in the journal.
Individual cases can be negotiated individually with editors of JBSE.
Manuscripts, editorial correspondence (and other correspondence for subscription and exchange), and any questions should
be sent to editor-in-chief or to regional redactors.

Mailing Addresses
Prof., Dr. Vincentas Lamanauskas, editor-in-chief, Dr. Naglis Švickus, co-editor, Lithuania
Siauliai University SMC ”Scientia Educologica”
P. Vishinskio Str. 25; LT-76351 Siauliai, Lithuania Kretingos Str. 55-10; LT-92300 Klaipėda, Lithuania
E-mail: v.lamanauskas@ef.su.lt E-mail: naglis.svickus@nbgroup.lt
Phone: + 370 687 95668 Phone: +370 687 89985

Prof., Dr. Janis Gedrovics, co-editor, Latvia Prof., Dr. habil. Aarne Tõldsepp, co-editor, Estonia
Riga Teacher Training and Educational Management Academy Tungla 7,
Imantas 7 linija No 1; Riga, LV-1083, Latvia Tartu, EE-51006, Estonia
E-mail: janis.gedrovics@rpiva.lv E-mail: toots@tdl.ee
Phone: +371 29162147 Phone: + 372 7 422241

65
 Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898
JBSE

66
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011
ISSN 1648–3898

JBSE
Problems of Management in the
21st Century is an international,
periodical, peer reviewed
scientific journal, issued by the
SMC “Scientia Educologica”.

Editor-in-Chief

Prof.dr. Vincentas Lamanauskas,

Scientific Methodical Centre
„Scientia Educologica“, Republic of
Lithuania

Problems of Management in the

21st Century (ISSN 2029-6932) is
abstracted and/or indexed in:

Index Copernicus -
http://journals.indexcopernicus.com
/karta.php?action=masterlist&id=61
17

EBSCO: Business Source Complete

- http://search.ebscohost.com

Editor-in-Chief

Prof.dr. Vincentas Lamanauskas, Scientific Methodical Centre „Scientia Educologica“,

Republic of Lithuania

Editorial Board

Assoc. prof., dr. Tsai-Hsin Chu, National Chiayi University, Taiwan (from 2011)
Assoc. prof., dr. Marek Franek, University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic (from 2011)
Prof., dr. Ivars Muzis, Riga Teacher Training and Educational Managament Academy, Latvia
(from 2011)
Prof., dr. Sonia Teresinha de Sousa Penin, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil (from 2011)
Prof., dr. Chris Rensleigh, University of Johannesburg, South Africa (from 2011)

Website: http://www.jbse.webinfo.lt/PMC/Problems_of_Management.htm

67
Journal of Baltic Science Education, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011

Compiled by: Vincentas Lamanauskas

Linguistic Editors: Gintaras Vaidogas,
Gražina Lamanauskienė
Cover design by: Jurgina Jankauskienė
Layout design by : Linas Janonis
Contact person: Laima Railienė

30/03/2011. Publishing in Quires 8. Edition 200

Publisher SMC „Scientia Educologica“,

Donelaicio Street 29, LT-78115 Siauliai, Lithuania
E-mail: gu@projektas.lt
Phone: +370 687 95668
http://www.jbse.webinfo.lt/centras.htm

Printing K. J. Vasiliauskas`s enterprise Lucilijus,
14 lyros Street, apt. 25, LT–78288 Šiauliai, Lithuania
E-mail: orfis@svi.lt, phone/fax +370 41 595 518.
http://www.lucilijus.lt