Future Primary and Preschool Teachers between a Tendency to Adjust and a Tendency to Innovate

Teachers at all levels of education must have an entrepreneurial mindset, be open to innovations and new ideas and skills to support the innovation and creativity of students, but also to work in the framework of the set standards. The goal of the research presented in this paper was to determine and analyse the structure of the grouping of future primary and preschool teachers into categories of adaptors, innovators and the so-called bridgers according to the KIA model, as well as to examine the factors of representation of the innovativeness/adaptability dimension. The sample comprised 204 students – future primary and preschool teachers. According to the results, almost a half of the respondents fall into the category of bridgers, namely persons who possess the characteristics of both innovative and adaptive cognitive styles. It was also established that students with higher academic achievement achieve better results, leaning towards adaptability. Similarly, senior year students ranked slightly higher in terms of the increased adaptability i.e. the lower the level of innovativeness. Our conclusion is that most respondents are consistent in performing their tasks; they are systematic, conscientious, responsible and committed to respecting social norms, rules and principles. On the other hand, future primary and preschool teachers should be encouraged to go beyond the set frameworks and support the change when the circumstances so require

The use of the research method in teaching the physical properties of water in introductory science instruction

The research method provides an opportunity for students to be gradually involved in the process of active learning, leading to the development and comprehension of educational content through the asking of questions, information analysis and critical thinking. The paper presents the results of research on the effectiveness of using an instruction model with the applied research method in teaching the physical properties of water in introductory science instruction. The sample comprised 109 primary school students (55 in the experimental group and 54 in the control group) in the town of Sombor and the village of Gajdobra, Serbia. Initial and final knowledge tests were used to measure the quality of students' knowledge of the physical properties of water, and the descriptive, causal and comparative methods were used to analyze the findings. The analysis suggests that the use of the research method results in higher quality knowledge compared to traditional approaches to introductory science teaching

The influence of filler type on the corrosion stability of the sulfure concrete

Sulfur concrete was prepared by using the initial components: sand as an aggregate, modified sulfur binder, and talc, alumina, microsilica, and fly ash as fillers. Portland cement concrete was made of the same aggregate and fillers and portland cement. The durability of prepared concrete samples was tested in following aggressive solutions: 10% HCl, 20% H2SO4, and 3% NaCl as a function of time. Changes in mass and strength of the sulfur concrete were monitored periodicallly during the immersion time of 360 days in above solutions. These changes were used as a measure of deterioration level. It should be highlighted that the samples with the ash and especially talc exhibit higher durability in the solutions of HCl and H2SO4 than the samples with alumina and microsilica. In the solutions of NaCl all samples shown excellent durability while the samples with talc were the best. Portland cement concrete samples after two months lost 20 % of mass and shown degradation of mechanical properties. By usage of sulfur for sulfur concrete production, huge environmental problem regarding storage of waste sulfur from oil refining process is solved. On the other hand, sulfur concrete with its low price has an excellent quality for the application in aggressive environments unlike more expensive PCC