STAVOVI UČITELJA PRIMARNOG OBRAZOVANJA O RADU U KOMBINIRANIM ODJELJENJIMA

In the educational system of Serbia, combined classes have a significant role, especially in the lower grades of elementary schools. In order to fulfill their educational tasks in such classes, teachers are required not only to have adequate knowledge, but also to possess skills, creativity and a high degree of motivation. The aim of this research was to analyse the attitude of teachers in Serbia towards working in combined classes. The methods applied were descriptive and analytical, and the techniques were field investigation, action investigation and combined techniques. Teachers from Vojvodina (Serbia) took part in the survey. According to the defined tasks, a questionnaire was designed and implemented. The results indicate a high level of motivation by teachers to work in combined classes, but also a low level of appropriate preparation. Their professional training should be improved to enable them to successfully fulfill all the related educational requirements.U obrazovnom sustavu Srbije kombinirana odjeljenja imaju bitnu ulogu, pogotovo u primanom obrazovanju. Kako bi ispunili obrazovne zadaće u kombiniranim odjeljenjima učitelji moraju posjedovati primjereno znanje, ali i vještine, kreativnost i visok stupanj motiviranosti. Cilj istraživanja bio je analizirati stavove učitelja u Srbiji o radu u kombiniranim odjeljenjima. Primijenjene su deskriptivne i statističke metode, dok su podaci prikupljeni terenskim istraživanjem, akcijskim istraživanjem i kombiniranim tehnikama. U istraživanju su sudjelovali učitelji iz Vojvodine. Prema defi niranim zadacima dizajniran je i primjenjen upitnik za učitelje. Rezultati pokazuju visok stupanj motiviranosti učitelja za rad u kombiniranim odjeljenjima, ali i nizak stupanj primjerene pripreme. Profesionalna obuka trebala bi se poboljšati kako bi učiteljima omogućila uspješno ostvarivanje obrazovnih potreba

Examining systems thinking through the application of systemic approach in the secondary school chemistry teaching

This study was conducted during the second semester of 2012/2013 school year, with the aim to investigate two possible applications of systemic synthesis questions, SSynQs: as instructional and assessment tools observing the construct of systems thinking in organic chemistry. In order to achieve this aim, the secondary school students were divided into two groups, one experimental (E: systemic classroom training) and one control (C: traditional classroom training). The final testing was conducting after instruction on three teaching themes: “Alcohols, phenols, ethers”, “Carbonyl compounds” and “Carboxylic acids and their derivatives”. The instrument for assessing students’ systems thinking skills contained isomorphic and analogical SSynQs, while the results focused on E and C group students’ percentage distribution through the four levels of systems thinking construct, as well as differences in their performances. Namely, the results obtained from both isomorphic and analogical SSynQs indicated that male and female students subjected to systemic classroom training developed systems thinking skills in more effective way than students from control group. Perceiving analogical SSynQs and gender as independent variable, the statistically significant difference appeared in E group within the most complex IV level of systems thinking, for the benefit of females. However, contrary to our previous research, E group male students were as much successful as female students in III level, and this finding led us to the conclusion that male students might benefit from longer lasting instruction with SSynQs

Effects of the Know-Want-Learn Strategy on Primary School Students’ Metacognition and Physics Achievement

This study is aimed at examining the effects of the Know-Want-Learn (KWL) strategy on primary school students’ metacognition and physics achievement. A pre-test – post-test control group design was used, where the treatment was the implementation of the KWL strategy. A physics knowledge test and a questionnaire about metacognition were administered to sixth-grade primary school students of both genders. The results obtained were treated statistically, using descriptive statistics and a paired-samples t-test, as well as an independent samples t-test. The analysis of the results obtained showed that for both  variables (physics achievement and metacognition): (1) there was no significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores for the group  of students who had been taught traditionally, (2) there was a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores for the group  of students who had been taught by the use of KWL strategy and (3) there was a significant difference in the post-test scores between the group  of students who had been taught traditionally and the group  of students who had been taught by the use of the KWL strategy. Important insights about the effects of the KWL strategy in learning physics have been generated

Evaluacija utjecaja razine konteksta na učenička postignuća i samopercipirana kognitivna opterećenja u problemskim zadatcima iz kemije

This study was conducted with the aim to examine the effect of context on perceived cognitive load and students’ achievements in problem-solving tasks. It included 161 eighth-grade students. The tasks in the test, which was used as a measuring instrument for assessing knowledge, were designed at three levels of complexity: without context, with moderate and with rich context. Each task was followed by a 7-point Likert-type scale, as a measure of perceived cognitive load. The analysis of obtained results showed that the highest average achievement was reached in the group of tasks without context, followed by the group of tasks with moderate context, while the group of context-rich tasks was characterized by the lowest achievement. Furthermore, the results have shown that there is a statistically significant difference between achievement in tasks without context and tasks with moderate context, as well as between achievement in tasks without context and context-rich tasks, while there was no statistically significant difference between achievement in tasks with moderate and context-rich tasks. Similar results were obtained for the perceived cognitive load, thus indicating that context-rich tasks abound in information and therefore impose high cognitive demands on learners. These findings may represent a significant contribution to the still under-researched area of context-based assessment thus paving way for further research in this area, such as investigating the influence of prior knowledge or motivation on solving context-rich tasks.Ova je studija provedena s ciljem ispitivanja utjecaja konteksta na samopercipirana kognitivna opterećenja i učenička postignuća u problemskim zadatcima. Njome je obuhvaćen 161 učenik osmog razreda osnovne škole. Test je korišten kao mjerilo za procjenu znanja. Zadatci na testu bili su dizajnirani u tri razine kompleksnosti – bez konteksta, s umjerenim i bogatim kontekstom. U okviru svakog zadatka nalazila se ljestvica Likertova tipa sa sedam stupnjeva za mjerenje samopercipiranog kognitivnog opterećenja. Analiza dobivenih rezultata pokazala je da je najviše prosječno postignuće ostvareno u skupini zadataka bez konteksta, zatim u skupini zadataka s umjerenim kontekstom, a najniže je prosječno postignuće ostvareno u skupini zadataka s bogatim kontekstom. Nadalje, rezultati su pokazali da postoji statistički značajna razlika u postignućima u zadatcima bez konteksta i zadatcima s umjerenim kontekstom, kao i između postignuća u zadatcima bez konteksta i zadatcima s bogatim kontekstom, a da razlika u postignućima u zadatcima s umjerenim i zadatcima s bogatim kontekstom nije statistički značajna. Slični rezultati dobiveni su za samopercipirana kognitivna opterećenja, što upućuje na to da zadatci bogati kontekstom obiluju informacijama i stoga učenicima nameću visoke kognitivne zahtjeve. Ti pokazatelji mogu predstavljati važan doprinos do sada nedovoljno istraženom području kontekstualiziranih zadataka, otvarajući put za daljnja istraživanja u tom području, kao što su ispitivanja utjecaja predznanja ili motivacije na rješavanje zadataka bogatih kontekstom

Kognitivno opterećenje na različitim razinama kemijskih prikaza

The purpose of this study was to examine students\u27 achievements and cognitive loads at different levels of chemistry representations. The research was carried out among students majoring in chemistry teaching. A test was used as a measuring instrument for knowledge evaluation. Each task contained three subtasks, in macroscopic, sub-microscopic and symbolic domain. Each subtask in the test was followed by a seven point Likert scale (ranging from \u27extremely easy\u27 to \u27extremely difficult\u27) for the evaluation of cognitive load. A parallel analysis of the obtained results has shown that students\u27 evaluations of cognitive load are in accordance with the accomplishments achieved on the test. Students have estimated that the greatest cognitive load corresponds to sub-microscopic level, which resulted in the lowest achievements. The results have also shown that there are no major differences in the average students\u27 achievements in macroscopic and symbolic level, which are also in line with the evaluated cognitive load. Hence, it can be concluded that the students are able to review the cognitive processes and to evaluate the difficulty of the task.Svrha ovog istraživanja bila je ispitati postignuća studenata i kognitivno opterećenje na različitim razinama kemijskih prikaza. Istraživanje je provedeno među studentima koji će u budućnosti biti nastavnici kemije. Mjerni instrument koji se koristio za vrednovanje znanja bio je test. Svaki zadatak sastojao se od tri podzadatka, u makroskopskoj, submikroskopskoj i simboličkoj domeni. Svaki podzadatak sadržavao je Likertovu skalu od sedam stupnjeva, koja je omogućavala ispitanicima da ocijene tvrdnje ovisno o tome smatraju li da su one „iznimno lagane“, pa sve do onih za koje smatraju da su „iznimno teške“. Paralelna analiza dobivenih rezultata pokazala je da je način na koji su studenti vrednovali kognitivno opterećenje bila u skladu s njhovim postignućima na testu. Studenti su smatrali da je najveće kognitivno opterećenje ono vezano uz submikroskopsku razinu, što je rezultiralo njihovim najslabijim postignućima. Rezultati su također pokazali da ne postoje značajne razlike u prosječnim postignućima studenata na makroskopskoj i simboličkoj razini, što je također u skladu s vrednovanim kognitivnim opterećenjem. Stoga se može zaključiti da su studenti sposobni proučiti kognitivne procese i procijeniti težinu zadatka

Primjena sistemičkog pristupa u početnoj nastavi kemije:usvajanje pojma mola

Many studies carried out on the mole concept emphasize that students show significant difficulties in learning this concept. The aim of our research was to analyze those difficulties that students, who have their first contact with chemistry in school, encounter, and also to examine the usefulness of systemics as a graphical way of knowledge representation. The sample of the study included seventh grade students from a primary school in Novi Sad, Serbia. Based on the results of the pre-test, students were divided into three main groups: "excellent", "good" and "acceptable", which all consisted of two subgroups: experimental and control. Students in the experimental subgroup were learning by applying systemics, while the students in the control subgroup were taught by traditional method. The final results show that systemics is convenient in overcoming the difficulties in the case of "excellent" and "acceptable" groups of students, while the same cannot be concluded for the students characterized as "good". Systemics has not proved to be adequate for them. The following question remains a topic for the future research: Is there any way that the group of students characterized as “good” still benefits from learning with systemics? In addition, new research on a larger number of students should be conducted, in order to statistically confirm these results, or to discuss new ones.Mnoga istraživanja koja su se bavila pojmom mola naglašavaju činjenicu da učenici imaju znatne poteškoće u usvajanju toga pojma. Cilj našeg istraživanja bio je analizirati upravo one poteškoće s kojima se učenici susreću kada prvi put počinju učiti kemiju kao školski predmet, kao i ispitati korisnost sistemika kao grafičkog načina prikazivanja znanja. Uzorak u istraživanju obuhvatio je učenike sedmog razreda jedne osnovne škole u Novom Sadu, u Srbiji. Na temelju provedenog testa predznanja učenici su bili podijeljeni u tri glavne skupine: „odličnu“, „dobru“ i „prihvatljivu“, a svaka od njih sastojala se od dvije podskupine: eksperimentalne i kontrolne. Učenici u eksperimentalnoj podskupini učili su primjenom sistemika u nastavi, a učenike u kontrolnoj podskupini podučavalo se primjenom tradicionalnih metoda. Završni rezultati pokazuju da je sistemički pristup pogodan za prevladavanje poteškoća u slučaju „odlične“ i „prihvatljive“ skupine učenika, ali se isto ne može zaključiti za učenike koji pripadaju „dobroj“ skupini. Sistemici se nisu pokazali prikladnim za njih. Sljedeće pitanje može biti temom budućih istraživanja: Postoji li ikakav način da skupina učenika koji su opisani kao „dobri“ može imati koristi od učenja po sistemičkom pristupu? K tomu, trebalo bi provesti novo istraživanje na većem uzorku učenika, da bi se navedeni rezultati statistički potvrdili ili da bi se raspravilo o novim rezultatima

Evaluation of Cognitive Complexity of Tasks for the Topic Hydrogen Exponent in the Solutions of Acids and Bases

The aim of this study was evaluation of cognitive complexity of tasks for the topic hydrogen exponent in the solutions of acids and bases and its validation. The created procedure included an assessment of the difficulty of concepts and an assessment of their interactivity. There were 48 freshmen students enrolled in the study program Basic academic studies in chemistry. As a research instrument for assessing performance, test of knowledge was specifically constructed for this research. Each task in the test was followed by a seven-point Likert scale for the evaluation of invested mental effort. The evaluation of cognitive complexity was confirmed by a series of linear regression analysis where high values of correlation coefficients are obtained among the examined variables: student’s performance and invested mental effort (dependent variables) and cognitive complexity (independent variable)

Identification of Misconceptions through Multiple Choice Tasks at Municipal Chemistry Competition Test

In this paper, the level of conceptual understanding of chemical contents among seventh grade students who participated in the municipal Chemistry competition in Novi Sad, Serbia, in 2013 have been examined. Tests for the municipal chemistry competition were used as a measuring instrument, wherein only multiple choice tasks were considered and analyzed. Determination of the level of conceptual understanding of the tested chemical contents was based on the calculation of the frequency of choosing the correct answers. Thereby, identification of areas of satisfactory conceptual understanding, areas of roughly adequate performance, areas of inadequate performance, and areas of quite inadequate performance have been conducted. On the other hand, the analysis of misconceptions was based on the analysis of distractors. The results showed that satisfactory level of conceptual understanding and roughly adequate performance characterize majority of contents, which was expected since only the best students who took part in the contest were surveyed. However, this analysis identified a large number of misunderstandings, as well. In most of the cases, these misconceptions were related to the inability to distinguish elements, compounds, homogeneous and heterogeneous mixtures. Besides, it is shown that students are not familiar with crystal structure of the diamond, and with metric prefixes. The obtained results indicate insufficient visualization of the submicroscopic level in school textbooks, the imprecise use of chemical language by teachers and imprecise use of language in chemistry textbooks

PROBLEMI UČITELJA U REALIZACIJI IZBORNIH PREDMETA PRIRODNIH ZNANOSTI U RAZREDNOJ NASTAVI U SRBIJI

In the Republic of Serbia, first to fourth graders have to choose three optional subjects from the list comprising six of them. These also include science subjects, Hands in Dough and The Guardians of Nature. The present paper deals with teaching optional science subjects in the elementary school, as well as with problems teachers may have when they teach them. The research involved 182 elementary school teachers from Vojvodina. The analytical and descriptive method was used in the research, whereas the instrument referred to a questionnaire based on the crucial aim. The teachers mostly teach The Guardians of Nature, more than Hands in Dough, because of the contents they consider less complex in the former case. Besides, they think that they do not have enough professional and methodological knowledge to use the methods of science, which is taught within the latter subject, and that they lack the needed literature and technical recourses, so they do not offer Hands in Dough to children. In addition, they need some further training considering the use of scientific method to be able to improve their competences for teaching such a subject and provide children with better knowledge from the field of natural sciences.U Republici Srbiji djeca u razrednoj nastavi trebaju odabrati tri izborna predmeta od ponuđenih šest. Među izbornim predmetima su i predmeti prirodnih znanosti, Čuvari prirode i Ruka u tijestu. Cilj rada je analiza zastupljenosti i realizacije tih predmeta u nastavi, kao i analiza problema s kojima se učitelji susreću tokom njihove realizacije. U istraživanju su sudjelovala 182 učitelja iz Vojvodine. Primijenjena je analitičko-deskriptivna metoda. Instrument istraživanja je anketa, konstruirana na temelju postavljenoga cilja. Većina anketiranih učitelja više realizira predmet Čuvari prirode, jer su im sadržaji lakši, nego predmet Ruka u tijestu. Oni navode da nemaju dovoljno stručnog i metodičkog znanja za primjenu znanstvene metode, što se uči u predmetu Ruka u tijestu, kao i potrebnu literaturu i tehničke mogućnosti, zbog čega ovaj predmet djeci ne nude kao izborni. Nužno je daljnje stručno i metodičko usavršavanje učitelja u primjeni znanstvene metode da bi povećali kompetencije za poučavanje u sklopu predmeta Ruka u tijestu i djeci omogućili bolje znanje iz područja prirodnih znanosti

Eco-chemical knowledge, behavior and engagement of workers employed in the mineral fertilizer industry in Novi Sad

The level of environmental pollution is influenced by the knowledge, behavior and ecological engagement of both the individual and society. The mineral fertilizer industry represents a potential source of pollution. The issue examined in this study is the level of eco-chemical knowledge, behavior and ecological engagement of the workers employed in the mineral fertilizer industry in Novi Sad. We have concluded that the workers hover low level of knowledge, behavior and engagement. The results obtained could be used for the selection of methods to enhance the eco-chemical knowledge of the employees