International Journal of Science Education

This article investigates STEM education perceptions among pre-service teachers from various specialties at a pedagogical university in Ukraine, highlighting its role in addressing socio-economic and environmental challenges of the country. The study aims to understand how pre-service teachers from various specialties view the integration of STEM into their professional activity. Key findings indicate that while there is a general positive attitude towards STEM education, significant variations exist across different specialties. Pre-service teachers of the ‘Science’ and ‘Early Childhood and Primary Education’ categories demonstrate higher engagement with STEM-oriented tasks compared to those in the ‘Arts and Humanities’ and ‘Social Sciences’ categories. The research reveals a gap in pre-service teachers’ understanding of STEM's interdisciplinary nature, often associating it primarily with technological innovations. The study identifies several barriers to the effective implementation of STEM education, including limited resources, insufficient knowledge of teachers, and a lack of appropriate teaching materials. To address these challenges, the article suggests enhancing STEM courses, providing professional development for teachers, and fostering collaboration with industry. Overall, the research underscores the importance of aligning STEM education with the needs and perceptions of pre-service teachers, emphasising its role in developing critical skills for future educators and contributing to Ukraine's recovery.

Students need a clear grasp of evolution to understand biology and the world's current environmental crises. Science teachers are essential in fostering evolution knowledge in their students. Numerous European studies have shown that science teachers possess a broad spectrum of alternative conceptions of evolution, and their acceptance of evolution varies. School curricula increasingly include key concepts of evolution from early grades on. However, studies are limited that examine differences in understandings and acceptance of evolution in different country contexts. This study investigated the knowledge and acceptance of evolution in Swiss science teachers: 1352 pre-and in-service year K-9 teachers were surveyed using two established questionnaires (KAEVO 2.0 and ATEVO). The results showed that as a group, pre-service kindergarten and primary school teachers had a poor grasp of evolution, while pre-and in-service lower secondary school teachers had moderate knowledge. However, we found that knowledge of evolution varied a great deal across the groups and that teachers in all groups had a range of alternative conceptions of evolution.

This study examined whether students’ gender differences have an impact on students’ levels of scientific inquiry competencies in technical education and training institutions in Tanzania by adopting a quantitative research approach and a survey design. A proportionate stratified sampling technique was employed to obtain 337 students (160 males and 177 females) enrolled in the laboratory science and technology programme. Data were collected through the use of a scientific inquiry competencies test and analysed using the one-way Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) technique. The results reveal that male students significantly outperformed their female counterparts in total scientific inquiry competencies and in generating hypotheses, conducting data analysis and interpretation, and drawing scientific conclusions. Contrary, both male and female students demonstrated equal competence in formulating scientific questions and in planning and designing scientific experiments. Notably, both male and female students demonstrated lower competencies in planning and designing scientific experiments compared to other competencies. Conclusively, male students performed better in the overall scientific inquiry competencies and in generating hypotheses, data analysis and interpretation and drawing scientific conclusions compared to female students. Thus, instructors are recommended to employ gender-responsive pedagogies during laboratory activities to create and offer optimal learning environments for both male and female students.

The decline of Earth's biodiversity highlights the crucial role of knowledge about species in understanding ecological interdependencies and supporting conservation efforts. This study assessed bird species identification skills among 1752 students (46.4% boys, 51.9% girls, 1.1% diverse) in grades 4-12 from different school types, focusing on 30 species. Demographic and individual factors were examined for their impact on bird species identification. Comparative analyses with a 2005 dataset reveal a significant 37.75% decrease in students' ability to correctly name birds at the species level. The average identification score was 6.84 (SD = 4.10) out of 30. Most students were only able to classify birds at the taxonomic level of family or order, but not at the species level. Factors such as age, school type, garden stay, distance to green space, interest in birds, perception of birds, and animal-related activities significantly influenced bird species identification. The study reveals a decline in bird species identification skills across all school types, particularly in schools of the highest stratification level, which nowadays have lower identification scores than medium stratification schools in 2005. The implications for educational institutions, particularly in the context of Education for Sustainable Development, emphasises the need for a reevaluating curriculum and teaching methods.

To promote gender equity in physics education, it is essential to understand the factors that influence how even pre-service teachers perceive, interpret and make decisions when gender inequities arise in the classroom. This means that we need to pay particular attention to teachers' professional vision of gender-sensitive physics teaching. The following study examines pre-service teachers' interest in gender-sensitive teaching and learning, as well as their learning opportunities and teaching experiences as potential predictors of their professional vision. A questionnaire and a vignette test were used for a cross-sectional survey of 586 pre-service teachers in Switzerland. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyse the predictors. The results contribute to the current research on gender-sensitive physics education, highlighting the importance of interest as the strongest predictor, followed by teaching experience and number of learning opportunities. The results are discussed in terms of their relevance for teacher training programs in gender-sensitive science education.