Achilleas Mandrikas

• National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

In this paper, primary teachers’ views about STEM education and the conditions of its introduction to primary education are investigated. The results came from 114 questionnaires and 27 structured primary teachers’ interviews. STEM is clearly perceived as an interdisciplinary subject with many advantages, related to the cultivation of students’ sci...

A STEM education program entitled Come rain or shine implemented in a primary rural school in southern Greece as part of the Diffusion of STEM (DI-STEM) project and the results of its implementation are presented in this paper. The educational program deepened in weather education and intended to develop eight scientific practices for primary stude...

This paper presents the findings from a survey conducted on primary students to map their views toward science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in Greece according to their urban or rural setting and gender. The sample included 281 primary students from different public schools in Attica and 69 primary students from a Gree...

This article presents in a comparative way the findings from two surveys conducted on primary (students in Y6) and secondary (students in Y10) students in Attica, Greece, in order to map their views on distance science education, which was emergently implemented due to the COVID-19 outbreak during the school year 2020–2021. The research was conduct...

Στην παρούσα έρευνα επιδιώκεται η μελέτη των αντιλήψεων μαθητών πρωτοβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης σχετικά με την εκπαίδευση STEM. Συγκεκριμένα το δείγμα αποτελείται από 69 μαθητές που φοιτούν στην Ε ΄και στην Στ΄ τάξη του 2ου Δημοτικού Σχολείου Μεσσήνης. Η έρευνα αποτελεί μέρος ευρύτερου έργου που περιλαμβάνει τη δημιουργία Κόμβων Έρευνας και Καινοτομίας με...

This study aimed at mapping high school students’ views from several schools of Athens on physics teaching at a distance that took place due to COVID-19 pandemic during the school year 2020-2021. For this purpose, 197 students completed a questionnaire that included 14 closed-ended questions and two open-ended questions. Findings revealed that most...

In this paper the findings from research conducted with primary education students (K-6) are presented, explicitly focusing on students’ views concerning how Science was taught through distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic during the school year 2020-21. The sample of 378 students was not satisfied by the distance teaching and learning of...

This paper illustrates a year-long case study investigating in-service teachers’ needs and mentor’s practices in implementing cutting-edge research science topics as nanotechnology and plastics in the ocean in primary education. In a Community of Learners design and with the support of a mentor, ten primary teachers implemented in 6th grade student...

This article presents an original and innovative way for primary teacher training concerning teaching the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) using concept maps. Four types of concept maps were designed and built so that the interconnections between the 17 SDGs could be captured and the complexity of their interdependencies could be highlighted...

Background: Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (NST) have been recognized as an emerging technology of the 21st century. The interdisciplinary nature and remarkable applications of NST have prompted science education researchers to recognize its potential in science teaching. NST have also been acknowledged as a vital field in technology in order to un...

Significant research has been conducted on skills’ enhancement school programs, since their importance has been well established. The presented study evaluates “Steps for life”, a Greek, universal, annual, teacher-taught programme, designed to improve personal and social skills in young elementary students by the use of questions, diffusion in form...

In this article, we present the results of an implementation of a teaching–learning sequence that offered the opportunity to increase preservice elementary teachers’ engagement with authentic activities in meteorology. In particular, we describe the results of a teaching–learning sequence with regard to the representation of winds on weather maps i...

In this paper a teaching-learning sequence (TLS) introducing pre-service elementary teachers (PET) to weather map reading, with emphasis on wind assignment, is presented. The TLS includes activities about recognition of wind symbols, assignment of wind direction and wind speed on a weather map and identification of wind characteristics in a weather...

This paper describes a teaching-learning sequence (TLS) about air pollution and the findings resulting from its implementation by pre-service elementary teachers (PET) currently undergraduate students of the Department of Primary Education in the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. The TLS focused on the relation of air pollutio...

In the context of the EU project IRRESISITIBLE, 5 teachers in cooperation with Science Museums, Research Centers and Researchers of Science Education developed a Nanotechnology module. In the next phase those teachers acted as multipliers and trained within learning communities 32 colleagues in the implementation of the module they developed and tw...

This paper illustrates a 5-year case study (2007-2012) of a course in Environmental Science Education designed for the training of practicing Greek in-service elementary teachers. The aim of the study was to reveal teachers' views towards the course they attended, which was designed on the basis of inquiry principles. This was achieved through an a...

Τι είδους Περιβαλλοντική Εκπαίδευση προσφέρεται σήμερα στο ελληνικό σχολείο; Ποια είναι η σχέση της με τις Φυσικές Επιστήμες και την Περιβαλλοντική Επιστήμη; Ποια Ηθική και Φιλοσοφία πρεσβεύει; Με ποιες μεθόδους υλοποιείται; Τι δείχνουν οι έρευνες για τις αντιλήψεις υποψηφίων και εν ενεργεία εκπαιδευτικών σε θέματα Φυσικών και Περιβαλλοντικών Επιστ...

Κατά την διάρκεια των δυο τελευταίων χρόνων στα ελληνικά σχολεία έχουν αρχίσει να εισάγονται μια σειρά σημαντικών αλλαγών που αφορούν τόσο στα Προγράμματα Σπουδών (Π.Σ.) όλων των αντικειμένων όσο και στον ψηφιακό εμπλουτισμό των αντίστοιχων βιβλίων. Σε αυτήν την εργασία θα παρουσιαστούν οι αλλαγές και τα νέα στοιχεία που έχουν εισαχθεί στα νέα Π.Σ....

Τhe aim of this paper is to present the design and the results of the In-service Elementary Teacher (IET) training seminars, in Geography for primary education, during the pilot of the New Geography Curriculum (NGC) in Greek schools, the school year 2011-2012. The design of this training was based on the documented needs of teachers for training in...

The aim of this paper is to present the results of the Greek primary education Geography Curriculum piloted during the school year 2011-2012. The sample consisted of 43 primary school teachers, from different Greek regions, who piloted the new Geography Curriculum and from whom semi-structured interviews were obtained. Furthermore, 36 lesson plans...

This paper illustrates a 4-year case study (2008 - 2012) regarding a course in environmental education that was designed for the training of 58 practicing Greek in-service elementary teachers. The aim of the study was to reveal if a six-month Environmental Education training course succeeded in fulfilling Greek in-service teachers’ needs in Environ...

This paper presents a study concerning Greek pre-service elementary teachers' (PET) conceptions about wind. The study focuses on their (i) understanding of scientific concepts used to explain wind formation, (ii) conceptions about wind measurement and (iii) ability to read and translate symbols of wind on weather maps. Our research reveals a lack o...

This paper describes the structure of the ‘Air Pollution Course’, an environmental science laboratory course developed at the Science Education Laboratory of the Faculty of Primary Education, University of Athens, as well as the findings resulting from its implementation by pre-service elementary teachers. The course proposed in this study deals wi...