Anastasia Dimitriou - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Anastasia Dimitriou

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 2016

This paper reports on a study of 5-year-old children ability to distinguish the concepts ‘materia... more This paper reports on a study of 5-year-old children ability to distinguish the concepts ‘material’ and ‘object’. The aim of this study is to investigate how children of this age conceptualize these concepts along with their communication ability, the criteria they use to identify object and material and whether their criteria are relating to extensive or intensive properties. For this purpose, three tasks of different complexity contexts were implemented by using objects and materials of daily life. The sample of the study consists of 30 5-years old children. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The analysis of the data revealed that the way children conceptualize ‘object’ and ‘material’ is related with their communication ability, they have used extensive or intensive properties as criteria to identify and distinguish objects from materials. Moreover, when objects and materials were explicit children were able to distinguish them. In reverse, when objects c...

Coping with environmental crisis cannot but presuppose a change in the values adopted by modern m... more Coping with environmental crisis cannot but presuppose a change in the values adopted by modern man. Both ecocentric values associated with creating a caring relationship with nature, and the development of empathy, can become vehicles of transformation towards a society based on ecological principles. In connection with these issues, an Environmental Education program for preschoolers was designed and implemented in the classroom. The evaluation shows that preschool children can be interested in non-human beings, can feel the need to protect them, and ascribe them intrinsic value.

Journal of Baltic Science Education, 2015

While little is known about how young children understand noise and its environmental aspects, th... more While little is known about how young children understand noise and its environmental aspects, this topic is suggested to be included in science curricula from early years on. To investigate if and to what extent preschool children’s level of noise awareness could be improved the ‘Young Noise Researchers’ educational scenario was designed, implemented and evaluated. Research design involved a pretest-posttest procedure. Participants were 52 Greek preschool children, who attended public kindergarten classes. The scenario involved 9 activities following the principles of context-based, socio-cognitive and multimodal teaching and learning, which were implemented by the teachers of the classes in a 4-week period. Prior to and after the intervention participants engaged in individual, semi-structured interviews. The results indicated improvement in children’s noise awareness in regard to acknowledging everyday noises, understanding annoyance and subjectivity of noise, adopting negative a...

Issue 3, 2013

The toxicity of a chemical substance in a workplace depends on both its physical and chemical pro... more The toxicity of a chemical substance in a workplace depends on both its physical and chemical properties, the level of concentration in the breathing air, as well as, the duration of the exposure. In order to ensure healthy conditions at workplace, international organizations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labor Organization (ILO), have instituted upper limits of concentration for several chemicals that could provoke serious problems or disturbances on human health. The aim of the present paper is the estimation of the concentrations of ethanol, ethyl acetate and chloroform, which are widespread solvents used during routine analyses in a toxicological laboratory. The monitoring of the solvents at the laboratory was carried out during the summer period of two successive years. The monitoring was focused on the estimation of: a) the meteorological parameters (temperature and air humidity), b) both inhalation and dermal exposure concentrations by usi...

Journal of Biological Education, 2007

The main objective of the present study is to investigate preservice teachers’ beliefs regarding ... more The main objective of the present study is to investigate preservice teachers’ beliefs regarding mathematics and science learning and their teaching at the pre-school level. Participants were 93 prospective kindergarten teachers and 80 prospective primary school teachers who completed a questionnaire designed for the purpose of the study. It was revealed that both groups of student teachers believe that teaching mathematics and science at kindergarten differs from primary school. Carrying out inquiry activities and practicing teaching approaches that implement experimentation were proposed as being the best ways of presenting mathematics and science concepts to young children. The findings of this study raise implications for teacher professional development that may assist in developing better practices in mathematics and science early childhood education

Over the last decades there is a widespread recognition of several environmental issues as pressi... more Over the last decades there is a widespread recognition of several environmental issues as pressing problems for both the earth system and human beings. Relevant scientific research is carried out in order to support sustainable environmental management and the future development of humanity. It is widely documented that human activities at a personal and/or a societal level play a significant role for both the formation and resolution of environmental problems, as well as that the implementation of any environmental management policy requires public awareness and participation. One of the most important contemporary environmental problems related to the citizens' everyday life is waste management. This paper presents the outcomes of a study concerning Greek citizens' self-estimated knowledge, factual knowledge, attitudes about waste management and Suggestions for reducing solid waste. The sample of the study consisted of 300 Greek citizens, and was balanced in respect to gender, level of education, age, and region of residence. Empirical data were collected by the use of a questionnaire that consisted of both open and closed questions. The results of the survey and specifically the interpretations of the identified correlations between the citizens' self-estimated knowledge, knowledge, attitudes, suggestions and demographic characteristics yielded interesting issues that should be taken into account for the promotion of public awareness and active participation in a continuous campaign for waste management.

International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy, 2015

To create effective climate change mitigation energy policies that contribute to greenhouse gases... more To create effective climate change mitigation energy policies that contribute to greenhouse gases reduction are required. To this direction, local authorities play a crucial role as they are responsible for the planning and implementation of energy policies in their territories. This study aims to investigate the local authorities' knowledge and attitudes on energy production, energy management, energy consumption and renewable energy sources (RES), as well as their energy practices and their intentions. The study was carried out in the island of Rhodes, Greece where 12 elective representatives of local authorities (municipalities and prefecture) were asked to fill in a questionnaire on the above issues. Almost all of the participants recognized energy saving as an important dimension of energy policy. They indicated their intentions for energy saving applications in the future, but the measures they use to apply in their area of responsibility are extremely limited. Despite respondents' positive attitudes towards the use of RES, they seem to hesitate to develop an energy model based mainly on RES, as they believe they cannot cover the energy needs of the island. They also, believe that they play a secondary role in the planning and development of energy policy at a local level, as they estimate that energy policy is mainly a matter of the central government. Findings show that there is a demand for a more specialized and focused energy policy. They further show the need for specialized environmental education programs addressed to local authorities aiming at increasing motivation as well as supporting their efforts for the implementation of sustainable energy policies.

Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part B, 1998

In this investigation methyl bromide, a widely used soil fumigant, was investigated with respect ... more In this investigation methyl bromide, a widely used soil fumigant, was investigated with respect to workers exposure and environmental fortification at the greenhouses of Thessaloniki area, Northern Greece. By means of personal and environmental air sampling through charcoal, methyl bromide concentration was measured by gas chromatography using a capillary OV-1 column at 45 degrees C and flame ionization detector (FID). Personal air sampling for two workers showed that the levels of exposure to methyl bromide were 89 and 92 mg/m3 respectively. These values exceeded the safety limits. The mean maximum and mean minimum concentrations in the environmental air samples inside the greenhouse, for 8 hours duration, were 142 mg/m3 and 4 mg/m3, respectively. These concentrations were determined within four and eleven days after the application of methyl bromide.

Forensic Science International, 1998

Propane gas is used as a fuel and very rarely it is abused by young people in Greece. In this pap... more Propane gas is used as a fuel and very rarely it is abused by young people in Greece. In this paper, we report a case of abuse of propane inhalation that resulted in accidental death. The determination of propane in autopsy samples was done by headspace gas chromatography and semiquantitation in liver, blood and the contents of the plastic bag through which the gas was diffused, which proved to be lethal.

Creative Education, 2011

Kindergarten teachers tend to combine EE and experiential education in their every day practice a... more Kindergarten teachers tend to combine EE and experiential education in their every day practice as a matter of course. The majority perceive EE as related to sensory awareness and exploration and the concomitant will to act in a pro-environmental direction. They deal with and elaborate their pupils experiences in a way that is reminiscent of Colb's learning cycle. It is not clear from the interviews whether they effectively facilitate their children's reflection upon the acquired experience, although there is some evidence that they accompany and assist their pupils in associating their new knowledge to that previously acquired, integrating it into new wholes and appropriating it. They do not give any information about the elaboration of their pupils emotions developed through the experiential educational approaches. They claim that when EE and experiential education are blended together then this can generate active citizens of the future.

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 1998

While little is known about how young children understand noise and its environmental aspects, th... more While little is known about how young children understand noise and its environmental aspects, this topic is suggested to be included in science curricula from early years on. To investigate if and to what extent preschool children’s level of noise awareness could be improved the ‘Young Noise Researchers’ educational scenario was designed, implemented and evaluated. Research design involved a pretest-posttest procedure. Participants were 52 Greek preschool children, who attended public kindergarten classes. The scenario involved 9 activities following the principles of context-based, socio-cognitive and multimodal teaching and learning, which were implemented by the teachers of the classes in a 4-week period. Prior to and after the intervention participants engaged in individual, semi-structured interviews. Results indicated improvement in children’s noise awareness in regard to acknowledging everyday noises, understanding annoyance and subjectivity of noise, adopting negative attitudes towards noise and acknowledging its health effects. Nevertheless, their noise awareness did not significantly improve in other crucial respects. Implications for teaching involve a more systematic focus on the distinction between sound and noise, noise subjectivity, the annoyance caused by noise in daily life and the possibility of more active and preventive protection measures.

The Impact of Air Pollution on Health, Economy, Environment and Agricultural Sources, 2011

Visual communication, i.e. the use of images in order to produce messages, constitutes an autonom... more Visual communication, i.e. the use of images in order to produce messages, constitutes an autonomous system of meaning – making, parallel to language, with its specialized codes and ‘grammar’. Visual representations play a central role in texts related to science, either these texts address scientists, or the non-specialized, general public. Therefore, the ability of students to understand and explain scientific phenomena depends – at least partly – on their ability to use the codes of scientific imagery. The present study aims at exploring the types of visual codes that the children use and at estimating their degree of compatibility with the codes normally used for the illustration of scientific texts. The study presents an analysis of 50 drawings produced by Greek elementary school pupils (11- 12 years old). The drawings concerned global environmental issues (namely ozone depletion and global warming), which involve complex scientific processes. The pupils’ drawings are analyzed ...

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 2016

Journal of Baltic Science Education, 2015

Issue 3, 2013

Journal of Biological Education, 2007

International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy, 2015

Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part B, 1998

Forensic Science International, 1998

Creative Education, 2011

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 1998

While little is known about how young children understand noise and its environmental aspects, th... more While little is known about how young children understand noise and its environmental aspects, this topic is suggested to be included in science curricula from early years on. To investigate if and to what extent preschool children’s level of noise awareness could be improved the ‘Young Noise Researchers’ educational scenario was designed, implemented and evaluated. Research design involved a pretest-posttest procedure. Participants were 52 Greek preschool children, who attended public kindergarten classes. The scenario involved 9 activities following the principles of context-based, socio-cognitive and multimodal teaching and learning, which were implemented by the teachers of the classes in a 4-week period. Prior to and after the intervention participants engaged in individual, semi-structured interviews. Results indicated improvement in children’s noise awareness in regard to acknowledging everyday noises, understanding annoyance and subjectivity of noise, adopting negative attitudes towards noise and acknowledging its health effects. Nevertheless, their noise awareness did not significantly improve in other crucial respects. Implications for teaching involve a more systematic focus on the distinction between sound and noise, noise subjectivity, the annoyance caused by noise in daily life and the possibility of more active and preventive protection measures.

The Impact of Air Pollution on Health, Economy, Environment and Agricultural Sources, 2011