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Papers by Nicos Valanides

Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education

This paper presents a pilot case study on developing a qualitative tool to evaluate science stude... more This paper presents a pilot case study on developing a qualitative tool to evaluate science student teachers’ beliefs concerning science teaching and learning. The study is based on student teachers’ drawings of themselves in a typical classroom situation and four open questions. Data was collected from 104 freshman science student teachers, and evaluated based on the basic tenets of Grounded Theory. Applying Grounded Theory led to a framework of categorising the student teachers’ beliefs in three categories: (I) Beliefs about Classroom Organisation, (II) Beliefs about Teaching Objectives, and (III) Epistemological Beliefs. All three categories were expanded to a dimension between more traditional beliefs and beliefs in line with modern educational theory. The participants in the study were from different groups of student teachers in one of four domains of science teaching: secondary school Biology, Chemistry or Physics or Primary Science. The tool proved to be interesting for gain...

Science Education, 2004

In the new biology-learning curriculum for Israeli high schools, known as Biomind, students exper... more In the new biology-learning curriculum for Israeli high schools, known as Biomind, students experience "open-inquiry." This paper describes a qualitative action research project that was performed in order to investigate the characteristics of the open inquiry learning process. Specifically, the research investigates this process in terms of the concepts of evidence, affective aspects, and other aspects that may emerge by following the open inquiry process. This paper also discusses how the findings from the open inquiry process can be used for further curriculum improvement.

Research in Science & Technological Education, 2003

Nine 12th grade students, attending the science section of the upper secondary school in Cyprus, ... more Nine 12th grade students, attending the science section of the upper secondary school in Cyprus, were individually interviewed about their understanding of the changes associated with the process of oxidation/combustion. Each student was instructed to firstly predict what would happen when heating a piece of copper wire or a piece of magnesium strip, and, second, to heat each of them with a Bunsen burner flame. Following each experiment, he/she was then asked to describe and explain its outcome(s) in terms of the macroscopic and/or microscopic changes associated with it. Questions were also raised concerning the conservation of mass, the reduction of copper oxide, and the energy transformations due to bond breaking and reforming. The results of the analysis showed that the students had limited understanding of chemical reactions, while their answers indicated that they accumulated extended declarative knowledge, which had not been assimilated. Taking into consideration that students had repeatedly studied 'redox' reactions, both from an 'oxygen-based' and an 'electron-based' definition, the results cast doubt on the appropriateness of the existing curricula and/or the teaching practices, and several recommendations are put forward. These recommendations stem from the point of view of learning as a construction process and address the need to encourage teacher-driven action research, and employ teaching that takes into consideration the complex nature of chemistry concepts, and the way chemists represent them.

British Journal of Educational Technology, 2003

Time constraints and teaching in crowded classrooms restrict in-depth dialogical interaction in t... more Time constraints and teaching in crowded classrooms restrict in-depth dialogical interaction in teaching and learning. Electronic conferencing systems, however, have the potential to foster online discussions beyond class time. Case-based instruction also constitutes a promising approach in fostering learners' participation and reflection. The purpose of this study was to investigate (a) the extent to which an electronic conferencing system, named COW ("Conferencing on the Web"), facilitates pre-service teachers' communication outside their classroom, when discussing teaching cases from their field experiences, and (b) the potential of COW and case-based instruction to foster quality discourse and promote students' critical-thinking skills. The results showed that students' online discourse was mostly an exchange of personal experiences and did not reflect well-supported reasoning. Future research on the issue of interactivity should address motivational and affective variables related to the implementation of distance-education methods, variations in pedagogical activity and task structure, and the readiness of mentors and learners.

Proceedings of the VIIth IOSTE Symposium for Central and Eastern Europe „Development of Science and Technology Education in the Central and Eastern Europe, 2009

The constructivist perspective is becoming a dominant paradigm in the field of the science educat... more The constructivist perspective is becoming a dominant paradigm in the field of the science education. While a great deal has been written in recent years about constructivist learning theories and their applications to elementary and secondary school classrooms, much less has been said about these implications of these ideas and practices for teacher education. This approach in the initial science teacher training is not still too common at many European teacher training institutions. It is a reason why a group of science teacher ...

Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, …, 2007

... Ingo Eilks University of Bremen, Bremen, GERMANY Jens Moellering Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium... more ... Ingo Eilks University of Bremen, Bremen, GERMANY Jens Moellering Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium, Garbsen, and University of Hildesheim, Hildesheim, GERMANY Nicos Valanides University of Cyprus, Nicosia, CYPRUS Received 10 June 2007; accepted 27 August 2007 ...

Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference …, 2002

Science educators view science teaching as an active, inquiry-based activity, where students part... more Science educators view science teaching as an active, inquiry-based activity, where students participate in hands-on and minds-on learning activities. Active science learning presupposes that teachers shift away from presenting canned knowledge and information in a predetermined way. However, Primary Student Teachers (PSTs) usually experience traditional science learning, where teachers are considered as sources of knowledge that should be transmitted to students. Goodman (1988) believes that student teachers are guided by past events that create intuitive screens through which new information is filtered and transformed, and that student teachers' beliefs predict, to a certain extent, their teaching behaviour, and are much more influential than knowledge in determining their future teaching approaches. Nespor (1987) also insists that beliefs are strengthened by previous events (episodes) that influence a person's understanding of subsequent events. Consequently, PSTs' mental models about science teaching are usually incompatible with science learning as a hands-on and minds-on activity. The study investigated the extent to which PSTs adopt student-centred teaching, the relationship between their perceived and actual conceptions of science teaching, and the possible links of these conceptions with other background variables. The study also examined the effects of a science methods course on PSTs' conceptions of teaching. 2. Methods Educational background data (i.e., total number of accumulated credit hours of coursework) were recorded from 58 PSTs, who enrolled in a primary science methods course. PSTs were also asked to rate their perceived teaching style orientation on a continuum (Likert-type scale) from 0-13, where 0 indicated absolutely student- and 13 absolutely teacher-centred teaching approach. Next, the Draw-a-Science-Teacher-Test- Checklist (DASTT-C) was administered to them. The DASTT-C examines the (actual) conceptions that PSTs hold regarding science teaching. It requires from respondents a drawing showing the environment of a primary classroom during science teaching and a narrative data component describing what the teacher and the students are doing at that time. A total score is derived by observing firstly, teacher activities (demonstrating/ experimenting, lecturing/giving directions, using visual aids) and position in the classroom (at the front of the classroom) and posture (standing), secondly, student activity (passively receiving information, responding to the teacher) and position in the classroom (if they are seated), and, thirdly, classroom environment and objects usually found in classrooms (desks in rows, teacher's desk in front of the students, science equipment on teacher's desk or in a special cabinet), symbols of teaching (chalkboard/announcement board) and evidence of scientific knowledge (sophisticated science equipment or laboratory equipment, maps).