Browsing by Subject "tutkimuksellisuus"

Microbiology is included in the subject of biology in lower secondary school as part of the National Core Curriculum for Basic Education (POPS). Microbiology teaching has traditionally relied on inquiry-based methods and practical work, where inquiry is highlighted in POPS. In this study, a survey of teachers investigated microbiology teaching and inquiry-based methods in lower secondary school. The study focused on these areas: 1. What groups of microbes are mentioned and in what biological contexts? 2. What methods are used in teaching microbiology? 3. How much are inquiry-based methods used and does the amount vary regionally? 4. What type of inquiry-based teaching is used? and 5. What are the potential limitations in delivering inquiry-based teaching? The data were collected by an online survey for biology teachers in lower secondary schools around Finland and 36 responses were received. The data were analyzed mainly by qualitative content analysis which was supported by quantitative and regional analysis. According to the results, the coverage of microbial diversity is wide in biology teaching but Archea may receive less attention. Microbiology is taught well in many biological contexts but least in the context of evolution and development of life. The teaching methods are diverse, and many different practical activities are carried out. Inquiry-based methods were utilized by 97.2% of teachers and the amount does not vary regionally. Structured inquiry is used the most in microbiology teaching and the majority of the teachers found inquiry-based methods valuable. The amount of inquiry is limited by a lack of time, size and heterogeneity of the student groups, lack of equipment and workspace. The results indicated that the teaching of microbiology in lower secondary school is diverse and inquiry-based methods are common, but limitations were expressed. Solutions in response to these concerns could be, for instance, virtual activities, improved learning materials and more collaboration between universities and schools which is now poor. There are so far no other published studies about this in Finland. In the future, it would be interesting to study further how inquiry-based methods and the teacher’s self-efficacy and own training in these areas affect the outcomes of microbiology education. Such research could then be used to improve teacher education to address the limitations presented in this thesis.

Citizen science is a research method in which data collection, analysis or other stages of research is distributed to a large number of volunteers. Citizen science enables collection of large-scale data. In addition, in few cases Citizen science has been integrated into formal school education. It has been found to attract students' interest in the subject and research and to teach students about scientific research. However, the real benefits of citizen science for schools have been just scarcely studied. This study explored the experiences of middle school and high school students on the Helsinki Urban Rat Project (Kaupunkirottatutkimus). The research questions were: (1) How do the middle school and high school students who participated in the Urban Rat Project experience citizen science as part of biology teaching? (2.) How do the students who participated in the Urban Rat Project feel about urban rats and how does the Project affect students’ perception of rats? The data was collected by group theme interviews from middle school and high school students who participated in the City Rat Project. The data consisted of nine recorded interviews with a total of 29 interviewees. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed by content analysis. The Urban Rat Project aroused situational interest towards urban rats and research project. Main factors for aroused interest were novelty and specialty of the project, the involvement created by hands-on activities and the meaningfulness created by contextualism of an authentic research. Learning experiences were categorized by Bloom’s revised taxonomy and the results revealed a number of knowledge types and cognitive process categories, suggesting that the project developed a diverse range of students' thinking. Students were able to develop deeper research skills, critically explore research and its outcomes, and learn about practical challenges and constraints of scientific research. Urban rats gave rise to both negative, positive and neutral feelings among students. The negative emotions were caused by a variety of causes, such as the appearance and behavior of rats, culture created attitudes and students own experiences. Positive feelings were caused by interest toward rats and good experiences with pets. The knowledge learned in the study about urban rats generally reduced negative feelings and in one case aroused them, but many interviewees also felt that the study had no effect on their attitude towards rats, because interaction with rats was not concrete enough during the project and the students were disappointed that they did not see rats or rat footprints. The authentic research context of citizen science such as Urban Rat Project can increase meaningfulness to studying biology, which is not necessarily achieved by other teaching methods and may teach the realities of scientific research better than traditional practical work. In addition, citizen science can provide knowledge and nature experiences that allow learners to reflect on their relationship with nature. In order to achieve nature-related learning goals of the school education, citizen science projects should pay particular attention to the concreteness of the interaction between learners and nature and to the students' experiences in nature during citizen science.