189_josd_template book review jelena stanisavljević & ljubiša stanisavljević, „concept mapping in anatomy and morphology of invertebrates“, university of belgradefaculty of biology, 2017. bojana škorc university of arts in belgrade faculty of fine arts, pariska 16, 11000 belgrade, serbia university of belgrade faculty of physics, studentski trg 12, 11000 belgrade serbia email: bskorc@yahoo.com concept maps are visual graphic construction (teaching) tools, designed to help individuals to explain and explore their knowledge and understanding of teaching (program) content. concept maps can be applied to many different phases of teaching process: planning and preparation, formative learning; revision/summarizing and assessment. the book “concept mapping in anatomy and morphology of invertebrates” highlights the functions of this educational technology in different stages of education, especially in university education. the book “concept mapping in anatomy and morphology of invertebrates” contains eight chapters. the introduction is divided into five subchapters. introductory part identifies and develops the idea of concept maps and their applicability in natural sciences. it introduces the idea of knowledge systematization and conceptualization. the second chapter discusses the idea of concept mapping in biology and analyses it's significance for teaching process. following chapters represent the application of concept mapping to more specific areas of teaching invertebrate zoology, anatomy, and morphology of invertebrates, and in addition, the examples of maps are given. the main characteristics of concept maps are presented as well as their functions in teaching process and impact on higher education. revision and assessment parts belong to the verification phase of teaching and it is pointed that assessing of concept maps is a highly-required process. in general, this book is based on the idea of memory mapping and it explores the process of concept forming in the field of biology. its main purpose is to help students, teachers of biology and other professionals to conceptualize, organize and implement teaching and learning processes. it is clear that concept mapping and its final product, the map, represent useful teaching tools on all education levels, from basic to proficient. as it is demonstrated by authors and many studies quoted, application of concept mapping significantly improves the teaching and learning processes and is a powerful tool for mastering science. journal of subject didactics, 2016 vol. 1, no. 2, 133-134, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.438180 in this moment, the full significance of this initiative is not recognized and there is not only theoretical but also practical need for introducing it in the education system in serbia. it is important to support such an approach in the moment when the education system is in the process of reforms, and primary and secondary school children show systematic underachievement in comparison with children from the region (results of pisa followup). such improvements and innovations in education process are not only welcome but necessary. they can bridge the gap between existing and desired education outcomes. evidently, didactic models that follow this technology are very important for effective acquisition and reorganization of the system of knowledge. a comparative review of the efficiency of application of the concept maps in different biology program contents gives us insights and information about how and for what content is this technology most efficient. by applying this model, it becomes possible to redesign and change current approaches to teaching process and transform them in a positive way. from the psychological point of view, authors demonstrated superior knowledge of the topic. the book is well structured, helpful, informative and systematic. all findings are well justified and systematic. the style in which the book was written is very clear and concise. taking into account all above mentioned, i suggest with pleasure the manuscript „concept mapping in anatomy and morphology of invertebrates“ to be used in the teaching process. i believe this initiative will bring long-lasting, positive results and benefits for teachers, students and all interested professionals who wish to develop and upgrade their skills and knowledge. received: march 11, 2017 accepted: march 26, 2017 b. škorc134 josd_template editorial jelena d. stanisavljević university of belgrade, faculty of biology, studentski trg 16, 11000 serbia. *email: jelena.stanisavljevic@bio.bg.ac.rs dear colleagues, it is our great honor and pleasure to present to you the first issue of the journal of subject didactics. for the first time, we can see the authenticity of individual subject didactics in one publication. subject didactics are very important for many sectors of education. without the development of subject didactics, there is no progress in the education system. they represent a foundation and guidelines for building other elements of education (teaching, learning ...). teachers of subject didactics are especially responsible for the development of preservice and in-service teachers and completely dedicated to the training systems in their respective faculties and schools. the journal of subject didactics is the first publication of the serbian society of subject didacticians. this publication contains different articles which present researches in subject teaching (research papers). also, the publication specifically presents the models of teaching practice, case studies, and displays monographs and textbook publications (book reviews). we invite all teachers of subject didactics, subject teachers and other employees in education to join us. i hope that our journal will continue to exist in the future. we ask all those who wish to contribute to the improvement of the teaching process to publish the results of their studies in this journal. i also hope that 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beograd/ zagreb, 2015. nenad tomović faculty of philology, university of belgrade, serbia email: nenad.tomovic@fil.bg.ac.rs although translation theory is important in education, especially in the education of future linguists, language teachers and high-school students who aspire to become translators, books on this subject have been scarce in the past two or three decades, with a few notable exceptions. osnovi teorije prevođenja by ana jovanović is certainly going to bridge this gap. furthermore, the book has two publishers, one from belgrade, and the other from zagreb, since it is intended for readers from both serbia and croatia and from other countries of the former yugoslavia. the author decided to treat both serbian and croatian translations as parts of the same corpus due to the fact that they were written in two varieties of one and the same language, while both varieties are still mutually intelligible regardless of certain changes in both standards which have been introduced in the past two decades. additionally, translations into both varieties were once part of the same market and many of them are still present as sole translations of certain works. the book contains five chapters, appendices to the fifth chapter, a list of references, index of names, subject index, as well as the author’s preface, an afterword by andy jelčić, and a brief english summary of the book. chapter one presents main issues in translation studies, the status of this discipline, translation unit, equivalence, and analyzes other issues in the domains of context and style and the two major strategies – free translation and literal translation. to further elaborate these issues and problems in translation theory the author cites various authors and summarizes their opinions on each subject in question. finally, this chapter explains the terminology used in modern translation studies and thus helps the reader who is not well-acquainted with this field to better understand many important concepts. chapter two is devoted to various literary theories of translation, which are primarily focused on esthetic and artistic aspects of this process. chapter three is focused on translation criticism and evaluation. in this chapter, the author provides an overview of different approaches to these problems and states both strengths and weaknesses of each approach in question. chapter four deals with re-translation, which is primarily focused on literary texts, and occurs due to various reasons, e.g. if the existing translation is now obsolete, if it lacks in quality etc. chapter five has the narrowest focus, since it deals with grammatical and stylistic aspects of translations of marcel proust’s novels into serbo-croatian. journal of subject didactics, 2016 vol. 1, no. 1, 65-66, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.55478 since the author has a degree in french and is known as an excellent translator of major works written in this language, it is no wonder that most examples provided are from french. however, the author has managed to sufficiently explain every single example so as to allow the readers who are not proficient in french to clearly understand both the examples and their implications, which adds to the quality of this book. works cited in the references section and in the book itself are dominantly written in french, although the author sufficiently utilizes theories developed in english-speaking and other countries, which provides an unbiased approach to major issues in translation studies. furthermore, it is important to mention that major problems and concerns in translation are often exposed by providing comprehensive analyses of translations and/or contrasting two translations of the same text, which are efficient explanatory tools, most likely to be welcomed by every reader of this book, and particularly by students of foreign languages. the style in which the book was written can be described as very clear and concise, but at the same time, it is not oversimplified. although the author focuses on literary translation, it can be said that many aspects that are important in literature can be applied in other kinds of translation despite the fact that non-literary translations usually have no artistic merits. the author’s comments and opinions are well-balanced and unbiased, which allows the reader to form an opinion about each theory or issue described by the author. although most of the major strengths of this book have been stated above, it is our opinion that it will certainly be welcomed by many readers in the former yugoslavia, and particularly among fellow-translators, interpreters and students of foreign languages and literatures. received: december 7, 2015 accepted: december 17, 2015 n. tomović66 << /ascii85encodepages false /allowtransparency false /autopositionepsfiles true /autorotatepages /none /binding /left /calgrayprofile (dot gain 20%) /calrgbprofile (srgb iec61966-2.1) /calcmykprofile (u.s. web coated 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natalia n. solodukhina moscow state regional university, 10a, radio str., moscow, russian federation. email: nsolodukhina@mail.ru abstract the use of information and interactive technologies in the formation of geographic literacy is discussed in the article. special attention is paid to the sources of information posted on the internet with the aim of applying these resources in teaching geography. keywords: geographical literacy, scientific and methodological approaches, the source of geographic information, web-quest, the state final certification, information resources. introduction the comparative analysis of the results of the unified state exam (use) and basic state exam (bse) on geography in 2016 and in 2017 in the moscow region of the russian federation revealed that the most difficult thing for examination participants is to solve those tasks which demand interdisciplinary knowledge and analysis of the obtained information. generally, these tasks concerning the control measuring materials (cmm) are aimed at eхplaining geographical features of territories, natural and social objects and phenomena where а source of geographical information (the map fragment, statistical data, drawings and so forth) is used. in the draft of the concept of development of geographical education in russia the importance is attributed to the issues of training competent experts in the sphere of geography, the public and municipal administration, territorial planning, rational environmental management, engineering, international relations, journalism, tourism, ecology, etc. geographic information for providing activities in these directions is a base necessary for identifying and solving economic, social and environmental problems arising from interactions between the human social system and ecosystem (russian geographical society [rgs], 2017). civic consciousness, respect for national origins, responsibility, initiative, creative apjournal of subject didactics, 2017 vol. 2, no. 2, 67-71, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1239720 proach to fulfilling educational and practical geography-related tasks may be referred to as basic characteristics for promoting geographical literacy at primary and secondary schools. geographical literacy is students’ ability and readiness to apply geographical knowledge, skills, experience of engagement in creative activity and emotional value orientations for overcoming typical and specific geographic challenges, forecasting geographic trends and taking reasonable decisions under actual social and economic conditions in the present stage of development of our society. the process of promoting to geographical literacy is defined by key scientific and methodical approaches: an integrative (intersubject) approach; a competence-based approach focusing on educational results; an activity approach reflecting present-day methods of educational activities, providing of interdisciplinary training activities; a student-centered approach relating to the defining and solving of current geographical, social and economic problems and appealing to students’ personal characteristics (solodukhina, 2016). let us consider one of scientific and methodical approaches of promoting to geo68 figure 1. international research timss. notebook (the eighth-grade curriculum). graphical literacy – an activity approach. the success of performing geographical tasks aimed at developing such learning activities as independent search for geographic information, its analysis, selection, transformation, storage, transfer, presentation of processed data depends on a teacher’s ability to systemically use various sources of information at a lesson and during extracurricular activities (sumathokin & kalinova, 2016). let us give examples of using available sources of information on the internet and interactive technologies in teaching geography (solodukhina, 2017). in 2015 according to the program of the international comparative monitoring research of education quality in mathematical and natural science (timss) educational level of eighth-grade students in mathematics and natural sciences was studied. geographic tasks in the research are referred to the section "natural sciences". in demonstration notebooks where tasks and assessment criteria are presented there is a number of non-typical tasks many of which are to check students’ interdisciplinary abilities. even test questions are interesting (sumathokin & kalinova, 2016). such notebooks are available in the section "publications" on the website of the education quality assessment center (education quality assessment center). as an example, we note a question related to geographical subject matter it is connected with the obtaining of geographic information from the data shown in the image (fig. 1). the state final examination on geography includes tasks with use of images therefore teachers can use this resource of knowledge assessment international researches for promoting to geographical literacy. fragments of maps with questions for assessing correct data are used in geography assessment book tasks. the cartographic materials which are freely available give a chance to teachers to use informational resources for building up a task/assignment bank aimed at developing skills for working with interactive maps, geographic phenomena and troposphere 69 figure 2. website gismeteo, section "maps". processes. the most interesting source of cartographical information is a website gismeteo, section "maps" (https://www.gismeteo.ru/maps) (fig. 2). in the teaching practice an educational accent has turned from traditional forms of training to the use of e-learning meaning learning utilizing electronic technologies. use of present-day information technologies for teaching geography allows organizing learning activities in a new way. it is possible to make a fascinating educational trip at a lesson or during extracurricular activities in the framework of training geographical web quest by means of various services. for example, many famous museums of the world give an opportunity to make a virtual tour around the museum. smithsonian national museum of natural history lets people visit various ages of the earth and different parts of the world (fig. 3) (smithsonian national museum of natural history). virtual geographic travelling gives positive results as to developing skills for selecting sources of geographic information, having a good understanding of how to use them, finding necessary information, defining and comparing quality and quantitative indices characterizing geographical objects, processes and phenomena and their position according to different maps and other sources; revealing missing, complementary or contradictory geographic information provided in one or several sources (solodukhina, 2016a). promoting to geographical literacy by means of various sources of information, services and technologies allows teachers to train students for performing higher complexity level tasks for assessing school students’ educational achievements. nowadays teachers are to be able to apply information technologies in the classroom because according to the educational standards "development of competences in using information technologies, development of motivation for acquiring skills of active use of searching systems" takes an important place for mastering the main educational program. references education quality assessment center isro rjsc. http://www.centeroko.ru/gismeteo, section "maps". https://www.gismeteo.ru/maps/ 70 figure 3. smithsonian national museum of natural history. russian geographical society (2017). the concept of development of geographic education in russia. retrieved from http://www.rgo.ru/ru/article/koncepciya-razvitiya-geograficheskogoobrazovaniya-v-rossii smithsonian national museum of natural history. http://naturalhistory.si.edu/vt3/nmnhfh/z_nmnh-fh-002.html solodukhina, n.n. (2016). scientific-methodical approaches to the formation of geographic literacy of students / n.n. petrova, n.n. solodukhina // materials of interregional scientific-practical conference modern geographical education: problems and prospects. – m.: publishing house "eco-inform"on november 25, 2016. solodukhina, n.n. (2016a). the use of geographic educational web-quest in the implementation of the teaching model "flipped classroom" / n.n. solodukhina, as. narewska // pedagogical education and science, 6: c39-44. solodukhina, n.n. (2017). analysis of the results of the state final attestation on educational programs of secondary education in academic subjects in the moscow region in 2017: a collection of teaching materials. – m.: asou. – 332 p. sumatokhin v.s., kalinova s.g. (2016). biology studies in russian schools. journal of subject didactics, 1(2): 127-132. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.438179. received: february 6, 2018 accepted: april 4, 2018 71 72 190_josd_template analysis biology studies in russian schools sergey v. sumatokhin1*, galina s. kalinova2 1 moscow state university of education, second agricultural passage, 4, 129226 moscow, russian federation 2 russian academy of education, center for science education, makarenko str., d. 5/16, 105062 moscow, russian federation *email: ssumatohin@yandex.ru abstract this article describes the legal framework for the organization of education in russia. it explains the set-up of general (school) studies in biology and lists the topics studied in school subjects the world around us (1st-4th grade) and biology (5th-11th grade). russian system of education gives a lot of focus to the development of methodological knowledge and skills necessary to independently solve cognitive tasks and carry out independent research. keywords: biology education, integrated school subject the world around us, school subject biology, stages of general biology education, model curriculum, topics (fields) of study. federal law “on education in the russian federation” that sets legal, organizational and economic framework for the system of education in russia entered into force on 1th september 2013. this date marks the beginning of the current stage in the development of the education system in russia. in accordance with the law mandatory requirements to each stage of education are set in the state federal education standards (hereinafter “the standard”). the standard sets general requirements that are further specified by the model curriculum. the curriculum determines the fields of study, the requirements for learning outcomes as well as certain conditions for educational activities. the model curriculum includes a model plan of study, model lesson plans for each school subject and other academic and methodological documents. model lesson plans include a list of generalized topics (‘teaching units’) that all educational institutions (schools) are required to teach. model lesson plans do not set the order in which the topics should be studied or the amount of classroom hours for each topic. the exact list of school topics, the amount of time allocated to each topic, the order of their study and their allocation throughout the school year are determined in the model plan of study. based on the standard and the model curriculum academics develop individual copyright curricula and write textbooks and teaching/study aids for pupils and teachers. there can be several such curricula for each subject. currently russian schools use 60 different textbooks for biology (5th-9th grade). teachers and parents can choose curricula and textbooks. chart 1 summarizes the principles described above (chart 1). journal of subject didactics, 2016 vol. 1, no. 2, 127-132, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.438179 school-level education in russia is referred to as ‘general education’. its aim is to ensure that pupils acquire knowledge, skills, moral and ethical principles, which are necessary for their life in contemporary society. general education starts for pupils who are 6.5 – 7 years old. a school year lasts for 34 weeks (from september to may). school classes or lessons/the usual form of training sessions, last for 35 minutes (during the first year of education), and for 45 minutes (2nd11th grade). general (school) education is divided into three stages: primary, basic and secondary; the stages last four, five and two years respectively (table 1). general (school) education is compulsory in russia. 128 chart 1. legal and regulatory framework of the education system in russia. table 1. general (school) education in russia. stages of general (school) biology training correspond to the three education levels above: stage 1 (preliminary training), stage 2 (general training) and stage 3 (specialized training) (table 2). preliminary stage in biology education covers from 1st to 4th grade (primary school education), when two lessons (classroom hours) a week are allocated to the school subject the world around us. there are 270 classroom hours during four years of study in total (table 3). the world around us is an integrated subject about the environment and human society. during the course, in grades 1-4, pupils have to acquire knowledge about the integration and the differences between the environmental and social systems, about the role of human kind in the environment and the interaction between an individual and the society as well as about the culture and history of russia. the model curriculum of the world around us covers the following sections: humankind and nature, individual and society and general safety rules. biology aspects of the course are taught under sections humankind and nature and general safety rules. section individual and society teaches about the society, state and history of russia. section humankind and nature includes the following biology topics (academic units): nature, plants, mushrooms, animals, ecosystems (forest, meadow, waterbody etc.), natural regions in russia, human kind as part of the environment, positive and negative im129 table 2. stages of school biology education table 3. classroom hours allocated to school subject “the world around us” pact of the human activities on the environment as well as general information about the human anatomy. section general safety rules covers the following biology-related topics: the importance of health and healthy life style, daily schedule for pupils, personal hygiene, first aid for minor injuries (bruises, cuts, burns), chilblains, heat exposure; safety rules during an outing; care for health and safety of other people. the integrated subject the world around us forms the basis for science and social studies (5th9th grade) of the basic general education (covered by school subjects biology, geography, physics, astronomy, chemistry and social studies). the basic level of biology studies in school corresponds with the basic stage of general education. the aim of the basic biology course is to provide some general knowledge in biology and environmental studies, develop the understanding of the uniqueness of nature, natural diversity and evolution, form an idea of an individual as a biological and societal being as well as provide some related practical skills. pupils (5th9th grade) study the subject ‘biology’. table 4 shows classroom hours per year (week) allocated to biology studies (table 4). model curriculum of biology studies for basic general education covers the following sections: living organisms, human health and general biological laws. section living organisms includes the following topics (academic units): biology as the study of living organisms, organic cells, diversity of organisms, living environments, kingdom plantae, organs of flowering plants, plants under microscope, lifecycle of flowering plants, diversity of plants, bacteria, fungi, animalia, single-celled organisms, coelenterata, worms, mollusca, arthropods and chordate. human health section covers such topics as introduction to studies of the human anatomy, general characteristics of the human organism, neurohumoral regulation, musculoskeletal system, blood and blood circulation, respiratory system, digestive system, metabolism, excretory system, reproduction and development, sensory receptors, higher nervous function and human health and healthcare. section general biology laws covers the following topics: biology as a science, cell, organism, species and ecosystem. specialized studies are carried out at the stage of secondary general education (tenthgrade and eleventh-grade). specialized studies in biology are not compulsory, and can be chosen as an optional subject. depending on the preferred specialization, general or more in-depth studies can be opted for. table 5 shows classroom hours per year (week) allocated to general and in-depth biology studies (table 5). 130 table 4. classroom hours per year (week) allocated to biology studies general biology studies are more universal, while in-depth studies offer a natural-science approach. both types of studies cover the same topics (academic units): biology as complex studies of nature and the environment, structural and functional basis of life, organism, evolution theory, origin and development of life on earth, organisms and their environment. in-depth study offers a more detailed study of each topic. general studies in biology provide knowledge about biological systems (cell, organism, species, ecosystem); history of modern ideas about the environment and nature, outstanding discoveries in biology and role of biology in the natural science approach to the universe. in-depth course of biology teaches about main biology theories, ideas and principles, about methods used in biological studies (cytology, genetics, artificial selection, biotechnologies and ecology); about the structure, diversity and specific features of biological systems (cell, organism, population, species, ecosystem, biosphere), outstanding biological discoveries and modern biology studies. the aim of in-depth course is to prepare schoolchildren for professional education. russian and international best practices in pedagogic assessment, surveys and monitoring are used for education quality assessment. the final quality assessment of basic general education is the basic state examination (bse or oge). the final quality assessment for secondary general education is the unified state exam (use or ege). final tests are an important part of the education process. for many years, russia has been a participant in international studies in order to ensure an objective evaluation of education quality in comparison to other countries. an international project progress in international reading literacy study (pirls) helps evaluate reading and comprehension skills of primary school children. a study called trends in mathematics and science study (timss) provides comparative assessment of mathematics and natural science skills of children in 8 year of school. program for international student assessment: monitoring knowledge and skills in the new millennium (pisa) tests measure the ability of pupils (15 years old) to use the knowledge and skills they have acquired in everyday life. the participation of russian pupils in international studies is analyzed so that standards, model curricula, textbooks and teaching aids can be amended and improved as required in order to improve the quality of education. russian system of education gives a lot of focus to the development of methodological knowledge and skills necessary to independently solve cognitive tasks and carry out independent research. quality of general education is considered a crucial condition for personal accomplishment in adult life. 131 table 5. classroom hours allocated to biology studies in grades 10 and 11. references federal law dated 29 december 2012 no 273-fz “on education in the russian federation” http://минобрнауки.рф/проекты/фгос-и-пооп state federal education standard of basic school education. http://минобрнауки.рф/проекты/фгос-и-пооп state federal education standard of secondary education http://минобрнауки.рф/проекты/фгоси-пооп model curriculum for primary general education. http://минобрнауки.рф/проекты/фгос-и-пооп model curriculum for basic general education. http://минобрнауки.рф/проекты/фгос-и-пооп model curriculum for secondary general education. http://минобрнауки.рф/проекты/фгос-и-пооп received: february 15, 2017 accepted: march 24, 2017 132 186_josd_template short review on the esthetic value of works of art blagomir papazov faculty of pedagogy, shumen university„ episkop konstantin preslavski”, schumen, bulgaria email: b.papazov@abv.bg abstract the study of the processes involved in the creation of a work of art has been the focus of numerous complex theories which continue to find new interpretations in an attempt to reflect the emerging innovative forms of visual arts. theory and history of art are an ever-changing field of ideas and interpretations of the processes of art creation and discussions about the definition of what constitutes a „work of art“. works of art have a special social significance as they are an integral part of the culture of a society. they reflect the esthetic and artistic values of the time in which they were created, and the style and changes it undergoes in time. the interpretation of a work of art has always been a kind of improvisation, which however requires esthetic empirical evidence and professional expertise in the respective type of art. keywords: esthetic, visual arts, value in arts. in his work, philosophy of art schelling described the creation of a work of art using the term 'construction'. for him to produce a piece of art does not mean to create a real work of art, but to understand an already existing work of art and its place in the absolute. schelling's absolute is the supreme and most worthy form of knowledge which is to be differentiated from the study of art history, art itself and its empiric representation as well as from the analysis of the parts and elements of a work of art, and the technicalities involved in its creation; in other words, from all that was known in the antiquity as arspoetica (schelling 1989). georg sulzer (1720-1779), the author of the published back in 1779 general theory of the fine arts defined the work of art as a 'work of taste', and explained that an object which has a beneficial effect on our imagination and our inclinations creates a vivid impression. therefore, a work of taste is made up of two things: material or story, which is inherently valuable, and its vivid image (sulzer & koch, 1995). goethe, in his work maxims and reflections, discussing the problem of the relationship between art and nature, gave a proverbial definition of what work of art is: "what an ignorant man considers nature in a work of art is not nature (from the outside) but man (nature from the inside)" (goethe, 2005). to create a work of art does not mean to give priority and express a certain idea, but rather to find ways in which efficiently to convey this idea. artists have their prerogatives in defining the nature and the shape of a work of art, since they hold the key to its interpretation. therefore, artists' prerogatives create the prerequisites for defining the physical journal of subject didactics, 2016 vol. 1, no. 2, 97-100, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.438172 and esthetic parameters and qualities of a work of art. in terms of esthetics, there are numerous (corresponding to established esthetic theories and ideas) and sometimes contradictory definitions and interpretations of what constitutes a work of art. in his book estetika na avangarda (2007) angelov presents some of the definitions of work of art, such as: inexaustible ambiguity (kant), sublimation of libido (freud), organic unity achieved in multitude (harold osborne), a leap into the otherness (andre malraux), a black hole (lyotard), epiphany of the truth about being (heidegger). it is not only different viewpoints, but also the historical dynamics of art that contributes to this chaotic variety. (epiphany, from ancient greek epiphaneia, means appearance, divine manifestationauthor's remark, bl.p.). works of art of the same stylistic direction, irrespective of their type, follow the same, typical of the respective time period, esthetic norm. in the history of art, it is not infrequent to have relatively long periods when compliance with the norm prevails over its violation. however, it is not unusual for the same works of art to violate or ignore the dominant esthetic norm in one way or another. when such work of art is presented to the audience, only those aspects of deviation fromesthetic norm attract the observers' attention. (thus, for example, when edouard manet's breakfast on the grass was exhibited for the first time, it caused great indignation among critics and audience). later though in such cases, existing links with the preceding esthetic norms come to the fore. there are different viewpoints in the studies and definitions of what work of art is and, while most of them are complementary, there are also some new approaches. thus, for pavel florenski the work of art has some meaning, which is expressed by some means, which work in unison (2006). according to vasiliy kandinski solving the problem with shape and colour in the composition is at the heart of a work of art (sadlier, 2008). commenting on the perception of brillo boxes by andy warhol, arthur danto claims that ...it's all about art theories, which at a certain time constitute the 'artworld' by creating the theoretical background and criteria against which works of art are evaluated and defined as such (danto, 2006). in george dickie's theory, in order to receive their status, works of art should receive the status assigned by the autorised for this purpose institutions. among modern definitions and theories of the nature of work of art, it is worth mentioning pierre bourdieu's notion of „field of art“. howard becker thinks that in is not the great flow of modern art that is important, and d. chateau looks for the truth in the tension and combining of these different options. the work of art is a holistic entity, which has an esthetic function inherent in it. a work of art cannot exist independently of its nature (the so-called „artifact substance“). if the problem with the interrelation between the art content (or meaning), and the art form as perceived as the main problem in creating a work of art, then the very question of defining the notions of art content and form becomes less significant. yet one can be sure that devising such criteria and the corresponding theoretical basis is what leads us in our critical analysis of any work of art. in this respect, knowing and using the definitions of what the nature and the role ofa work of art is, and the ways in which its esthetic form is created, becomes a mere consequence. a multitude of art works are created in a variety of art spheres. the question is whether they all are real art, and whether they correspond to our esthetic criteria and are genuine creative art. we can answer the question only if we are familiar with the system of esthetic criteria (related to ideas, style, themes, esthetics, philosophy, etc.) by means of which we analyze and evaluate a work of art. according to the american philosopher and professor of arts and design at the unib. papazov98 versity of michigan kendall walton, assigning esthetic values to a work of art depends on whether we consider it within the appropriate art category. and since there are lots of existing categories, the starting point in such analysis are usually the properties of the particular work of art and the features of the creative process once its affiliation with a category is decided on. contemporary avant-garde and neo-avant-garde art of the end of xx and the beginning of xxi century legitimates a great number of trends and ideas, which sometimes completely denounce traditional esthetic values. there are works of art in which illogical and irrational aspects are most prominent in the message these works of art send. their message becomes incompatible with their form, which leads to a misunderstanding or complete lack of comprehension if we rely on traditional esthetic norms for their interpretation. professor valentin angelov has some interesting thoughts about these contemporary misunderstandings in defining a work of art. he talks about "a misunderstanding as a result of which a work of art, as a focus of our sensitivity, becomes a world in itself which draws us into a state of emotional and submissive hypnosis. sensitivity overcomes reason, and as a result there is such great variety of definitions of what constitutes a work of art, which belongs completely to the realm of our senses" (angelov, 2007). contemporary avant-garde styles and trends in art, and the rapid development of digital and multimedia art creations give rise to new esthetic art interpretation issues in establishing the status and the messages sent by such works of art. traditional (and, to some extent, modern) esthetics is somewhat puzzled and helpless in the face of the hyper-modernism of modern avant-garde works of art, and the interrelations between esthetics and art become increasingly complex in an attempt to built a theoretical foundation for defining such works of art. irrespective of the vision and the message of modern art, it is by all means a valuable product, born in the creative process, and „art is defined as such as a result of a consensus reached in establishing its status. its value is established on the basis of social agreement, no matter what disagreements or doubts might have existed in its evaluation" (stefanov, 2006). thus, according to the renowned french art critic jean baudrillard contemporary post-modern society, which communicates mainly through electronic mass-media, often creates not only original products, but also copies, or what he calls simulacra (from latin simulations). this way of familiarisation with certain works of art is by all means appealing, but is creates „....a reality, which does not really exist, but is only virtual“ (lane, 2009). these processes, however, do not disturb the existing status-quo in defining the nature of art and a work of art. the massive shifts caused by avant-garde trends in different arts, the denouncement or re-interpretation of traditional norms of visualisation and perception of art on the one hand, and the advancing inter-art theories and inter-mediality between different types of arts on the other, have led to incompatibility of some foundation concepts used toguide artistic interpretation. a large number of issues which exist in contemporary theory and criticism of art originate in the fact that avant-garde arts severed the link between the notion of art and work of art. the advancement of non-traditional visual and interactive messages of avant-garde post-modern forms in contemporary arts, poses creation and interpretation challenges for modern artists. contemporary developments in art cannot ignore the advantages and possibilities offered by electronic visual communication, interactive installations and other innovations. art is characterised by the inherent ability to perpetually create new norms and criteria, which give rise to more questions than definitive answers. the esthetic value of works of art 99 references angelov, v. (2007). the aesthetics of the avant-garde, sofia: abagar [orig. in bulgarian: estetika na avangarda]. danto, arthur c. (2006). the transfiguration of the commonplace, cambridge, ma: harvard university press. dickie, g. (1974). art and the aesthetic: an institutional analysis, ithaca: cornell university press. florensky, p. (2006). beyond vision – essays on the perception of art, chicago: reaktion books. lane, r. j. (2009). routledge critical thinkers – jean baudrillard, london: routledge. sadleir, m. (2008). wassily kandinsky: concerning the spiritual in art, waiheke island: floating press. https://books.google.rs/books?id=03ugtxqgzymc&printsec=frontcover&hl=sr&source=gbs_ge_su mmary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false stefanov, s. (2006). cultural dimensions of the visual, sofia. sulzer, j.g., koch, h.c. (1995). aesthetics and the art of musical composition in the german enlightenment (selected writings), cambridge: cambridge university press. von goethe, j.w. (2005). maxims and reflections, penguin uk. von schelling, f.w.j. (1989). the philosophy of art (vol. 58), minneapolis: university of minnesota press. walton, k. (2007). aesthetics – what? why? and wherefore?, university of michigan, department of philosophy: the journal of aesthetics and art criticism, v65 n2: 147-161. received: february 10, 2017 accepted: march 11, 2017 b. papazov100 208_josd_template analysis textbooks for biology applied in schools in russia sergey v. sumatokhin moscow state university of education, second agricultural passage, 4, 129226 moscow, russian federation email: ssumatohin@yandex.ru abstract this article describes textbooks that are used in the teaching of biology in schools in russia. the characteristics of designing biological programme content are presented. the school textbook, as a book, consists of a system of texts, illustrations, apparatus for acquiring knowledge (methodical apparatus) and elements for orientation in the presented contents. in the textbook of biology, different types of texts are distinguished: basic, additional, explanatory. in russia, biology textbooks for the school public more than ten publishers. a set of biology textbooks, ensuring the continuity of the study of biology in grades 5-9 (10-11) is called the subject line. authors of different subject lines of textbooks differently select and structure the content of biological education. depending on the approach to the structuring of the educational material, all subject lines of textbooks can be divided into two groups (system-structural approach and functional approach). these approaches can have a linear or concentric content structure. each teacher has the right to choose from the variety of subject lines of biology textbooks those that most satisfy his needs. keywords: biology textbook, programme content, functional approach, linear structure of biological programme content, concentric structure of biological programme content. introduction a school biology textbook/learning book, contains a certain amount of biological programme content that reflects the current level of achievement in biology and is intended to be mastered by students (sumatokhin & kalinova, 2016). school textbooks for biology have information, transformation, systematization, consolidation, control, self-education, integrative, developmental and educational role. the information role points to the content and activities that must be formed in students in biology teaching (sumatokhin, 2004). the transformation role implies the transformation (selection and grouping) of scientific knowledge in the logic structure of assimilation of knowledge: understanding memory application. the systematization function aims to form a student's biological knowledge system. the function of consolidation and self-control determines the legitimacy of acquiring knowledge and facilitates the rational organization of learning activities. the selfjournal of subject didactics, 2017 vol. 2, no. 1, 61-66, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1238998 education function aims to form the need for independent learning and the ability to properly organize cognitive activities. the integration function unifies within a single system an individual / fragmented information obtained from the media and life experience. the developmental-educational role is connected with the development of pupil's ability to find information and educate them selves (self-study). the programme content of the subject biology, which is in the textbook, is called educational material. it consists of scientific concepts, biological expressions / terms and biological facts. the scientific terms in the textbook are divided into 3 groups. the first group consists of those concepts that are first introduced and then fully explained in the textbook (for example: in the textbook for the sixth grade, this term is the axis root system). the second group of terms are those that are introduced for the first time and generally presented to students (for example, the term cell for fifth grade students). the third group consists of those terms that were introduced earlier, but later on they are deepened (for example, the term cell for students in the tenth grade). the biological term used in a school textbook is a term consisting of a word or a minimal word combination, which is functionally adequate and has a certain place in the terminology system (sumatokhin, 2012). biological facts in a school textbook perform various functions: they serve to undermine or clarify scientific theories; they are related to production practice; they express the application of theory; they enable imparting of interesting information; they have a descriptive meaning. the school textbook, as a book, consists of a system of texts, illustrations, apparatus for acquiring knowledge (methodical apparatus) and elements for orientation in the presented contents. in the textbook of biology, different types of texts are distinguished: basic, additional, explanatory. the basic text is the main source of educational information that learners are required to learn. the additional text aims to increase the scope of knowledge or additional emotional engagement. additional text information is needed to better understand and acquire knowledge from textbooks. the additional text may include unique biological facts, interesting episodes from the history of biology, biographical descriptions, etc. the explanatory text contains the information needed to better understand and acquire knowledge from this textbook. it is an important tool for organizing the independent cognitive activity of students. it is an integral part of the methodical apparatus of textbooks, which, from the aspect of the form, brings closer the textbook to the scientific and reference encyclopedic literature. the explanatory text includes terminology dictionaries, subject terms of reference, references, list of sign labels and abbreviations. illustrations in a school biology textbook are an important carrier of content. they enhance the cognitive, aesthetic and emotional aspects of educational material. they visualize the educational material, activate students' thinking processes, develop their skills of direct (live) visual observation and learning. depending on the connection with the text, the guiding (leading), equivalent and auxiliary illustrations in the textbook are distinguished. the guiding illustrations show the contents of the educational material independently, replacing the main text. the content of the equivalent illustrations is fully or partially already shown in the text. auxiliary illustrations complement and concretize the content of the text, contributing to the most effective perception and content assimilation. 62 the didactic/methodical apparatus of the textbooks has the following functions: it directs the cognitive activity of students in the process of acquiring knowledge/ assimilation of textbook content; it influences the formation of skills among students and in particular their skills for autonomous work with a textbook; it enables mastering the ways how to apply their acquired knowledge in practice. in this didactic apparatus, organization assimilation knowledge refer to the text of the paragraph, tasks performed while reading the paragraph, creative tasks, questions which are located after the paragraph. in the didactic apparatus, creative tasks and questions can be located in front of the text, within the text and after the textual units (paragraph). the didactic orientation apparatus contains a oriented preface, content, list of terms and system of rubrics. oriented preface introduces students to the content and structure of textbooks; develops their ability to understand the flow of different information; forms the ability to work with textbook literature on a self-contained basis. content is the title system of all parts of textbook with the page numbering. the index of terms allows a quick search of biological concepts in the textbook. headings/rubrics indicate separate parts of the learning material. the system of titles influences the organization of students' work with the textbook, structures this learning material, emphasizes the connection and subordination of its parts, helps in orientation within the textbook contents. verbal, graphic, and polygraphic titles are used in biology textbooks. the verbal title is the title that concisely, accurately and clearly defines the content of the marked part of the textbook. headlines in textbooks can be in the form of photographs, drawings or diagrams, and thus indicate the main content of a particular part of the textbook. graphic and polygraphic titles indicate parts of textbooks with numbers, letters, special characters (frames, lines, stars, etc.), special font, color, space in the text and paragraph. in russia, biology textbooks for the school public more than ten publishers. textbooks that pass successfully expertise are placed on the list by the ministry of education. the list includes 60 biology textbooks for grades 5-9 and 19 biology textbooks for grades 1011. a set of biology textbooks, ensuring the continuity of the study of biology in grades 59 (10-11) is called the subject line. the textbooks that make up the subject line are built on a unique methodic and didactic basis and are united by the general structure of the presentation of the educational material and have a single artistic and aesthetic design. authors of different subject lines of textbooks differently select and structure the content of biological education. depending on the approach to the structuring of the educational material, all subject lines of textbooks can be divided into two groups. the first group includes the subject lines of textbooks, in which the system-structural approach is implemented, which provides a consistent description of the systematic groups of living organisms: "plants", "bacteria", "mushrooms", "lichens", and "animals". on the basis of this approach, seven subject lines of biology textbooks for grades 5-9 were created. the second group of subject lines of textbooks have a functional approach.this approach is based on a comparative view of the basic characteristics of living organisms (cellular structure, similar chemical composition, metabolism and energy, nutrition, respiration, excretion, growth and development, irritability, movement, reproduction) and the diversity of the living. on the basis of this approach, six subject lines of biology textbooks for grades 5-9 were created. an important feature of the subject lines of biology textbooks for grades 5-9 is the 63 structure of the content of biological education implemented in them. the linear structure of programmme content assumes a consistent-linear (one by one) description of sections: plants", "bacteria", "mushrooms", "lichens", "animals", "man and his health", in the textbooks of biology of grades 5-9. in the textbooks for the 10-11 grades. also, there is content of "general biology" in the textbooks for the 10-11 grades. four subject lines of biology textbook are related to this content. the concentric structure of biology programme content assumes that in 5-9 grades all systematic categories of organisms are presented. moreover, the section "general biology" is presented in the textbooks for grade 9. there are nine subject lines of biology textbooks with a concentric structure. thus, in the subject lines of biology textbooks for grades 5-9, four options for realization of the biological programme content are possible: • system-structural approach with concentric structure of programme content in the course of biology ; • system-structural approach with linear structure of programme content in the course of biology; • functional approach with concentric structure of programme content in the course of biology; • functional approach with linear structure of programme content in the course of biology. we will reveal some features of modern biology textbooks on the example of the subject line of biology textbooks for grades 5-9, which is called the "life line" (authors: v. pasechnik, s. sumatokhin, g. kalinova, a. kamensky, g. shvetsov, z. haponyuk). in the subject line of the textbooks "line of life" for each grade, an educational and methodological set was created. it is consisted of textbook, electronic application, workbook for students and methodical handbook for the teacher (haiboulina, 2015). in the textbooks of this subject line, the programme content has linear structure. in the textbook for 5-6 classes, the topics are "biology as a science", "cell the basis of the structure and life activity of organisms", "variety of organisms", "life of organisms", "regulation of the life of organisms" and "structure and diversity of angiosperms". thopics are consisted of paragraphs of a fixed format. the paragraphs have a unique size (volume of two pages) in the textbooks. in the textbook for the 7th grade, animals are described in the topics/themes: "general information about the animal kingdom", "unicellular animals", "multicellular animals, „invertebrates "," vertebrate animals "," ecosystems ". in this textbook, the volume of paragraphs is not fixed. the information may be within a paragraph of different sizes. along with the compulsory for the assimilation of educational material, in the content of paragraphs there are additional information that contribute to the motivation of students. the biology textbook for 8th grade contains programme content "man and his health" which is consisted of themes: "general overview of the human body", "support and movement", "internal environment of the body", "blood circulation and lymph circulation", "breath", "nutrition" , "metabolism and energy transformation", "sharing of exchange products", "covers of the human body", "neurohumoral regulation of vital processes", "organs of sense." analyzers", "psychic and human behavior“, „higher nervous activity", "reproduction and development of man", "man and the environment". in the textbook for the 8th grade, special attention is focused on the practical orientation of the content, in 64 terms of the formation of sanitary and hygienic rules related to a healthy lifestyle. the textbook for the 9th grade contains the section "fundamentals of general biology" and consists of the topics: "biology in the system of sciences", "fundamentals of cytology cell science", "reproduction and individual development (ontogenesis) of organisms", "fundamentals of genetics", " human genetics "," fundamentals of breeding and biotechnology "," evolutionary teaching "," emergence and development of life on earth "," interrelationships of organisms and the environment ". in all textbooks "life line" for the 5-9 grades, the system-activity approach has been implemented. each textbook begins with an orientation preface, which allows students to understand the specifics of working with the textbook and organize their educational activities. each topic begins with a short annotated text, a picture and the headings "you will learn" and "you will learn." these headings motivate students to achieve the planned results (petrova, 2015). the paragraph begins with the "remember" column, which contains 2 questions. these questions make it possible to establish a connection with the topic previously studied and motivate students to study new material. then follows an information block consisting of text, various illustrations, diagrams, tables, diagrams. a better understanding of the content of the paragraph is facilitated by the heading "keywords." this heading denotes biological terms. they denote the concepts that are revealed in the paragraph. the heading "key words" is an integral part of the activity block, which includes reproductive tasks that allow better understanding the content of the paragraph. this block also includes the "think" rubric, which contains creative questions and the rubric "my laboratory", where descriptions of laboratory works and experiments are given. in modern russian education, much attention is paid to the implementation of the meta-subject approach and the formation of universal learning activities for students, which ensure their ability to independently acquire knowledge and develop skills. in the textbooks of the lines of life, the rubric "steps to success" and "lesenka" contribute to the formation of universal educational activities. they contain tips and recommendations how to create a paragraph plan, how to work with the text of a textbook, how to analyze, how to compare, how to prepare a report and successfully present it, how to search for scientific information on the internet, and how to create a multimedia presentations (sumatokhin, 2014). the textbook-methodical set "life line" includes workbooks for students. the structure of workbooks corresponds to the structure of textbooks. the section "working with information" in workbooks indicates tasks aimed at translating information from a text form to a tabular form. laboratory and practical works are contained in the section "working in the laboratory". in the section "testing knowledge of the subject", the required test tasks are proposed. tasks related to students' reflexion are contained in the section "monitoring of personal results". expansion of the educational space in the educational and methodical package "life line" provides an electronic supplement to the textbooks. the structure of this electronic application corresponds to the topics/section of the textbook (gaponok, 2013). to each paragraph media teaching objects like: drawings, interactive schemes, photos and video fragments, animations, identifiers and reference information are offered. in the electronic handbook/manual there is a section "workshop", consisting of laboratory works. performing these works, students will be able to observe phenomena occurring in living nature. the "identifier" section contains an illustrated description of plants and animals. 65 interactive assignments in the electronic handbook are aimed at the formation of the most important competencies in the simulator and control modes. in the handbooks for teachers, the concept of the subject line of textbooks "life line", the program, methodical recommendations for lesson plans, recommendations for material and technical support of the subject, the planned results of studying the course of biology are given. in conclusion, we note that each teacher has the right to choose from the variety of subject lines of biology textbooks those that most satisfy his needs. references gaponok, z. g. (2013). electronic supplement to the textbook "biology. 5-6 grades "line of life "(in russian: электронное приложение к учебнику «биология. 5-6 классы» линии умк «линия жизни), biology at school, vol (4). haibulina, k. v. (2015). opportunities of the umm "life line" when implementing the gef in the process of teaching biology (in russian: возможности умк «линия жизни» при внедрении фгос в процессе обучения биологии). biology at school ( биология в школе), (1). petrova, a. (2015). how to choose and order a biology textbook for the elementary school (in russian: как выбрать и заказать учебник биологии для основной школы). biology at school, vol (3). order of the ministry of education and science of the russian federation of september 5, 2013, no. 1047 "on approving the procedure for forming a federal list of textbooks recommended for use in the implementation of initial general, basic general, and secondary general education programs with state accreditation (in russian: приказ министерства образования и науки российской федерации от 5 сентября 2013 г. №1047 «об утверждении порядка формирования федерального перечня учебников, рекомендуемых к использованию при реализации имеющих государственную аккредитацию образовательных программ начального общего, основного общего, среднего общего образования») https://rg.ru/2013/11/01/uchebniki-dok.html. sumatokhin, v. s. (2004). a systematic approach to the creation of a school textbook of biology (in russian: системный подход к созданию школьного учебника биологии). mgou,133. sumatokhin, v. s. (2012). biology textbooks today: the problem of choice (in russian: учебники биологии сегодня: проблема выбора), biology at school, vol (4). sumatokhin, v. s. (2014). textbooks of biology, natural sciences and ecology in the federal list for 2014 – 2017 (in russian: учебники биологии, естествознания и экологии в федеральном перечне на 2014 2017 годы), biology at schools. vol (5). sumatokhin, v. s., kalinova, g. (2016). biology studies in russian schools. journal of subject didactics, 1(2), 127-132. received: december 5, 2017 accepted: february 17, 2018 66 211_josd_template practical assessment procedures results of training in biology elena a. galkina krasnoyarsk state pedagogical university named after v.p. astafyev, ada lebedeva str., d. 89, 660049 krasnoyarsk, russian federation email: galkina7@yandex.ru abstract the article describes the procedures for evaluating the results of training in biology. the mechanisms for monitoring the learning outcomes of a biology teacher are presented. examples of algorithms for procedures for evaluating learning outcomes in biology are demonstrated. keywords: procedures for evaluating the results in biology, evaluation of planned results, methods and technologies for evaluating the results of teaching biology, organizational and pedagogical conditions for conducting evaluation procedures. introduction the use of procedures for assessing the results of training in biology is provided through normative regulation, funds of control and measurement materials, regulations, technologies and methods for conducting evaluation procedures, information support, mechanisms for using the results of evaluation, etc. by the quality of training in biology, we mean a comprehensive description of the results of educational activities of students, reflecting the degree of their compliance with the requirements of the federal state educational standard, mainly of the level of achievement of the planned personal, meta-subject and subject results of mastering the educational program. the application of procedures for evaluating the results in biology is based on the leading didactic ideas: ˗ implementation of the requirements of the federal state educational standard to the structure and content of the planned results and orientation to the development of the personal qualities of a school graduate; ˗ openness of the procedures for conducting intermediate and final certification for trainees, stakeholders; ˗ the accordance and adequacy of assessment procedures for individual, age and journal of subject didactics, 2017 vol. 2, no. 2, 109-114, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1239794 ethno-cultural characteristics of the trainee's personality, including those with special educational needs; ˗ systematic character, purposefulness and technological quality of pedagogical monitoring. organizational and pedagogical conditions for monitoring the evaluation of the results of training in biology include: ˗ a set of invariant and variable parts of the content of control measuring materials in biology; ˗ a system of criteria, indexes and indicators for assessing learning outcomes; ˗ the implementation of material, technical and educational-methodological requirements for evaluation procedures, the use of appropriate equipment, methods and forms in accordance with the regulations of the evaluation procedure; ˗ filling the portfolio to stimulate the development of the student's educational trajectory. in the practice of teaching biology, the following forms of monitoring the results were most widely disseminated: 1) diagnostic, focused on the actual knowledge and skills of students before studying the topic; 2) current, aimed at studying feedback directly in the course of studying, fixing and reflecting the mastery of new material; 3) intermediate certification, which assumes an in-depth study of the results of schoolchildren's training on the main topics / sections of the program; 4) final certification as an evaluation of the final results of training. after choosing the form of monitoring, the teacher establishes the main content of the training material on biology, subject to verification. when determining control measurement materials, it is necessary to make up a regulation for the planning of the content of educational results. the regulation determines the internal organization of the evaluation procedure, based on the step-by-step development of universal training skills, activities for obtaining results in biology (table 1). the main principles of such planning are the definition of the material necessary for mastering the material of school biology; selection of a variable control system for the formation and development of the system of wildlife knowledge; repeated reproduction instructions for assessing knowledge and universal learning activities of students by any teacher. the next evaluation procedure is the selection of methods and means of the teacher's supervising activity, organizational forms of control. 110 ��������� ���� ���� ��� �������������� �� ���������������� � ���������� � ����������������� ��������� ������������� � ������ ����������������� ������� � ������������� �������� � � � � � � table 1. regulation of planning the content of educational results. the effectiveness of the educational and cognitive activity of students and the professional work of the teacher is determined through the use of monitoring methods of the training results in biology. reproductive and performing methods are actively used in the work of teachers of biology; informative-inducing, instructive-practical, partially-searching, productive-practical and research methods are used less frequently. within the framework of the rational use of forms of tracing the results of training, it is recommended to fulfill a number of requirements: the variable use of different versions of the forms of verifying the learning outcomes of students in order to ensure the individualization of training; the implementation of personal and meta-subject results; the receipt by the teacher within the shortest period of time the greatest possible amount of feedback on the degree of mastering the program; the content validity of the forms of verification to the available level of the presented results achieved by the students; the organization of a short, quick and clear answer of the student to a concrete teacher’s question or task, with a compact formulation of the standard answers and a strict algorithm of actions; the ability to quickly assess the student's response to both the specific question posed and the overall control work; achievement by the student at a specific stage of assessment in accordance with the norms of assessing the realistic possible level of training. the range of complementary forms of evaluating the learning outcomes in biology is quite large: it is, as a rule, individual, individual group, group, frontal, class-generalizing forms. according to the specifics of the organization, the feedback can be oral or written checking, role-playing or business game, seminar, homework, practical work, essay, composition. according to the results of mastering the content of biology, the teacher organizes a textual, graphic, test or other form of presentation of the interpretation of materials. according to the technology of carrying out tasks and the level of independence, independent work can be organized with a textbook or workbook, reproductive work, independent practical research, presentation of a report, defending a paper, presentation of the project, credit on skype, exam. development of control and measuring materials, standards of answers in accordance with the requirements of the educational program on biology should be accompanied by equal understanding of tasks by all trainees, the optimal identification of learning indicators with reducing the time of verification, the level of preparedness and mastering by the trainees the content of the topic, the reliability of the results. from the teacher's existing control questions and assignments, the most reliable (according to degree of confidence in this form) and valid (for adequacy, compliance) should be selected. these are questions and tasks using didactic material (maps, drawings, diagrams, textual information, dummies, models, collections, etc.); questions and tasks test tasks of closed and open type with brief and detailed answers; by types of cognitive skills for description, explanation, analysis, classification, comparison, generalization, promotion and defending the hypothesis, and others); in accordance with the forms of presentation of results (exercises, tasks, dictations, essays, compositions, educational projects and others). in the control work, it is desirable to arrange questions and tasks in order of increasing complexity or difficulty of implementation. when selecting control questions and assignments, the teacher must take into account different levels of activity of the thinking processes of students (according to b. bloom). the level of activation of thinking processes "cognition" is characterized by key words and phrases "name, list, formulate, describe, establish, tell, correlate". the level of activation of thought processes "understanding" includes key words and phrases "de111 scribe what you feel about ...; tell in your own words; show the relationship; explain the meaning; add up ". "application" is accompanied by key words and phrases "explain the purpose of the application; use this to solve ...; demonstrate". "analysis" as the fourth level of activation of thought processes has distinctive features of key words and phrases "explain how and why explain the reasons; decompose into components; сompare; classify ". the fifth level of activation of thought processes "synthesis" is combined with key words and phrases "think up another option ...; create; what happens if ...; is there another reason ...; develop a new kind of product ". the sixth level of activating thought processes "evaluation" is illustrated by key words and phrases "evaluate opportunities; express criticism; what do you think about …; choose what you like best; set the norms; choose and select». when carrying out the procedure of students’ answers control questions and executing assignments by the trainees the biology teacher is recommended to build their pedagogical activity according to the following algorithm: 1. short briefing on the implementation of the test work, handing out of individual packages of test and measurement materials to students. in the briefing, the teacher explains the nature of the tasks, draws attention to the sequence of their execution and filling in the answer forms (pages of the workbook, sheets), the format of presenting the result, the time periods for execution. 2. the procedure of controlling the students in the implementation of monitoring questions and tasks. the ideal scenario is when each trainee has individual control materials in electronic or printed form, each student works at a separate desk. 3. the organization by the teacher of mutual control or self-check-up. there may be several options for conducting: 1) the student completed the tasks on time and can check his work in the remaining or free after-school time. 2) the trainee completed the control tasks ahead of schedule. the teacher during the current evaluation gives him the "standards" of answers, the criteria for giving the mark. 3) the trainee receives additional control tasks for extracurricular work, evaluates them in accordance with the content of the training material in the textbook, etc. the final stage of the evaluation procedure involves the selection of methods for evaluating learning outcomes; examination of the content of the answers. evaluation of the learning outcomes is carried out by comparing the results obtained with the standards according to the criterion-evaluation system of quality, is expressed in conventional signs, scores, evaluative judgments of the teacher giving meaningful interpretation of the results. based on the assessment of parameters and indicators of evaluation, the level or degree of successfulness of learning is determined. to assess the results of cognitive experience, there are five levels: discrimination, memorization, understanding, simplest skills and abilities. for the experience of the emotional-value attitude neutral passive attitude, positive amorphous attitude, positive conscious attitude, positive personal attitude and creative experience neutral-passive readiness, positive stimulus-productive response, conscious active participation, intellectual-heuristic productive activity, one’s own creative activity. the main emphasis in the processing of the responses of the students’ control work of the students is done to check the specific results of the students: 1. mastering of the system of scientific knowledge about wildlife. 2. formation of initial conceptions. 3. ex112 perience in using the methods of biological science, mastering the methods of providing first aid. 4. formation of the bases of ecological literacy, representations about the importance of biological sciences. detailed quantitative and qualitative processing of the results of evaluating the answers of students can be done using level, element-wise (component) or operational analysis. results of the students’ achievements evaluation can be archived in a variety of ways: in a text format (descriptions, written analyses, recommendations, reviews, personality assessment); in a graphical form (pie or bar charts, ratings, models, statistics tables, etc.); in an electronic form (automated processing of test results, computer data-bases). the assessment results are recorded in a journal, students’ diaries, reports; are transmitted to parents and the school administration (if necessary) via the electronic journal system; and are accumulated in a student’s portfolio. the efficient processing of test results allows a teacher to observe the quality of content acquisition; it reveals typical defects, errors and gaps in the knowledge of the subject, the errors in the choice and use of concepts and interpretation of terms. special attention should be paid to identifying the reasons and causes of defects and errors. through interviews and counseling activity a biology teacher should ascertain the reasons for the students’ current difficulties in mastering the core topics of the subject content. in accordance with the information received on the quality of education, the biology teacher makes adjustments to the further process of studying the topic. depending on the results of mastering the volume of educational material, the level of complexity of the assignment, the level of the student's progress, the teacher needs to make a program of corrective measures for students (adapted individual assistance). corrective measures complete the procedures for assessing the results obtained, ensure the quality and effectiveness of the educational process. thus, in order to effectively evaluate the results of training in biology, it is important for the teacher to organize a series of procedures: collect meaningful information; to think over its quantitative and qualitative processing, analysis and comparison of data; to evaluate the reliability of the results; make arrangements for coordination and planning of further pedagogical actions. on the basis of the above-mentioned, it is evident that the evaluation procedures are an open complex allowing the evaluation of the results of students in biology at any stage of the study in accordance with the goals of general education. the effectiveness of its functioning is determined by the peculiarities of the structural components of the content of the object; choice of means and methods for implementing technology and methods for tracking the results; organizational and pedagogical conditions for carrying out control; requirements for content selection and training facilities; scales of evaluation by criteria and measuring quality instruments of education, which determine the educational effect. the application of a variety of procedures for evaluating the results of training in biology ensures interaction between learners and educators in accordance with the learning situation best of all, allowing to take into account the individual and age characteristics of students, giving them the opportunity to absorb the material at an acceptable rate. 113 references federal law dated 29 deсember no 273-fz "on education in the russian federation" http://минобрнауки.рф/проекты/фгос-и-пооп federal state educational standard of basic school education http://минобрнауки.рф/проекты/фгос-и-пооп sumatokhin s.v., kalinova g.s.. biology studies in russia schools // journal of subject didactics. 2016. vol.1, no. 2. p.127-132. andrienko a.v. modern means of quality control in education. krasnoyarsk: sibgtu, 2010. 95 p. key issues in the development of national and regional systems for assessing the quality of education (peer review): a collective monograph / v.a. bolotov, i.a. valdman, r.v. gorbovsky and others. moscow: higher school of economics, 2016. 232 p. musina v.e. pedagogical monitoring of educational achievements of schoolchildren: educationalmethodical manual. belgorod: belgu, 2010. 112 p. perevozny a.v. the quality of education: the essence, content, prerequisites / / innovations in education. 2017. №7. p.31 ˗ 43. received: february 6, 2018 accepted: april 23, 2018 114 207_josd_template original article explaining the entropy concept and entropy components “theory without practice is empty and practice without theory is blind.” immanuel kant marko popović department of chemistry and biochemistry, brigham young university, provo, ut 84602, usa email: popovic.pasa@gmail.com abstract total entropy of a thermodynamic system consists of two components: thermal entropy due to energy, and residual entropy due to molecular orientation. in this article, a three-step method for explaining entropy is suggested. step one is to use a classical method to introduce thermal entropy stm as a function of temperature t and heat capacity at constant pressure cp: stm = ∫(cp/t) dt. thermal entropy is the entropy due to uncertainty in motion of molecules and vanishes at absolute zero (zero-point energy state). it is also the measure of useless thermal energy that cannot be converted into useful work. the next step is to introduce residual entropy s0 as a function of the number of molecules n and the number of distinct orientations available to them in a crystal m: s0 = n kb ln m, where kb is the boltzmann constant. residual entropy quantifies the uncertainty in molecular orientation. residual entropy, unlike thermal entropy, is independent of temperature and remains present at absolute zero. the third step is to show that thermal entropy and residual entropy add up to the total entropy of a thermodynamic system s: s = s0 + stm. this method of explanation should result in a better comprehension of residual entropy and thermal entropy, as well as of their similarities and differences. the new method was tested in teaching at faculty of chemistry university of belgrade, serbia. the results of the test show that the new method has a potential to improve the quality of teaching. keywords: thermal entropy; residual entropy; molecular motion; molecular orientation; education. introduction “whoever uses the term ‘entropy’ in a discussion always wins since no one knows what entropy really is, so in a debate one always has the advantage” are words of von neumann that show the widespread misunderstanding of the entropy concept. (gillet, 2006) entropy is an abstract concept and is thus harder to explain than other thermodynamic properties, such as energy, pressure and temperature. we encounter energy often in our everyday lives, as calorie charts on our food or kwh on our electricity bills, but we don’t have much contact with entropy outside an academic environment. the study of carson and watson (2002) shows that there are a lot of misconceptions about entropy among undergraduate students, many of which appeared before they even took a physical chemistry course. sozbilir and bennet (2007) tested undergraduate students who took a physjournal of subject didactics, 2017 vol. 2, no. 2, 73-80, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1239728 ical chemistry course and found that the majority could not use thermodynamic principles to explain change in entropy of a system. kostic (2014) found that the concept of entropy is often misused, even in scientific literature. on the other hand, entropy is a key concept in natural sciences, as sir edington stated: “the law that entropy always increases holds, i think, the supreme position among the laws of nature…” (edington, 1928). while teaching about entropy is not easy, it is even harder to explain its components, such as the residual entropy. understanding residual entropy requires students to think at a molecular level. this is a problem for many students (sozbilir & bennet, 2007). as a result, there is a general lack of fundamental understanding of residual entropy, even in academic circles. residual entropy is easiest to explain as configurational entropy, a concept that students can grasp intuitively. as is shown in section “entropies considered,” residual entropy is easiest to present to students using a coin-toss model. this implies the analysis of residual entropy as configurational entropy (kozliak, 2007). there has been a debate on whether configurational entropy should be thought to undergraduate students (kozliak, 2009; lambert, 2007; langbeheim et al., 2014). kozliak (2009) suggests that students should be simultaneously thought about applications and warned about limitations of configurational entropy. some authors (lambert, 2007) oppose introducing configurational entropy altogether in introductory courses, as it does not convey the idea that every change in entropy entails a special redistribution of energy. however, these authors (lambert, 2007) agree that configurational entropy is the only practical method to solve certain problems in thermodynamics, such as finding entropies of mixing (lambert, 2007). such systems are encountered by students in everyday phenomena as well as in materials of chemical interest (lambert, 2007). according to langbeheim et al. (2014), configurational entropy also plays an important role in shaping conceptual understanding. research showed that the grasp of configurational entropy is intuitive for students (langbeheum et al., 2014; shultz & coddington, 1981) and should not be therefore overlooked but rather harnessed, elaborated, and refined (langbeheum et al., 2014). molecules (particles) can be classified into two groups, depending on their symmetry: symmetric particles (figure 1a) and asymmetric particles (figure 1b). symmetric particles can take only one orientation in a crystal and thus form only perfect crystals, where all particles are oriented in the same way. asymmetric particles can take multiple orientations in a crystal and can form both perfect (figure 1c) and imperfect crystals (figure 1d). 74 figure 1. (a) a symmetric particle: in this case an argon atom, which can have only one orientation in a crystal lattice. (b) an asymmetric particle: in this case co, which can have two orientations in a crystal lattice: either c or o can point upwards. (c) an imperfect crystal of co: each co molecule in the crystal lattice can point either up or down. therefore, there is randomness and thus uncertainty in molecular orientation, leading to residual entropy. (d) a perfect crystal of co: all molecules in the lattice are oriented in the same direction. there is no randomness nor uncertainty and, thus, residual entropy is zero. in this paper, a new method of explaining entropy to undergraduate students is proposed. the comprehension of residual entropy will be improved if total entropy of a system is explained to them immediately as a sum of its two components. the first is the residual entropy, entropy that is caused by uncertainty in molecular orientation – a static property that survives even in the total absence of motion at absolute zero (zero-point energy state). the second is thermal entropy, entropy that is caused by uncertainty (boltzmann, 1974) in the motion of particles – a dynamic property that is related to energy (clausius, 1867; clausius, 1870; clausius, 1865). the “entropies considered” section considers the two components of entropy and how they are related. section “teaching strategy” gives the method of explaining them based on the theory in the section “entropies considered”. the “teaching strategy” section also gives the results of implementation of the new teaching method in the classroom and its comparison by testing to the classical teaching method. entropies considered there are three terms related to entropy used in thermodynamics: thermal entropy, residual entropy and total system entropy. in this section the three entropies, as well as the relationships, similarities and differences between them will be presented. based on this a new teaching method will be presented in the next section. thermal entropy is a property of a thermodynamic system that results from motion of particles in the system (boltzmann, 1974). this includes motion such as translation, rotation, vibration, electronic energy, nuclear energy, etc. thus, thermal entropy is proportional to the amount of energy stored as chaotic molecular motion (boltzmann, 1974). thermal entropy stm at a temperature τ is defined and calculated as cp is heat capacity at constant pressure, t is temperature, and δpts is the entropy change due to phase transitions. δpts can be found from enthalpy of a phase transition δpth and the temperature of the phase transition tpt: δpts = δpth / tpt. this equation should theoretically be used for first order phase transitions, because they appear as infinitely tall peaks of zero width (figure 2a), so the integral of cp /t should be zero. however, in practice, phase transitions do not appear as infinitely narrow peaks and have finite height and width (figure 2b). therefore, δpts is calculated in 4 steps: (1) fit the heat capacity data at temperatures below and above the phase transition. (2) extrapolate the fitted heat capacity underneath the phase transition peak. (3) subtract the extrapolated heat capacity from the actual heat capacity data. this gives the heat capacity of the phase transition cp,pt (figure 2c). (4) fit and integrate the heat capacity of the phase transition using the equation δpts = ∫(cp,pt/t) dt. since this term has the same form as the second term on the right-hand side of equation (1a), we may simplify equation (1a) into 75 � � �� � �� �� � � ���� � � ��� � � � (1a) � � �� � �� � � � �� � � � � � � (1b) since an infinitesimal amount of heat that the system receives is defined as dq=cp∙dt, thermal entropy is related to the heat given to the system on heating it from absolute zero to its current temperature τ. since this heat was stored as energy of molecular motion within the system, thermal entropy is proportional to it. so, we may assume thermal en76 � � � ����� ���� ���� ���� ���� ���� ����� ����� ����� ����� � � � � � � � � �� �� � �� � � ����� � ��� ��� ���� ���� ����� � ��� � ��� ����� ����� ��� ��� ��� ��� ��� � � � �� �� � �� � � ����� � ��� ��� ���� ���� ����� � ��� � ��� ����� � � ��� � �� � � ��� � � � �� �� � �� � � ����� ���� ���� ���� figure 2. (a) heat capacity of a hypothetical sample with an ideal first order phase transition. the phase transition peak is infinitely high and infinitely narrow. (b) heat capacity of a real sample (smirnova et al., 2005). the points represent experimental data. notice that the phase transition peak has finite height and width. the line represents fitted heat capacity from the region outside the phase transition. the line segment underneath the phase transition is an extrapolation. (c) heat capacity of a phase transition is obtained by subtracting the fitted heat capacity line in (b) from the real heat capacity of the sample. the points represent the heat capacity of the phase transition. the line represents a fit made to integrate the phase transition heat capacity. tropy to be the entropy that appears as a consequence of molecular motion inside the system. thus, thermal entropy represents a measure of (various forms of) stored kinetic energy that cannot be converted into useful work at a given temperature (clausius, 1867; clausius, 1870; clausius, 1865). residual entropy, s0, is a property of a thermodynamic system near (and at) absolute zero that appears as a consequence of random molecular arrangement of asymmetric particles aligned in a crystal lattice (figure 1b and c) (clayton & giauque, 1932; johari, 2010; kozliak, 2007; kozliak & lambert, 2008; popovic, 2014; popovic, 2015; sestak et al., 2011). kozliak (2007) defined four ways to calculate residual entropy. informational or combinatoric method, derived using the coin tossing model, is traditionally used in textbooks (kozliak, 2007). it applies the boltzmann–planck formula: kb is the boltzmann constant, while wrand and wperf correspond to the numbers of microstates of the real (imperfect) and perfect crystals, respectively (figure 1c and d) (kozliak, 2007). by definition wperf = 1. the quantity wrand is related to the number of distinct orientations a molecule can have in an imperfect crystal, m, and the number of molecules that form the crystal, n, by the relation wrand= m n. so, residual entropy is according to (3) residual entropy depends only on the number of orientations that molecules can have. so, residual entropy depends only on the number of molecules in a crystal, their arrangement, and is independent of molecular motion temperature. therefore, it persists at absolute zero. both residual entropy and thermal entropy measure uncertainty. however, they differ in the kind of uncertainty that they quantify: residual entropy is related to uncertainty in arrangement, while thermal entropy is related to uncertainty in energy and motion. by comparing equations (1b) and (3) we can see the main difference between the thermal entropy and the residual entropy. from (3) it can be concluded that residual entropy is related to the number of molecules in the crystal and the number of distinct orientations they can have, m. so, residual entropy is caused by uncertainty in molecular orientation and is a static property. from (1b) it follows that thermal entropy depends on temperature and is caused by molecular motion. thus, thermal entropy is a dynamic property related to energy (clausius, 1867; clausius, 1870; clausius, 1865). at absolute zero all molecules are in their ground state, so there is no uncertainty in their energy. when uncertainty in energy disappears at absolute zero, thermal entropy is equal to zero. total system entropy: entropy is an additive property. therefore, total system entropy is the sum of two types of entropy: residual entropy and thermal entropy. total entropy of a thermodynamic system s at a temperature τ is calculated from the equation 77 ���� ���� � � ��� � � (2) ���� � ����� � � (3) � � �� � �� �� � � � � �� � � � � (4) where s0 is the residual entropy, t is temperature, and cp(t) is heat capacity at constant pressure. the second term on the right side of (4) represents thermal entropy. so, total system entropy is the sum of thermal and residual entropy. thus, we can write total system entropy as where stm = ∫(cp/t) dt and s0 = n kb ln m. this formulation of the total system entropy equation allows us to see the components of the total entropy of a thermodynamic system. total system entropy is what we find in thermodynamic data tables. teaching strategy in the previous section the thermal, residual and total system entropy were presented, and their relationships defined. based on this, in this section a 3-step method for explaining the three kinds of entropy will be presented. the general pattern of explanation follows the order in section 2: start from thermal entropy, then introduce residual entropy and in the end show that they are both constituents of total system entropy. finally, implementation in the classroom of the new teaching method will be considered, as well as its comparison to the classical teaching method by means of testing. the first step is to derive thermal entropy equation (1b) the classical way and explain that it depends on energy. one can introduce dstm=dqrev/t straight away or start from the carnot cycle, derive the clausius inequality and discuss its meaning. next, the experimental determination of entropy can be discussed by talking about calorimetry, and how dqrev in the entropy definition can be replaced by cp ∙ dt and integrated to yield the expression for thermal entropy (1b). thermal entropy is a measure of useless thermal energy in the system, which can’t be converted into useful work (clausius, 1867; clausius, 1870; clausius, 1865). it is a measure of uncertainty due to energy of the chaotic motion of molecules. however, if one tries to use (1b) to find entropy in practice it will work on most compounds, but there are exceptions, like co, indicating that something is missing. this sets the stage to talk about the residual entropy. the next step is to introduce residual entropy and explain its difference from thermal entropy. explain that orientation is important; co, water or glycerol can be used as examples. orientation can be taken into account using the boltzmann equation. it will be exciting for most students to work with it, because of its fame. you can use elementary combinatorics to show that wrand=m n and use this to derive the residual entropy equation (3). then indicate that temperature is absent in (3), while it is the key parameter of the thermal entropy equation (1b). this explains the difference between thermal and residual entropy. the last step is to show that thermal and residual entropy add up to total system entropy and summarize. entropy is an additive property and thus thermal and residual entropy add up to the total system entropy. the total system entropy equation is thus (5), followed by (1b) and (3) to make the relationships clearer. then one can recapitulate, that the total system entropy has two components. thermal entropy represents a measure of useless energy that cannot be converted into work (clausius, 1865; clausius, 1867; clausius, 1870). it depends on energy and disappears at absolute zero. residual entropy 78 �� ��� �� � � (5) is a measure of uncertainty in arrangement (clayton & giauque, 1932). it depends on arrangement only –it is independent of energy and remains present at absolute zero. the teaching strategy presented above was tested and compared to the classical strategy by applying both in teaching and then testing the acquired knowledge. the comparison of the test scores revealed that the strategy presented here can potentially give improved teaching results. two groups of 4th year students were chosen randomly at faculty of chemistry, university of belgrade, serbia. one group was thought about entropy using the method described in this paper. the other group was thought using the classical method described in most textbooks (atkins & de paula, 2006; atkins & de paula, 2011; chang, 2000). next both groups were given an identical test. the test was meant to evaluate three things: understanding of the concept and kinds of entropy, understanding of the physical meaning of entropy, and ability to apply the acquired knowledge. the group that was thought using the method from this paper had an average score of 84%, while the group that was thought according to the classical method had an average score of 63%. based on the results of the test, it was found that the method presented in this paper has a potential to give students a better understanding and ability to apply the concept of entropy. conclusions total entropy of a thermodynamic system has two components: thermal entropy and residual entropy. thermal entropy is due to uncertainty in motion of molecules. it is also the measure of useless thermal energy that cannot be converted into useful work. residual entropy quantifies the uncertainty in molecular orientation. residual entropy, unlike thermal entropy, is independent of temperature and remains present at absolute zero. the three kinds of entropy and their relationships can be explained as follows: start by deriving the thermal entropy equation (1b) in the usual way, mention that except uncertainty in energy there is uncertainty in orientation as well, resulting in residual entropy (3), finally show that thermal entropy and residual entropy add up to the total system entropy (5). the teaching method presented in this paper was tested and compared with the classical teaching method, by means of implementation in the classroom and testing the acquired knowledge. the students thought using the method presented here had an average score of 84%, while the students thought using the classical method had an average score of 63%. this indicates that the method presented in this paper has a potential to give improved results in teaching entropy. therefore, there are reasons to believe that if the professor uses this method to explain the entropy concept, the students will understand better the concepts of residual entropy, thermal entropy, their similarities and differences. acknowledgements: the author would like to express gratitude to prof. dr. sanja grgurić-šipka, faculty of chemistry university of belgrade without whom the implementation of this teaching approach in classroom would not be possible. references atkins, p. & de paula, j. (2006). physical chemistry, 8th ed. new york: w. h. freeman and company. atkins, p. & de paula, j. (2011). physical chemistry for the life sciences, 2nd ed. new york: w. h. freeman and company. 79 boltzmann, l. (1974). the second law of thermodynamics. in b. f. mcguinness (ed.), theoretical physics and philosophical problems (pp. 1333). new york: springer-verlag. carson, e.m. & watson, j.r. (2002). undergraduate students’ understandings of entropy and gibbs free energy, university chemistry education, 6, 4-12. chang, r. (2000). physical chemistry for the chemical and biological sciences, 3rd ed. sausalito: university science books. clausius, r. (1867). the mechanical theory of heat – with its applications to the steam engine and to physical properties of bodies. london: john van voorst. clausius, r. (1870). on a mechanical theorem applicable to heat, philosophical magazine, 40(265), 122–127. clausius, r. (1865). ueber verschiedene für die anwendung bequeme formen der hauptgleichungen der mechanischen wärmetheorie, annalen der physik, 201(7), 353–400. clayton, j.o. & giauque, w.f. (1932). the heat capacity and entropy of carbon monoxide. heat of vaporization. vapor pressures of solid and liquid. free energy to 5000°k from spectroscopic data, journal of the american chemical society, 54(7), 2610-2626. edington, a.s. (1928). the nature of the physical world. cambridge: cambridge university press. gillet, s.l. (2006). entropy and its misuse, i. energy, free and otherwise, ecological economics, 56(1), 58–70. johari, g. (2010). configurational and residual entropies of nonergodic crystals and the entropy's behavior on glass formation, the journal of chemical physics, 132, 124509. kostic, m.m. (2014). the elusive nature of entropy and its physical meaning, entropy, 16(2), 953967. kozliak, e. 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(2015). are shannon entropy and residual entropy synonyms? . in proceedings of the 2nd int. electron. conf. entropy appl., sciforum electronic conference series, 2, a004. doi:10.3390/ecea-2-a004 sestak, j.; mares, j.j. & hubik, p. (2011). glassy, amorphous and nano-crystalline materials: thermal physics, analysis, structure and properties. new york: springer. shultz, t. r. & coddigton, m. (1981). development of the concept of energy conservation and entropy, journal of experimental child psychology, 31(1), 131−153. smirnova, n.n.; kulagina, t.g.; markin, a.v.; shifrina, z.b. & rusanov, a.l. (2005). thermodynamics of phenylated polyphenylene in the range from t → 0 to 640 k at standard pressure, thermochimica acta, 425(1-2), 39-46. sozbilir, m. & bennet, j.m. (2007). a study of turkish chemistry undergraduates’ understandings of entropy, journal of chemical education, 84(7), 1204-1208. received: january 31, 2018 accepted: april 5, 2018 80 185_josd_template case study structural development of child's artistic expression sanja filipović1*, milica vojvodić2 1* faculty of fine arts, university of arts in belgrade, serbia 2 elementary school "jovan dučić", petrovaradin, serbia *email: argus4@open.telekom.rs abstract structural development implies control and capability of the expression usage in terms of independent creative expression and making. understanding of structural development of child's artistic expression as a phenomenon (which is suitable to child's age) has some implications on methodical acts considering artistic education of children and youngsters. therefore, it is of unexceptional importance to know these laws as well as methodical acts which encourage the structural development of artistic capabilities from an early age. various experts dealt with this phenomenon, particularly bogomil karlavaris. in his methodical research he has given an unexceptional part to this problem. it has been a starting point for analysis of certain methodical questions which are included in this work. keywords: structural-artistic development, artistic types, child's artistic creativity, teaching methods of artistic education and upbringing introduction psychological and pedagogical importance of children's activity (exceptionally artistic ones) and their artistic expression is fundamental for the creation of various tendencies and educational styles in teaching. many psychologists, pedagogues, aesthetics, artists and teachers dealt with the research of children's artistic capabilities. psychologists analysed the problem of defining artistic capabilities in terms of art and aesthetics, while art teachers and pedagogues confided in experience gained throughout practice (filipović, 2011). in the research of artistic expression related to the youngest children, its function, forms, laws and above all its meaning, d. belamarić gained all of the importance of analyzing and interpreting concerning this field. child's development includes artistic and common capabilities (perception, forming and creation). without this knowledge, development of the child would not be complete and with no positive results. language of art or child's artistic expression is innate faculty of expressing, communicating and forming. therefore, belamarić states that this faculty is not taken over or thought by surroundings. according to her, artictic expression forms itself as a result of a spontaneous interaction of the child's inner self and its surroundings. she also states that kids tend to express content of their consciousness throughout characteristics and meaning of shapes (which are not attainable by grownups). different forms of artistic expression are indicators of journal of subject didactics, 2016 vol. 1, no. 2, 119-126, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.438177 the processes inside child's mind. they also strengthen child's abilities of perception and understanding. child's artistic creative capacity can develop or even weaken depending on weather the child was given an opportunity or artistic expression ( belamarić, 1987). the uniqueness of structural development in arts, starting in childhood, can help the process of defining and optimizing the methodical acts and models encourage artistic creativity of kids and youngsters. children communicate in their own authentic way. depending on the way the child uses certain expressive elements in its art works, the approach to artistic activities will be defined. by following that approach and its laws (which are authentic, unique, different, in relation to general characteristics and inherent to child's individual ability) artistic creativity will find itself on the right track. aesthetic foundations of structuro-artictic development karlavaris has done numerous researches in this field which helped defining the child's basic development characteristics in arts. the phases of development are often defined in different ways. nevertheless, it is important that most of the researchers agree about one fact. it is the rhythm of child's artistic ability. this research is based, more or less, on those phases defined by karlavaris (karlavaris, 1975). considering that children of the same age draw in similar way he states that the reasons are anthropological. some reasons refer to specific segments of children's motoric and their consciousness. karlavaris said: "child's artistic expression is made of various components which gradually develop and which can be divided into internal and external" (karlavaris, 1975). in this case karlavaris implies internal components to be the ones which refer to degree of inner sensibility and rhythm, level of consciousness and to the possibility of the complete awareness of all expressive components. it also refers to a degree of motoric development and concentration of energy. those two elements must be in reciprocal coherence. external components are referred to usage of expressive resources (media). impacts from the outside world can be verbal, optical or acoustic. internal and external components develop in all its complexity. therefore, artistic expression changes itself in its qualitative and quantitative manner according to those two components. karlavaris singles out these artistic elements: line, shape (looks), colour, shade, texture and primary relations between them (size, proportion, symmetry, repetition, alternation, internal rhythm, direction, dynamics, statics, balance, unity, dominance, space volume, composing). optical and thematic plan develop gradually from the ages 2 to 7. between the ages 4 and 5, creative plan develops abruptly, while structural plan stagnates. artistic expression of the preschool child relies on line, shape and color. characteristics and specifics of knowing the art elements in the field of drawing and painting between ages 5 and 7, karlavaris described in his book "art education" (karlavaris, kelbli & stanojević-kastori, 1982). he defined the laws of child's artistic forming as a result of numerous researches done by him. milosević speaks about relations of the art elements. he also singles out aesthetic principles as primary relations. those are: harmony, composition, rhythm and balance (milošević, 2008). in their book "the form theory" (2004) bogdanović & burić say that every visual image has certain form (shape) which is made of series of artistic elements. their aim is defining of a certain form. according to bogdanović & burić, it is necessary in the first place to define artistic conceptions throughout principles of artistic forming. in that way we can understand artistic elements and their usage concerning child's artistic expression. "regardless of whether the art piece belongs to an artist or to a child, it contains filipović & vojvodić120 the same elements. every art piece must be evaluated only on the basis of objectively noted and critically observed relations. to accomplish this all artistic elements must perform entirely and simultaneously together" (bogdanović & burić, 2004: 8). they name aesthetic grounds as principles and acts. with their help mutual relations of the structural object are coordinated. those relations are: harmony, contrast, balance, dominant and unity. the idea of harmony can be understood as a harmony of similarity (to bring into accord elements using their shapes), harmony of function (difference of shapes in their form with common function), harmony of symbol (to bring into accord shapes which are different in its form and function, but have common spiritual and abstract meaning). contrast represents the difference of opposite (black must be opposed to white in order to understand their value). contrasts are necessary in order to emphasize what is meant to be stressed. balance represents the visual equalization and the easiest way of achieving balance is symmetry which gives an impression of calmness, distinction and dignity. dominant represents central shape. the task of the dominant is to picture basic artistic idea. it is pictured throughout size, shape, planed artistic procedure, colour and emphasizing the form. unity represents coordination of all artistic elements. unity and connection between all these elements form an esthetic law of artistic shaping. it is important to bring into accord stylistic and artistic unity with appropriate thematic idea. once they are synchronized, the harmony of contents and for is achieved (bogdanović & burić, 2004). specifics of structural-artictic development karlavaris did a numerous researches for the center of child's and youth's artistic education during the 1970's in novi sad. one of those researches was supervising of the artistic development of the same students and the trend of intellectual and emotional maturity in arts concerning children between the ages 3 to 16 (1974). the aim of research was to define the developing phases in child's artistic expression. it was impossible to differentiate those factors which depend on inner laws of a person`s development and on laws of external effects. he tried to determine the facts: 1. relevant factors which influence artistic development; 2. individual and typological differences within child's artistic development. karlavaris used specific measuring tools for the purposes of this research. standpoints for supervising the intellectual level in art were: 1. security in observation used to picture single objects (shape, silhouette, other characteristics and a number of details) and used to picture the object relations (size and space relations, the way of object's logistic connecting); 2. persuasiveness in usage of adequate artistic elements while picturing objects (adequate usage of shape, line, colour and texture); 3. security of the motive's technical realization (calmness of the hand, security of the usage of technical resources); if we consider the supervising of the creative-emotional level as a key element, following characteristics will be determined: 1. creative level (originality, fluency, redefinition, flexibility, sensitivity to problems and elaboration); 2. level of the artistic abilities which are stimulative (sensitivity of observation, sensitivity, creative thinking, emotional experience of motives and sensitivity of the mothoric nerve); child's artistic expression 121 every of these criteria had its own scale (0-10). in the end they were reduced to two grades (for intellectual artistic matureness and for creative-emotional maturity). the results of the research showed that artistic development indicates a tendency of rise until the age 6-7 and then it is followed with an abrupt fall which matches the moment of child's start of elementary school education. karlavaris explains this as a result of certain disturbances in person's development continuity which are a product of that period's education and upbringing. by comparing the trend of intellectual-artistic maturity with the trend of creative-emotional matureness, karlavaris noticed continuative decline of creative-emotional component and continuative strengthening of intellectual-artistic component. these trends are bad according to him. this is because the laws of stimulating artistic development are already known and because these two components are constantly changing as a condition for notification of creativity. departure of these two components and the constant decline of creative-emotional component lead to skill, routine, repetition of learned (uncreative processes). karlavaris explained this phenomenon with an intellectual orientation of the educational system which expanded in that period and with the obvious decline of art classes in schools. one of the causes was also disharmony between institutions and primary schools. therefore he stated that only continuity of contents and methods in artistic expression (in all schools) can lead to continuity in artistic ability development. taking into consideration that artistic language is similar to every other language, karlavaris thinks that it can be learned spontaneously and consciously. artistic language is gradually acquired. just like verbal language artistic one cannot be learned instantly. it develops slowly. child's structural development can be observed by the level of mastering artistic elements and by supervising their mutual relations. karlavaris has systematically defined and described this fact. according to karlavaris, line and shape are used as first artistic elements by preschool children. the line appears first. in time it forms into shape. circular shape is the easiest to a preschool child. it begins using it early. the children can notice the circular shape within their toys. some of them are ball and bicycle. later they notice it on various things that surround them in everyday life. in that case circular shape is not drawn separately. it is a part of a more complex composition. small practices that are involved in assigned games can be very helpful to children. throughout them children learn about other geometrical forms and how to implement them into larger composition. portrait as a form of expression appears at the age 6-7. through portrait child expresses its emotions according to model. there is no realistic similarity with a model. children use line to underline the details, colors certain parts of drawn shapes to emphasize what is important to them. they can successfully combine different kinds of line: straight, curved, circular, long, short, thick and thin. speaking of line and texture, the child first becomes aware of the line's length and continuity. afterward it becomes aware of line's ability to confine and of creating shapes. b. karklavaris states that older children have an ability to consciously use lines of different thickness, textures and shades in order to enrich the drawing area or shape. this is possible only when appropriate pedagogical methods are used throughout the process of teaching. in this age, child often uses line decoratively. in accordance with the laws of development and sense to comprehend space, line and space are manifested among the preschool children as a chaotic space, syncretic linking of objects. they are also manifested by usage of simple and double frizzes, by filipović & vojvodić122 breaking the frizz and by placing the objects in front or behind one another without reducing its size. when child begins to separate its objects from the frizz line, it tries to place them into space by putting some of them in front, and some of them behind the others. the child is still not able to visually picture space and follow the laws of perspective. children achieve the spontaneous way of picturing space on the grounds of directed observing of the surrounding. basic and created colours can be learned by the preschool child. it can learn how to create different shades of colour and how to use them consciously. in the beginning, a child uses colour in a line form, draws using colors and finally fills the space with certain color. child gradually experiences colours and uses them in its artistic expression. children first use only one colour. they are not interested in colour as a pigment. they use colour as a drawing tool. therefore, it uses a brush and paint to draw lines and to create object contours. gradually it notices that colours can be used to make smudges, to cover a large part of drawing area. child plays with colours placing smudges side by side. first it uses basic colours. later it learns about possibilities of mixing and producing new colours through game and conversation. local colour is not used by child at first. children develop a sense for local shade of colour gradually. usage of organized pedagogical methods showed that older children acquire this spontaneously. children use colour decoratively in order to illustrate their imagination. child uses the favorite colour to emphasize things which are of certain importance to it. colour and texture children experience mainly by using the sense of touch. different textures of the material are used in order to teach them about this. however, children under the age of 8 do not use texture consciously. they spontaneously learn about it through experimenting with colours. in that way child experience texture through dens layers of colour or through painting with fingers. this kind of work is interesting to children. they play, research and discover throughout the process. composition of colours is combined spontaneously by children of this age. it is combined according to current mood or topic. children do not know the laws of combining the colours. child usually composes live and contrast complementary colours such as red-green, yellow-purple. in that way it produces strong colouristic contrasts. children can develop a sense for harmonious combining of colours if appropriate pedagogical methods are used. shade-brightness can be used as a mean of expression only by obeying developing characteristics of artistic expression. that rule implies also to the preschool children. children of this age cannot solve complex compositional problems of larger shading contrast. child expresses itself by nature by using intensive colours. it does not mix colours. mixing of colours comes as a result of inappropriate handling of artistic material. children should get already prepared colours. they should be offered with all kinds of colours and with different brightness. by doing so, children are able to use colours according to their senses. they should mix colours with white and to paint directly out of pallet. children of this age must recognize and name colours of different brightness. they ought to use colours by filling the painting area with them. bright-dark relations can be achieved by using collage or watercolors although these methods should not be insisted on. gradation of light is still a problem to a child. therefore, it solves this problem superficially without shading. brightness of colour can be learned gradually by children. the child should be supported during the improvement process which includes coloristic expression. however, child's artistic expression 123 there should be no insisting on the way children use space and form in sculpturing. colours of full intensity catch the attention of children. therefore, they often use tube colours. complementary relations are often unconscious and spontaneous. line, shade, brightness are very familiar to children in the ways of linear expression. they should be cherished, especially those applied on motives which encourage child's artistic imagination. however, shading of the drawing is not common among preschool children. balance of halftones is a relatively huge problem concerning preschool children. they are insufficiently familiarized with fluid painting materials. fear of certain technique often represents an obstacle to a child's expression. simple drawing is a first step of mastering the chinese ink technique. volume is likely to be represented by usage of shade. therefore, preschool child cannot define volume consciously. brightness and graphics can be learned among preschool children by experiencing the graphics. for example, it can be achieved through cardboard print and monotype. however, children must be mature in artistic fashion. the development of the sense for graphic expression is a complex process. it begins with simple fingerprints and handprint. already prepared models are than used for printing. motives can be simple and decorative – dress patterns or wallpapers. cardboard print can be manufactured by using papers of different texture and relief. lace can be used as a decorative supplement. monotype requires a work with smooth plate or linoleum. since children work fast with colours, it is possible to print matrix while it is still moist. technical aspect is very important, but mustn't be the only one that requires attention. creativity is of the greatest importance. knowing the technique of print is sufficient for a preschool child to solve some artistic problems. the shaping of the material is very applicable for a large number of games that stimulate creativity. it can also be used in the adaptation of various topics. children develop sense for relation between masses, usable value of materials, construction and technical skillfulness. game must be a starting point in the process of creating. within its boundaries certain artistic problems can be researched. it also allows gaining a certain technical experience. considering that the artistic expression of the child is mainly spontaneous, preschool children solve problems depending on their sensibility and idea. however, encouraging them to find specific compositional solutions is possible. children's spontaneity, interests, experiences must be taken into consideration during the adaptation of such complex artistic problems. therefore, children are given tasks which hold within itself certain artistic problems. these problems are solved spontaneously through work by children. if the task is organized in a fashion that requires more consciousness among children, than it is possible to discuss about usage of composition in artistic terms (choice of composition which is suitable for certain ideas and artistic messages). rhythm is familiar to children because of rhythmical functioning of life's physiological processes. the child jumps, speaks and draws according to rhythm. artistic task can be in certain connection with other activities such as speaking (rhythmical pronunciation of words or verses, singing). children of this age cannot conduct stylization of the shape in the right way nor precisely compose an ornament in the constant rhythm. symmetry cannot be learned among children of this age only by using theory of symmetry. children spontaneously solve symmetrical problems. balance is a quality of an artistic organization and of other activities. sensitivity for evaluation of relations and respecting the laws of nature must be developed carefully. filipović & vojvodić124 after successful development of these skills children are able to spontaneously organize their art works and achieve balance in terms of artistic expression. children of this age easily accept symmetrical solution. nevertheless, they can perform the decorative tasks which include problems of rhythm, formal and informal balance. solution of these tasks should represent spontaneous expression without any imposed models. motives should be suitable to a child's age. motives should be linked to child's direct expression (patterns on mother's dress, patterns on a playing ball). repetition is familiar with children of a preschool age. they are able to organize artistic unity by obeying the principles of repetition which are already included in task. that way child can learn effortlessly. it can discover artistic relations throughout the work. gradation is not completely developed among children of preschool age. the play with shapes and brightness can influence the improvement of the child's inventiveness and creativity (the crucial significance of artistic activity concerning children of this age). harmony appears spontaneously because the preschool children reduce and connect similar colors, shapes and other values. they are not able to obey basic principles of harmony which include the right choice of similar qualities. contrast mainly appears through intensive color of complementary relations. that is how the impression of contrast is achieved during the process of combining shapes and colors. suitable tasks which include this artistic problem can help the building of composition by following the rules of contrast. composing direction includes few variants: diagonal, vertical and central composition. children are not familiar with these laws. therefore, they come to these solutions spontaneously while building artistic composition. stylization can be learned throughout the tasks which require the stylization of the shape. however, it cannot be achieved completely at this age because children tend to simplify and schematize almost every shape (filipović & kamenov, 2009; according to karlavaris, 1974). conclusion artistic development is conditioned by various influences (family, surrounding, cultural tradition, child's psychological structure). therefore, it is possible to determine methodical practices and approaches which deal with the development of child's individual potentials from its early age. line, shape and color are the first artistic elements that child deals with. shade and texture develop more slowly. the elements of volume and space are the most complicated ones. composition is usually used spontaneously. children come to compositional solutions naturally. according to karlavaris's analysis, it can easily be noticed that not all artistic elements and relations are acquired equally among children. they develop in their own rhythm. however, child's individual artistic development can be followed and adequate methods can be used during this development. it is possible if artistic language is used and mastered in some degree. references belamarić, d. (1987). child and shape, zagreb: school book [orig. in serbian: dijete i oblik]. bogdanović, k., burić, b. (2004). the theory of form, beograd: zzuns [orig. in serbian: teorija forme]. filipović, s. kamenov, e. (2009). wisdom of heard the third part children's artistic creativity, novi child's artistic expression 125 sad: dragon [orig. in serbian: mudrost čula treći deo – dečje likovno stvaralaštvo]. karlavaris, b. (1974). monitoring the artistic development of the same students and the development trend of intellectual-artistic maturity and creative and emotional maturity of children from 3-16 years, novi sad: center for art education of children and youth in vojvodina [orig. in serbian: praćenje likovnog razvitka istih učenika i trend razvoja intelektualno-likovne zrelosti i kreativno-emocionalne zrelosti dece od 3-16 godina]. karlavaris, b. (1975). monitoring the artistic development of the same students, novi sad: center for art education of children and youth in vojvodina [orig. in serbian: praćenje likovnog razvitka istih učenika]. karlavaris, b. (1991). arts teaching methodology 1, rijeka: hofbauer [orig. in serbian: metodika likovnog odgoja 1]. karlavaris, b., kelbli, j., stanojević-kastori, m. (1982). art education: for class ii academy of pedagogy, beograd: zzuns [orig. in serbian: likovno vaspitanje: za ii razred pedagoške akademije]. milošević, č. (2008). children's art creativity, beograd: kosmos [orig. in serbian: dečje likovno stvaralaštvo]. received: february 9, 2017 accepted: march 11, 2017 filipović & vojvodić126 05_zouhor_et_al_josd_template original article effects of the know-want-learn strategy on primary school students’ metacognition and physics achievement zekri zouhor, ivana bogdanović* and mirjana segedinac faculty of sciences, university of novi sad, serbia *email: ivanarancic@gmail.com abstract this study is aimed at examining the effects of the know-want-learn (kwl) strategy on primary school students’ metacognition and physics achievement. a pre-test – post-test control group design was used, where the treatment was the implementation of the kwl strategy. a physics knowledge test and a questionnaire about metacognition were administered to sixth-grade primary school students of both genders. the results obtained were treated statistically, using descriptive statistics and a paired-samples t-test, as well as an independent samples t-test. the analysis of the results obtained showed that for both variables (physics achievement and metacognition): (1) there was no significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores for the group of students who had been taught traditionally, (2) there was a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores for the group of students who had been taught by the use of kwl strategy and (3) there was a significant difference in the post-test scores between the group of students who had been taught traditionally and the group of students who had been taught by the use of the kwl strategy. important insights about the effects of the kwl strategy in learning physics have been generated. keywords: learning strategy, metacognitive strategy, students’ performance introduction according to taslidere and eryilmaz (2012), in recent decades researchers have studied the problem of students’ inadequate reading and study habits (hartlep & forsyth, 2000), their unwillingness to study physics and their difficulties in understanding it (hewitt, 1990). students are used to relying upon teachers for constant support, instead of being independent learners, aware of their own learning. those problems are reflected in students’ physics achievements. the above mentioned problems are also related to students’ metacognition. metacognition metacognition is important for learning physics (akyüz, 2004; bogdanović et al., 2015). according to flavell (1976), who originally came up with the term metacognition, the term refers to “one’s knowledge concerning one’s own cognitive processes and products” (p. 232). various researchers indicate that the concept of metacognition does not have a clear extent, but that it refers to one’s thinking process, monitoring and control of thinking (hacker, 1998; posner, 1989; weinert & kluwe, 1987). according to one definition, metacognition is the knowledge and control one has over their own thinking and learning journal of subject didactics, 2016 vol. 1, no. 1, 39-49, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.55473 activities (cross and paris, 1988). kuhn and dean (2004) stated that metacognition was the awareness and management of one’s own thoughts. martinez (2006) defined metacognition as the monitoring and control of thought, and according to ormrod (2004), it is what one knows about his own cognitive processes and about using these processes for learning. generally, metacognition is defined as the activity of monitoring and controlling one’s cognition (weinert & kluwe, 1987), or in simpler termsas “cognition about cognition”, i.e. “thinking about thinking” and “knowledge about knowledge”. according to the first framework given by flavell (1979), metacognition can be categorized into: metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive regulation and metacognitive experiences. metacognitive knowledge includes: declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge and conditional (strategic) knowledge (schraw & moshman, 1995). declarative knowledge refers to how to do something. procedural knowledge covers the skills, strategies and resources required to perform the task (knowledge of how to perform something). conditional knowledge is knowledge of when to apply a certain strategy. metacognitive regulation refers to the awareness of the need to use certain strategies, such as planning, information management, monitoring, evaluation and debugging in the process of thinking and learning (schraw & dennison, 1994). metacognitive experiences represent the feelings, estimates or judgments related to the features of the learning task, the cognitive processing as it takes place, or of its outcome. for example, the tip of the tongue phenomenon is very common. according to efklides (2009), the critical feature of metacognitive experiences is their affective character. metacognition is an important aspect of students’ learning; it helps students learn the material more efficiently, retain knowledge longer and generalize skills (ahmadi et al., 2013). metacognition enables students to solve new problems by retrieving the strategy that they have successfully used in a similar context (kuhn & dean, 2004). students with highly developed metacognition are convinced that they can learn, they take some time to reflect on their learning and they are accurate when evaluating their success in learning. they think about the errors that have occurred while they were performing tasks, and they are successful in connecting and adjusting learning strategies to the tasks at hand (rahman et al., 2010). although it is known that metacognitive strategies help improve students’ metacognition, they are not included in today’s school practice due to inadequate resources and a lack of opportunity for professional development. know-want-learn strategy the know-want-learn (kwl) strategy is an instructional learning strategy, first suggested by ogle (1986) as a reading strategy. it is an active learning strategy (bryan, 1998; jared & jared, 1997; ogle, 2009) which supports student-centred learning (draper, 2002). the kwl is a simple and effective reading strategy that is applicable in different school subjects (brozo & simpson, 1991, foote et al., 2001). the kwl strategy consists of three basic stages: (1) accessing previous knowledge, (2) determining what one wants to know and (3) recalling what is learned (blachowicz & ogle, 2008). this strategy is designed in a form of the kwl chart as an organizing instrument that can be successfully used in order to inspire students’ inquiry (camp, 2000; ogle, 2009). it helps students to adopt given concepts and also to activate prior knowledge and assess what they have learned (camp, 2000; martorella et al., 2005). the kwl chart consists of three columns: what i know (k), what i want to know (w) and z. zouhor et al.40 what i learned? (l) (figure 1). the kwl strategy is devised in such a way so as to be suitable to be used by a teacher working together with all students in the classroom; it can also be easily transformed into a method for students’ independent study (ogle, 2005; tok, 2013). kwl charts can be applied in schools through the following steps: • students brainstorm about what they already know about a topic and write their responses in the first column of the chart; • students brainstorm about what they would like to know about the topic and write their responses in the second column of the chart; • learning activities and reading; • students return to the chart and fill in what they have learned in the third column of the chart, paying special attention to the information that is related to what they wanted to know; also, there are modified kwl strategies where charts are adjusted for different students’ activities, for example, the kwlh chart, where additional h stands for how can i learn more. in this case, students are encouraged to think about the possible ways of expanding their knowledge, i.e. h encourages future learning (weaver, 1994). by applying the kwl strategy, students are encouraged to be mentally active during the learning process, they practice developing suitable questions for the given topic and they develop skills in organizing their prior knowledge about the topic and in evaluating their success in learning (taslidere & eryilmaz, 2012). the kwl strategy directs students towards perceiving learning as a metacognitive process (ogle, 2005); it can, therefore, be considered as a metacognitive strategy. various research results indicate that the kwl strategy increases students’ metacognition (mclain, 1993; as cited in tok, 2013). the kwl strategy develops students’ metacognition by increasing their awareness (mok et al., 2006) and helps students to establish a purpose for reading and to monitor their comprehension (szabo, 2006). the use of the kwl strategy makes learning and remembering easier (gammill, 2006) and encourages complete understanding of a topic, since students study a specific question that they are interested in (jared & jared, 1997). accordingly, it can be a good learning strategy for acquiring physics contents. kwl strategy on students’ metacognition and physics achievement 41 figure 1. the kwl chart. methods aim of research and research hypotheses the research was conducted with the aim to examine the effects of the kwl strategy on primary school students’ physics achievement and metacognition. in accordance with the given theoretical framework, the following research hypotheses were formulated: 1. there is no significant difference between the pre-test score in the physics knowledge test (pkti score) and the post-test score in the physics knowledge test (pktf score) for the group of students who were taught traditionally (group c). 2. there is no significant difference between the pre-test score in the questionnaire about metacognition (qmi score) and the post-test score in the questionnaire about metacognition (qmf score) for the students in group c. 3. there is a significant difference between the pkti score and the pktf score for the group of students who were taught by using kwl strategy (group e). 4. there is a significant difference between the qmi score and the qmf score for the students in group e. 5. there is a significant difference in the pktf scores between the students in groups e and c in favour of group e. 6. there is a significant difference in the qmf scores between the students in groups e and c in favour of group e. research sample a sample of 101 sixth grade students (aged 11–12 years) of both genders (47 males and 54 females) was used for the purpose of this research. these students were enrolled in four different classes of a state primary school in subotica, and it was the first time that physics was introduced as a separate school subject for them (in their sixth grade). design and procedure a pre-test – post-test control group design was used. since the groups were pre-constituted (in the form of school classes) the participants could not be randomly assigned to the groups. this is often the case in educational research and researchers have to choose a control group that is as similar to the experimental group as possible (muijs, 2004; as cited in tok, 2013). both groups were pre-tested in order to determine whether they were matching. an independent samples t-test showed that there was no significant difference in the pkti scores of the students in group e (m=9.78, sd=4.26) and group c (m=10.38, sd=4.28); t (99) =-0.70, p=0.485. also, there was no significant difference in the qmi scores of the students in groups e (m=70.65, sd=8.33) and c (m=71.22, sd=7.65); t (99) =-0.36, p=0.720. the kwl strategy was applied to (experimental) group e and the traditional teaching method was applied to (control) group c. after group e had been administered the treatment, both groups were post-tested. both groups were taught by the same physics teacher. treatment the treatment was administered to group e during the realization of the unit mass and density within 15 school hours. the topic mass and density was covered as a part of the regular physics classroom curriculum. students in both groups (e and c) were exposed to the same content for the same period of time. z. zouhor et al.42 the kwl strategy was first implemented during one school hour in such a way that the teacher and all the students in the class were working together. the teacher was drawing the kwl chart on the board and the students were writing in their notebooks. during the next physics class, the teacher was first having a discussion with the students about each of the kwl strategy components and then, assisted by the teacher, the students filled in the kwl charts while working in groups. afterwards, the students individually started to write their own kwl charts, following the given instructions as how to do it, so that later they were able to do their homework by themselves, by filling each column of the kwl chart in their physics notebooks. research instruments physics knowledge test a physics knowledge test covering the unit mass and density was administrated for posttesting. the test consists of 12 multiple-choice tasks on the basis of which students’achievement in physics is assessed (tasks were on all levels of knowledge). the quality of the test was examined by estimating test validity and reliability. the validity of the test was estimated in accordance with segedinac et al. (2011; as cited in hrin et al., 2015), based on the evaluation of an expert team. two primary school physics teachers, a school pedagogue and a university instructor analyzed the test items to determine whether they are readable, understandable and suitable. the expert team concluded that the test was valid. task requirements were meaningful, the applied terminology and the length of sentences were appropriate for sixth-grade students. the test was constructed in accordance with the curriculum regulations, as well as with the recommended textbook. the obtained cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.66 indicated that the test satisfied the requirement for reliability. the time assigned for the test was 45 minutes. the following are examples of the test questions in terms of knowledge, comprehension and application: 1. the kilogram is the base unit of measurement: а) weight b) density (c) mass 2. if two bodies have equal masses, and the volume of the first body is greater than the volume of the second: a) the first body is denser than the second body (b) the first body is less dense than the second body c) we cannot know how to relate the density of the first and the second body 3. the metal object is made of equal masses of the following two materials: bronze and silver. the volume of the object is 4.18 cm3 and its mass is 40 g. the density of bronze is 8800 kg/m3. what is the density of silver? а) 10500 g/cm3 (b) 10500 kg/m3 c) 9.5 mg/m3 a questionnaire about metacognition a questionnaire about metacognition was constructed for this research. the junior metacognitive awareness inventory (jr. mai), developed for children under the age of 14 kwl strategy on students’ metacognition and physics achievement 43 by sperling et al. (2002), was adapted. the metacognitive awareness inventory (mai) was first proposed in the early nineties by schraw and dennison (1994). mai questionnaire is intended to assess metacognitive skills of adolescents and adults and contains items that examine each of the eight components: knowledge of cognitive processes (declarative, procedural and conditional) and regulation of cognitive processes (planning, information management, monitoring, evaluation and debugging in thinking process). the questionnaire about metacognition used in this research consisted of 18 items with a five-point response the likert scale, appropriate for the selected sample (the choice of items was made based on the capability of students to understand the items that constitute the scale, which was tested by a pilot survey on a similar research sample). students were asked to respond to the statement using a five-point likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). the cronbach‘s alpha coefficient for internal consistency reliability test was used. the obtained cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.70 which, according to george and mallery (2003), indicated that the scale of the instrument satisfied the requirement for reliability. the time assigned for the questionnaire was approximately 15 minutes. examples of items in mai: i know when i understand something. i try to use the ways of studying that have worked for me before. i learn best when i already know something about the topic. i learn more when i am interested in the topic. i think of several ways to solve a problem and then choose the best one. i draw pictures or diagrams to help me understand while learning. statistical analysis of data after the logic check and coding of the collected data, a statistical analysis of the results was performed. variables were described by the means of statistical measures (average measures, measures of variability and measures of distribution shape). since all the scores, pkti, pktf, qmi and qmf, satisfied the requirements of normal distribution, a paired samples t-test was used in order to compare the pre-test and post-test scores. furthermore, to determine differences between the students in groups e and c, an independent samples t-test was conducted. a statistical analysis of data was performed using the software package ibm spss 20. results students’ physics achievement students’ test scores, both pkti and pktf, could range from 0 to 20 points. a higher score in the test denotes greater physics achievement. table 1 indicates that group e students increased their test scores (from the pkti to the pktf) by 4.32 points. a paired samples t-test was conducted to compare the pktf and pkti scores. there was a significant difference in the pktf (m=14.10, sd=4.39) and the pkti (m=9.78, sd=4.26) scores for the students in group e; t (50) =-5.16, p=0.000. however, there was no significant difference between the pkti (m=10.38, sd=4.28) and pktf (m=11.04, sd=4.38) scores for the students in group c; t (49) =-1.58, p=0.120. an independent samples t-test was conducted to compare pktf scores between the z. zouhor et al.44 students in groups e and c. there was a significant difference in the pktf scores of the students in group e (m=14.10, sd=4.39) and group c (m=11.04, sd=4.38), in favour of the students in group e; t (99) =3.50, p=0.001. according to these results, it can be suggested that the use of the kwl strategy really increases students’ physics achievement. students’ metacognition students’ scores in the questionnaire, both qmi and qmf, could range from 18 to 90 points. a higher score in the questionnaire indicated a higher level of development of metacognition. table 2 indicates that group e students increased their scores in the questionnaire (from the qmi to the qmf) by 4.25 points. a paired samples t-test was conducted to compare the qmf and qmi scores. there was a significant difference in the qmf (m=74.90, sd=7.15) and qmi (m=70.65, sd=8.33) scores for the students in group e; t (50) =-3.78, p = 0.000. on the other hand, for the students in group c scores did not statistically differ from the qmi (m=71.22, sd=7.65) to the qmf (m=70.10, sd=8.01); t (49) =-0.914, p=0.365. an independent samples t-test was conducted to compare qmf scores between the students in groups e and c. a significant difference was found in the qmf scores between kwl strategy on students’ metacognition and physics achievement 45 table 1. basic descriptive statistics related to physics knowledge test scores. table 2. basic descriptive statistics related to scores in the questionnaire about metacognition. the students in group e (m=74.90, sd=7.15) and group c (m=70.10, sd=8.01), in favour of the students in group e; t (99) = 3.18, p=0.002. these results imply that the use of the kwl strategy increases students’ metacognition. discussion based on the results of this research, all the proposed research hypotheses are accepted. hence, it can be stated that the application of the kwl strategy in the sixth-grade physics class is effective in increasing students’ physics achievement and metacognition. it encourages students’ metacognition and helps them to be successful in learning physics contents. these findings are consistent with the findings of other researchers that have examined the efficiency of the kwl strategy. the findings of this research are in parallel with the findings of tok (2013), who conducted research in order to examine the effects of the kwl strategy on sixth graders’ mathematics achievement, metacognitive skills and mathematics anxiety. al-khateeb and idrees (2010) examined the impact of using the kwl strategy on tenth-grade female students’ reading comprehension, and based on the results they suggested that the kwl strategy increased students’ achievement. various researchers showed that the use of the kwl strategy increased students’ achievement in science classes (akyüz 2004; taslidere & eryilmaz, 2012; reichel, 1994; as cited in tok, 2013). akyüz (2004) examined ninth grade students’ achievement regarding the topic heat and temperature when the kwl strategy was used, and suggested that the use of this strategy increased students’ achievement. taslidere and eryilmaz (2012) conducted research to examine the relative effectiveness of the integrated reading strategy and the conceptual physics approach on ninth grade private high school students’ achievement in optics. their results showed that the reading strategy and the conceptual physics approach combined, improved students’ achievement significantly, and they used the kwl strategy as the reading strategy. reichel (1994; as cited in tok, 2013) suggested that the use of the kwl strategy had a positive effect on student performance in the science classroom. writing in the what i know column activates students’ previous knowledge and writing in the what i want to know column helps students to recognize the purpose of learning (cantrell et al., 2000). those activities contribute to the efficiency of the kwl strategy. proposing questions and giving answers promote content comprehension (davis, 1993), which largely reflects on physics achievement. the findings of this research are also in parallel with findings of other researchers about the effects of metacognitive strategies, including the kwl strategy, on students’ metacognition (mok et al., 2006; ngozi, 2009; ozsoy & ataman, 2009; tok, 2013). mok et al. (2006) showed that the kwl strategy also had a positive effect as a tool for self-assessment and that it was efficient for promoting metacognition. ngozi (2009) showed that students in the higher grades of secondary school who had practiced metacognitive strategies achieved better results within the sciences. also, it was shown that the fifth-grade students in the group where a strategy for fostering metacognitive abilities had been applied significantly improved their metacognitive abilities and the skills of solving mathematical problems (ozsoy & ataman, 2009). the kwl strategy makes students be more engaged in the text and practice metacognition while reading. while writing the kwl chart, students must use metacognitive regulation, i.e. planning, information management, monitoring and evaluating. in that way, students’ metacognition is promoted throughout the learning process (mok et al. 2006). z. zouhor et al.46 conclusions it can be very useful to implement the kwl strategy in school practice since it is both a metacognitive strategy and a good learning strategy. in order to successfully implement the described strategy, it is necessary to provide adequate resources and professional development for teachers. the main problem of this research is the fact that the groups were not completely isolated. this is the common problem of the pre-test – post-test designs in educational research, since children attending the same school socialize outside the school and share ideas. it should be noted that the research was limited to a sample consisted of sixthgrade students and that only one topic from the physics curriculum was treated. based on the research results, there are implications that further research is necessary. in order to obtain new results and, therefore, confirm the results of this research, similar research that includes more extensive teaching and learning material is needed, as well as research with a sample that includes students of the seventh and eighth grades, especially because in that age group metacognitive skills are developed rapidly. the kwl strategy has not been sufficiently studied, which leads to the conclusion that many results concerning its implementation are yet to be obtained within future research. research that includes the implementation of modified kwl strategies in physics teaching and learning can be very interesting. references ahmadi, m. r., hairul, n. i. & abdullah m. k. 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(1987). metacognition, motivation and understanding. hillsdale, new jersey, lawrence erlbaum associates. received: october 21, 2015 accepted: november 28, 2015 kwl strategy on students’ metacognition and physics achievement 49 197_josd_template original article concepts of art education curriculum, tendencies and challenges vojislav ilić faculty of philology and arts kragujevac, university of kragujevac, republic of serbia email: vilicdva@gmail.com abstract discussing the different concepts of teaching art, one should start from the competences we want to transfer to students. through different ideas about competences, we can see the wishes of individual countries about what is expected of visual arts education. in this review, we have focused on the thinking of the european countries. all european countries have some variants of learning art in curricula and outcomes that determine what is meant to be achieved by these subjects. depending on whether these curricula are structured as an integrated whole or as a set of specific subjects, objectives/outcomes are defined more concretely for visual arts, music, theater, dance, media arts or crafts. learning objectives differ from country to country: in some cases, they are more globally expressed, and in others, it is more specific. the goals to be achieved or the skills to be mastered are defined for each year of learning or schooling periods. there are increasing pressures on the art education to fulfill a number of goals, in addition to learning about art. educational systems increasingly recognize the importance of developing children’s creativity and contributing to cultural education. almost all european countries have similar goals for the curriculum of teaching art, among them: the development of artistic skills, knowledge, and understanding, engagement with various art forms; increasing cultural understanding; exchange of experiences. but in addition to these artistic results, the curriculum includes personal and social/cultural outcomes (such as self-confidence and self-esteem, the individuality of expression, teamwork, intercultural understanding and cultural participation). the focus on creativity (often in relation to its importance in innovation) and cultural education (in relation to individual identity and the promotion of intercultural understanding) is present in these goals. various studies have recognized the pressure to include in the art curriculum of the 21st century the study of new media (including film, photography and digital arts) and to enable students to use ict as a part of the creative process. in many, it is also requested for art contents to be connected to other non-artistic subjects and thus deal with creative and cultural themes. keywords: teaching art, competences, art education curricula introduction the 21st century world is based on knowledge and learning and requires members of the society who are creative, flexible, adaptable and innovative, and education systems need to develop in terms of these changing conditions. post-industrial societies require creative citizens with verbal and nonverbal communication skills, imaginative, with the journal of subject didactics, 2017 vol. 2, no. 1, 21-32, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1238953 ability to critically reflect on intercultural understanding. in visual arts, new tools for artistic production offer students the opportunity to explore their multicultural, multi-technological visual worlds. the importance of teaching art (visual arts education) is increasingly recognized in the world and in europe, it offers students a useful guide to developing their creativity, imagination, sensitivity towards themselves and the world around them in mutual relation. additionally, teaching art enables students to develop the ability to express themselves in a wide range of visual techniques. teaching art gives students opportunity to understand art, also enhances the critical skills needed to think and move freely and consciously in our society with full stimulation and information. in addition, teaching art has the responsibility to bring students closer to different cultural heritage and cultural diversity, and can play an important role in creating a culture of peace, international understanding, social cohesion and sustainable development. three concepts georg peez states that discussions on various didactic concepts of art pedagogy are being held today, and that we are witnesses of the period during which art pedagogy is re-conceived. the days of the 1980s have passed, in which the subject is significantly associated to a formula of “aesthetic education” of otto gunter.in the 1990s oto gunter and gert selle were the forerunners of one polarization in this field: it was that the teaching of art should be oriented towards avant-garde, modern art, whose advocate was gert zele or,on the other hand, it should be seen in a much broader context in the opinion of otto gunter. today, there are three dominant concepts of teaching art. picture orientation (visual literacy) in this concept the development of the “picture orientation” from otto gunter’s position is observed, in such a way that the teaching focuses on everything visually. visually becoming more and more important in our culture and everyday life, today we are exposed to the strong influence of various visual messages (television, film and video, photographs, signs and symbols, emoticon ...). such conditions have led to a growing need for understanding and creating different visual messages. teaching art, according to this concept, aims at visual literacy, it is oriented towards the support of the competences of understanding art in (inter-) cultural contexts, which implies the need for art teaching to be set as one of the main subjects in schools. the goal of teaching art in this concept is to provide aesthetic experiences to children, young people and adults and to teach students to interpret, understand and create visual messages through their art classes thus supporting media literacy. the art of living (the aesthetics of existence) in recent years, opposed to the first concept, a tendency has been established which propagates the end of “otto’s times” and the proclamation of artistic education. this concept directs the art teaching towards art, the creation of art not to “visual” or to school pedagogy. the decisive influence on this concept is the extended concept of art of joseph beuys, which aims at the “art of living” and the promotion of the “aesthetics of existence”. the main representative of this concept is gert zele. teaching art implies the establishing of artistic ways of thinking and acting in the educational process. the teaching aim is to initiate mediation and action processes. ac22 cording to this concept, teaching takes place through open workshops, on personal projects with an open time structure; stimulating experimentation in creating that results in broad views of life and the world, the student has complete control (organises and controls the process) over his creativity. the concept initiates artistic processes and thus enables new art and everyday experiences with a high goal of the “art of life”. aesthetic research this concept has the student in focus, the student and his aesthetic research interests are the starting point and it is based on the traditional art teaching and pedagogical orientation towards the student. the concept is based on individual art practice and, on the other hand, to subjective aesthetic research. it starts from the individual and his individuality and in this concept we can notice the influence of joseph beuys. the three concepts presented here are basic examples, but as georg peez himself concludes, they further combine, more or less overlap, or sometimes they have different attitudes, forming some others with new names (peez, 2007). the place of art and cultural education in schools in europe the research conducted by education, audiovisual & culture executive agency (eacea) arts and cultural education at school in europe gives us insight in the position and aims of arts teaching in europe. the place of teaching art in national curricula the existing research shows that the curriculum hierarchy exists even today, where the priorities are reading, writing and computing. in the art itself, emphasis is put on visual and musical art while theater and dance are completely in the background. the study dealing with cultural policies towards young people in europe (culture, creativity and the young: developing public policy, robinson, 1999) showed that all national policies concerning education routinely emphasize the importance of the cultural dimension and the need to promote the artistic and creative abilities of children and young people, while in practice, the status and availability of arts in education are less pronounced. the main disciplines available in schools are visual arts and music. in a number of national education systems, visual arts and music were compulsory in elementary education and in the first two or three years of secondary education. in all the observed cases, art had a lower status than mathematics and similar sciences. attempts have been made in some countries to reduce the role of art in the curriculum in favour of subjects that are more important for economic and school success. similar results were also found in some subsequent international studies (sharp and le métais, 2000; taggart et al. 2004‚ according to eacea, 2009). objectives of art education there are increasing pressures on art (visual, musical ...) to fulfill different goals, in addition to learning about art. educational systems increasingly recognise the importance of the development of children’s creativity and their contribution to cultural education, but it is not fully defined how art is expected to contribute either as an individual subject or in cooperation with other areas of the curriculum. in europe, almost all countries have similar goals for the art curriculum. among them are: development of artistic skills, knowledge and understanding, engagement on various art forms; increasing cultural understanding; the exchange of artistic experiences and 23 creations, which recognise the differences between the consumer and the creator. but in addition to these artistic outcomes in most countries, personal and social/cultural outcomes are expected (trust and self-esteem, individual expression, team work, intercultural understanding and cultural participation). creativity-related goals (often in relation to its significance in innovation and use of ict in creation) and cultural education (in relation to individual identity and the promotion of intercultural understanding) are visible in the goals of art learning. all this raises questions about the possibility of an artistic teaching curriculum to fulfill such diverse and broad goals. all european countries have curricula in the field of art and culture that determine the learning objectives/outcomes to be achieved, depending on whether these curricula are structured as an integrated whole or as a set of separate teaching subjects, some learning objectives/outcomes can refer to specific arts (visual arts, music, theatre, dance, media arts and crafts). the formulation of learning objectives/outcomes is also different from country to country, in some cases, they are more related to the global level, and in some cases, they refer to a specific area. the goals to be achieved or the skills to be mastered are defined for each year of learning or for each education cycle, and they are, in some countries, similar and related to the previous and next cycle or year of learning. goals and tasks of cultural teaching curricula: artistic skills, knowledge and understanding; criticism (aesthetic analysis) cultural heritage (and national identity) individual expression/identity/development cultural diversity (multiculturalism and identity/consciousness) creativity (imagination, problem solving, willingness to experiment, taking risks and responsibilities) the first six goals/outcomes of learning mentioned are in almost all art and cultural education curricula. these are quite general goals and are directly related to the art education. all the curricula refer to artistic skills, knowledge and understanding. of these six goals, five countries do not include “creativity” in the curriculum. artistic skills, knowledge and understanding are, generally speaking, the skills that form the basis of an “artistic language” (such as the understanding of colours, lines and shapes in visual arts or in music, listening, and instrumental performances). the development of artistic skills tends to include the learning of various artistic styles and genres. artistic understanding tends to focus on artistic concepts, such as understanding the characteristics of various means of artistic expression or the relationship between the artist, his or her cultural and physical environment and his or her works. critical thinking (aesthetic assessment) is one of six goals that are most frequently mentioned. it is especially concerned with raising awareness of students about basic characteristics of work and developing their capacity for critical assessment in assessing their own work or work of others. the third goal common to almost all countries is to understand cultural heritage. in some cases, this goal is connected to the creation of cultural identity: the learning of cultural shapes and tends to evolve into student self-esteem as a citizen of a particular state or a member of the group. understanding of cultural heritage is promoted through contact with works of art, as well as through learning the characteristics of works of art from different historical periods and works of specific artists. understanding cultural diversity is another goal that is common to most artistic and 24 cultural curricula. promoting cultural diversity through art also requires raising awareness of cultural heritage and modern genres specific for different countries and cultural groups (sometimes with a special emphasis on european cultures). the development of individual expression and the development of creativity are two other very widespread goals, although they appear in fewer countries. the development of individual expression of children and young people through art is closely connected to their emotional well-being. this type of goal is related to all art forms, especially visual arts. the development of creativity can be defined as the development of an individual's ability to participate in imaginative activity, whose product will be characterised by originality and value. although its relationship with the development of the individual expression is obvious, the development of creativity is different enough to be considered a special type of artistic goal. the remaining learning goals/outcomes can be grouped into two major categories: general goals (not closely related to the arts) of art and cultural curriculum, on the one hand, and specific goals explicitly related to the art education, on the other. the goal that most often refers to “social skills development” is identified in 26 curricula, generally speaking, this goal is more related to performing arts, especially to the theater. the least occurring goal is the development of “self-confidence and self-esteem” through participation in artistic activities, only in 15 curricula. general objectives (which are not closely related to arts): social skills/group work/socialisation/cooperative work communication skills enjoyment/satisfaction/pleasure/joy variety and diversity in art; engagement in different art forms media performances and presentations (promoting students’ own artistic work) ecological awareness/conservation of nature learning goals/outcomes that are closely related to the arts: confidence/respect art and lifelong learning/interest identifying the potential for art (ability/talent) learning goals/outcomes that are closely related to the arts and which are specific, exposure to various experiences and different means of artistic expression and skills in the performance or presentation of the work, are most often mentioned in the curriculum and are common to all forms of art. in the same category, the two goals commonly referred to as “developing a lifelong interest in arts”, in other words, encouraging students to participate in extra-curricular art activities and retaining this interest throughout their lives are mentioned in 15 countries. identifying artistic potential/talent occurs in only 6 teaching curricula. in addition to learning objectives identified as parts of the artistic and cultural curriculum, there are also learning objectives in a total teaching curriculum that can be connected to art and cultural education. several teaching curricula relate to the specific goal of encouraging inter-curricular connections between art and other subjects, and on the other hand, in a number of countries there are elements of the overall curriculum that relate to creativity and art. 25 curriculum organization, integrated and separate curricula we can notice that curricula include many separate subjects (mathematics, language, history, music ...) or wider learning areas (such as sciences, humanities and arts). in this regard, the field of art forms (such as visual arts, music, theater and dance) can be considered as belonging to the same “family” of artistic disciplines. this is reflected in the way the school curriculum is conceived at the national level (for example, the way in which official documents describe the curriculum). there are two basic patterns that are evident in art grouping in the curriculum: two or more essential artistic areas are conceived together as a separate area within the curriculum (eg, called "art") and separated from other areas of the curriculum. this type of conceptualisation, which observes the areas of the art form in relations with one another, can be described as “integrated” (integrative teaching, vilotijević & vilotijević, 2008a). each subject of art is separately acknowledged in the curriculum (for example, visual art or music in addition to other subjects, such as chemistry, history or mathematics), without any conceptual connections between them. certain art forms may also be included in other (non-artistic) subject areas, regardless of whether the curriculum is designed to include integrated areas or consisting of separate subjects. for example, drama is often involved in language teaching, and dance is often integrated into physical education. little less than a half of the countries consider that art subjects should be integrated as “integrative” components of the entire curriculum, while the rest adopt the approach of a separate subject. compulsory and elective art subjects in all countries, “art” as a curriculum area (which includes some but not necessarily all subjects: visual arts, music, crafts, theater, dance, media arts and architecture) are required at level isced1. in addition, in almost all countries “art” is also compulsory at level isced 2, with some exceptions at this level, meaning that the subjects are elective. all the major art subjects defined in this study are compulsory in most countries in some form, and visual arts and music are compulsory in all. in some countries, curriculum reform is under way, but this analysis does not include that and it is not discussed in detail, although changes that may occur may have an impact on teaching. in curricula the research has shown that art education has a relatively low status in the curriculum. the study has observed two main concepts, that art subjects are integrated or that every art subject is separate. a little less than half of the countries think that the art subjects should be integrated in the components of the entire curriculum, while the rest adopt the approach of a separate subject. in addition, in some cases art subjects are part of other compulsory subjects or areas of curriculum. the main art subjects are compulsory in most countries in some form, whereas visual arts and music are compulsory in all 26 __________________________________________ 1 isced international standard classification of education. isced 1: the duration of the program usually varies from four to seven years. the usual duration is six years; isced 2: the duration of the program usually varies from two to five years. the usual duration is three years. countries. in addition, two thirds of the countries include crafts in the compulsory curriculum. in the great majority of countries, including theatre and dance, they are taught as part of other compulsory non-artistic subjects, usually teaching languages and physical education. objectives this research has shown that there is a significant level of agreement between european countries on the basic goals of education in the field of art. not surprisingly, all countries focus their art education curricula on developing artistic skills, knowledge and understanding of children and young people. most of them also aim at developing critical thinking in their curricula in the field of art; understanding cultural heritage and cultural diversity, individual expression; development of creativity (imagination, problem solving, willingness to experiment, taking risk and responsibility). other common goals are social skills, communication skills, enjoyment, engagement with various art forms and media, performance/presentation and ecological awareness. however, the study also revealed several differences between countries, while some had more variations of goals than others. three goals have been identified in less than half of the countries: self-confidence/self-esteem; promoting lifelong learning through art; and identifying artistic talent. apart from learning objectives identified as a part of the curriculum, there are also goals that can be related to art and cultural education. where countries set goals for the entire curriculum, they usually include cultural and creative goals, especially creativity, learning about cultural heritage and cultural diversity, and the development of individual expression. integrated/integrative teaching2 contemporary education aims at interdisciplinary knowledge based on integrative and synthetic processes. knowledge is integrated on the basis of interdisciplinary connections both horizontal and vertical, which should contribute to a comprehensive vision and a multi-aspect view of problems and phenomena in the environment. there are several types of these connections, and didacticians consider the following four types to be the most important: interdisciplinary direct connections in the teaching process; research interdisciplinary direct connections; mentally mediated connections and indirectly applied connections. interdisciplinary direct connections in the teaching process are established when the adoption of a material of one subject is based on the knowledge of the material from the second (vilotijević & vilotijević, 2008, 2008a). the basis for integrative teaching consists of thematic units. knowledge, which students acquire, should be connected in function and meaning, not that the content of a single subject is completely separate and unrelated to the contents of other subjects. of course, it is not necessary at all costs to connect all the thematic units, but to do the connection wherever possible and where it will have a positive effect. integrative approach to learning emphasizes intellectual, social, emotional and aesthetic development, supports the overall development of students, and does not focus on isolated, mostly cognitive aspects. in the center of integrative learning is an individualised curriculum directed towards the student, not a curriculum directed towards the subject and guided by teachers. integrative learning (learning based on cooperation in which concepts such as partnership, experiential and social learning are taken seriously) is initially directed towards co-organisation and co-responsibility, and then, gradually, towards 27 __________________________________________ 2 in the world the term integrated is used. vilotijević & vilotijević (2008) use the term integrative teaching. self-organisation and self-responsibility. they learn together, one from the other, and interactions are not solely directed by teachers. in integrated teaching, curriculum instead of teaching subjects introduces teaching areas: the field of language, literature and communication; the field of social science and philosophy; the field of mathematics, natural science and technology; physical and health education field and the field of art. educational field of art usually consists of: visual arts, music, theater and play and thus process thematic units through these four parts of the field. from students, integration requires creativity, problem solving, perseverance, cooperation, and the ability to work with a greater number of ideas and concepts fused for the final product. dbae (discipline based art education) art education based on disciplines is a comprehensive approach to the art education of the getty organization (the getty, which includes an education institute for art) and advocates dbae as an effective means by which students can experience visual art in various ways. the dbae approach integrates content from four disciplines that contribute to creating, understanding and evaluating art. these disciplines of art provide knowledge, skills and understanding that enable students to have a wide and rich experience with works of art and are adapted to specific levels of groups, grades and degrees: artistic creativity students will learn skills and techniques to create a personal, original work of art. history of art students will study the artistic achievements of the past and present through styles, motives, techniques and themes, especially in relation to cultural, political, social, religious and economic circumstances. art criticism students will describe, evaluate, consider the properties of works with the understanding and respect of the works of art and the understanding of the role of society in society. aesthetics students will consider the nature, significance, influence and value of art, be encouraged to form criteria for the assessment of the works of art. teachers include paintings, drawings, sculptures and architecture in their lessons, furthermore they include applied, craft and folk art, ceramics, weaving and other textile arts, fashion design and photography. students work and study various visual images and objects that carry a unique meaning for human beings from all cultures and times. dbae is an approach to learning and learning in art, not of a specific curriculum and program. it exists in many ways in order to meet the needs of the community in which it is taught. examples of variation include the choice of one or more disciplines as a central or basic discipline to help students understand works of art; including settings such as museums, galleries and genuine and original works that they collect or display; integrating art with other subject areas; and with the help of modern technologies. teaching is conceptualized and focuses on students and their interests, judgments, ideas, and critical thinking. teachers provide a wider picture, help them work, motivate, instruct, demonstrate processes and techniques. cbae (choice based art education) cbae-choice based art education is not a concept of a curriculum, it is a concept of 28 teaching realization and here it is referred to as a way of learning art. this concept shares some ideas with the concept of teaching the art of living (aesthetics of existence) that we mentioned in the first part. the student is an artist. this is the basis on which the concept of cbae teaching is set. in an authentic environment, students have a control over topics, materials and approaches. the cbae focuses on two elements: the development of students as artists and ensuring the right choice. the aim is for the student to research, experiment with his ideas and materials, create and make progress in accordance with his abilities and desires with the help of teachers and classmates. in the cbae, the teacher provides the structure of the time, and the students themselves make their own plan and improvise, create. cbae transforms art classrooms into multifaceted learning centres where students work independently on art projects of their choice, with the guidance of teachers and classmates (independently or in a group) in an atmosphere of communion. the classroom is divided into centres and they contain all materials for different techniques and information on how to use materials, so that students can access materials without the help of teachers. students do not get lectures, they are never punished for something they didn’t manage to learn or do, taking risks and failure, as long as they make progress, only when they come to a stop on their way, whatever they choose, does the teacher get involved, help and suggest. what the teacher seeks and evaluates at students is perseverance, commitment, dedication, advancement, thinking that can go in different directions. teacher’s roleteaching occurs in several forms indirectly and directly, demonstrations in front of the whole group, discussions, small groups of students who choose a certain way of producing and individual work (teacher-student). each of these roles encourages students’ independence. the role of teachers involves demonstrating, motivating, assisting, giving instructions, securing, organising content and changing content as a result of observation in the class. students’ role students create homogeneous, cooperative, spontaneous groups within which information is exchanged, and students themselves provide numerous instructions. there are numerous resources in the classroom, which are accessible to everyone, different techniques and materials, various sources of information relating to techniques, work practices, art history ... and they are available to students so that they can find a connection to what they do through reproductions, books, internet and multimedia materials. there are numerous art concepts in front of students and they can choose to try something new every week, or to continue to work on a piece for a long time. the constant availability of different materials allows students to plan artistic activities in advance (douglas, jaquith, 2006). p21 21st century arts skills organisation p21 has produced for naea (national art education association) a document 21st century arts skills, and we present them here as an example of competences. communications in world nowadays are increasingly emphasizing the connection between multimedia and art. for both personal and professional success, it is important that students learn to critically interpret media messages, to transfer their ideas through art forms. all art media, both traditional and contemporary, offer powerful opportunities to nurture skills and articulate human expression. the ability of students to create and 29 express through art is one of the main traits of success in the 21st century. key student competencies listed in the document 21st century arts skills are: critical thinking and problem solving, students will use different types of reasoning to solve problems in the usual or innovative way. communication, students will communicate in different contexts through various artistic media, including technologies, know how to communicate their ideas and interpret the ideas of others. cooperation, students will work efficiently in a cooperative environment, will be able to share and accept responsibility, respectfully accept others’ ideas to achieve a common goal. creativity, students will find inspiration through various sources, know how to evaluate them, come to a creative idea that will turn into personally meaningful products. innovation, students will explore processes, implement creative ideas, use traditional ideas to create new and existing works of visual and performing arts. media literacy, students will analyse and use the media, understand the functioning of the media and information, interpret them and evaluate them. ict literacy, students will use the technology to use technology effectively for research, access, creation and communication. flexibility and adaptability, students will be flexible and adapt to changes in different artistic contexts. initiative, students will be motivated to manage their goals to know how to use time effectively and continually progress as artists. commitment to learning as a lifelong process. social and intercultural skills, students work productively to respect cultural and social differences in different teams. productivity and responsibility, students will set goals, accept responsibility and improve their work to meet high standards. leadership and responsibility, students will use art to inspire others, to know how to lead and optimize team members’ skills in solving problems that benefit the wider community (naea / p21, 2010). conclusion different experts in the world are trying to predict what kind of competences will be required from future members of society in order to achieve success at workplace and at society in general. education has to prepare students for this future world. nenad suzić points out that: “today’s educational system prepares children for life in the 21st century, for professional and working life that will take place in just 20 to 30 years. if now children at school acquire the knowledge they will need in 20 to 30 years, the school must realise what knowledge, skills and abilities are needed for free life at that time.” (suzić, 2005) similarly, ken robinson says: “nobody has an idea, despite all the expert opinions, what the world will look like in the future, and nevertheless, we need to educate children for this world. i think that creativity in education is as important as literacy and we should give it the same status“ (robinson, 2006). constanze kirchner considers that school and therefore the teaching of art should be adapted to the current social and educational needs. with constant changes in our environment, today’s childhood changes, not just habits. types of media, various social conditions, have led to new ways of life and changed childhood experiences. today’s students live in a time that has powerful impact on them: with little free time, they are 30 often emotionally neglected, at a fast pace of life, parents torn apart in insecure living conditions, a collision of different cultures and various media influences, all of which characterize the heterogeneous conditions of life of today’s students. teaching is under the strong influence of competences and standards, on the one hand, and works of contemporary visual arts, works of different cultures, epochs and everyday visual information for which technical and visual requirements are to be met, on the other (kirschner, 2013). children and young people should, first and foremost, through their personal creativity learn the meaning of arts and visual arts in different contexts of information and their mutual relations. understanding and respecting the creative and visual art of various artifacts, processes and situations, indicating works, paintings, drawings, graphics, sculptures, photographs and film, thus also applying to all forms of design, architecture, digital art, expanded media, and popular culture. references douglas, k., jaquith, d. (2006). engaging learners through art making: choice-based art education in the classroom. available online at: https://books.google.rs/books?hl=sr&lr=&id=xsodgaaqbaj&oi=fnd&pg=pp1&dq=choice+based+art+education&ots=962dxbbo7a&si g=90j1rgaj974t1ss6vxz5sxyotcm&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=choice%20based %20art%20education&f=false (accessed 22.11.2010) eacea, education, audiovisual and culture executive agency (2009). arts and cultural education at school in europe. available on line at: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/documents/thematic_reports/113en.pdf (accessed 10.04.2011) getty education institute for the arts (2010). discipline-based art education. available on line at: https://esu4artcadre.wikispaces.com/file/view/1-4_disciplinebased_art_education.pdf (accessed 12.03.2012) kirschner, c. (2013). kunst didaktik für die grundschule (berlin: cornelsen schulverlage). naea, national art education association (2010). 21st century skills map for the arts. available on line at: http://www.p21.org (accessed 10.06.2013) http://www.arteducators.org/research/21st_century_skills_arts_map.pdf (accessed 10.06.2013) peez, g. (2005). kunstpädagogik jetzt. available online at: http://www.georgpeez.de/texte/jetzt.htm (accessed 13.03.2012) peez, g. (2007). kunstunterricht heute und morgen auc. available on line at:http://www.georgpeez.de/texte/schulmagazin.htm (accessed 09.02.2012) penzel, j. (without date). ästhetische bildung (gert selle).available on line at: http://www.integralekunstpaedagogik.de/assets/ikp_kpm_aesthetische_bildung.pdf (accessed 11.10.2011) robinson, k. (1999). culture, creativity and the young: developing public policy.available online at: https://books.google.rs/books?hl=sr&lr=&id=gzqpf5mh_l4c&oi=fnd&pg=pa5&dq=cul ture,+creativity+and+the+young:+developing+public+policy.+cultural+policies+research+and+development+unit+policy+pdf&ots=mvtfioe8fb&sig=0qbtyt6iukfdn1mfxiuzurwc6e&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false (accessed 08.11.2011) robinson, k. (2006). how schools kill creativity. available online at: http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html (accessed 15.03.2009). selle, g. (2004). ästhetische erziehungoder bildung in der zweiten moderne? überein kontinuitätsproblem didaktischen denkens (hamburg university press) 31 sharp, c. & le métais, j., (2000). the arts, creativity and cultural education: an international perspective (international review of curriculum and assessment frameworks project). london: qualifications and curriculum authority. suzić, n. (2005). pedagogija za xxi vijek) banja luka: tt-centar. taggart, g., whitby, k. & sharp, c., (2004). curriculum and progression in the arts: an international study. final report (international review of curriculum and assessment frameworks project). london: qualifications and curriculum authority. unesco, united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization (2006). road map for arts education. (lisbon, 6-9 march 2006, the world conference on arts education: building creative capacities for the 21st century). available on line at: http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/multimedia/hq/clt/clt/pdf/arts_edu_roadmap_en.pdf (accessed 12.08.2010). vilotijević, м., vilotijević, n. (2008). inovacije u nastavi (vranje: teacher-training faculty vranje). vilotijević, м., vilotijević, n. (2008a). integrativna nastava. available online at: http://www.edusoft.rs/cms/mestozauploadfajlove/integrativna_nastava_za_cd_.pdf (accessed 09.09.2009). received: november 11, 2017 accepted: february 19, 2018 32 214_josd_template original article application of an interactive whiteboard in the realization of entomological programme contents jelena m. stolić, daliborka s. draganić and jelena d. stanisavljević university of belgrade faculty of biology, studentski trg 16, 11000 belgrade, serbia email: jecastolic@gmail.com abstract in this paper an analysis of the application of an interactive whiteboard (iwb) in the biology teaching was presented. the types of interactive whiteboards, their advantages and disadvantages, the contextual factors on which the application depends, the positive and negative effects in teaching and learning and pedagogical aspects and strategies for applying interactive whiteboard are described. also, an example is given how the iwb was applied in the realization of entomological programme content. the role and importance of insects in nature have been shown. it is very important that students understand the role of insect (especially insect pollinators) and their importance in nature. with the help of an iwb, this biology programme content was presented in the form of the concept maps. this allowed students to understand the significance of different entomological concepts and relations among them. also, an overview of the researches about the uses of an iwb in biology teaching in the realization of various biological programme content was given. it was shown that the iwb contributed to the improvement of processes of teaching and learning. it was concluded that iwb is determined as positive teaching tools, and researches show that they could have a positive impact on the motivation, perception, attention, behavior of students and their achievements in teaching biology. application of iwb can be easily accomplished with little additional training (for teachers and students). in the future, training of teaching staff for the use of iwb in teaching biology is planned. keywords: biology teaching; interactive whiteboard (iwb); interactivity; entomological programme contents. introduction an interactive whiteboard (iwb) is touch-sensitive board used with a combination of a computer and digital projector. it resembles a traditional whiteboard and is used similarly. the computer connected to the iwb can be controlled by touching the board directly or by using a special pen. this connection is enabled by application of specific software (smith et al., 2005). it is an electronic device that allows interactive work with the computer directly from the table itself by clicking on the projected image with an interactive journal of subject didactics, 2017 vol. 2, no. 2, 97-108, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1239754 pen or finger (mercer et al., 2010). this system allows the board to become one large sensitive surface from which it is possible to operate the computer. the board is connected to a computer via a usb port or wirelessly with bluetooth, infrared, and wi-fi. it is possible to have a large number of texts, charts, diagrams, films or animations on a computer of the interactive board preserved for teaching. sponge using to erase objects is simple, and every object (line, geometric body, more complex illustration) can be freely manipulated. information is sent from the board to the computer for further storage, or in the form of a command that is projected in a fraction of a second on a board. the image is controlled by a computer and it serves as a curtain on which information is continually designed and as a generator of feedback into the computer system (raonić, 2012). it can be distinguished two types of iwbs from the point of view of the projection direction, those with the front projection and those with the rear projection. they can also be divided into static, mobile, and portable in relation to the way they are connected and set up. the connection of the board can be provided via usb cable or wireless (brecka&oleksakova, 2013). from the point of view of methods and way of management of the whole system, they are divided into hard and soft boards. for hard iwbs, there should be one suitable surface (mostly a whiteboard). one sensor and one special pen (which works with the help of a battery) is required here too (next to computer, projector and design surface). these models are more mobile. in soft iwbs, the surface is sensitive to touch. no additional writing pen is needed and they are similar to the classical board. the same functions are possible with the help of a finger (touch) of the teacher, but there are several colored pens in addition to the board also. with the help of a large number of microcontroller sensors located below the surface of the board, these functions are enabled (mernjik, 2013). the beginning of the application of an iwb was in business life, but it quickly turned out that application was desirable in education. since iwbs allow the teacher the freedom in teaching, because it is not bothered by the mouse and the keyboard of the computer, interactivity is fully realized. with the help of a special pencil for an iwb or by simple touch of a finger, it is possible to perform operations that are performed by the computer mouse (left and right click, double click, scroll, etc.), and the classic keyboard is replaced with the virtual keypad and handwriting recognition. in this way, the course of the teaching becomes fluid and natural, and students are able to see it easily because the teacher is beside the projected image at all times (mernjik, 2013). together with the rapid development of technology, computer-supported technology, which includes iwb, is embedded in the education system of many countries. in developed and developing countries, governments and schools intensively invest in the technology of interactive whiteboard (slay et al., 2008). developed countries, such as great britain, have invested in promoting the use of educational technologies in the elementary and high school, and iwbs are becoming more and more popular at all levels of education. in part, this happened when the government budget financed the spread of iwbs in schools to get familiar with technology (miller et al., 2004). an iwb represents an important turning point in the classroom around the world and research by numerous authors suggests that if properly used they can have a positive effect on student results (torff & tirotta, 2010). iwb allows more frequent use of electronic didactic tools, since they can be used in the front of the classroom and thus show great potential for alternative ways of providing information. the main advantages of iwb can be increasing the visualization, motivation, and activities of students. also, they contribute to faster and easier reception of information by students. iwb allows group discussions 98 and presentations because students do not have to write in the notes. they can collaborate in the process of solving many different tasks and gain quick feedback in interactive testing (brecka & oleksakova, 2013). the main advantage of iwb is the easier preparation of teachers for a particular lesson, the ability to connect online and actively participate in distance learning. in addition to serving as a tool for presenting materials, the iwb represents the input equipment of the whole system. therefore, the teacher can react much more flexible during this presentation, than during the traditional teaching of new educational content (brecka & oleksakova, 2013). there are some common disadvantages of iwb. first of them is the higher price than a traditional board, or even higher than a combination of a projector and a projection screen. the school does not have enough funds to provide an iwb for each classroom. also, this board is not used due to lack of time to design teaching materials, or due to limited sources of related teaching software. there is an iwb in the classroom that is not used due to lack of professional training for the iwb’s functions and operation (jang & tsai, 2012). the surface can be easily damaged, and services and spare parts are expensive. it can happen that the user throws a shadow on the board and hide information too. one potential disadvantage is too much information on the iwb (brecka & oleksakova, 2013). usually, the most common problems with working with an iwb are technical problems, low level of teacher skills or even distrust for digital technologies. other shortcomings that teachers mentioned were eye fatigue, the inability to work in parallel with two or more students (in the case of older boards), inadequate number of boards, an obstacle in accessing an iwb. a particular lack of material, as a serious problem, was confirmed in some studies focused on the research of pedagogical innovations (brecka & oleksakova, 2013). iwb has a positive effect on student motivation, but some researchers warn that increased motivation in the use of iwb is correlated with the novelty factor and can eventually be reduced (weimer, 2001). some schools in london have announced that even in cases where teachers used an interactive whiteboard in different ways, increasing motivation was short-lived. proper pedagogical training is of great importance for the maintenance of motivation. in order to increase students' motivation, an iwb should be used in the processing of specific topics and gradually engage in teaching and learning (martin, 2007). motivation and attention can be increased if students interact with the board themselves. it is reported that the use of iwbs in schools increases students' interest and encourages continuous attention (glover et al., 2007). this is associated with the multimedia aspect of interactive whiteboards, because lessons become visually more stimulating (slay et al., 2008). also, students are offered new opportunities to publicly express their ideas, not only verbally, but also using graphic and other displays, using the iwb. in this way, they can get feedback from teachers and their peers and easily articulate with knowledge (hennessy et al., 2007). according to recent research, iwb can be used as a means of enhancing current didactic teaching practice, since they can easily be used as a replacement for classical school boards (schuck & kearney, 2007). it has been observed that there is a need for pedagogical change in interactive mode so that the application of the iwb would have the greatest impact (miller et al., 2004). in cases where teachers are not aware of the characteristics of iwbs and how they can connect it with interactive pedagogy, often an iwb becomes nothing more than a teaching tool (glover et al., 2007). the introduction 99 of an iwb into traditional didactic teaching styles can be easily achieved with little additional training, but it creates a completely new approach to pedagogy (armstrong et al., 2005). according to smith et al. (2005), interactivity appears to be twofold both technical and pedagogical interactivity. in order for the potential of iwb to be fully utilized, both of this interactivity must appear together. the problem occurs when teachers interact with the board, while students are observing or the teacher interacts with students or there is only interaction among students. in these cases, the board has a passive role. when combining these two dimensions of interactivity, an iwb becomes a tool that stimulates the thinking of both teachers and students (šikl, 2012). interactivity must exist between teachers and students, students and students, teachers and teachers (glover et al., 2005b). many teachers tend to dominate the lesson when using iwb, simply by using it for an interactive discussion with the entire classroom, without allowing students to interact independently with the board (schuck & kearney, 2007). when teachers do not realize that interactivity requires a new approach to pedagogy, iwb has a limited impact (armstrong et al., 2005). teachers should strive to achieve an advanced pedagogical phase of interactivity, and view iwb as a means of indirect knowledge transfer. perhaps the best and pedagogically the most effective way for iwb is to be included in the classroom in two steps. first, allow teachers to start only with a multimedia projector and a computer (slay et al., 2008). when teachers implement multimodal teaching materials in the classroom, they move to the next step in which they include iwb along with interactivity. teachers' readiness to transform their teaching styles from didactic to advanced interactive is essential. an iwb will have the greatest impact in classrooms with teachers who want to make this transformation. it is important to remember that good teaching remains such with or without technology. only if teachers and students are engaged in understanding the potential of technologies as another pedagogical tool for achieving quality teaching, technology can advance pedagogy (higgins et al., 2007). the role of teachers must be streamlined to allow students to be more exposed and provide them with the opportunity to explore. he is not only a knowledge transferor and an evaluator as in traditional teaching, but also becomes an advisor providing information for learning planning and studying materials; an organizer that compiles the structure of activities on and off school time; a moderator who provides a flexible structure of work; guardian that allows information and student ideas to be saved or recorded (šikl , 2012). teachers should develop self-confidence and practice their skills (martin, 2007). they should also learn how to teach creatively, including a wide range of media such as video, animation, audio, graphics, and animation along with the text. in addition, this creative lecture should contain appropriate parts that can be prepared by students (wood & ashfield, 2008). based on the aforementioned characteristics of iwb, the implementation of this technology in the realization of entomological programme content was done. the intention was for the students to better understand this biology programme content and to adopt it permanently. application of interactive whiteboard in the realization of entomological programme content in this paper, the application of iwb in the realization of entomological programme content in elementary school was presented. two topics related to insects have been realized. 100 the first refers to the morpho-anatomical structure of insects and their division into groups. second, relates to the role and significance of insects in nature (appendix 1). insects are the most numerous animal group in nature. they play an important role in nature, especially as pollinators (bees, bumblebees, flies, butterflies). many of them are the main pests of agricultural and forest cultures (locusts, aphids, termites) or parasites of humans and domestic animals (cockroaches, fleas, lice, malaria mosquito). the declines of insect pollinators on earth is closely related to the extermination of all other species. they are found in most food chains, so it’s very important for students to understand their importance. the realization of this contents in elementary school is different in comparing to their realization in high school. in high school, there are more concepts from this content which have to be explained, more comprehensive and detailed. also, the acquiring knowledge should be at a higher level. when the morpho-anatomical structure of the insects have to be presented, the basic concepts should be considered in the elementary school: body differentiation into segments, types of these segments. in contrast, in high school, there are more detailed explanation: for each segment, formations that are located on segments, their structure and function; the material of the cuticle, intestinal, respiratory, nervous, sensory, reproductive and excretory system. fertilization is processed in the high school in detail, as well as the way in which the development takes place. in the elementary school, only the types of insect’s developments and examples are mentioned. division of insects into groups is also more complex. the role and significance of the insects in nature, in entomological programme contents in elementary school are similarly explained like in high school. but, entomological programme content in high school have more concepts about pollination. in elementary school, this programme content includes concepts: insect pollinators, bees, bee products, the structure of insect pollinators colonies, pollinated plants and importance for human life and the existence of the most plants and animal species on the earth. the main learning outcomes for these topics in elementary school are: • cognitive domain students identify and name basic insect groups. students evaluate which characteristics are present only in insects in the animal kingdom, what do they have, or what other invertebrates do not have. students describe the role of insects in nature and their importance for man and other species. students create an image of the importance of the existence of insects as well as about their number. students assess which insects are harmful and useful to humans. • affective domain: students build their own view on the importance of the existence of insects from a medical and economic aspect. students develop their own responsibility towards insects as important factors of the natural balance and survival of life on planet earth. 101 • psychomotor domain: students build representative scheme of insects. students make posters and images related to the importance and protection of bees and other beneficial insects. learning this entomological programme content is very difficult and complicated for the most of students. some additional factors in the difficulty and unpopularity of biology are the emphasis on theories and the lack of context, that is, the lack of consideration of the connection between science and everyday life and society (tsaparlis et al., 2013). in order to adopt biological content in the best possible way, more senses need to be activated. this is achieved by using multimedia on the interactive whiteboard. the multimedia program, which iwb contain, enables the creation of text with images, sound animations and movies. this is a clear and interesting way to present the information for students. students are more attentive and more interested in following interactive lessons, better remembering content and more actively participating in accepting new knowledge. in addition, teachers can add sounds that are characteristic of this type of animals when processing themes related to animals. on the iwb, entomological programme content is presented in the form of a concept map. these maps are very important for both high school and elementary school students. with their help, students remember and connect concepts better. in this way, students are enabled to understand the significance of different entomological concepts and relationships among them, and then apply it into learning. the purpose of the concept is not to replace content, but to explain the context and essence of the events in nature that learners should adopt, or to extract what is important, but also to connect knowledge and skills. concepts are rules that are part of a more complex network or memory scheme (tessmer et al., 1990). concept mapping is an activity that can have numerous uses in a biology classroom. it can be used in planning, teaching, auditing and assessment of knowledge (kinchin, 2000). regarding whether the material is intended for elementary or high school students, the appearance of an iwb differs. an iwb for high school contains more text and main concepts, as well as concept maps. iwb contains a lot of pictures and several videos. some people need visual aids to help them learn. this means they learn best when they see drawings or images that represent concepts. playing videos is a method for visualizing information and can be used to illustrate the concepts. using videos to help students understand concepts can improve academic achievement and even attitude towards the subject of biology. the use of visual media can enhance understanding, especially the understanding of abstract processes that are hard to imagine. for example, in biology and entomology, there are many molecular processes that occur, which can not be seen by the naked eye. students may be able to learn more easily if they see an animation of the process than if they only see drawings or scheme (perry, 2013). also, regardless of the multimedia nature of the iwb, it should be combined with natural entomological insect preparations so that students can observe insects in natural size or natural habitat, draw them to the notebook and then mark concepts on them. discussion many researchers were concerned with the use of iwbs in biology. one of them, veseli102 novska (2014), explored how biology teachers use iwbs in teaching, and the research was carried out on the theme of similarities and differences between animal and plant cells. the results showed that the academic achievement of students depends on how the teacher maintains the teaching of the specific content of biology. unlike the lessons that begin with the frontal form of teaching in classes, classes that begin using interactive methods were more exciting and encouraging for the student. if laboratory experiments or slides are used in science teaching at the beginning of the class, it will attract more attention among students and increase their motivation. oral lecture can be boring for students, and visual materials include understanding which words can not express and contribute to easily memorizing content. using iwbs, students are offered real-life situations and the ability to directly solve the problem with the help of their skills. students have more time and opportunities for practical experience, active thinking and reflexive use of knowledge. also, teamwork encourages students to foster team spirit and leadership and use their interpersonal abilities in practice, while maintaining oral presentations gives them the opportunity to strengthen their mental reactions and presentation skills (veselinovska, 2014). there is a specific topic in biology that makes teaching and learning difficult (oztap et al., 2013) have found that difficulties linked to topic “cell division” are based on the way in which the content is processed. the results of the yang and wang (2012) research showed that teaching with an iwb is more effective than classical teaching in presenting topics from biology. key concepts of this content can be better represented on the iwb, so it is easier for students to visualize and understand them and overcome these difficulties. also, students claim that when they interact with the iwb, they get more involved and learn more easily (torff & tirotta, 2010). yang and wang (2012) argue that the key feature of iwb is high interactivity that allows teachers to have more contact and interaction with students. schut (2007) also worked on a research related to the use of an iwb in the realization of classes on the division of the cell, organic components, and genes. this research provided an insight into students perceptions while working on an iwb and indicated that the use of smartboards in teaching increased students participation by making them more active. interaction with the board seems to increase their interest during the class. also, students said that the visual properties of the iwb allow for more permanent retention of learning content in memory. the limitations observed by the students were small and were not considered as major disorders (schut, 2007). odner and aydin (2016) conducted a similar research on the subject: "photosynthesis: energy linking" and concluded that the use of iwb in teaching biological content was more effective on student achievement than teaching according to the curriculum. hennessy et al. (2007) conducted a research on the development of pedagogy after the beginning of the use of iwb in schools. lessons in which research was made were food chains and gas exchange in the lungs. after analyzing the data, it has been shown that teachers show different approaches to encouraging and supporting activities in which students shared, evaluated and developed ideas using an iwb. student manipulation of objects on an iwb was considered desirable, but together with pedagogical interaction, it was limited by the education system and subject culture, curricula and assessment frameworks (hennessy et al., 2007). unlike other researches that focused on the interactive relationship between teachers and students, an iwb was used in the realization of a large number of biological content such as life cycle and classification of various organisms, food chain, healthy nutrition, 103 etc. it was concluded that the iwb can be used as information transfer tool and as an environment in which more individuals can have a discussion. in this way, it is possible to build knowledge together. the best way to achieve this is when a teacher is able to use the benefits of an iwb in active learning and support students in collaborative work and active dialogue (warwick et al., 2010). iwb allows teachers to devise and organize activities and lessons using a wide range of multimedia resources that encourage the cognitive and innovative potential of students in the learning process (littleton et al., 2010). for example, chromosome structures can be presented using images, videos, or 3d models that help students build chromosome models. in addition, students can use iwbs to improve and facilitate the learning process. teachers can design teaching activities for an iwb, which can help students to think and manage iwbs actively. for example, a teacher can provide incomplete charts about the cell division process that will populate students through the discussion on time. the teachers can also provide images to students on chromosome changes in each stage of cell division and encourage students to compare images in the right order and explain how the amount of dna and chromosomes changes (yang & wang, 2012). conclusion and implications for the use of an interactive whiteboard iwb offers a range of possible advantages in terms of facilitating the integration of a large number of concept and facts and offer new opportunities for encouraging multiple pedagogical strategies. using iwb in the realization of entomological programme content creates a favorable learning environment for students as opposed to a simple lecture-based learning. it leads them to almost real-life situations and gives them an opportunity to solve problems with their own skills. at the same time, students have more time for practical experience, active thinking and reflexive application of knowledge. additionally, presentation of entomological programme content on iwb offers them an opportunity to strengthen their mental and presentation skills. these visual materials enable students to understand which entomological concepts and facts are very important and to remember them easily. they will no longer be adopted passively, and students will gradually with understanding participate in building new insights, make new ideas, independently perceive and organize information into a compact structure (structure of knowledge). iwb has a positive impact on the motivation, perception, attention, behavior of students and their achievements. knowledge transfer is simpler, and students are able to understand complex processes about insects in nature. maintaining this level of motivation and interest can be achieved through a quality interaction between teachers and students, students and students and teachers and teachers. the most effective way for iwb to be included in biology teaching is that teachers use a multimedia projector and computer at first, and then slowly engage interactivity into the process of teaching. teachers should learn how to teach creatively and use a wide range of images, animations and concepts maps on iwb. these processes can easily be achieved with little additional training (for teachers and students) for using iwb. in the future, training of teaching staff for the use of iwb in teaching biology is planned. acknowledgements: the authors would like to express their gratitude to the ministry of education and science of the republic of serbia for the financial support (project 173038). 104 references armstrong, v., barnes, s., sutherland, r., curran, s., mills, s. & thompson, i. 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(2012). interactive whiteboard: effective interactive teaching strategy designs for biology teaching. e-learning engineering, on-job training and interactive teaching. taiwan. 139-156. 106 appendix 1 application of an interactive whiteboard in the realization of entomological programme content in elementary school. 107 � � � ���������� ��� ���� ������� ������� � ����� ������������������������� ���������������� �� ��!���"� ��������� ���� �#������������� � $�������% �&� #� �� ���$� �� �% ��������� ���������'� ��� ������� ����(��� �������$��������% ��������� ���������)��� � �� ���� �����#�� � � $ ������(������% ���������� ������� � $���*�������'������'�����'� �����������+����% ,�����"� ���� ���� �$(���'� (��(��(��'���&'� (���������% � ���������������&�������� �����$� ��% ���� � #���� ����� �� ��� #����� ��(������ ��������� ������ $�� &(�#�'�-�� % received: febrary 11, 2018 accepted: march 31, 2018 108 � � � ���������� �� ��� � ����������� � � � ��� ��� � � ����� �� � �� ����� � � � � � �� �� �������� ��� ��� ����������� ���� ��������� ������ �������� ���� �� ���� ����������� ����������������������� � �������� �� ����� ����������������� ������� �������������� ����������������������� ��� ��������� ������������� �� ������������������� �� ����������� ���� ��� ������������� ����������� ��������� ���� �� � ���� ������������������ �� ��� 02_hercegmandic_et_al_josd_template original article modeling the geography class through problem-based teaching: a case study from novi sad, serbia vera herceg mandić1*, anđelija ivkov džigurski2, ljubica ivanović bibić2 and smiljana đukičin2 1high school “jovan jovanović zmaj“, novi sad, serbia; 2faculty of sciences, department of geography, tourism and hotel management, serbia *email: herceg.mandic.vera@gmail.com abstract the idea of problem-based teaching, i.e. learning through solving problems, is not a new one, but has been fairly neglected in the teaching process. the aim of this research is to consider the possibility of applying this learning model in teaching geography in primary and grammar schools. this teaching model was proposed for the presentation of the teaching unit australia and oceania, in the framework of the thematic unit political/geographic, demographic and economic/geographic features of certain parts of the world. the model implies group work. the expected successful outcome of the applied teaching model has been verified by the results of a survey and the scores achieved in the knowledge test. the study contains the entire course of the experimental teaching of the unit australia and oceania by applying problem-based teaching, and presents and analyzes the results achieved. the classes were modelled by relying on hill-slater′s model. a t-test was used for the statistical analysis of data in order to test the hypothesis on differences in the arithmetic mean. the choice and application of the statistical mathematical procedure are determined by the nature of the phenomenon which is the subject of this research. the software packages mathematica and excel were used in order to statistically analyze data and to draw tables and graphs. keywords: teaching geography, group work, problem-based teaching, problem-based learning and educational technologies. introduction problem-based teaching as a system of procedures and resources enables students’ creative participation in the process of acquisition of new skills. solving problems is an activity which contributes to forming creative thinking and cognitive interests important for the versatile development of personality. problem-based teaching requires discovering new solutions through thinking activity organized in different combinations. in solving problems, every student, or a group of students learning together, can choose their own method of working. in the process of solving problems, the most complex thinking activities emerge, because a problem situation requires a new reaction. frequently asked questions concerning problem-based teaching are “what are the aims of this form of teaching?” and “what benefits does it offer to students?” another question is to what extent problem-based teaching has been accepted in gejournal of subject didactics, 2016 vol. 1, no. 1, 13-23, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.55471 ography, as a discipline which is not close to those in which this method of teaching first flourished, i.e. medicine and engineering. in this study we have looked for and offered some answers to the above questions and considered the issues related to developing geography curricula, predominantly or exclusively based on problem-based learning. problem-based teaching stands out as a didactic system whose quality and efficiency contribute to the development of creative abilities, that is, students’ capability of individual thinking. thus, it responds to the more and more complex demands of modern society (veinović, 2004). in the gestalt theory of max wertheimer it is insisted that teaching should be organized in such a manner that the student is able to independently find his own way of solving a problem, seeing the relations among the elements of a problembased situation. gestaltists criticize mechanical learning; they have discovered that solving problems stimulates the development of productive thinking (vilotijević, 2000, 191). the american psychologist robert gagné points out to solving problems as the most effective way of developing creative thinking, and places it on the very top of the list of learning styles (vilotijević, 2000, 241). pawson et al. (2006) state that problem-based teaching or problem-based learning are one of the clusters of the latest innovations in active learning, for which a wide spectrum of positive results for students has been established, while agnew (2001) points out that the supporters of such innovations mainly declare that they are promoting profound learning through the better understanding of concepts and the development of skills, as well as through encouraging students’ participation and motivation, and through organizing inspiring classes. they understand problem-based learning as a teaching method and strategy or as cultural philosophy (mandsley, 1999). spronken-smith et al. (2008) find that students can benefit greatly from ibl since they are active in the learning process, can have improved understanding, more enjoyable learning, develop valuable research skills, achieve higher-order learning outcomes and perform better academically. teachers themselves can also benefit from strengthening teaching-research links through students’ engagement. however, in order for ibl to be effective, teachers must be encouraged and supported to take on this facilitating role. when ibl elements are embedded in a more traditional curriculum, particular care needs to be taken so that students and teachers are carefully oriented to the expectations regarding the outcome of learning and teaching in this mode. this assumes designing the curriculum around some key problems in the professional praxis. the louder advocates of pbl point out that it is not only a teaching method, but a more comprehensive approach to learning and teaching. instead of putting emphasis on teaching, the process of learning itself is stressed. problem-based learning has a long tradition in the field of geography (solem, 2001; jovanović & živković, 2005). the model of learning, based on slater′s (1982) idea of teaching geography, was developed by hill (1990). this learning model uses questions as tools for planning lessons which bring about new analytical and geographical skills. hill-slater′s model was embedded in many curricula and served as a source for numerous institutes in the usa dealing with teaching geography. the hill-slater model is presented in solem (2001). problem-based learning in practice the foundation of problem-based learning is good preparation and an appropriate choice of “the right” problem. the problem should be interesting and should relate to the real world. the complexity of the problem is desirable, because in that way a situation is crev. herceg mandić et al.14 ated in which students can, by means of approximations (non-trivial simplifications), get to the problem which is not difficult to deal with. the “right” problem should generate several hypotheses and should not have a unique solution; it should require group work and stimulate the development of cognitive abilities of higher order. solving problems should rely on students’ previous knowledge and experience. when creating a problem, it is important to save the fundamental concept, which is a constituent part of the educational unit. in order to solve the problem successfully, it is necessary to divide it into smaller units (phases or stages). it is desirable to prepare a short guide to solving problems and helping students to identify the source of data. the most important elements of the problem are: the hook (bait), trigger, scenario, problem display and problem documentation. the hook can be newspaper news, an event, an article, a photograph, etc. the trigger is most often some text which suggests how the problem could be solved. the scenario represents the frame for solving the problem. the problem display and documentation contain the material which is given to students at the beginning of the process. this is where the problem is implied explicitly or implicitly. the problem display is given in such a way that it is a good combination of materials which make up the hook, the trigger and the scenario. the basic characteristic of problem-based teaching manifests itself in the fact that solving problems is aimed at acquiring new knowledge, linking that new knowledge with different kinds of previous knowledge, and at verification through finding solutions (havelka, 2000). in this case the student is the one who possesses some “knowledge” of his own. such “knowledge” of the student and his perceptions of the phenomenon observed are placed in the focus of teaching, determining the guidelines according to which an active process of knowledge mediation between a teacher and a student begins. with carefully designed improvisations, the teacher offers a series of problem situations, which place students in the state of wonderment, provoke their curiosity, so much needed for launching all the thinking processes and the processes of learning and comprehension. not one part of teaching a class (from the beginning, through the presentationtill the end) can be achieved without a high level of students’ activity, in the form of a discussion about the observed problem. this also provides feedback information about the level of comprehension of a specific part of the curriculum. problem-based learning and teaching cannot in any part function without active students’ participation. with their ideas, observations and, above all, with their interesting conclusions, they create the teaching process. problem-based teaching is suitable for team or group work based on a social situation. a problem-based situation entails joint work and engagement. in a social situation, even the psychic functions which have just started to develop can be engaged. without social support, a student is functioning only to the limits of his current development; however, through cooperation, his functioning goes beyond those limits, to the subsequent levels of development. in problem-based teaching, the teacher plays a special role. first of all, the teacher should prepare a good problem. problem-based teaching and learning do not focus on the teacher and his/ her knowledge, which can be found in textbooks anyway. the role of the teacher is to steer the learning process, to be the creator of the procedures, to indicate the sources of knowledge, provide additional information and materials and communicate with students. instead of teaching, the teacher should encourage students to study independently. it is important to ask metacognitive questions such as: “how did modelling the geography class through problem-based learning 15 you reach this conclusion?”; “do you know anything else on that matter?”; “do you have any assumptions?”. the concept of pbl is present in many scientific disciplines, and the primary objective of pbl is to create an environment that allows students to become life-long learners. pbl has been integrated into numerous areas of study, including dentistry, pharmacy, optometry, nursing, law, environment, business and education. pbl involves confronting students with a problem related to the class material, as opposed to traditional didactic approaches to education. the problems that students face in these classroom simulations are loosely-structured situations designed to create an environment that create an opportunity for students to explore and learn (ahlfeldt, mehta, sellnow, 2005; williams, 1999). geography as a science is rich with different contents. it is advisable to choose such contents which boost creativity in students, improve thinking, and develop the ability of solving practical tasks and self-education (ivkov, 2003). in geography there are many problem situations, and, as a result, problem-based learning can be successfully applied in this area. these problem situations arise from the logical structure of geography teaching and endless possibilities of observing, monitoring and discerning geographical phenomena. solving problems in geography teaching has a series of didactic advantages. in this way, educational performance in respect of the level of knowledge, the acquisition of facts and the understanding of geographical concepts and rules can be increased (gavrilović & gavrilović 2009). class model the idea of this study was to start pbl-based teaching by representing a specific problem, unlike the traditional approach, where teaching starts with representing the fundamental theoretical knowledge. in this way, students are encouraged to continually move in the direction of acquiring knowledge and skills, according to the levels and sequences of the problem being presented in a specific context. in that process, students are simultaneously using the corresponding learning material and receiving continuous expert support by their teachers. in this process, teachers play the part of facilitators, rather than being the primary source of expert knowledge. as the key element in pbl is using the materials based on which students are faced with problems in the situations which are very close to professional reality, the intention was to realize classes in that way. students most frequently jointly work and cooperate in small groups or teams in order to clarify and define the nature of the problem and to try to establish the procedure of solving it. slater-hill′s model consists of several distinctive segments: targets, questions, geographical questions, data (presentation methods and practicing skills), outcome and evaluation. the target is the same as that set in the curriculum for the teaching unit which is being presented. the bait could be questions with which we want to provoke curiosity and inquisitiveness in students. after the student is “drawn into” the situation, geographical questions follow. these questions should direct students towards the teaching matter at hand. jovanović & živković (2005) point out that asking questions which provoke thinking is an excellent technique for creative problem situations. geographical questions play the role of a trigger. that is why in addition to “clean questions”, students are given texts which suggest how the problem could be solved. in addition to texts, students are given a scenario, the problem is divided into phases, and students are given instructions about the material which is available to them. v. herceg mandić et al.16 questions are asked in the form of prepared homework during the class that precedes the presentation class. in this way, as jovanović & živković pointed out (2007), homework is used to prepare students for learning new contents. homework should be in the form of problem-based tasks, which require thinking and practical engagement on the part of students (jovanović & živković, 2007). homework should be adjusted to students’ age and the applicability of the adopted contents. the contents prescribed by the curriculum may be combined with the events that are covered by the media, or that are a part of everyday life. data collection and processing should help students to be prepared and qualified for similar research, not necessarily in the field of geography. in this phase the use of the media gains more and more importance. firstly, they are used as the source of data and facts and, secondly, as a means of presenting students’ solutions (jovanović & živković, 2005). solving problems with the help of the media in geography teaching is necessary and irreplaceable. data which can be obtained via the internet are numerous and opulentgeographical maps, photographs, animations, statistical data, etc. however, one should be careful when collecting data. what is offered on the internet sometimes resembles a “flea market”. there are many valuable and exact data, but there are also superficial, unproven, or even wrong ones. ready-made solutions can often be found in the problem that is being solved. students should avoid using these “products” in order to present themselves to teachers.teachers should, provided that they know their students well, eliminate such materials and insist on the students’ working independently. these activities can consume a lot of the teacher′s time, but they need to be carried out nevertheless. students also tend to seek easy solutions through slight modifications of the found and ready-made solutions. if students’ data and maps are beautiful and not so numerous, they are more valuable than “ready-made” answers to the set problem. by collecting data independently, students practice this activity, acquire the skill and ease in selecting data. they free themselves from the fear of starting to collect data. by creatively analyzing the data, they reduce the original amount of information and select only the most important, beautiful and interesting ones for the problem that they are trying to solve. at this stage, such an approach prepares students for solving real-life problems, which often involve many additional limitations. that is why students should be prepared to carefully choose from what is offered, constantly controlling the source and the quality of data. whenever it is possible, they need to compare data about the same event, phenomenon, structure, region, thing, an individual or a group, using two or more sources. such an approach to data collection can influence later behaviour in life; it can contribute to building criteria for making choices in important moments of life. when information is collected, it needs to be adequately recorded, sorted out, compared, analyzed, etc. given that data processing is important, the processing method should be carefully chosen. after individual work, where students’ activity is fully expressed, students can choose one or more methods on their own or with the help of their teacher. as an outcome, it is expected to analyze the close connection between the real-life situation and the issue learned in the given lesson. it is expected that students should more easily accept the geographical contents covered in a chosen lesson if there is an interesting connection with the questions asked at the beginning of the lesson. if a student solves the problem successfully, it means that he has performed numerous activities successfully. first of all, he had to accept the problem, define it properly, and modelling the geography class through problem-based learning 17 then start solving it. independence in work begins with data collection, processing and presentation in the process of solving the given problem. facing the problem, readiness to solve it and independence in work are extremely important results, maybe even more important than solving the problem itself. jovanović & živković (2005) point out that “solving problems in teaching geography has many didactic advantages.” in this way it is possible to increase the educational effect concerning the level of knowledge, the acquisition of facts and the understanding of geographical concepts and laws. by solving problems, students develop their thinking (creative, logical, critical…) and their ability to observe and perceive. furthermore, students’ characteristics, such as persistence, independence and tenacity, are being developed. in this way, students are well prepared for self-education. when evaluating students’ work, in addition to evaluating the final result presented in an appropriate form (oral presentation, presentation through different media or through a discussion with the teacher and the whole class), it is necessary to take into account students’ approach to data collection and processing, their ability to deal with facts and to employ them in different contexts. answers to the questions posed in the course of a discussion should be evaluated separately. these answers should be evaluated in terms of correctness, but also in terms of the willingness of students to defend their attitudes, to justify them and expose them to criticism, and, finally, to manage the situations which are common in everyday life. the formal, numerical mark, grading students’ accomplishment, can be verified by peer evaluation at the end of the class. methods this research presents a class model based on problem-based learning. classes were modelled relying on hill-slater′s model. homework served as preparation for the class. students were expected to use the internet to collect data. the aim of the research was to indicate to the possibility of modernizing geography teaching in high schools, having in mind that the same can be implemented in primary schools and faculties. the intention was to create a situation where students could learn independently, guided by the teacher. the subject of the research is the model of problem-based learning, i.e. examining its effects on the teaching process and the quality and quantity of knowledge, reflected in the better understanding of geographical contents and solving particular problems. using computers in class was possible, but not obligatory. students made their own decisions as to whether they would use the computer and the internet or not. a large amount of data, texts, sketches and photographs were made available to all students. the subject of the research is the empirical study of the contribution of this model to mastering geographical contents, as compared to the traditional learning styles. the above mentioned model was applied in an experimental group. the results of the experiment were considered from the standpoint of more efficient learning and more successful task solving. the efficiency of the model was evaluated based on the achieved quantity of knowledge, i.e. the number of correct answers in the knowledge test. the aim of the research was to look into the effect of this model. the tasks of the research established how successful the implementation of this learning model was, based on the results of the knowledge test. proceeding from specific problems, defined subjects, goals and tasks set, the null hypothesis of the research was established: the model of problem-based learning does not contribute to greater learning achievev. herceg mandić et al.18 ment, as compared to traditional teaching styles. the research includes an experiment with parallel groups. the experiment involved 171 students from 3 high schools in novi sad during the school year 2010/2011. groups were chosen in such a way that each included one second grade class from those high schools. the experimental group included 76 students, and the control group 95 students. the groups were not equalized proceeding from individual members; they were rather observed as a whole. the groups were uniform because, statistically speaking, there was not a remarkable difference between the student′s average mark in geography and average mark in other subjects. problem-based learning, as an independent variable, was introduced into the experimental group, in order to establish its effect on the knowledge of the students. a t-test was used for statistical data processing, in order to test the hypothesis on the difference in arithmetic means. the choice and application of statistical and mathematical procedures was based on the nature of the phenomenon which was the subject of this research. the software package mathematica and excel was used for statistical data processing, as well as for drawing tables and graphs. the efficacy of our model was examined in the framework of the teaching unit australia and oceania. this teaching unit provides numerous possibilities for a creative presentation. a textbook (gavrilović & gavrilović, 2009) was used, as well as data, photos and sketches collected via the internet, and some teaching materials. in order for group work to yield positive results, the contents of the mentioned teaching unit were analyzed and divided into logical segments (scheme 1). in each class students were divided into 7 groups according to the position of their modelling the geography class through problem-based learning 19 scheme 1. articulation of the class/classes seats. the groups consisted of 3, 4 or 5 students. at the beginning of the group class, each group was handed out a written material by their teacher, including specific questions, tasks, data, photos, sketches and figures. furthermore, each student in the group received his/ her task and instructions. the teacher gave some additional instructions and appointed the leader of each group; each leader received a table to fill in. the group members were suggested to put their heads together, divide the task into smaller segments, work cooperatively, and prepare the report on their work. in addition, they were told that they could share the material prepared for the whole class, use the geographical maps that had been brought to the classroom earlier and the internet. the atlases, encyclopaedias and geographical maps that were used in everyday classes had been prepared as materials to be shared by everybody. numerous photographs, drawings and sketches were copied and made available to students. short texts about cook, magellan, john harrison and his chronometer, as well as vasko da gama, were attached. additionally, a few short pieces of news were given, like: 11 march 2011 at 15:39, photo: aft, earthquake in japan: the earth’s axis shifted by 10 cm; 17 january 2011, 12:59, srna, australia: the worst natural disaster in the history of the continent; 18 july 2010, 17:27 (beta), photo: reuters, two intense earthquakes struck papua new guinea. also, a few mute maps of the world sea and its parts were provided. an abundance of historical data related to magellan’s, cook′s and da gama′s journeys, to the titanic, as well as to the most famous channels and seas, can be very inspiring for students and can arouse their interest in the teaching unit at hand. the questions which each group was given were supposed to enable the easier and simpler identification and exploration of the segment of knowledge covered by the question. the basic question was problem-based and almost always implied in the title of the teaching unit or in some part of it. here are some of the questions: 1. look at the map of cook′s journeys. why did cook travel in such a way? did cook get lost during his journey or was he looking for something? explain. 2. what does the word “aborigine” mean? what are the characteristics of aborigines? 3. one part of australia has recently been struck by a natural disaster. say which part and what disaster it was. 4. mention some animal species which you can encounter only in australia. 5. what tropical plants are typical of oceania? 6. the population of australia and oceania accounted for 0.22% of the world′s population in 1800, while in the year 2000 it accounted for about 0.54%. how can we explain this increase? 7. earthquakes are frequent in oceania. how can we explain this? these questions contain data which can be found in the students’ textbook (gavrilović & gavrilović, 2009). however, students cannot offer sufficient answers to the questions only based on their knowledge and the textbook. they realize that they lack certain segments of knowledge, which creates a problem. thus, not only do they have to perform a demanding task based on their existing knowledge, but they also have to solve a problem, which can be done only if they deal with it and find a solution. students are given the opportunity to master new knowledge, acquire new information, formulate the stages of solving the problem, reach a final solution and, finally, to demonstrate the solution. a 90 minute block class was envisaged for experimental work. in the class preceding the experimental class, the students were told what teaching unit was going to be prev. herceg mandić et al.20 sented and informed of the intention to present it in a different way. it was pointed out that they would analyze the unit and draw the conclusions on their own, while their teacher would just coordinate their activities. they were also informed about their obligations. they were told to bring to class their school atlases, literature according to their own desires, and the results of their internet search (texts, sketches and other data related to the unit presented). the groups were expected to finish their work in about 40 minutes. the work report was supposed to be done in the form of a poster on which the results were displayed. the expected time for browsing the posters was 20 minutes. all the students were scanning the posters and discussing them together with their teacher. in the end, after all the groups had presented their results, the teacher synthesized the unit in the form of short notices, and stressed the essential points. in that way, all the students were able to get the impression about the results of their group work and to revise the unit once again. when evaluating the students, the teacher gave his opinion about the realization of group work, and suggested alternative forms for presenting the tasks. thus, the teacher directed the students’ future work. results in order to get an insight into how successfully the students’ mastered the teaching unit in question and to register any differences in their scores based on statistical indicators, a knowledge test was administered. proceeding from the results of the knowledge test, we drew a conclusion on the contribution of this teaching model to the more successful mastering of geographical contents. the knowledge test was administered in 6 classes following the class in which the unit australia and oceania was presented. the test was designed based on the text and questions from the students’ textbook. it was formulated in the same manner as the questions from the textbook. the results of the test for both groups with average marks are shown in table 1. on the basis of the data acquired, we verified the null hypothesis that the results of the experimental group are not better than the results of the control group. the confidence interval statistics are as follows: [3.77632,4.17105] for the experimental and [3.43374,3.89257] for the control group. a ttest was applied in order to compare the statistical mean of the groups. the corresponding t-value is t= 2.0402, while p=0.0491. as p < 0.05, it is with 95% certainty that we can reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis, concluding that there is a statistically significant difference in the students’ average grades, i.e. the control group has a statistically significantly lower score. the results of the knowledge test testify to the better results of the experimental group modelling the geography class through problem-based learning 21 table 1. results of the experimental and control groups in the knowledge test in mastering the chosen teaching unit. that is in accordance with the theory in this field and numerous other studies (jovanović & živković, 2005; kurnik 2002, 2003). this model has proven to be efficient, underlying the advantages of problem-based learning, group work and the use of computers for work (solem, 2001). group work leads to independence and the ability to learn independently. by solving problems, students acquire new, more qualitative knowledge and relate this new knowledge to other segments of knowledge, which is one of the basic characteristics of problem-based teaching. this has been verified by so many excellent grades (grade 5) in the knowledge test. the results from table 1 show that the experimental group has a greater number of excellent grades than the control group, shown in percentages. (31.58% vs. 26.32%). the same is true of grade 4 (38.16% vs. 35.79%), grade 3 (26.32% vs. 18.95%); there was no grade 1 in the experimental group; as for grade 2, 15.79% of the students in the control group and 3.95% of the students in the experimental group have that grade. conclusion numerous requirements of the modern teaching process can be met by the right choice of method and form of work, and by an adequate use of modern teaching technologies. in order to enable students to learn better in class, both in terms of quantity and quality, we need to inspire them to be active. it is not always easy, because students are all different concerning their previously acquired knowledge, psychophysical characteristics and abilities. problembased teaching is one of the ways to ensure successful learning, bearing in mind the individual abilities of students. the experiment has shown that this form of work contributes to the greater success of students in mastering geographical contents. teachers do not have to invest much effort in the preparation of classes and problem-based teaching, and yet this method of teaching significantly contributes to the more successful teaching process and students’ good grades. the successful outcome of this method depends on many factors. first of all, it is important to choose the right problem, to prepare classes well, select written and other materials and devote enough time to this form of work. the application of this model yields good results and students are satisfied with it. therefore, it should be applied more often. it has been proven that this method develops numerous competences that cannot be developed to the same extent through the traditionally designed teaching and learning process: solving problems, making decisions, team working, cooperative learning, independent learning, critical and creative thinking. students are taught to collect information from different sources (including the teacher). students will learn how to compare the acquired information with that acquired by other students in the group, thus recognizing their own advantages and weaknesses in the process of learning. students will learn to appreciate other students’ opinions and perspectives, and recognize their own contribution in achieving the results of the group. the active use of information will facilitate the storage of information and strengthen long-term memory. based on the experience and the studies conducted, it can be concluded that in geography teaching it is not of primary importance to notice and solve only a couple of the “right” problems. rather, it is important to create situations in the daily teaching process in which students think independently in order to apply their knowledge, discover a new piece of information or cause-effect relationships between geographical concepts. v. herceg mandić et al.22 references agnew, c. (2001). editorial: evaluating changes in learning and teaching. journal of geography in higher education, 25(3), 293–298. ahlfeldt, s., mehta, s. & sellnow, t. (2005). measurement and analysis of student engagement in university classes where varying levels of pbl methods of instruction are in use. higher education research & development. vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 5–20. gavrilović, lj. & gavrilović, d. (2009). geografija za i razred gimnazije. zavod za udžbenike, beograd. havelka, n. (2000). učenik i nastavnik u obrazovnom procesu. zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva, beograd. hill, a. d. (1990). a model for issue-based geographic inquiry in secondary schools. geographic inquiry into global issues bulletin 1a (boulder, co: center for geography education), 11 pp. ivkov, a. (2003). aktivne metode u nastavi geografije, put ka kvalitetnijem obrazovanju. zbornik radova departmana za geografiju, turizam i hotelijerstvo, 32, 91-98. novi sad. jovanović, s. & živković, lj. (2005). problemski pristup u izučavanju geografskih sadržaja u nastavi geografije 1. zbornik radova pmf – geografski institut, beograd, liii, 123-132. jovanović, s. & živković, lj. (2007). uloga domaćih zadataka u nastavi geografije. zbornik radova pmf geografski institut, beograd, lv, 185-192. kidman,g.& papadimitriou, f. (2012). content analysis of international research in geographical and environmental education: eighteen years of academic publishing. international research in geographical and environmental education, 21(1), 3-10. kurnik, z. (2002). problemska nastava. matematika i škola 15, 196–202. kurnik, z.(2003). grupni rad. matematika i škola 22, 52–57. maudsley, g. (1999). do we all mean the same thing by ‘problem-based learning’? a review of the concepts and a formulation of the ground rules. academic medicine, 74, 178–185. pawson, e., fournier, e., haigh, m., muniz, o., trafford, j. & vajoczki, s. (2006). problem-based learning in geography: towards a critical assessment of its purposes, benefits and risks. journal of geography in higher education, volume 30, issue 1, pp 103–116. slater, f. (1982). learning through geography. uk: heinemann educational books, oxford. solem, m. n. (2001). using geographic information systems and the internet to support problembased learning. planet, special issue 2, 22–24. spronken-smith, r., bullard, j., ray, w., roberts, c. & keiffere, a. (2008). where might sand dunes be on mars? engaging students through inquiry-based learning in geography. journal of geography in higher education, volume 32, issue 1, pp. 71-86. veinović, z. (2004). savremene teorije učenja i nastave i problemska nastava. obrazovna tehnologija, broj 4. str. 59-66. vilotijević, m. (2000). didaktika i – predmet didaktike. naučna knjiga i učiteljski fakultet, beograd. vilotijević, m. (2000). didaktika ii teorije ucenja i nastave. naučna knjiga i učiteljski fakultet, beograd. williams, a. f. (1999). an antipodean evaluation of problem-based learning by clinical educators. nurse education today, 19(8), pp. 659–667. received: april 21, 2015 accepted: august 4, 2015 modelling the geography class through problem-based learning 23 josd_template original article identification of misconceptions through multiple choice tasks at municipal chemistry competition test dušica d. milenković*, tamara n. hrin, mirjana d. segedinac, saša horvat university of novi sad, faculty of sciences, department of chemistry, biochemistry and environmental protection, serbia. *email: dusica.milenkovic@dh.uns.ac.rs abstract in this paper, the level of conceptual understanding of chemical contents among seventh grade students who participated in the municipal chemistry competition in novi sad, serbia, in 2013 have been examined. tests for the municipal chemistry competition were used as a measuring instrument, wherein only multiple choice tasks were considered and analyzed. determination of the level of conceptual understanding of the tested chemical contents was based on the calculation of the frequency of choosing the correct answers. thereby, identification of areas of satisfactory conceptual understanding, areas of roughly adequate performance, areas of inadequate performance, and areas of quite inadequate performance have been conducted. on the other hand, the analysis of misconceptions was based on the analysis of distractors. the results showed that satisfactory level of conceptual understanding and roughly adequate performance characterize majority of contents, which was expected since only the best students who took part in the contest were surveyed. however, this analysis identified a large number of misunderstandings, as well. in most of the cases, these misconceptions were related to the inability to distinguish elements, compounds, homogeneous and heterogeneous mixtures. besides, it is shown that students are not familiar with crystal structure of the diamond, and with metric prefixes. the obtained results indicate insufficient visualization of the submicroscopic level in school textbooks, the imprecise use of chemical language by teachers and imprecise use of language in chemistry textbooks. keywords: compounds, conceptual understanding, elements, homogeneous and heterogeneous mixtures introduction it is well-known fact that certain ideas and concepts, which are usually confronted with scientifically accepted concepts, already exist in students’ minds before their first exposition to chemistry classes, i.e. before the process of formal learning (bodner, 1986). such concepts are commonly referred to as preconceptions. for instance, students believe that water vanishes as it evaporates (barke, hazari & yitbarek, 2009), that sugar melts in the mouth, that air fills the empty space or that mass changes when the form changes and the like (integrated physics and chemistry modeling workshop, 2001). these misunderstandings usually have a negative impact on further adoption of chemical knowledge since they lead to the creation of misconceptions, that is, erroneous concepts that hinder further acquisition of scientifically accepted concepts and thus negatively affect the learning process. the existence of common misconceptions across various levels of education and throughout the world can be explained by their simplicity and receptivity. according to allen (2010), pupils tend to associate misconceptions in a meaningful way journal of subject didactics, 2016 vol. 1, no. 1, 3-12, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.55468 so that one complements the other, building a meaningful, but at the same time an incorrect conceptual framework. at the same time, during the formation of misconceptions students invest a significant amount of mental effort, so once created and adopted misconception is difficult to eliminate and replace with a proper, scientific concept. on the contrary, chemistry concepts are quite complex, thus forcing students to simplify them, often by forming misconceptions, which then act as bridges, bypassing the gaps between existing and new concepts, which are abstract. apart from the abstract nature of chemical concepts, several additional factors contribute to the creation of misconceptions. the first one is language or the use of words that are also present in everyday life, but in chemistry they have specific meanings (bergquist & heikkinen, 1990) such as for instance term pure. thus, in everyday life pure water refers to clear or drinking water, but in a chemical sense the same term refers to a pure substance which consists of water molecules only. in terms of language, ambiguities can be created by teachers or authors of chemistry textbooks, which result from inconsistent and imprecise use of language (chittleborough, 2004). for example, with the sentence “methane is composed of carbon and hydrogen” teachers may unconsciously make students think that methane is a mixture consisting of carbon and hydrogen. another important source of difficulty has been pointed out in the literature. it is the idea that the chemical contents can be taught at three levels, only one of which can be directly available to sensory perception (chandrasegaran, treagust & mocerino, 2009; johnstone, 1991; nelson, 2002; tsaparlis, 1997). these levels are macroscopic, submicroscopic and symbolic. the macroscopic level refers to contents that can be perceived by the senses. submicroscopic level is the level of particles (atoms, molecules, ions, electrons, etc.), while the symbolic level is a construct that links knowledge at the macroscopic and submicroscopic level through the application of symbols, formulas and equations (gilbert & treagust, 2009). since the substance at the submicroscopic level is not perceptually accessible, this is the most abstract level, and that is why students, as well as their teachers, very often bypass this level and seek their own explanations to make content easier to adopt (boo, 1998; gabel, 1998). however, meaningful understanding of chemical concepts is only possible if students manage to develop chemical reasoning at the submicroscopic level (van berkel, pilot & bulte, 2009). against this background, it can be concluded that the elimination of misconceptions is a very important task in the teaching process, which must be preceded by identification of misconceptions. regarding determination of misconceptions, conventional techniques can be classified into two categories: subjective and objective (dhindsa & treagust, 2009). due to low efficiency and required time, subjective methods are less used than objective ones, which on the contrary, allow examination of a large number of students in a short period of time. among the techniques that are most commonly used we can mention interviews, drawings, tasks, multiple choice tasks (where common misconceptions are given as distractors), two-tier diagnostic tests, concept maps, and others. after identifying misconceptions, it is important to develop effective strategies for their elimination, as it is usually a slow and demanding process. namely, to transform misconceptions into scientifically accepted concepts there must be student dissatisfaction with the existing concepts or inability to explain new problems or situations. in order to be adopted, new concepts have to be more reasonable, clear, acceptable and more plausible than existing concepts (posner, strike, hewson & gertzog, 1982). by introducing new ideas, existing concepts of students can be questioned, which can lead to the creation of cognitive conflict, which is inevitable in the process of misconception elimination (trumper, 1997). d. milenković et al.4 it is recommended that new concepts should be introduced over existing proper students’ concepts, or by applying the so-called “bridging analogues” (clement, 1993). very often, for this purpose, experiments that allow students to integrate their knowledge in a meaningful way are being performed (chittleborough, 2004). encouraging students to discuss their ideas through active discussion and exchange of opinions and attitudes is argued as particularly important (vosniadou, ioannides, dimitrakopoulou & papademetriou, 2001). the teacher and teaching methods, including chemical models and representations, play a very important role in finding explanations for abstract concepts. today it is known and widely accepted that teaching, based on the intercorrelation of levels of representation (chemical triplet), is a key component of a meaningful understanding of chemical concepts (gabel, 1999). methodology aim of the research the main objective of this study was to determine whether there are some common misconceptions among the students talented for chemistry, i.e. students who take part in chemistry competitions, similar to those that regularly occur among primary school students. within the defined objective, following research tasks have been set: t1: to identify areas of satisfactory conceptual understanding t2: to identify areas of roughly adequate performance t3: to identify areas of inadequate performance t4: to identify areas of quite inadequate performance t5: to identify areas of conceptual difficulties research sample participants. the research sample comprised 101 seventh grade students from the municipality of novi sad, aged 13-14. the research involved the use of a competition test. students’ identities and gender, were unknown to the authors. contents. the applied test included the following topics (for complete data see institute for the advancement of education, 2012): chemistry and its importance. the subject of studying chemistry. chemistry• within natural sciences and its application. basic chemistry concepts. substances. physical and chemical properties of sub-• stance; physical and chemical changes of substance; pure substances: elements and compounds. mixtures. separation of the mixture components. the structure of substances. atom. chemical symbols. structure of atom. nu-• cleus of atom. atomic and mass number. isotopes. relative atomic mass. electron shell. periodic table of elements. molecule. chemical formula. covalent bond. construction of molecules of elements and molecules of compounds. ionic bond. relative molecular mass. atomic, molecular and ionic crystal lattices. research instrument the authors used tests for the 2013 municipal chemistry contest for this research. the test consisted of 37 tasks that were divided into four sections. sections 1 and 2 conmisconceptions among participants of municipal chemistry competition 5 tained multiple choice questions. section 3 contained fill-in-the-gaps questions, and section 4 contained calculation tasks. for the purposes of this study, only multiple choice questions were analyzed. this test contained 25 multiple choice questions with four given answers only one of which is correct. section 1 contained 11 tasks. the tasks required knowledge about basic chemical• concepts including knowledge about elements (tasks 8, 10), compounds (tasks 3.11) and mixtures (tasks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9). section 2 contained 14 tasks. the tasks required knowledge about chemistry and• its importance (tasks 7, 9), about basic chemical concepts (tasks 1, 2, 13), about structure of substance (tasks 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12). the total time available for solving all 37 test tasks was 120 minutes. instrument psychometrics within metric characteristics of the applied test, a cronbach’s alpha, difficulty and discrimination indices of tasks, and difficulty and discrimination indices of test were considered. all of the above calculations were performed using statistical package ibm spss statistics 20. the obtained calculated value of cronbach’s alpha for the tested sample (n=101) was 0.74, which is greater than the threshold value of 0.70 as suggested by murphy and davidshofer (2005) indicating good reliability. calculated item difficulties range from 11.54 to 95.16, providing a wide range of difficulty items. only two tasks have index difficulty less than 30 %, which puts them in the category of difficult tasks (luxford & bretz, 2014); 10 tasks have a difficulty indices greater than 80 %, which classify them in the category of easy tasks, while 13 tasks are categorized as tasks of moderate difficulty. the mean value of the test index difficulty is 68.98, which means that the test has moderate difficulty. regarding discrimination indices, they vary in the range 0.07 to 0.43. an important fact is that none of the tasks has a negative value of the aforementioned index, so all of them can be processed in further analysis, i.e. the analysis of misconceptions. the obtained average discrimination index for all tasks is 0.22, and since it is greater than the benchmark of 0.20, according to ebel and frisbie (1991) it can be said that the test has acceptable discrimination, that is, it adequately differentiates between the successful and less successful students. based on the results presented, it can be concluded that the applied test has satisfactory metric characteristics, and therefore can be used in further analysis of misconceptions. procedure within distractor analysis, the percentage of correct answers to the test items, as well as the percentage of wrong ones was examined. according to gilbert (1977) a response represented as a distractor can be considered a misconception if it is chosen by more than 20 % of the students. this method of misconception identification was applied in a number of studies in the field of chemical education (gilbert, 1977; dhindsa & treagust, 2009; stojanovska, petruševski & šoptrajanov, 2014; ozmen, 2008). further analysis of item responses included the consideration of the percentage of correct answers. according to literature (gilbert, 1977), correct answers given by approximately 75 % of the students or more (for items with four distractors) can serve as an indicator of satisfactory conceptual understanding (scu). frequency of choosing the correct answer in a range 50-74 % represents a roughly adequate performance (rap). furthermore, 25-49 % fred. milenković et al.6 quency indicates inadequate performance (ip), while obtained frequency less than 25 % represents quite inadequate performance (qip). results and discussion analysis of misconceptions based on the results of the applied analysis, a total of 9 misconceptions in 8 tasks were identified. out of these, 6 refer to the students’ inability to distinguish between homogeneous mixtures, heterogeneous mixtures, elements and compounds. this type of misconception is well known and extensively documented in the literature (barker, 2000; costu, ünal & ayas, 2007). apart from this common misconception, two more types of misconceptions have been identified. namely, it has been shown that students are not familiar with the crystal structure of the diamond and metric prefixes. table 1 summarizes the identified misconceptions. in the first task, students were expected to recognize fog as an example of a heterogeneous mixture. however, a surprisingly large percentage of respondents selected the answer that the fog is homogenous mixture. based on these findings, it can be concluded that students, even the best among them, equate terms of water vapour and mist. barke, hazari and yitbarek (2009) suggest that in daily life terms vapour, mist and fog are often used interchangeably, and therefore students believe that fog is composed of water molecules in the gas phase. in task no. 2 the most frequently selected answer was that 10 karat gold is an example of a compound, with the selection rate of 24.8 %. for students, 10 karat is likely a determinant which indicates a complexity of a given substance. knowing that gold is located in the periodic table of elements, a large percentage of students probably assumed that 10 karat gold is a compound derived from the element, pure gold. in task no. 6 respondents were required to recognize still mineral water as a homogeneous mixture. however, 26.7 % of respondents answered that mineral water is a heterogeneous mixture. these results are quite surprising, especially because water is the misconceptions among participants of municipal chemistry competition 7 task istractor misconception indicator istractor choosing fre uency 1. fog is a homogeneous mixture 38.6 2. 10 karat gold is a compound 24.8 6. mineral water is a heterogeneous mixture 26.7 7. glass is a heterogeneous mixture 24.8 9. bronze is a heterogeneous mixture 41.6 9. bronze is element 27.7 10. graphite is a compound 35.6 19. 10 -6 refers to the prefix nano27.7 23. the structure of the diamond can be represented by an ionic lattice model 24.8 table 1. list of identified misconceptions. most common substance for students and typical example of a homogeneous mixture in most 7th grade textbooks. in task no. 7 the same problem was observed, and that is the students’ inability to distinguish homogeneous from heterogeneous systems. a large percentage of students believed that glass is a heterogeneous mixture, although this is yet another example of a substance from students’ everyday life. sheehan and childs (2013) came to a similar conclusion as they found that students believe that all mixtures are heterogeneous mixtures. in task no. 9 two more misconceptions were identified. namely, only a small percentage of respondents knew the correct answer that bronze is a homogeneous mixture, while more frequent responses were that the bronze is heterogeneous mixture, or even an element. the results of this task can be compared with the results of task 7. it can be concluded that students are likely to believe that two or more solids cannot be mixed so that the resulting mixture in all parts has identical composition. in task no. 10 respondents were expected to recognize graphite as an allotropic modification of carbon, and therefore conclude that graphite is an element. only a small number of respondents were familiar with this fact, while majority of them answered that graphite is a compound. in task no. 19 students were asked to recognize that factor 106 refers to the prefix micro-. while less than half of the students knew the correct answer, a large percentage of them elected response nano-. this could be explained by the fact that the prefix nanowas the most prominent one, and students could hear it at school, in the media, or in words such as nanotechnology, nanotubes, nanofibers etc. last misconception was identified in task no. 23, in which students were expected to know the structure of diamond. slightly more than half of tested students had known that the structure of the diamond can be presented by the model of atomic crystal lattice, while a significant number of students thought that diamond structure can be presented by a model of ionic crystal lattice. these results indicated that a significant number of the most successful students do not possess adequate knowledge on the submicroscopic level. analysis of correct responses frequencies of choosing the correct responses by tasks are given in table 2. results summarized in table 2, as expected, show that in most of the tasks (12) students displayed a satisfactory level of conceptual understanding or achieved roughly adequate performance (9). in a several tasks students realized weaker performance or more specifically, inadequate performance in 2 tasks and quite inadequate performance in 2 tasks. since this study included students who achieve best outcomes in chemistry, high performances are, in a way, expected. however, a relatively large number of identified misconceptions is quite surprising. one of possible causes of these misconceptions is probably traditional chemistry teaching, which is widespread in serbian schools. this kind of instruction is characterized by a low degree of interaction among levels of representation, or even more often, by the lack of certain levels, primarily submicroscopic i.e. particulate level. inability to classify substances into four offered categories probably occurs as a result of the lack of knowledge about the particulate nature of a given substance. it means that students are not able to determine which particles make the given system, and they are therefore unable to perform classification. in addition, it is possible that definitions of elements, compounds and mixtures in the recommended textbooks for the 7th grade of primary school have largely contributed to creation of misconceptions in the analyzed contents. d. milenković et al.8 misconceptions among participants of municipal chemistry competition strictly speaking, in certain textbooks one may find the following definitions: 1) substances which are composed of two or more chemical elements are referred to as compounds 2) mixture is a collection of two or more substances 3) compounds are complex substances on the basis of such incomplete (2, 3), or even incorrect (1) definitions, students can 9 task correct response re uency of choosing the le el of conceptual understanding 1. fog is a heterogeneous mixture 50.5 rap 2. 10 karat gold is a homogeneous mixture 8.9 qip 3. potassium permanganate is a compound 93.1 scu 4. white wine is a homogeneous mixture 81.2 scu 5. crystallized honey is a heterogeneous mixture 85.1 scu 6. still mineral water is a homogeneous mixture 65.3 rap 7. the glass is a homogenous mixture 58.4 rap 8. neon is an element 95.0 scu 9. bronze is a homogeneous mixture 20.8 qip 10. graphite is an element 34.7 ip 11. baking soda is a compound 72.3 rap 12. baking bread is a chemical change 52.5 rap 13. condensation of water vapour is a physical change 89.1 scu 14. the chemical symbol of zinc is n 93.1 scu 15. bond in hcl is polar covalent 74.3 rap 16. isotopes of an element differ in a 79.2 scu 17. elementary particles of the nucleus are protons and neutrons 82.2 scu 18. pictogram represents corrosive chemical substance 87.1 scu 19. the prefix that corresponds to the factor 10 -6 is a micro48.5 ip 20. scales are used for measuring substance mass 83.2 scu 21. k , cl -, s2 contain the same number of electrons 75.2 scu 22. formula of a stable sulphur ion is s 2 79.2 scu 23. the structure of the diamond can be represented by a model of the atomic crystal lattice 52.5 rap 24. a mixture of copper and lead powder can be separated by magnet 66.3 rap 25. calcium is an element, chemical properties of which are the most similar to chemical properties of magnesium 74.3 rap table 2. frequencies of choosing the correct responses by tasks. reasonably conclude that, for instance, a mixture of sulphur and iron is a compound, since it is composed of two chemical elements, or that ammonia is a mixture, as it is composed of two types of particles. furthermore, the analysis of the textbooks showed that there is a very small percentage of graphic representations of submicroscopic level in available textbooks, which contribute much to a weaker understanding of the content at the submicroscopic level. therefore, on the basis of the aforementioned, it is very important that chemistry teachers should be trained to analyze textbooks and to inform students about the perceived inadequacies. conclusion in this study a conceptual understanding of chemical contents of seventh grade students through tests for municipal competition has been examined. the study revealed that most of the students had satisfactory understanding of the tested concepts or at least roughly adequate performance. still, results indicate the existence of various misconceptions ranging from 24.8–41.6 %. most of the identified misconceptions are reflected in students’ inability to distinguish between homogeneous and heterogeneous mixtures, elements and compounds. reasons for this could be found in insufficient use of submicroscopic explanations in teaching, then insufficient visualization of submicroscopic level in chemistry textbooks, imprecise and inconsistent use of chemical terminology by teachers, and imprecise formulations in textbooks. these and similar analyses are very important, because it is well-known that misconceptions act as barriers to learning. therefore, their identification is very important. this first step should be followed by a step of equal importance, and that is searching for effective models of teaching that will reduce misunderstandings. it is particularly important that such studies are performed at an earlier age of students, or at the very beginning of their chemical education. this would enable educators to eliminate the perceived misconceptions on time, since the elimination of misconceptions plays a key role in the improvement of learning process. acknowledgements: the authors wish to thank the ministry of education, science and technological development of the republic of serbia for supporting this research through the project no. 179010 and to the school board of the city of novi sad for 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decline of pollinators” jelena d. stanisavljević, milica g. pejčić and ljubiša ž. stanisavljević* university of belgrade faculty of biology, serbia *email: ljstanis@bio.bg.ac.rs abstract this paper analyzes the efficiency of context-based teaching in the realization of the program content: "the decline of pollinators." the aim of context-based biology teaching is to connect biology contents with everyday life. the application of knowledge in everyday situations is encouraged so as to develop the skills that deepen one’s knowledge and make it less abstract. the task of the experimental study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the application of context-based teaching vs. conventional expository teaching in the implementation of the teaching content. in order to accomplish the tasks of this paper, a model of a pedagogical experiment with parallel groups [experimental (e) and control (c)] was applied. the teaching content „the decline of pollinators" was presented to group e by using a text based on newspaper articles and the real-life context provided by those articles. in group c, the same content was presented through conventional expository instruction, which is the traditional lecturing model. the results showed a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the number of points scored in the post-test evaluation of knowledge. the difference was observed based on individual ranks and a test as a whole, in favour of the experimental group. in terms of the quantity and quality of knowledge acquired by the students in the tested teaching field, the experimental didactic model of contextbased teaching proved to be more effective. keywords: context-based teaching; decline of pollination; innovations in teaching biology; learning in context; newspaper articles. introduction science education research has shown that the learning of science is a hard task for most students. the abstract nature of science makes learning scientific concepts difficult for most students. furthermore, the emphasis on theory and the lack of context, i.e. failure to connect science with everyday life and society, makes teaching science unpopular and difficult to understand (tsaparlis et al., 2013). the major goals of science education are to develop students’ scientific literacy and their higher order thinking skills (avargil et al., 2011), skills for lifelong education and communication (seddon, 2008). according to bennet (2005), scientific literacy includes knowledge, understanding and skills that young people need to develop, in order to think and act appropriately on scientific matters, which may affect their lives and the lives of other members of the local, national and global communities. however, at present, the most common teaching practice is the classic lecture-based teaching. this model is characjournal of subject didactics, 2016 vol. 1, no. 1, 51-63, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.55476 terized by the transmission of ready knowledge, where students are a passive factor of their own development (stanisavljević, 2011) studies have shown that teaching and learning styles have been teacher-dominated and have not allowed students to develop their own ideas; as a result, there are no satisfactory results in education (parchman & luecken, 2010). context-based teaching today the biology curriculum is quite isolated from everyday life. that is the reason why the teaching of biology is uninteresting and difficult for students. it is necessary to connect teaching and daily life to a larger degree (chamany et al, 2008). learning scientific facts, concepts and natural phenomena in school should not be separated from the context in which they appear (holbrook, 2014). teaching should be based on the students' previous knowledge, and the connection between the experience of students and biological concepts can help students better understand biological concepts (lu et al., 2010). the key to successful learning is to link the knowledge gained to something that is meaningful to students (kukliansky & eshach, 2013). according to de jong (2006), one of the efforts to overcome the isolation of the current curriculum is the use of a meaningful context for teaching and learning chemistry. contexts were adopted to encourage a more positive attitude and a better understanding of chemistry (de jong, 2006). context-based teaching should enable the achievement of the major goals of science education, connecting science to everyday life (avargil et al., 2011) and learning scientific concepts and processes through dealing with real-world problems (avargil et al., 2011; wieringa et al., 2011). this didactic model makes teaching science meaningful for students (pilot & bulte, 2006) and contributes to overcoming deficiencies in education (ültay & calik, 2012). furthermore, this model shows students how to use the skills acquired in the course of their education in practice (seddon, 2008), and encourages student engagement in the classroom (ültay & calik, 2012). context-based teaching changes the roles of students and teachers, placing student activity at the centre of the teaching process (vos et al., 2010b). context can be defined in several ways. very often, context is described as stories, topics, practice, problem and situation (bennet et al., 2005; pilot & bulte, 2006; wieringa, et al., 2011). according to one definition, contexts are described as situations that help students give meaning to concepts, rules and laws. this definition can be expanded by the notion that context can also be described as practices that help students to give meaning to activities in the school laboratory (de jong, 2006). according to de jong (2006), context should be more precisely defined. de jong makes a distinction between the following four domains of the origin of context, namely the personal domain, the social and society domain, the professional practice domain, and the scientific and technological domain. every domain is important because schools should contribute to the personal development of students by connecting science with their personal lives; prepare students for their roles of responsible citizens, by clarifying science and its role in social issues; contribute to preparing students for their role as professional workers in public or private areas; contribute to developing the scientific literacy of students (de jong, 2006). according to bennet, context-based teaching is an approach adopted in science teaching, where contexts and the application of science are used as the starting point for the development of scientific ideas. this is in contrast to more traditional approaches, in which scientific ideas are covered first, before looking at their application (bennet, 2005; bennet et al. 2006; тaber, 2011). m. pejčić et al.52 context-based approaches to the teaching of science have their origins in the early 1980s (bennett & lubben, 2007). a number of studies have been conducted so far, examining the effect of this model in chemistry (vos et al., 2010b; pilot & bulte, 2006), physics (kukliansky & eshach, 2013; kuhn & muller, 2014; lye et al, 2001), medicine (guo et al., 2013) and biology (weber, 2010; chamany et al, 2008). when students learn about a topic, they usually wonder “why do i need to learn this?” (ültay et çalik, 2012), "will i ever use this?". answers are becoming apparent with a contextual approach to teaching; students understand how and why to use their knowledge and skills (taasoobshirazi & carr, 2008). this approach, on the one hand, shows students the importance of science and on the otherdemonstrate the application of scientific concepts and methods (perchmann & lueck, 2010; blute & pilot, 2006). learning scientific terms in the context of real life enables students to connect with the concept in question and to apply it (taasoobshirazi & carr, 2008, perchman & lueck, 2010) and enables a deep approach to learning. on the other hand, the emphasis on scientific facts without connecting them to everyday problems encourages a superficial approach to learning and learning by heart (seddon, 2008). students become aware of the connection between science and everyday life (ültay & calik, 2012), achieving motivation for work. the tasks of context-based teaching are to provide a better understanding of the teaching (programme) content, which is the starting point for meaningful learning (wieringa, et al., 2011). this is expected to improve students’ motivation, develop a sense of curiosity about nature (ultay & calik, 2012), develop students’ positive attitudes towards science and the scientific view of the world (bennett et al., 2006; wieringa, et al., 2011), and provide easier learning (bennet et al., 2006; pilot & bult, 2007). the teacher's role is to encourage students to connect concepts with everyday activities (lye et al., 2010). the application of this model in teaching is a major challenge for teachers (avargil et al., 2011) and the training of teachers is necessary (parchmann & lueck, 2010; pilot & bult, 2007). in context-based teaching it is possible to use a wider range of teaching strategies, unlike in the traditional methods of teaching; for example, working with small groups, discussions, drama, student presentations (bennet et al., 2007). benet thinks that making science issues relevant to students, their families and their peers, as opposed to the wide-spread perception of science as being dry and irrelevant, will increase the motivation for learning. using context as the starting point in designing plans, programs and lesson units is a good way to avoid overload and makes a representative curriculum (bennett et al., 2007). the use of context-based teaching might mean, for example, that students study medical diagnostic techniques in order to develop their understanding of electromagnetic radiation and atomic structure in chemistry lessons (bennet, 2005). students can play the role of pilots to learn topics of mechanics, such as gravity and air circulation (taasoobshirazi & carr, 2008). according to de jong, context-based teaching should be viewed from different perspectives. from students’ perspective it is important to select an adequate context. the context must be known and relevant for students (vos et al., 2010a), should not distract attention from the concept or be complicated and confusing for students. from the perspective of the curriculum, it is important to ensure the dominating position of context in education, while still paying attention to concepts (de jong, 2006). in a broad sense of the word, context-based teaching is defined as using concepts and process skills that are relevant to students in a real-life context. beginning, embedding and connecting teaching contents with an interesting story are good ways of relating context-based teaching in realization of “decline of pollinators” content 53 it to the context of real-life. a particular form of this is a story from newspaper articles (taber, 2011; кuhn & müller, 2014). newspaper articles should be used in teaching because, on the one hand, they create real-life contexts, and on the other, journalists are experts for writing interesting and good stories (kuhn & müller, 2014). grant et al. state that in the selection of articles, it is important to consider some characteristics of successful teaching. attention must be paid to the value of the perspectives that the author wants to show. the article should contain the optimum amount of information, both positive and negative arguments, in order to develop quality student attitudes. in addition, it is important to look for stories that are appropriate for the age of the students and easy to connect with science (grant et al., 2009). decline of pollinators there is a large number of biology topics discussed in the media (grant et al., 2009). it is possible to find a wide variety of articles if we want to use them in biology teaching. today many discussions can be found about the decline of pollinators. there is clear evidence that the number of cultivated and wild pollinators decreases, thus reducing the number of plants that depend on them. the decline was caused by the intensification of agriculture, which reduces the wealth of plant habitats. this is associated with the fragmentation of habitats, causing the loss of places for nesting, pathogens and the lethal consequences of insecticides and pesticides (holland et al., 2015), as well as invasive species and climate changes (potts et al., 2010; willmer, 2012). the decline of pollinators can lead to a loss of pollination services which would have major negative environmental and economic consequences, potentially significantly affecting the maintenance of the diversity of wild plants, the stability of ecosystems, crop production, food security, human existence (potts et al., 2010). pollinators, especially bees, are needed to pollinate 75% of crops used in human nutrition (klein, 2007). although some of the most cultivated crops (wheat and rice) are wind pollinated, a large number of fruits (apple, melon, cherry...) are threatened due to the decline of pollinators. 80% of wild plants are directly dependent on pollinators (potts et al. 2010). these biological problems are complicated for students and require extensive knowledge; furthermore, it is important to point out the alarming situation in the world to students. based on the analysis of studies that show the benefits of context-based teaching, there emerged the idea of applying this method of teaching in the realization of the mentioned content. the aim is to develop logical thinking and reasoning; therefore, the teaching content should be presented in such a way so as to serve as an incentive to students, and to create a strong emotional experience that will help students remember not only the content itself, but also the attitude towards it, and, finally, to develop environmental awareness. in this study, the context of everyday life is provided by newspaper articles, i.e. stories about the disappearance of pollinators, which indicate the alarming situation in the world. methods the main task of this research is to experimentally verify the effectiveness of contextbased teaching in accomplishing the content “the decline of pollinators”, as well as the effects on students’ motivation and interest. the basic null hypothesis is that there is no statistically significant difference in accomplishing the teaching goals (resulting in students acquiring knowledge) between the experimental and control groups, after introducing the experimental factor (context-based m. pejčić et al.54 teaching) to the experimental group. the alternative hypothesis is that there is a statistically significant difference in acquired knowledge between the experimental and control groups, after introducing the experimental factor to the experimental group. it is expected that the difference in the quality and quantity of the knowledge acquired between the experimental and control groups will favour the experimental group. the study included the total of 65 eighth grade students from “dvadeseti oktobar” elementary school, belgrade. to achieve the aims of this research, a model of a pedagogical experiment with parallel groups [experimental (e) and control (c)] was applied (appendix 1). students were grouped into group e and group c (killermann, 1998). before the introduction of the experimental factor, the groups were made uniform concerning the number of students, gender and the pre-test of knowledge. the pre-test of knowledge measured the general knowledge of pollination and pollinators. it was composed of nine tasks in total, which were classified into three broad categories of the cognitive domain, according to bloom's taxonomy. bloom's cognitive domain categories include six levels of knowledge: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, evaluation and creation (anderson & krathwohl, 2001). the levels of cognitive domains were grouped into three ranks: knowledge and understanding of concepts (rank i), application and analysis (rank ii), evaluation and creation of knowledge (rank iii). the tasks included all contents about pollination and pollinators. the maximum points that a student could score in the pre-test was one hundred. after equalizing groups e and c, group e began covering the prepared contents by applying context-based teaching, while group c did the same on the basis of the traditional model of instruction. the students in group c were exposed to the traditional teaching approach in presenting the teaching contents “the decline of pollinators”. the teacher presented the content through the following teaching methods: oral presentation, illustrations and demonstrations (during the entire instructional period). the teacher did not ask any questions about the content. there was no discussion. the only activities for this group of students were listening to what the teacher was saying and watching what the teacher was showing. the realization of context-based teaching in group e was divided into three phases. the teacher introduced the students to the topic, along with illustrations and a powerpoint presentation (the topic: “the decline of pollinators”). then, the teacher shared newspaper articles that the students were required to read, as well as the questions that they were expected to answer (some examples are included in appendix 2 and appendix 3). newspaper articles were supposed to present scientific facts to the students. the students were to recognize the importance of the issue, the alarming problems related to it, and to propose solutions. finally, they presented their answers, analyzed the problem and came to conclusions. to evaluate the knowledge acquired by students in groups e and c, a post-test was applied. it measured the quantity and quality of the knowledge that the students acquired in the teaching field (the decline of pollinators). the post-test consisted of nine tasks in total (divided into three categories, as was the case with the pre-test). data and result analyses were performed using the standard statistical methods/tables of descriptive statistics (sum, percentage frequency, mean, standard deviation, the coefficient of variation and a student’s t-test (student, 1908) for testing differences between the statistics of the same kind). all these analyses were conducted using the statistical software package statistica 6 (statsoft, 2001). context-based teaching in realization of “decline of pollinators” content 55 results the results of the pre-test are presented in tables 1, 2 and 3. based on the results presented for the pre-test for groups e and c, we can conclude, using a student’s t-test for a significant level of p=0.05 and a critical value of t=1.96, that there is no statistically significant difference in the achieved number of points between groups e and c in the three levels of tasks and in the test as a whole. (rank i: t= 0,14<1,96; rank ii: t=0,9<1,96; rank iii: t=0,62<1,96, total: t=0,5<1,96). these two groups were balanced in terms of their general knowledge of pollinators and pollination before the introduction of the experimental factor. the results of the post-test are presented in tables 4, 5 and 6. on the basis of the results presented for the post-test of knowledge for groups e and c (table 4, 5, 6), we can conclude that there are statistically significant differences in the number of points achieved in all three levels of tasks and in the test as a whole, in favour of group e (rank i: t=2,71≥2,58; rank ii: t=2,8≥2,58; rank iii: t=3,22≥2,58; total: t=2,81≥2,58). the obtained t-coefficient values are significantly higher than the critical value (by all three ranks and as a whole). context-based teaching proved to be more efficient in terms of the quantity and quality m. pejčić et al.56 table 1. the success of students for the pre-test (number of points, percentage of ranks and total). table 2. basic statistical data for the pre-test ( mean of the number of achieved points, sstandard deviation, v coefficient of variation). table 3. testing group uniformity in terms of the pre-test, using a t-test (for a significance level of p≤0.05 and acritical value of t≥1.96). of the knowledge acquired by the students in the tested teaching field. particularly significant are differences in rank iii test tasks (related to the evaluation and creation of knowledge). discussion the above-listed results obtained through experimental assessment can relate and be compared to numerous studies which have shown the positive effects of context-based teaching applied in natural sciences. kuhn and müller considered the effect which the teaching of science based on the context provided by newspaper articles, had on motivation. they showed that connecting teaching contents to a lay story contributed to understanding scientific terms. the motivation of students from group e after the introduction of the experimental factor (contents from newspaper articles) was significantly higher in comparison to the control group, which processed the same contents from a textbook; furthermore, there was a significant difference in accomplishments in the final tests in favour of the favour group (кuhn & context-based teaching in realization of “decline of pollinators” content 57 table 4. the success of students for the post-test (number of points, percentage of ranks and total). table 5. basic statistical indicators for the post-test ( mean of the number of achieved points, standard deviation, v coefficient of variation). table 6. testing group uniformity in the post-test, using a t-test (for a significance level of p≤0.01 and a critical value of t≥2.58). muller, 2014). jarman and mcclune (2010) came up with similar results; they carried out a comparative review of applying and using newspaper articles in teaching. by providing students with a context in which they can test and apply their theoretical knowledge, we influence their understanding and association of facts (holbrook, 2014). ramsden (1997) considered the effects of context-based teaching and traditional teaching by comparing students’ answers. the study showed that there was a slight difference in understanding the content in question, however; the approach based on context encouraged the students’ interests. the studies that have tested the application of this model of teaching have confirmed the conclusion that teaching in context engages students more (avargil et al., 2011) and encourages them to engage in certain activities, such as argumentation and discussion (wieringa, et al., 2011). this type of teaching offers students’ the possibility to present their ideas more freely (avargil et al., 2011; pilot & bult, 2007). in her review paper, bennet stated that activities in context-based teaching encouraged students to work independently, thus helping them increase their confidence (bennet, 2005). these conclusions were confirmed by the analysis of 17 experimental studies (bennet et al. 2007), whose results showed that this approach in teaching, in contrast to the traditional one, developed a positive attitude towards science and comprehension. the influence of teaching chemistry based on context on the development of motivation and interest, was also demonstrated in the studies of pilot and bult (2006, 2007); the evidence of this model`s application and influence gathered by 2012 was summed up by ültay & çalik (2012). similar results were presented by seddon (2008). his study involved 72 subjectssecond year students of a veterinary school. the students attending a genetics class examined the influence of genes on the determination of coat colour of dogs. their task was to find the genes responsible for the colour of fur and offer their customers an ingenious possibility to obtain certain colour combinations. a survey was conducted to examine how the students’ understood the task and what their general attitude was. the results of the survey showed that the students were motivated to learn, and that role play had helped them to apply theoretical knowledge in practice. studies examining the effectiveness of this model, carried out in the context of teaching physics, showed similar results. luy et al. (2010) pointed out that if particular information was linked to a context, the students remembered it easier and retained it longer, as compared to the information without meaning they had to remember. this was confirmed by a comparative review of the strengths and limitations of this approach in teaching (taasoobshirazi & carr, 2008). in addition, in a study with parallel transmission groups of 107 students, kuklianski and esah (2013) confirmed the significant learning achievements of students who were exposed to this model of teaching. various studies in the domain of biology show that it is the lessons that are associated with everyday life that students find interesting. haman et al. (2010) examined the impact of context-based learning on the interest of students who were learning lessons about evolution. weber proved that learning the contents of botany was more effective if they were connected to the previous experience that students had acquired in everyday situations (weber, 2010). studies also point to the possibility of teaching based on context outside the classroom, e.g. in the zoo (camp & sminia, 2010). chamany et al. (2008) presented examples of how complex issues, such as sicklecell anaemia, lac operon and energy, can be displayed in the context of everyday life, in order to facilitate students’ understanding of these biological contents. as with any innovation, this innovative approach too depends on the efficacy of the m. pejčić et al.58 teacher (fullan, 2005); the teacher needs to conceive and carry out a lesson (wieringa, et al., 2011). studies indicate that in order to implement a lesson successfully, it is necessary to invest much time and effort, and to carry out well-thought preparation. (taasoobshirazi & carr, 2008; williams, 2008; wieringa, et al., 2011). in their study wieringa et al. (2011) present some examples of preparation for context-based teaching. however, teachers are not sufficiently trained for this approach. a large number of studies indicate that the training of teachers in this area is necessary (ültay and çalik, 2012). pershmann and luecken (2008) gave the proposed structure of training programs for teachers to approach the teaching of biology, chemistry and physics based on context. comparing their findings with other studies, they came to the conclusion that the cooperation of teachers was an important factor in the successful introduction of the innovation. the results of our study that we have presented above can be compared with the results of other studies conducted in our region, examining the efficiency of application of other didactic models in various biological disciplines. stanisavljević and djurić have conducted several experimental studies in which they assessed the efficiency of applying the problem, exemplary and programme-based biology teaching: the application of problem-based teaching in an environmental programme content (topic: marine life community) (stanisavljević & djurić, 2010); the application of exemplary teaching in the realization of a botanical programme content (stanisavljević & đurić, 2011); and the implementation of programmed instruction in the realization of a physiological programme content (stanisavljević, 2011). each of the studies shows that there is a statistically significant difference in the number of points scored between the experimental and the control group in favour of the experimental group, after introducing experimental factors in each study. the difference is evident in the test as a whole and in the individual ranks. rank iii contains an especially visible difference (problem teaching t= 3.00; exemplary teaching t= 3.407; t= programmed instruction 9, 29). studies have shown that these didactic models contribute to the quantity and quality of knowledge gained, and have a particular effect on the application of such knowledge. comparing the results of our experimental testing (rank iii, t= 3.22> 2.58), it has been noted that context-based teaching is equally efficient in the implementation of biological programme contents as the mentioned didactic models conclusion after the introduction of the experimental factor (context-based teaching in the experimental group), the experimental group achieved better results in the post-test compared to the control group. the statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups (in favour of the experimental group) is particularly evident in the rank iii tasks (evaluation and creation of knowledge in a given teaching field). thus, the null hypothesis that there is no statistically significant difference in the mastery of the teaching material between the students in the experimental and control groups can be discarded. the alternative hypothesisthat there is a statistically significant difference in the level of the attained knowledge in favour of the experimental group after the introduction of the experimental factor (context-based teaching) can be accepted. therefore, it can be concluded that the application of context-based teaching directly contributed to the better quantity and quality of knowledge. in other words, the high quality of the knowledge which the students acquired in the tested teaching field was especially significant in the rank ii and iii tasks (application and evaluation of knowledge). through context-based teaching, students connect the given content with everyday context-based teaching in realization of “decline of pollinators” content 59 life. they can understand this content better and apply the knowledge acquired. furthermore, they are able to assess the value of learning, and connect it with the previously acquired knowledge, in order to build their own system of knowledge. in this way, they become aware of the bigger picture, and of the value and application of the concepts learned. after the analysis of the studies examining the efficacy of the application of contextbased teaching, it was concluded that the application of this model with students encourages the internal need and desire to work. context-based teaching demonstrated that the disappearance of pollinators was something which we faced in today’s world; it stressed to what extent modern man depended on pollination. applying lessons learned through connecting with everyday situations encourages the development of skills that deepen knowledge and make it more thorough and less abstract. the application of context-based teaching has the same effect as programme, problem and exemplary-based teaching in terms of the quantity and quality of the knowledge acquired. this didactic model contributes to the development of thinking and the high quality and quantity of the knowledge gained. future research is necessary to confirm the durability of the knowledge gained by a re-test and to examine the resilience of this model in teaching different age groups. finally, teachers coming from different fields should be educated to apply this didactic model in teaching a particular content. acknowledgements: this work was supported by the ministry of education and science of the republic of serbia (project nos. iii43001 and 173038). references anderson, l.w. & krathwohl, d.r. 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(2010a). classroom implementation of context-based chemistry education by teachers: the relation between experiences of teachers and the design of materials. international journal of science education, 33(10), 1407-1432. vos, a. j. m., taconisa, r., jochemsa, g. w., & m. pilot, a. (2010b) teachers implementing context-based teaching materials: a framework for case-analysis in chemistry chemistry education research and practice, 11(3), 193-206. weber, a. (2010). learning about plants in the context of everyday life and nature experience. eridob. book of apstracts, p166. wieringa, n., janssen, f. j., & van driel, j. h. (2011). biology teachers designing context-based lessons for their classroom practice-the importance of rules-of-thumb. international journal of science education, 33(17), 2437-2462. willmer, p. (2012). ecology: pollinator–plant synchrony tested by climate change. current biology, 22(4), r131-r132. appendices m. pejčić et al.62 appendix 1: the model of pedagogical experiment with parallel group received: july 13, 2015 accepted: september 12, 2015 context-based teaching in realization of “decline of pollinators” content 63 appendix 2: newspaper article used in context-based teaching appendix 3: the questions about newspaper article used in context-based teaching 198_josd_template original article evaluation of cognitive complexity of tasks for the topic hydrogen exponent in the solutions of acids and bases saša horvat*, dušica d. rodić, mirjana d. segedinac, tamara n. rončević department of chemistry, biochemistry and environmental protection, university of novi sad, faculty of sciences, serbia *email: sasa.horvat@dh.uns.ac.rs abstract the aim of this study was evaluation of cognitive complexity of tasks for the topic hydrogen exponent in the solutions of acids and bases and its validation. the created procedure included an assessment of the difficulty of concepts and an assessment of their interactivity. there were 48 freshmen students enrolled in the study program basic academic studies in chemistry. as a research instrument for assessing performance, test of knowledge was specifically constructed for this research. each task in the test was followed by a seven-point likert scale for the evaluation of invested mental effort. the evaluation of cognitive complexity was confirmed by a series of linear regression analysis where high values of correlation coefficients are obtained among the examined variables: student’s performance and invested mental effort (dependent variables) and cognitive complexity (independent variable). keywords: mental effort; performance; ph introduction chemistry as a teaching subject is difficult to understand and master at all levels of students´ education. in the republic of serbia, students met chemistry for the first time in the seventh grade of elementary school, when they are already expected to adopt and understand a large number of unknown chemical concepts. students need to understand the ways in which chemical processes occurre, which are not available to direct sensory observation, as well as many chemical laws. a difficult understanding of chemistry could be observed in its abstraction and in the specific chemical language, which often contains terms from everyday life (markić & childs, 2016). besides, chemistry is closely related to many natural sciences and mathematics. in addition to these difficulties, students also encounter numerical problem tasks of high complexity. numerical tasks in chemistry often include some advanced mathematical functions, such as logarithm, exponents, rooting etc. these functions are included in the problems with the hydrogen ion exponent, the journal of subject didactics, 2017 vol. 2, no. 1, 33-45, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1238972 reaction between acids and bases and acid-base equations, which are part of the acid base chemistry. this topic is closely related to other areas of chemistry and it contains a large number of concepts such as: electrolytic dissociation, chemical equilibrium, chemical reactions, stoichiometry, limiting reactant and solutions. while most simple problems are easy to solve, problems that include concepts from multiple domains often involve long-lasting and strenuous numerical calculations (chetan et al., 2005). the teaching topic of acids and bases is important in the teaching of chemistry and it is studied from elementary school to university level. according to teachers, students rather use algorithmic approach in solving acid base numerical calculations which is not based on conceptual understanding (curtright et al., 2004). namely, students often only include numerical data in formulas instead of trying to conceptually understand the problem (bransford et al., 1999 cited in watters & watters, 2006). some of the difficulties encountered in this area are the following: students think that acidity and ph are the same terms, as well as strength and concentration, then they believe that the ph scale is unique and does not depend on the temperature and nature of the solvent (alvarado et al., 2015). it is interesting to mention that in tümay's study, the most of students (66%), when considering the concept of the strength of acids and bases, claim that a strong acid or base is 100% dissociated in water (tümay, 2016). inappropriate conceptual understanding is also noticed in the definition of acids and bases (83%). namely, students believe that all acids and bases dissolve in water producing hydrogen ions and hydroxide ions, without taking into consideration modern acid base theories. numerous misconceptions occur in this area and they refer to the understanding of acids and bases, the strength of acids and bases, the recognition of the acid or base character of the substance, as well as the reactions between them (cooper et al., 2016). the concept of hydrogen exponent is very important concept especially in analytical chemistry, in the teaching theme volumetry. understanding this concept requires the understanding of acid-base reactions at a particle level. the concept of ph is difficult for students, as they often believe that strong acids have high ph values, while weak acids are characterized by low ph values (ouertatani et al., 2006). it seems that students encounter with problems on two levels of conceptual understanding. the first problem relates to the conceptualization of acids and bases on a meaningful and integrated level of understanding, and the second problem relates to the use of mathematics in order to successfully apply their knowledge (watters & watters, 2006). it has been observed that most students could define the ph value and calculate it by using the calculator, but they do not understand it conceptually. solving numerical calculations, related to ph, are based on understanding the exponential numbers and the use of algorithms that are fundamental concepts of calculations. the ph concept, that it introduced by sørensen (1909), is described as: -log[h+] (sørensen, 1909 cited in watters & watters, 2006). in order to understand this relationship, students have to know the meaning of “minus” and the notion of concentration, as well as to know how to calculate the concentration of hydrogen ions expressed in the exponential value from the given ph value, and vice versa. understanding the concept of acidity and ph is also incomprehensible to students because the numerical values of hydrogen ion concentration and ph is in the indirect proportion, that is to say, the higher numerical ph value corresponds to a lower numerical value of the concentration of hydrogen ions. it has been found that students do not know what the logarithmic function means, but they know where the “log” button is on their calculator (watters & watters, 2006). 34 many factors may be the cause of low performance in quantitative chemical problems. the complexity of tasks is often used as a variable that affects students' performance (wood,1986). complex tasks impose high load on the students' working memory, due to which students have to invest a great mental effort in order to solve them. numerous studies have shown that the capacity of the working memory is a factor that must be taken into account in solving quantitative chemical problems (johnstone & el-banna, 1983; niaz, 1996). the basic assumption is that short-term memory requires individual resources that are necessary for achieving the goals of specific cognitive activities in certain situations, which makes the basis for defining the theory of cognitive load (sweller, 1988). cognitive load is a multidimensional concept which is comprised of three components: mental effort, mental load and student performance (pass, 1992, pass & van marrienboer 1994). the mental load refers to the students' cognitive capacity needed to solve the problem tasks. mental effort is related to working memory resources that must be used to achieve the requirements of problem solving, and students' performance include students' achievement on tasks. in order to overcome overload of the working memory, which is detrimental to learning due to high cognitive load, the mental effort should be invested in processes that are essential for learning (kalyuga, 2009). with the aim of improving teaching, many researchers have worked to effectively measure the cognitive load. recent research is based on a combined measurement of the student's mental effort that is invested and student's performance that is achieved by solving the numerical calculation (pass & merrienboer, 1993). one of indicators of cognitive load, which has been recently used as an objective measure is the cognitive complexity (raker et al., 2013; harris et al., 2013). the concept of cognitive complexity was the first mentioned by george kelly in his personal constructive theory (kelly, 1955). according to this theory, individuals are able to understand, predict, and control events in the same way as scientists work, building their own systems of (personal) constructs, using them as "cognitive patterns" to understand the world. based on kelly's personal constructive theory, bieri (bieri, 1955) proposed the concept of cognitive complexity that represents the degree of differentiation in the constructive system of an individual, or the relative number of different dimensions based on the decisions that can be made. the more complex the cognitive ability of an individual is, more the construct that this person uses to understand the world, will be differentiated (bieri, 1955; xin & chi, 2007). therefore, cognitive complexity may relate to an individual, but it can also refer to the task. cognitively complex tasks should be designed in a way that they encourage students to think about the problem, develop strategies, methods, and procedures for solving tasks. students should not only reproduce the answer, but should also know and explain it in an adequate way. tasks should also be constructed to enable a large number of solution methods to (magone et al., 1994). what is crucial in assessing cognitive complexity is to consider the difficulty of the elements the concepts represented in the task and their interactivity. in order to assess the cognitive complexity, an estimation of the difficulty of the concepts represented in the assignment should be made. it is very important to establish which are the key factors that determine how complexity is elaborated, and the most important factor in the assessment is to include the degree of interactivity of the elements (sweller, 1988, knaus et al., 2011). halford et al. (halford et al., 1998) considered that the limiting factor in assessing the complexity of tasks is not the number of items or the amount of information, but the relationship between the entities. the problem becomes more complex with an 35 increase in the number of interacting factors. complexity can be measured by dimensioning relationships or the number of associated variables. if the task contains two items that are interacting in a binary relation, it is simpler in comparison to the task containing the ternary relation, wherein three things are in interaction, and it is again simpler than the one that includes four interconnected items, that is, one that has quaternary relation and so on. the idea of relational complexity is analogous to the number of factors in the experimental design that is considered to be the set of dependent and independent variables. according to concepts of load and resource, this relational complexity is usually used to calculate performance in cognitive psychology. the researchers designed special instruments for the assessment of cognitive complexity, which are based on the creation of the rubrics which helped in determining numerical value of cognitive complexity (knaus et. al., 2011; raker et al., 2013; horvat et al., 2016). this type of instrument is based on assigning numerical values of the cognitive complexity of a given task. the estimation of the number of elements, the expert's estimation of the difficulty of the concepts represented in the task, and the assessment of their interactivity are the three steps during obtaining a numerical rating of cognitive complexity. it is important to note that every rating system of complexity contains a certain dose of subjective components, since it relies on expert assessments. for this reason, the creation of rubrics must be carried out in such a way that the results are valid and reliable, so that the expert method for the complexity rating can serve as a substitute for the objective complexity (knaus et al., 2011). the instrument for assessing the cognitive complexity of chemical tasks that proved to be valid and reliable was first constructed by knaus et al. (knaus et al., 2011) who called it the "rubric for the cognitive complexity of chemical problems". the validity of the instrument has been confirmed in two ways: (1) a statistically significant correlation between the cognitive complexity by experts and student performance, and (2) a statistically significant correlation between the expert assessment of cognitive complexity and students’ assessment of mental effort. calculation of the numerical value of the cognitive complexity rating is based on the principle of additivity of the difficulty rating of the skills and concepts represented in the task and the factor of interactivity between these concepts (knaus et al., 2011; raker et al., 2013; horvat et al., 2016). the great advantage of the rubrics for cognitive complexity rating is that they rely on the assessment of interactivity among the concepts that are present in the task the aspects of cognitive load theory, more precisely on intrinsic cognitive load (sweller et al., 1998). the creation of a rubric has repeatedly proven to be a good method for calculating the cognitive complexity rating. the reason lies in the fact that the subjectivity of an expert is reduced to a minimum. methods aim of the research the aim of this paper is to design and validate the table for assessing difficulty of concepts and their interactivity for topic hydrogen exponent in the solutions of acids and bases. research sample the sample of this research consisted of 48 freshmen students enrolled in the study program basic academic studies in chemistry at the faculty of sciences in novi sad. all re36 spondents previously completed different profiles of secondary education and were aged 19 to 20 of mixed socioeconomic status. all of them agreed to voluntary participate in this research. the research was conducted in october 2017/18 academic year. research instruments as a research instrument, we used a test, which was specifically constructed for this research. the time available for test solving is 45 minutes. respondents previously studied all the concepts presented in the tasks during regular chemistry classes within secondary school. a test contained six tasks. each correct answer is scored by one point, so that the maximum total score on the test was six points. incomplete tasks were not taken into consideration and scoring. in addition to performance, students' mental effort was also evaluated. assessment of invested mental effort was measured by a subjective technique with the use of sevenpoint likert scale. after each task accomplished, students were asked to express an assessment of the mental effort they had invested in solving the task by choosing the appropriate descriptive grade on the scale. during statistical data processing, numerical values of estimates have been assigned to descriptive estimates. 'extremely easy' assigned a numerical value of 1 while 'extremely difficult' the numerical value 7. the quality of the test, was evaluated by pre-test and post-test assurance parameters. the obtained results were processed by statistical software programs stat graphics centurion xvi and ibm spss statistics 22. instrument psychometric pre-test assurance parameters were determined by experts in the field didactics of chemistry. due to the compliance of tasks with a valid curriculum and proposed textbooks, the authors concluded that the test is valid for this testing. the tasks on the test are defined by experts as diverse, with clearly defined requirements. post-test assurance parameters of quality are defined as basic statistical parameters: indices of item difficulty, index of test difficulty, the coefficient of reliability, discrimination indices, as well as discrimination index of the test. created test showed good metric characteristics. reliability is calculated as a measure of internal consistency and expressed as a cronbach α coefficient of 0.61 for performances, and 0.84 for self-assessed mental effort thus indicating good reliability. cronbach α values above 0.6 are acceptable when a small number of tasks are represented on the test (moss et all., 1998; loewenthal, 2004). indices of taks’ difficulty are in the range of 5.26% to 78.95% (average value of test difficulty is 39.04%, which makes it a test of moderate difficulty). one task has a difficulty index less than 25% which makes it difficult, while one task has a difficulty index greater than 75% which makes it easy task (towns, 2014). discrimination indices are in the range of from 0.10 to 0.80 (average of 0.55 which is an excellent discrimination index). five tasks have an excellent discrimination index, greater than 0.4, while only one task has a poor index of discrimination (0.10), so it should be revised for future usage. the basic statistical test parameters are shown in table 1. validation of instrument for assessment the mental effort was also confirmed by linear regression related to observing the dependence of student performance and self-invested mental effort. graphic dependence and statistical parameters of regression analysis are shown in figure 1 and table 2. 37 this dependence describes a very strong correlation (r=-0.80; p=0.03). p value is less than 0.05, indicating a statistically significant correlation between mental effort as dependent variables and performances as independent variables at the confidence level of 95%. 38 figure 1. correlation of students' performances and students' evaluation of invested mental effort. ���������� �� ���� � �������������� ������� �� ���� �������� ���������������� �������� ����� ����� ���� �� � ��������� ����� �� �� ����� �� ����� ����� ����� �� ����� � �� ����� ����� �� �� ���� �� � �!�"����� ��� � ���� �� ���� �� � ! ������� �� �� �� �� ������������������������������������������������� ������ !��� ��� ���� ���� �"������ ������� ������� ������ ������ ����� �� ��� #��$������%����%�&�'�����$������%�� �� �����& '� � table 1. descriptive statistics for the students' performance and mental effort. results and discussion in order to successfully evaluate the cognitive complexity it is necessary to validate the procedure for determining cognitive complexity of the problems with the hydrogen exponent in the solutions of acids and bases. in order to ensure objectivity in assessing cognitive complexity, a table for assessing difficulty of concepts and their interactivity has been developed. the basic concepts that were considered were: dissociation degree of acids and bases, dissociation constant of acids and bases, and ostwald’s dilution law. in accordance with the rubric developed by knaus et al. (knaus el al., 2011), assessment of difficulty of the concepts was made. concepts were estimated as easy, medium and difficult: 1. the concept dissociation degree is structured in three levels: the calculation of ph (poh) from dissociation degree in the solution of monobasic acid and monoacidic base, which is an easy concept when calculating the ph in the acid solution, or poh in the solution of the base. the concept is of medium difficulty if it is necessary to calculate the poh value in the acid solution, or ph value in the solution of the base. this concept is also of medium difficulty if it is necessary to calculate the ph value in the polybasic acid solution, or poh in the solution of the polyacidic base. if it is necessary to calculate the poh value of the polybasic acid, or the ph value of the polyacidic base, the concept is difficult. 2. the concept of dissociation constant of acids and bases is structured in two levels. it is medium when calculating the ph from ka in a solution of weak monobasic acid, or poh from kb in a solution of a weak monoacidic base. if the ph is calculated in a base solution based on kb, or poh in the acid solution based on the ka concept is difficult. 3. ostwald's dilution law is a difficult concept because it links dissociation degree, dissociation constant and the concentration of the acid or base solution. in addition, in the table for assessing the difficulty of concepts, the concept of a solution is presented as an additional concept, which is numerically expressed in the rating of cognitive complexity and it contributes to the increase of interactivity. if it is necessary to calculate the molar concentration from the mass concentration or from the mass and the volume of the solution it has additivity value 1. if it is necessary to calculate the molar concentration from the mass fraction and the density it has additivity value 2. interactivity is evaluated based on the number of concepts in the task. if one concept is represented in the task, interactivity is evaluated with a value 0. if the task contains two concepts, interactivity has value 1, and if the task contains three or more concepts interactivity is evaluated by a numerical value 2. in the table 3, table for assessing difficulty of concepts and their interactivity in the 39 ���������� �� �� ���������� ������� ����� � ������ ����� ��� ������� ��� ���� ����� ��� ����� ������ ����!�"��� � table 2. statistical parameters of the regression analysis of students’ performance and students' evaluation of invested mental effort. tasks with the hydrogen exponent in solutions of acids and bases is presented. the table is simple and objective to use. the tasks used in the test have different levels of cognitive complexity. the method for calculation of cognitive complexity rating will be shown in the following examples: task 1. calculate poh of a solution of sodium hydroxide, concentration of which is 0.001 mol/dm3. consider that the dissociation of sodium hydroxide is complete. to solve this task, the student needs to know that the concentration of hydroxide ions can be determined from the total concentration of sodium hydroxide, because there is a complete dissociation in the solution of sodium hydroxide, i.e. α = 1. from table 3, it can be seen that the task contains an easy concept and refers to the calculation of the hydrogen exponent from the degree of dissociation. according to the rubric from knaus et al. (2011), the rating of cognitive complexity that contains only one easy concept is 1. according to this procedure, to assess the difficulty of concepts, it is also necessary to determine the degree of interactivity of the elements, and since this task contains only one concept, the interactivity is 0 and thus the overall complexity 1. in addition, there are tasks that contain additional concepts that increase the overall cognitive complexity of tasks. in the following example we present a task which contain an additional concept. task 4. calculate poh value of ammonia solution which was prepared by introducing 1.7 grams of gaseous ammonia in 2 dm3 of distilled water. consider that all the mass of ammonia is dissolved in distilled water, and the change in volume due to dissolution is negligible. the ammonia base constant is kb = 1.8 x 10 -5. in this task, two concepts, one basic and one additional concept, are represented. the basic concept is the calculation of poh of weak monoacidic base, which is of medium difficulty, and the additional concept is related to calculation of molar concentration of 40 ������������� �� �� ��� � �� ��� �� ��������� � ��� ���� ��� ��� �������������� ������������ ����� ��������� � ���� ��� ��� ��� �������������� ������������ ��������� � ��� ���� ��� ��� ���������������� �������������� ������� ��������� � ���� ��� ��� ��� ���������������� �������������� ���������� ������������ �������� �� ��� � �� ��� �� ��������� � ��� ���� �� �������� �������������� ������������ ������� ��������� � ���� ��� �� �������� �������������� ������������ ���������� ������ �� ������� ��� � ���� � ������ ���� ���������� ��������� �� ������� ���� ���� ��������� � ��� �� ����� ��� �������� �� ����� � �� ��������� � ��� �� ����� ��� �������� ��� ����� ��������� � ��� �� ����� ��� ������������� �� ���� ����� � ���� �� ��� ��������� !����� ��� ������ ��� �� ������ "� !����� ��� ���#����� ������ �� !����� ��� ��� ����#� ��#����� ������ � � table 3. table for assessing difficulty of concepts and their interactivity in the tasks with the hydrogen exponent in solutions of acids and bases. ammonia from the mass and volume. according to the rubric (knaus et al., 2011), the cognitive complexity of this task is 3, because the task contains one basic concept of medium difficulty (2) and one additional concept and because of the presence of two concepts the interactivity is 1. the results for all tasks from the test are summarized in table 4. procedures for assessing the cognitive complexity of tasks are validated by comparing with student performance measures and measures of mental effort (knaus et al., 2011). in his paper, the correlation of the estimated cognitive complexity of tasks with student performance and self-assessment of mental effort is described by graphic dependences and basic statistical parameters. in the first phase, the regression analysis of the dependence of students' performance (dependent variable) from the estimated cognitive complexity (independent variable) was done. linear regression is applied in accordance with previous studies (knaus et al., 2011; raker et al., 2013; horvat et al., 2016). the results of the regression analysis, are presented graphically in figure 2 and tabular in table 5. it is worth to mention that in the correlation analysis the student’ performance was calculated as the average performance value of all students in the test tasks. observing the p-value which is greater than 0.05, no statistically significant linear correlation between the dependent and the independent variable was found, even though the correlation coefficient (r = -0.71) indicated a strong, negative correlation between the variables 41 �������� � �� � ����� ������������ ���� ���� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� �� � table 4. cognitive complexity ratings for test tasks. figure 2. correlation of students' performance with cognitive complexity. (evans, 1996). the reason for such results might be in the students’ low performance in the several tasks that were estimated with relatively low cognitive complexity. further analysis of our students’ written responses revealed a number of conceptual misunderstandings which might cause low performance in these tasks. for example, students possessed the misunderstandings about the basic concept of the dissociation degree of acids and bases, i.e. about the strength of acids and bases. they observed poor acids vinegar and butyric acid, as strong acids, which reflected on their calculations. namely, they believed that such acids are 100% dissolved on ions in the aqueous solutions, not taking into account the value of the acid constants given in the text of the tasks. they made the similar mistake in the calculations in which the aqueous ammonia solution was observed as a strong base. also, in the tasks for determining the ph value of weak acids and bases, students forgot to apply the mathematical operation of the roots, which exists in the expression for the concentration of hydrogen ions, therefore, they got the incorrect value for concentration, and the obtained ph value was greater than 7 in the solution of weak acid. according to this, it could be assumed that students memorized and used algorithmic approach to solve such problems. additionally, students calculated the poh value of a solution of a weak ammonia base using the formula believing that the concentration of hydroxide ions can be obtained by rooting the product of the acidity constant and the concentration of the base. students also possessed misunderstandings about the calculation of poh value in the solution of strong bases. for example, they calculated ph value 3, or poh value 11, in the sodium hydroxide solution concentration of 0.001 mol/dm3. in addition, students observed polybasic acids as monobasic, regardless the notation in the task text about the complete 42 ���������� �� �� ���������� ������� ����� � ������ ����� ��� ������� ��� ���� ����� ��� ����� ������������������ � table 5. statistical parameters of the regression analysis of students’ performance and cognitive complexity. figure 3. correlation of students' mental effort with cognitive complexity. �������� � ���� ����������� � ��� dissociation of sulfuric acid in both stages. the similar results were previously obtained by watters & watters. (watters & watters, 2006). in the second phase, the regression analysis of the dependence of invested mental effort (dependent variable) from the estimated cognitive complexity (independent variable) was done. statistical parameters and graphical dependency are shown in figure 3 and in table 6. the correlation coefficient (r = 0.84) and the p-value (p = 0.03) indicated a very strong correlation between the mental effort as dependent variable and the numerical value of the cognitive complexity rating as independent variable. the positive value of the correlation coefficient indicated that with increased cognitive complexity, students have to invest more mental effort to solve the task. conclusions in this study, the table for assessing difficulty of concepts and their interactivity for topic hydrogen exponent in the solutions of acids and bases was developed. the procedure for estimating the cognitive complexity of the tasks was evaluated by a series of regression analyzes of the dependence of students' performance, as well as invested mental effort, from cognitive complexity. during the evaluation, several students’ conceptual misunderstandings were observed and described, in accordance with some previous studies. the main disadvantage of this research is reflected in relatively small number of tasks on the test. although studies with a similar number of tasks could be found in the literature, it is recommended that the number of tasks in the test should be greater. a small number of tasks might have affected the obtained statistical data to a certain extent, and therefore, for the next usage, the test should be extended with new tasks. henceforth, the main contribution of the constructed table is to help teachers to create the tasks with different cognitive complexity levels, in order to affect the cognitive development of each student. regarding implications for future research, we suggest the application of new methods for assessing cognitive complexities, such as, for instance, the knowledge space theory, which can additionally confirm the validity of the design table. acknowledgements presented results are part of the research conducted within the project “infrastructure for electronic supported learning in serbia”. grant no. 47003 of the ministry of education, science and technological development of the republic of serbia. 43 ���������� �� �� ���������� ������� ����� � ����� ����� ��� ������� ��� ���� ����� ��� ����� ���������� ���!����"� � table 6. statistical parameters of the regression analysis of students’ mental effort and cognitive complexity. references alvarado, c., cañada, f., garritz, a. & mellado, v. 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(2007). indexes of cognitive complexity and their relationship psychological science, 30, 919–923. received: november 16, 2017 accepted: december 13, 2017 45 03_dimitrijevic_et_al_josd_template original article an analysis of students’ drawings for the purpose of considering the efficiency of teamwork (programme content: marine life community) jelena d. dimitrijević1, sanja b. filipović2 and jelena d. stanisavljević1* 1university of belgrade faculty of biology, serbia 2faculty of fine arts, university of arts in belgrade, serbia *email: jelena.stanisavljevic@bio.bg.ac.rs abstract in this paper, a comparison is made between the levels of efficiency achieved when applying team teaching vs. conventional expository teaching, in the framework of the teaching unit “marine life community”, involving the students of the sixth grade of “dvadeseti oktobar” elementary school in belgrade. in order to accomplish the tasks of this paper, a model of a pedagogical experiment with parallel groups [experimental (e) and control (c)] was applied, involving 100 students. the aim was to identify and measure the differences and compare the efficiency of these two teaching approaches through an analysis of students’ drawings. group e was presented the course content through teaching instruction, which included the presentation of an educational film, after which the students were shown printed photos. in group e the biology teacher presented the characteristics of sea-living communities, and the art teacher presented the distribution, different shapes and colours of marine organisms. group c was presented the same content through traditional teaching methods: oral presentations, illustrations and demonstrations. the results of our research show that the students who participated in team teaching demonstrated better drawings according to the number and variety of marine organisms. the results of our study reflect the greater productivity of the students and the higher degree of motivation and activity. these results are based on the application of a great number of visual teaching technologies in the didactic model of team teaching. keywords: biology/art; students’ drawings; interdisciplinarity; team teaching introduction interdisciplinarity the interdisciplinary linkage of programme contents can contribute to the teaching process; such an approach is holistic and allows the transfer of information from one area to another. one problem can be seen from many different angles: visual (artistic), auditory (musical), verbal (linguistic), kinetic (movement, physical), through natural or social sciences. including art in science classes provides a stimulus for understanding and solving various problems in the process of learning and creative expression. although each school subject has a specific curriculum, integration is possible through direct correlation (stanisavljević & filipović, 2015). journal of subject didactics, 2016 vol. 1, no. 1, 25-38, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.55472 the students that learn in the traditional ways are expected to demonstrate their understanding of natural phenomena by explaining them orally or in writing. however, when working with students in lower grades, i.e. with children of younger ages that still do not have sufficiently developed verbal and writing skills, the teaching method applied needs to be updated to approach children and assist them in learning and development (beal & arnold, 1990). in the mid 1980s, many studies confirmed that the application of informal methods of teaching led to better results in the process of learning. some of the modernized teaching approaches are informal discussion, concept maps, drawing and more. when drawing, students are given the opportunity to show their mental picture display much better than in verbal or written explanations (dempster & stears, 2014). to obtain information on students’ ideas, teachers can use a large number of diagnostic tools, such as animated films, students’ drawings and written works. through their drawings students can show what they have learned and what they consider important (chin & teou, 2010). students who usually do not want to reveal their opinion are willing to share their ideas through drawings (keogh & naylor, 1998, 1999). drawing is just a way to express things that students cannot express verbally in the early stages of their schooling. in that way we can effectively monitor their development (katz al., 2014).visual presentation is especially useful for students with literacy disabilities, and, therefore, is particularly suitable for primary school pupils (chin & teou, 2010). drawing techniques are especially valuable in encouraging children of younger ages who have difficulty expressing themselves verbally (holliday et al. 2009). drawing is involved in many learning activities. when students draw in school, they do it in the company of their peers. socio-cultural studies in education show that children interact with each other when drawing, for drawing and talking with peers often go hand in hand (hopperstad, 2008). karlavaris (1991) believed that games were not enough to involve a child in the complex process of artistic design. games were just a stage in the process, but information given to students and experience were truly vital. in addition to the creative factor, karlavaris specified formative factors as a condition for the creative process, relating them to perception, motor skills, intellect and emotion. those factors were interconnected and enabled the emergence of creative results. karlavaris considered that each of those factors had its own qualitative and quantitative aspect. he made a difference between exact observations as a quantitative factor on the one hand, and sensitive observations and sensitivity as qualitative factors on the other. in the field of motor control, he distinguished motor skill as a quantitative factor and motor sensitivity as a qualitative factor. in the sphere of intellect he differentiated visual memory as a factor which collects and maintains data in the mind, then the quantitative factor, as well as creative visual thinking as a qualitatively creative factor. in the sphere of emotional imagination there is a quantitative factor that allows it to relate an image to certain emotions. (karlavaris, 1991). art is not just a show of external images but is also the result of internal operations, the notion of external objects, so it is important to analyze these processes through the stages of child development, especially in art (lowenfeld & lambert, 1975). there are numerous advantages in applying drawing methods during schooling. firstly, many scientists believe that this is a powerful instrument that reflects the way of thinking, emotions, internal representation and perception of students. secondly, the introduction of this method provides a more pleasant working environment for students, j. dimitrijević et al.26 and drawings make it possible for students to communicate with each other. thirdly, in the early stages of schooling, this is a convenient way to overcome fear related to verbal difficulties. fourthly, the process of drawing as a multidimensional factor, expresses students’ views, understanding and attitudes. drawing confirms objectivity in the projection of individual beliefs. also, the method of drawing is more objective and easier for the purposes of quantitative analysis than the majority of others (kubiatko et al., 2012). the aim of the analysis of students’ drawings in her book “children’s drawings”, cox (1992) talks about the characteristics of children’s drawings and the possibilities of analysis and observation of children’s work. she indicates that children, in their artistic expression, dedicate a lot of attention to the symbolism of their drawings, as a way of communication with the outside world. the application of drawing can be analyzed in two ways. first of all, there is the analysis of objects as characters that should carry a meaning, and then the analysis of what students consider to be relevant to show (hopperstad, 2008). one of the challenges in interpreting students’ understanding is to explain how the process of applying the acquired knowledge goes. drawing is useful for students’ understanding of different contexts and phenomena (dempster & stears, 2014). during the experimental work with children, in addition to being asked to make a drawing, they were asked to write a short comment, in order to achieve a holistic approach. (macdonald, 2009). drawing is an even more relevant tool in assessing students’ understanding if it is accompanied by a written commentary (chin & teou, 2010). it is important to mention that there are no ideal criteria for the interpretation of children’s artwork; these criteria are diverse and depend on what is seen in their artwork. as regards the analysis, assessment, and evaluation of children’s artwork in the educational process, the most important task of teachers and educators is to understand the great diversity of and develop sensitivity to children’s art expression. children’s drawings are a mirror of their development and reflect their inner world (malchiodi, 2012). through drawings children reconstruct their opinion and express their own ideas (salmon & lucas, 2011). there are numerous studies that analyze the notions that appear in children’s drawings, where children want to show their understanding of nature and social phenomena. a wide range of drawings reveal the essential aspects of their conceptual development. drawings representing plants often also contain atmospheric elements (rain, clouds and the sun) and land. this is associated with conceptual development, i.e. with their understanding that these elements are very important for the life of plants. based on this we can conclude that children’s drawings are very useful as a resource in the evaluation of their conceptual development in childhood, or that they express the connection between the processes of thinking and drawing (villarroel & infante, 2014). drawing is considered a very successful method in monitoring students’ understanding. in this respect, drawings offer a “window” to their conceptual knowledge. a great way to describe an object is to draw it (göçmençelebi & tappan, 2010). team teaching team teaching is described as a didactic model in which two qualified teachers of different subjects work together on the planning, implementation and evaluation of students’ activities. there are two major categories of team teaching: category a two or more teachers teach the same students at the same time in the same classroom, and category b students’ drawings in the function of consideration the efficiency of teamwork 27 teachers work together but do not have to teach the same group of students, nor are these students necessarily taught at the same time. in this categorization there appears a subtype in category a cooperative teaching. this means working with smaller groups of students, developing a discussion among the students, and encouraging their cooperation, coordinated by both teachers. in these classes teachers plan together their teaching time and prepare materials. teachers do not have a monologue in class; they rather develop a dialogue, involving the students in the discussion and polemics (goetz, 2000). in this research we have applied cooperative education (within category a). team teaching means that two or more teachers are involved in the implementation of the teaching process. since only one teacher can speak at a time, there can be small differences in the time required for each team member. specific topics and tasks are divided between teachers, according to their particular individual abilities and the contents within the scope of their competence. for this reason, it is best to have teachers who can complement each other with regard to their areas of expertise. if two or more teachers have the same strengths and weaknesses in the subject area, team teaching cannot be effective; it would, therefore, be useful for the teachers to complement each other. some advocates of teamwork believe that these teachers should be completely equal, none of them being the leader (wadkins et al., 2004). comprehensive studies on the success of cooperative teaching have come to the conclusion that this method of teaching improves cognitive and socio-emotional climate in the classroom (espey, 2008). team teaching increases commitment to students and enables working with small groups of students (michaelsen & sweet, 2008). team teaching manages to overcome the problem which arises when teachers are limited by programme contents. in this way, holes in the learning process are filled. students create a clearer picture of some phenomena and processes. when the curriculum is rationally organized, it enables time saving, as teachers of different subjects complement each other. team teaching boosts students’ motivation and awakens further interest in specific areas (doebler & smith, 1996). the significance of integrating the teaching contents of art and biology, and methodological approaches exploring the natural and social environment depends significantly on the level of the visualization process and the level of art, because in that area there is an extensive use of the method of presentation and representation. art education has an impact on the development of students’ visual perception, as well as on the development of their ability of observation and their experience of the world surrounding them. organized observation encourages thinking and boosts the creative impulse. it is known that students’ drawings visualize different contents from their conscious mind, activating and reflecting their perception, concepts and thinking, imagination, emotions, socio-emotional attitudes and motor skills. for example, learning about flora and fauna will be one-sided if no aesthetic features are presented (like colours, shapes, etc.) to initiate a powerful impulse to create. when drawing, students express their artistic experience of nature and social relations. artistic activity encourages students’ interest in a specific phenomenon. students’ artwork represents various known, seen or experienced phenomena in nature and social relations. in a word –students acquire a rich life experience. in fact, they show their attitude and feelings towards the world that surrounds them. (stanisavljević & filipović, 2015). j. dimitrijević et al.28 teaching biology includes a wide range of teaching approaches, methods and teaching aids, in accordance with the programme contents, objectives and tasks of teaching (stanisavljević & stanisavljević, 2014). there is the possibility of implementing various visual techniques to master the content of biology. interdisciplinarity concerning art and biology is achieved by developing creativity in students. the higher level of motivation encourages children’s interest in science contents in the field of biology. applying lessons learned through artistic creativity is encouraged in order to develop skills that deepen the knowledge and make it more fundamental and less abstract (gurnon et al., 2013). examples of team teaching clemens and mcelroy (2011) conducted a study that included the uses of the didactic model of team teaching, integrating the contents of the english language, history and biology. the english language was used for the interpretation of the roots of technical terms, thus facilitating the students to master historical and biological terms. the interdisciplinary approach involving biology and history turned out to be very useful. the students were explained the connection between the occurrence of certain diseases on the one hand, and economic, agricultural and trade development on the other. it was a good starting point for integrating the two elements. (clemens & mcelroy, 2011). helikar et al. (2015) conducted a project in which the authors combined the realization of biological contents and the development of computer skills, and showed how that reflected on the students’ knowledge. the interaction between the teacher of biology and the computer science enabled the students to visualize biological phenomena and processes, assisted by computer techniques. thus, the problem of two-dimensional images of textbooks was overcome; furthermore, the simulation of biological processes showed dynamic systems that functioned over time (helikar et al., 2015). team teaching which included biology and mathematics teachers was aimed at integrating the curriculum and overcoming barriers to the realistic presentation of information, conducting biological research, and enabling students to translate their knowledge of mathematics into practice (feser et al., 2013). methods the main task of this study was to experimentally determine the efficacy of the didactic models of team teaching, reflected in the interaction of a biology teacher and an art teacher in the implementation of the program content “marine life community”, intended for sixth grade students. the survey was conducted in “dvadeseti oktobar” elementary school in belgrade. the outcome of the applied experiment was monitored through the analysis of students’ drawings on the theme “how do i see marine life?”. the main question to be considered was: “can an interdisciplinary approach improve the quality and efficiency of acquiring new knowledge?”. the null hypothesis is that there is no statistically significant difference between the drawings of the experimental and the control group after the introduction of experimental factors (team teaching with the use of additional visual aids in the form of pictures and short educational films) in the experimental group. the alternative hypothesis is that there is a statistically significant difference, based on the analysis of children’s drawings, after the introduction of experimental factors in the experimental group. according to the alternative hypothesis, it is expected that the students’ drawings in the function of consideration the efficiency of teamwork 29 observed differences in the quantity and quality of the displayed content between the control and experimental groups, show a greater achievement of the experimental group. the aim of the research was to detect and measure the differences in the results obtained, in order to compare the efficiency of these two models of teaching. the research included 100 students of the sixth grade of “dvadeseti oktobar” elementary school, belgrade. for the purposes of this research we applied the model of the pedagogical experiment with parallel groups [experimental (e) and control (k) groups], according to the given scheme (appendix 1). the students were divided into group e and group k (killermann, 1998). before the introduction of the experimental factors, the groups were equalized with respect to the number, gender and achievement. the uniformity of the groups regarding the number and gender was confirmed by the chisquare test (fisher, 1922). in group e, the presentation of the programmes contents “marine life community” started with short instructional films showing the way of life and the relationships of organisms under the sea. these were short five-minute films. the students rearranged their benches in such a way that everyone could see the projection screen equally well. this facilitated an interaction among the students, but also between the students and the teachers. the next step was sharing photos of some typical animal and plant species living at the bottom of the sea. the biology teacher explained the life forms, lifestyle and diet of marine organisms, followed by the art teacher’s presentation of different shapes and contours of the body, and by a discussion with students about the sea areas and the layout and range of colours that appeared. as for group k, the same contents were presented in the traditional way. a textbook, containing texts and images, was used. frontal teaching dominated. the unit was presented only by the biology teacher, without using any additional visual teaching aids or applying an interdisciplinary approach. in order to avoid any parasitic factors, the students from groups k and e were separated in two different classrooms and divided into two shiftsthe morning and the afternoon shift. finally, the students of both groups were told to bring crayons to class in a week’s time. after a week, at the next meeting, the following was written on the blackboard: “how do you imagine the marine world?”. each student received an a4 drawing paper and was told to use the crayons to draw. at the same time the students were given the following instructions: “we would like each of you to draw how you imagine the marine world. this is not a test, so do not look at each other’s papers. you can draw as much as you want, but we believe that 1520 minutes should be enough. this is a part of a research project, which involves many children of your age. in the end, write a brief comment on the back of the paper on what you displayed in your drawing”. teachers were prepared to answer the student’s questions about what to draw by replying: “it is up to you, you have all the freedom, you cannot go wrong” (dempster & stears, 2014). the data and the results were analyzed using standard statistical methods (sum, percentage distribution, average, standard deviation, coefficient of variation and a student’s ttest (student, 1908). to obtain data, we used the statistical software package statistics 6 (statsoft, 2001). j. dimitrijević et al.30 results the results from the representation of different categories of animals are presented in table 1 and graph 1. table 2 enables us to monitor if there is a statistical difference concerning the incidence rates of animals in the drawings of the experimental and the control group. the results were obtained with the help of a student’s t-test (student, 1908). the results obtained by analyzing students’ drawings for the experimental and control students’ drawings in the function of consideration the efficiency of teamwork 31 table 1. overview of the relevant categories for the analysis of students’ drawings. graph 1. the frequencies of certain categories of the students’ drawings – groups k and e. groups, based on the statistical methods of a t-test, were as follows: proceeding from the significant level р = 0.05 and the critical value t =1.96, we concluded that there was a statistically significant difference between groups e and c concerning the number of represented organisms on the drawings (t = 3.54> 1.96) discussion the results of our research show that the students who participated in team teaching demonstrated better drawings according to the number and variety of marine organisms, related to the topic “how do you imagine the marine world?”. their drawings were characterized by a better set of colours, greater attention paid to spatial distribution and a greater diversity of organisms. (appendix 2). data were analyzed and presented in the framework of six categories described in table 1. furthermore, the results obtained by the analysis of the students’ drawings were displayed in graph 1. as shown in table 2, based on the application of a student’s t-test, the difference in the number of animals drawn by the students in the experimental and control groups is statistically significant. the statistical significance proves that the students of the experimental group yielded better results, primarily reflected in the number and variety of marine animals displayed in the drawings. the most frequently drawn animals were fishes; the students most frequently saw them as marine organisms. all the aforementioned results of this research correspond to the results of other studies that considered students’ productivity, higher motivation and a greater degree of activity. the effectiveness of this approach is confirmed by the many works that will be discussed below. in his study, teixeira (2000) explored the way in which students developed their knowledge of biology. the author argues that children up to ten years of age have an intuitive knowledge, stemming from intuitive psychology. in later stages of development, there is a socio-cultural context in which children critically examine new facts and acquire more advanced ideas of biological concepts. in the earlier stages of development, personal experience is crucial, and it is only later that the logic of verbal arguments is analyzed. in response to the focus question of the research, which was “what happens to the food you eat?”, children most frequently drew the digestive, respiratory and skeletal systems, rarely showing any other system. the frequent occurrence of the three mentioned systems is the result of children’s experimental knowledge; they come across the stories about these organs in everyday life, and thus are more familiar with their structure and functioning (teixeira, 2000). in view of the above, it is advisable that the lecture should start with more familiar and continue with less known systems (dempster & stears, 2014). numerous studies have discussed the way in which outdoor teaching in a botanical garden and ecological classrooms (the green classroom) reflected in students’ drawings j. dimitrijević et al.32 table 2. main statistical indicators of the groups according to the present number of animals (basic statistical indicators of success mean number of displayed animals; sstandard deviation; v-coefficient of variation). on natural habitats (forests, lakes). the results of this study show that this type of teaching results in a large number of biological species presented on the drawings, primarily small and large animals. in the drawings, students who had not had the opportunity to attend outdoor classes, presented a significantly smaller number of species, mainly large animal species, rarely invertebrates (insects, worms) and other species that are important for maintaining ecological balance (drissner et al., 2014). however, both girls and boys who had had the opportunity to visit some natural habitats within biology classes, expressed more emotions, reflected in their drawings in terms of the number of the drawn animals and the diversity of the colours used (reiss et al., 2002, 2007). similar results were obtained in another segment of the research, in which the students spent some time in a botanical garden in order to better understand the vegetable world. scientists have noticed that the knowledge of the plant world is at a much lower level as compared to that of the animal world. one of the reasons for this is the absence of any obvious dynamics of plant organisms, as well as the lack of systematic monitoring and observation of these organisms. when visiting botanical gardens, students are able to notice the described biological phenomena and processes in the natural environment. the results of the research showed the usefulness of visiting botanical gardens and the connection with the programme content concerning the living environment. the analysis of students’ drawings showed that children who had had the opportunity to visit a botanical garden presented more plant species. students showed the adaptation of carnivorous plants, and almost all of them drew the ginkgo because of its characteristic aroma. among others, two assumptions were confirmed – that aesthetic visual impressions leave a deep mark upon the memory, and that smell leaves the most durable impression. in their comments, the students explained that they had presented other plants in their drawings because they had been delighted by the variety of colours. the initial idea of this research, suggesting that activating more senses in children helps to form more durable memory, was confirmed (nyberg & sanders, 2014). what these two scientists point out, is that after attending this type of class, children speak about plants more often and develop the habit of taking care of their plants at home. villarroel and infante (2014) came to very productive conclusions about students’ misconceptions of what makes up the living world through the analysis of children’s drawings. given that the focus of the presentation was the world of plants, in addition of drawing the anatomy of plants, many children inevitably depicted atmospheric factors, such as rain and the sun, or land. this suggests that children understood plants as living systems, whose survival is possible only in the presence of water and the sun. since trees were mostly portrayed as individual and isolated entities, it would be difficult to conclude that the children saw trees as a part of the living world. the analysis of children’s drawings is the original method and procedure for considering children’s understanding of biological concepts. this serves as a basis for further expansion of knowledge in this field, for combating misconceptions and making knowledge more constructive (villarroel & infante, 2014). drawing improves conceptual understanding. while drawing, focus must be maintained regardless of whether it is just simple memorizing of data or complex understanding. the credibility of such drawings is supported by a written commentary attached. drawing helps the student to have a better perception of the essential content that is considered (göçmençelebi & tappan, 2010). studies have shown that if a scientific text is supported by a drawing or a visual presentation of the essence of the text, students exhibit greater knowledge in their final tests. students’ drawings in the function of consideration the efficiency of teamwork 33 it was proved that the students who drew while considering a text acquired greater knowledge than those who considered the same text without drawing. this proved the thesis that students’ self-activity, personal engagement and a high degree of motivation, inevitably led to positive results, reflected in the high degree of autonomy, better quality of knowledge and a more systematic knowledge (schmeck et al., 2014). wadkins et al (2004) presented the results of their research, noting the positive aspects of team teaching: (1) students have the opportunity to learn about different styles of teaching, (2) students can deepen their knowledge in certain areas, and (3) teachers can learn useful information from each other in terms of programme contents and teaching styles. the biggest advantage of this model is being able to show students how to work as a team and how to deal with their differences in order to achieve a common goal. in addition, students’ knowledge is expanded when the same contents are presented from several different angles. (wadkins et al., 2004). over the past four decades, researchers (anderson, 1989; doebler & smith, 1996) have indicated that team teaching is valuable and should more often be an alternative to traditional teaching, involving only one teacher. upon completing the model of team teaching, clemens and mcelroy (2011) presented the results which were very good. the students of the three subjects (english, biology and history) achieved the results that were much better than their previous results in these areas. particularly noteworthy was the development of scientific literacy, critical thinking and the global awareness of various phenomena in human society. students were willing to engage in debates and discussions, defending their views on a particular phenomenon or process (clemens & mcelroy, 2011). goetz (2000) points out the benefits of team teaching on the basis of literary data, the experience of teachers and students’ results. these advantages are reflected in the cooperation of teachers, their joint time planning and detailed consideration of certain areas, thus avoiding any blank segments. students develop skills and knowledge which cannot be developed when teachers lead their classes individually. different views on one and the same idea contribute to the durability and quality of students’ knowledge, which is possible only through team teaching (goetz, 2000). the advantages of combining art and science do not arise from the mentioned cooperation itself, but from the success as a product of that cooperation, which has the potential to inspire new styles of learning. it is necessary to find creative ways for students to evolve and keep a lasting sense of curiosity concerning scientific discoveries. employing several senses in children contributes to acquiring greater knowledge both in terms of quantity and quality. art culture offers extensive knowledge of different techniques which help children in psychomotor development. it also creates the potential to combine biology and art. in this way, students develop skills that are permanent and that become more complex over time (gurnon et al., 2013). cooperative teaching of mathematics, computer science and biology is achieved by erasing the boundaries between teaching and research. the results obtained from the research which was based on teamwork and which included these three subjects, showed that in this way children developed critical thinking, pioneering spirit and the quality of the long-term retention of data. students developed independence in their work, resulting in their ability to perform computer experiments relating to different biological processes and phenomena that change over time. students were trained to independently conduct the entire research process. the implementation of such a project and the innovative approach are achieved by systematically expanding children’s knowledge (helikar et al., 2015). j. dimitrijević et al.34 the conclusion of this study, within which the students attended a class simultaneously held by a biology teacher and a mathematics teacher, is that this type of teaching has an impact on students’ performance in learning. the students involved in the study stated that after being taught simultaneously by two teachers of different subjects, mathematical methods and formulas became meaningful and easier to learn. the programme contents of biology had helped them understand how biological systems were variable and subject to change, and that there was a need for constant monitoring of developments in nature and for continuously conducting research. finally, the students comprehended the meaning of an interdisciplinary approach when the two subjects are in question. when asked how they perceived biology, the students who were involved in the conducted study agreed that they no longer saw biology as a set of definitions or a content that could only be learned by heart, but as a meaningful content that you know how to interpret (feser et al., 2013). students often have expert knowledge in different areas that is separated, and do not have the ability to integrate and improve this knowledge; it was proved that this deficiency could be overcome through this approach. (marsteller, 2010). it turned out that when you presented biology in the form of specific data and examples, rather than as an encyclopaedic science, it enabled children to begin building their knowledge based on some key biological concepts. in this way, teachers promote the scientific approach and interest in science (duncan et al., 2011). the interpretation of data is essential for any biological researchers. students who were demonstrated how data should be interpreted, showed the ability of critical thinking and analyzing visual and quantitative information as a tool for building and clarifying specific terms (barsoum et al., 2013). conclusion on the basis of the obtained results, it can be concluded that modernizing the teaching technology encourages greater students’ involvement. when adequately implemented, different types of visual aids, such as photos, as well as audio-visual aids, such as specific educational films, result in the higher motivation of students, and consequentlyin the greater efficiency of teaching time. thus, the introduction of visual and audio-visual teaching aids provides better results concerning the content of students’ drawings. in this study, team teaching is considered as a didactic model, and the results should encourage other teachers to cooperate, and to plan and organize their classes jointly. according to the analyzed students’ drawings, we can notice that, as compared to the control group, the students in the experimental group showed much better spatial orientation. different forms of marine organisms, their flock organization and diversity, were more prevalent in the drawings of the students whose lectures were organized through teamwork. the drawings of the students of the control group were less creative, had a narrower range of colours and contained a small number of marine organisms, while the distribution of the species was incorrect. the final conclusion is that if we at the same time motivate students to work and engage them intellectually, that will directly affect their creativity in terms of their ability to represent living beings and the organizations of such beings in a drawing. in view of the above, we can conclude that students’ creativity should be encouraged in the future through drawing within teamwork, not only in the context of biology and art, but also in the context of other subjects. students’ drawings in the function of consideration the efficiency of teamwork 35 acknowledgements: this work was supported by the ministry of education and science of the republic of serbia (project no. 173038). reference anderson, r. h. 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(2014). drawing pictures during learning from scientific text: testing the generative drawing effect and the prognostic drawing effect. contemporary educational psychology, 39, 275-286. stanisavljević, j. & filipović, s. (2015). analysis of children’s drawings in the function of considering and understanding of biological phenomena and processes [in serbian], art and theory, review of the faculty of fine arts, 1(1), 58-63. stanisavljević, j. & stanisavljević, l. (2014). the application of concept maps in teaching invertebrate zoology. in: d. krüger & m. ekborg (eds.). powerful tools for learning in biology, berlin: freie univerzität berlin, chapter 13, 197-211. statsoft, inc. (2001). statistica for windows (version 6) [data analysis software system]. available online at: www.statsoft.com student (gosset, w. s.) (1908). the probable error of a mean. biometrika, 6, 1-25. teixeira, f. m. (2000). what happens to the food we eat? children’s conceptions of the structure and function of the digestive system. international journal of science education, 22(5), 507– 520. doi:10.1080/095006900289750 villarroel, j. d. & infante, g. (2014). early understanding of the concept of living things: an examination of young children’s drawings of plant life. journal of biological education, 48(3), 119126. wadkins, т., wozniak, w. & miller, r. l. (2004). team teaching models. unk/cte compendium of teaching resources and ideas, 77-87. students’ drawings in the function of consideration the efficiency of teamwork 37 appendices appendix 1: scheme of research methodology. appendix 2: drawing of student from the experimental group. received: july 13, 2015 accepted: october 6, 2015 j. dimitrijević et al.38 206_josd_template original article digital writing in french as a foreign language handbooks: exploring the tasks and challenges evelyne rosen-reinhardt* and marie-pascale hamez university of lille, centre interuniversitaire de recherche en education de lille, rue du barreau bp 60149 59653 villeneuve d'ascq cedex, france *email: drevelynerosen@aol.com abstract this research focuses on the teaching of french as a foreign language (ffl) and seeks to analyse the types of writing tasks proposed, notably those that concern digital writing, as well as the challenges encountered in a corpus of seven sets of ffl training materials published between 2010 and 2016. we attempt to respond to the following question: how are web 2.0. technologies integrated into the writing tasks in the corpus of these handbooks? we first analyse the digital writing tasks proposed before assessing how they are integrated within actual lessons. we then evaluate the objectives of these writing tasks. the analysis of the 101 writing instructions reveals that learners are invited to carry out 88 simulated digital writing tasks (instead of “real life” and multimodal tasks). at a time when learners are living in a world of multimodal texts, authors of ffl handbooks have not yet begun to take into account available research findings relative to the relationship between literacy and digital technology to implement, within ffl classes, digital writing lessons that take all these dimensions into account. keywords: action-oriented approach; french as a foreign language; training materials for french as a foreign language introduction web 2.0. is a space for expression, communication and exchange. it is an ideal writing space that helps transform our “written society into a writing society” (petitjean, 2016, p.97). digital writing1 has gradually been integrated into class practices, especially language classes, as has been highlighted by numerous studies on teaching methods (desmet and rivens mompean, 2010; moore and molinié, 2012; lansel and hamez, 2014). these studies show that foreign language teachers have attempted to take into journal of subject didactics, 2017 vol. 2, no. 1, 47-59, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1238987 __________________________________________ 1 by “digital writing”, we mean “writing on a medium using digital tools.” this definition is based on crozat’s definition: “intentional coded inscription using software via a computer” (2016). account these new modes of writings to develop the communicative language skills of their learners. it is widely known that technology, which has become increasingly polymorphic and evolutionary, now makes it possible to diversify writing activities (bouchard and kadi, 2012; lebrun and lacelle, 2014). this has been enabled notably through writing software such as text generators, access to genuine texts promoting the reading-writing connection, the emergence of new forms of action-oriented writing (anis, 1998, p.269), socialisation in writing, and collaborative writing via the internet. (mangenot, 2012, p.107). while teachers and learners have begun exploring new forms of digital textuality in the classroom (mangenot, 2012), textbook publishers also claim to have integrated digital practices in their published products. notably, they claim to have proposed both written and oral productions and reception tasks exploiting the possibilities in multimedia (guichon and soubrie, 2013, p.131). this research focuses on the teaching of french as a foreign language (ffl). drawing on a corpus of seven selected sets of ffl training materials (handbooks and other workbooks) published between 2010 and 2016, it seeks to determine whether or not the materials’ authors have taken into account the contributions of research studies when designing “digital writing tasks” and, if so, how they have done so. we will attempt to respond to the following research question: has the nature of proposed writing tasks in textbooks evolved in the digital age? if so, what challenges have been encountered? we will begin by presenting a brief review of the literature because we believe it is necessary to outline the characteristics of production tasks written in the digital age. we will then present our corpus and methodological approach. lastly, we will analyse the data by focusing primarily on two questions: what is the nature of the digital writing tasks proposed in the corpus analysed? how are the specificities of digital writing taught? literature review the implementation of digital writing tasks in language classes is part of a broader reflection on the characteristics of writing tasks as defined in the common european framework of reference for languages (cefr) published in 2001. in this brief literature review, we will present the studies relevant to our objective. we will focus on the cefr and the action-oriented approach it emphasises, as well as other studies undertaken in the fields of language sciences and multimodal and media literacy (lebrun, lacelle and boutin, 2012). in 2001, the common european framework of reference for languages promoted a new approach to the learning of language as an integral part of social life. teachers were expected to cease limiting themselves to simply preparing learners for occasional encounters with native speakers of foreign languages and cultures. in the 21st century, concerted efforts relative to foreign languages have become more genuine and increasingly common in our multilingual and multicultural societies. for this reason, what is now sought is “social co-action, i.e. joint practices through the learning of a language/culture within a specific social context, i.e., work, studies, and every day life” (puren, 2011). to this end, developed by the council of europe, the cefr introduced a new methodological paradigm in the didactics of foreign languages/cultures. this action-oriented approach suggests that: while acts of speech occur within language activities, these activities form part of a 48 wider social context, which alone is able to give them their full meaning. (cefr, 2001, p.15). the so-called “action-oriented approach” encourages practices which arouse both oral and written interaction and thus stimulate the development of communicative language competences in terms of reception, production and interaction. an action-oriented approach emphasises a pedagogy which proposes tasks that create a context that is close to social practices and one that is linguistically rich and complex from a sociocultural perspective. this approach revolves around joint practices which, in an attempt to meet the needs arising from the expansion of the european union, have increasingly influenced the conception of language handbooks which have begun to propose authentic real-life tasks. in other words, this approach has broken with simply proposing simulated tasks and now promotes practices rooted in a social context (rosen, 2009)2. moreover, it is widely known that to implement an action-oriented approach, the authors of handbooks and french foreign language teachers often attempt to make a connection between lessons and educational projects. this involves focusing on the tasks at hand by using a collaborative approach within a global project and, in our specific case, within a writing project. according to christian puren, the integration of a project within a lesson may be said to be successful when “the language content presented and worked upon in the previous sections can actually be reused extensively by learners during the implementation of the project” (2009, p.135). consequently, project achievement often appears at the end of a lesson. the implementation of digital writing projects within ffl classes paves the way for the success of the action-oriented approach. indeed, such multimedia projects promote interactions that lead to the creation of social ties, the carrying out of common tasks, and the development of collaborative strategies. all these projects provide opportunities to envision social practices. the resources availed by digital environments actually enable learners to derive meaning from social practices, for instance, by interacting on a blog (pledel, 2007). moreover, such environments promote collaboration between learners in the sense put forward by george (2001, p. 49) and built upon by dejean-thircuir and mangenot (2006). these researchers differentiate the forms of collective learning by distinguishing “co-action”, where actors share resources but work towards individual productions, “cooperation”, where there is a collective production but there are various different sub-goals (what amounts to a certain division of labour), and “collaboration”, where the general objective, the production, and immediate sub-goals are shared (george, 2001, p. 49). recent studies undertaken in the teaching of french strongly advocate the adoption of the paradigm of multimodal and media literacy in the teaching of ffl (lebrun and lacelle, 2014). it is worth mentioning that the concept of multimodal and media literacy was first defined in 2012 by monique lebrun, nathalie lacelle and jean-françois boutin to take into account all environmental media, including print, audiovisual, telephony and computers. it refers to “a literacy that combines different modes (iconic, linguistic and auditory), often on the same platform and within the same production (for example, a video 49 __________________________________________ 2 in the cefr, tasks are divided into three categories: pre-communication pedagogical tasks consist of exercises that specifically focus on the decontextualised practice of forms; “pedagogic communicative” tasks (which are well known from the action-oriented approach) are those in which learners take part in a simulation; and a “pretend task accepted voluntarily” in order to use the target language and thus prepare oneself to carry out tasks “close to real life” selected based on the needs of the student in an out-of-class or learning context (for example reading a handbook or taking notes during a lecture). sequence may include animated images and sounds, both of which are delivered at the same time)” (lebrun, lacelle and boutin, 2012). lebrun and lacelle (2014) argue that although an individual must, without doubt, learn the language code, he or she must also learn to master other codes, other modes, and other languages. according to these researchers, “semiotic-type competences are more complex than in traditional literacy because one must analyse ‘combinations of semiotic modes’ operating simultaneously within the same multi-text” (example: comics, films, video games, or hypertext) (2014, p. 108). indeed, the production of digital writing requires mastery of new knowledge and know-how focused primarily on the multimodality of discourses, their hypertextuality and their hybrid nature. in a digital environment, the writing produced is accompanied by different modalities: images, colour, and sound, which, according to kress, ensure “different types of semiotic tasks and each individual is capable of creating his or her own meaning” (2010, p.1). as lebrun and lacelle state, “all these resources allow the learner to engage in multimodal tasks and, in doing so, acquire multimodal skills” (2012, p. 83). these researchers assert that multimodal skills should be developed in the classroom. these skills refer to the ability to know and recognise, analyse and use both traditional media and new media, linguistic components in a text, semiotic components of an image (fixed or mobile) and, for instance, the codes specific to reading and producing texts using hypertext technology (2012). indeed, hypertextuality is a feature of digital writing, especially in the citation practices in internet forums and messages, as marcoccia (2012) has shown. the production of hypertext, i.e., non-linear digital writing connected by nodes and links (rouet, 1993), is also a learning object for multimodal and media literacy researchers. regarding hybridity, several studies in the fields of language sciences and language teaching have analysed the proximity between oral and digital writings (mangenot, 2009). linguists have shown that digital writing offer substitutes to paraverbal and non-verbal markers of face-to-face oral communication: smileys (marcoccia and gauducheau, 2007); the use of capital letters for emphasis (marcoccia, 2000); and the use of longer characters or the repetition of characters to simulate the effect of pronunciation (panckhurst, 2006). moreover, digital messages are characterised by the use of simplification strategies such as abbreviations and phonetic writing (anis, 2000; liénard, 2007). born of the screen and destined for the screen, jacques anis describes writing as “interactive”: “new situations of communication have led to the emergence of interactive and dialogic writing which challenges, orally, spontaneous and immediate reactions.” (1998, p. 269). this hybridisation is particularly present in tweets, which use several categories of clickable language forms and “techno-languages” with a hypertextual dimension and delinearised statements (paveau, 2013). naturally, it refers to linear language forms but also symbols, icons, emoticons, not clickable ascii art forms, url links, and clickable technowords such as hashtags or pseudonyms. other elements to take into account include avatars, the contextualisation of statements using hashtags, the ‘details’ function, retweets (rt), the “reply” compose box and the timeline if writing on other platforms (paveau, 2013). these forms can be combined in a more or less complex manner if users have adequate knowledge of the characteristics of literary genres. how do textbook developers take advantage of these data and studies to propose digital writing tasks? methods we selected seven ffl handbooks published between 2010 and 2016. these handbooks attracted our attention because they are used in the ffl university centre where 50 we teach3 and this offers interesting prospects to conduct further research on how they are actually used in the classroom. the handbooks are essentially intended for young adults enrolled in a university program and are published in france by three of the leading ffl publishers (éditions maison des langues, didier, hachette français langue étrangère). 51 __________________________________________ 3 department of french education abroad university of lille, faculty of social and human sciences. ������ ������ ��� �� ���� �� ���� ��� ����� ����������� ��� ������� ����� ������ �� ��� ����� �� ���� ���� ���� ���� ������� ���� ������ ������ ���� ��� ���� ��� ��������� ��� ����� ������� ������ �� �� ����� �� ���� � �����!"�� ��#������� � ����$�������%���� �� ��#������� � ����$��� ������������ &�'�%� "������ &�� ���# ��� ���(�� ���)� *�������� $�� +��%� �� #��� ,��� #-��� ������ �� �� ����� �� ���� � �����!"�� ��#������� � ����$�������%���� �� ��#������� � ����$��� ������������ &�'�%� "������ &�� ���# ��� ���(�� ���)� 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#�#����%���2&3�4�������� ���� ������ ������� ���������� �%� �� 3�� ��� &� #��#�� ������%� ��'��1�� $��1� 3�� ��5%� "� �%��6� �$� 2������� �$��� � � ���0��%'�����%��$�3�� ��7� �%%�%%1� ��#���%����#��11����� � ����� �� ��1��������#������� � ����� ������ 3������� *���� ������� ��� "�����6������� ������ ���.� ;����� %� "��%� � ���%� �� #��%� ����� ������� ��� ����� �� ����� /��� ����� ������ ���� 0������� %'���� ��1'��%��� �$� ��#����� �� � ���%�� �������� ��� #����%�� ������ $���%� � �� ������ ��� %���'��� %����������� %��/� ���������0����%�� ������ #�#����%���2&3���%%�%%1� ��#���%���� #��11��� �� � ���� � �� �� 1��������#����� �� � ����� 0� ��� ��� "�����6� ���� 8��0�%��9����� ������ ���<� ;����� %� "��%� � ���%� �� #��%� � table 1. references of the handbooks used. 1 diplôme d'études en langue française is a french language studies diploma from france's ministry of education for non-native speakers of french after selecting the handbooks, we identified the writing tasks’ instructions, which called for digital communication platforms such as chats, smss, emails, threads in forums, blog posts, sites, and postings on social networks (facebook, twitter, youtube). in this set, we identified 125 instructions calling for written productions and retained the 101 instructions that called for a digital production. this figure shows that multimedia writing has become an increasingly important issue both within classroom settings and in society as a whole. our study is evaluative in nature (van der maren, 2003). drawing on the characteristics of digital writing tasks and the specificities of these tasks as defined by the available research, we will examine the 101 instructions proposed in the handbooks and workbooks. the analysis will revolve around the two points we highlighted at the beginning of this paper, i.e., the nature of proposed digital writing tasks and the challenges encountered. results digital writing tasks and collaboration a total of 11 tasks are to be performed individually, 37 in groups of two and 53 in small groups. it is therefore clear that the seven sets of ffl training materials prioritise collaborative learning in writing tasks. some instructions call for collaboration with other langue users or other learners, both in the quest for ideas and when drafting texts. this is the case in the writing phase in preparation of an oral reading task described below: “task 1 newsflash of current positive events on a mobile device. 1. you are going to make a newsflash of current positive events. first, in groups, brainstorm all the positive news you have heard. 2. each group should choose one positive event then write a short paragraph using the five question technique: where? who? when? what? why? 3. each group must choose its presenter and decide the order in which the presenters will read the newsflashes. tips: think of unusual or funny events. write short sentences. remember to reread the newsflash amongst yourselves before filming.” (entre nous 3, 2016, p. 154) the objective here is to encourage collaboration among learners by proposing a situation in which the overall goal, the production, and the immediate sub-goals are shared. although this mode of collaborative work is proposed in all the instructions, these instructions do not refer to the role collaborative tools such as virtual notebooks, for instance “pads”, may play. collaboration is encouraged during the phase where learners search for ideas, i.e., during oral discussions preceding the production of the text. this is the 52 case for 12 of the 23 instructions of the corpus. below is an example: “publish a manifesto! 1. you’ve had enough of certain types of behaviour on social networks. in groups, make a list of what gets on your nerves: photos of small cats, people who share photos of everything they eat, people who make public declarations of love. 2. you are going to write a manifesto to criticise these attitudes. agree on a theme: i think we can write a manifesto criticising people who share everything they eat on social networks. 3. write your manifesto using several short paragraphs and publish it online. 4. read other manifestos and like whichever you prefer. which manifesto met the greatest success?” (entre nous 3, 2016: 70). phase 3 of the instructions shows that digital platforms are perceived as publishing tools rather than as text editors allowing collaboration. here, digital writing is presented as a linear process (search for ideas, drafting, publication) which does not combine the different possible modes, i.e., iconic, linguistic, and auditory modes. digital writing tasks: simulated tasks or authentic real-life tasks? the first reading reveals that through the proposed scenarios, the authors of handbooks appear to take into account new uses of writing brought about by the digital revolution. indeed, they propose a wide range of different genres of news events which learners are expected to write about in a specific digital environment: we noted that proposed tasks mainly required writings predominantly presented in an exposition format when learners were asked to design articles for web pages (65), blogs (5) slide shows, and platforms for the presentation of expositions (5). below is a good example: “our propaganda page. 1) you are going to write one page of a propaganda newspaper. first, think about unusual, funny and boring news and share your ideas amongst yourselves. 53 table 2. reported digital writing tasks. ������ ��� � �� ����� � �� �� � ������� ������ ����� ������� ���� ������ �� ������ � � ������ ��������� � � ������� ��������� � � ���� ��� ��������� � ������ �� ��� ���������� ����� � !� "!� # � � $� !� %&%� � 2) put your ideas together under different headings: funny, boring, incredible... then come up with a title for your newspaper’s page. 3) in groups of two, write “a false article” using the question technique (when? who? what? where? how? why?) 4) group your false information articles together to make your newspaper headline. tips: to choose the title of your newspaper, get ideas from existing newspapers. to get inspiration for your propaganda, look at the “miscellaneous” section of real newspapers. you can use the site http://clonezone.link/” (entre nous 3, 2016, p.154). there are therefore few interactive writing opportunities in this corpus of 101 writing tasks instructions. moreover, an in-depth reading of the instructions shows that the handbooks do not necessarily call for authentic digital writing tasks but rather, simulated digital writing tasks that can be performed on paper. in a total of 101 writing tasks, 23 were expected to be performed on a digital platform but 78 of them called for the simulated writing of e-mails on paper. in the handbook entre nous 2 (2015), these tasks were actually placed in the “written production” section portrayed by a logo… represented by a pencil. for example, below is a creative writing assignment that could, almost word for word, be included in a handbook published in the 1990s, i.e., dating back to the second generation of communicative approach handbooks. however, in 1990, the platform cited would have been a “letters to the editor” section of a printed newspaper rather than a forum. below are the instructions published in 2015: “written production d. you read this message on a forum and you write a post to talk about your experience. psycho the encounter that changed my life you too have met someone at an important moment in your life? someone 54 table 3. authentic digital writing tasks. ������ ��� � �� ����� � �� �� � � ����������� ����� ������� ���� ������ �� ������ � � ������ ��������� � � ������� ��������� � � ���� ��� ��������� � ������ �� ��� ���������� ����� � !� "� "!� #� !� $� %$� � who has changed your life? tell us about the circumstances of this encounter and how they have changed your life” (entre nous 2, 2015: 180). in this handbook, published in 2015, the writing task was to be carried out on paper. our corpus thus only has 23 real digital writing tasks. what can be said of the role these writing tasks play in teaching sequences? how are authentic digital writing tasks taken into account within actual lessons it is worth mentioning that the space accorded to digital writing during lessons varies according to the length of the text to be produced. when the task involves brief messages such as e-mails or messages written in response to a message posted in a forum, it can be placed within a lesson, for instance, after a reading assignment. in such an event, it is part of a scenario such as in the example below: “pierre saw these two advertisements (throw your party in a circus tent an ice bar for a memorable event!) which gave him ideas to organise his wife’s birthday party. choose one of the two events and write pierre’s email requesting further information.” (entre nous 2, 2015, p.115). however, in our entire corpus, the 14 tasks requesting the production of longer texts were placed at the end of the lesson. in edito niveau b2 (2010), and according to the foreword to the guide, one or two pages titled “workshops” are proposed at the end of each lesson to carry out group tasks/projects and interact in an authentic, fun and creative way. the authors specify that learners will be able to reuse the knowledge acquired throughout the lesson by using their creativity (édito niveau b2, 2010, educational guide). the handbook suggests that they should create, as a class, a real food blog using overblog.com as a platform and drawing inspiration from online culinary blogs. there is a clear desire to make a connection between lessons and educational projects in each of the handbooks. the totem collection also focuses on writing tasks which are to be carried out in a collaborative manner within a global project. for example, totem 2 has eight files and each file contains an agreement page, four lessons, double page grouping activities that can be re-used and an “action” page proposing a project. the project can be a writing project such as the drafting of a biographical dictionary to be published on the class site (totem 2, 2014, p.48). the promotional brochure of the entre nous collection published by éditions maison des langues displays, as a distinctive feature, “lesson clearly organised and structured around the achievement of final tasks” which can lead, for example, to the collective accomplishment of a newsflash of current positive events on a mobile device (entre nous 3, 2016, p.154). while digital writing is thus taken into account during the implementation of writing projects, its location at the end of lessons in our corpus shows that it is perceived as the climax of lessons learned in subsequent activities (grammar, vocabulary, conjugation). it is the culmination of an entire scenario. what can be said of how the specificities of digital writing are taught? 55 discussion to analyse how the authors of the handbooks expected to develop learners’ digital and language skills, we drew on two generic features of digital writing identified by lacelle and lebrun (2015), i.e., multimodality and hypertextuality (see 2.2.). in addition to these two features, we also focused on the hybridity of digital texts, in terms of both oral and written contexts. multimodality although digital technology has facilitated and increased the text-image association and included the sound dimension, it must be said that our corpus of handbooks encouraged learners neither to write using various semiotic forms (written, image, sound, video) nor to explore the possibilities of multimedia writing. much like the instructions below, the other instructions in our corpus did not develop learners’ knowledge concerning the possibilities of multimodal writing: “communication 5. how will you do it? you feel overwhelmed by the digital world and like you are no longer free. in groups of two, imagine, orally, what you can do to disconnect. 6. detox and freedom in groups of two, create the home page of the site www.detoxetliberte.” this is a simulated task where, admittedly, learners are encouraged to develop their language skills, but using print-based media. hypertextuality one in the 23 instructions identified in real digital writing tasks (see table 3) referred to hypertextuality. “workshops you are going to write a travel diary. you will give a step-by-step account of a one-week trip: departure, date of arrival, different events, highlights. to this end, you will use photos, write and collect texts, and you will possibly add a video (or not) and links like on a travel blog if you want to share your trip online. approach: form groups of three or four people” (édito niveau b2, 2010, p.65). this unique instruction evokes hypermedia writing that connects hypertextuality and multimedia and encourages learners to choose the media and modes best suited to what they want to express. hybridity it is worth noting that the processes highlighting the hybrid nature of digital writing are 56 not covered in the ffl handbooks in our corpus except in the form of practical exercises in some workbooks. similarly, no tasks in our corpus initiated learners to the writing of tweets. the handbooks focused only on observable language forms and required linear writing, much like in the instructions below: “give the best image of yourself a. look at the pictures accompanying these tweets. in your opinion, what is the topic of the tweet thread? discuss about this in small groups. b. read the twitter feed. what are respondents’ opinions and arguments? c. read the twitter feed and highlight the expressions that approve or disapprove the topic. then, fill in the table. join the discussion by posting your own tweet. respect the short format” (entre nous 3, 2016: 70). the only constraint imposed by this platform here is to respect the prescribed length by writing a message which respects a given number of characters. a tweet, however, is a medium which uses several categories of clickable language and techno-language forms which delinearise statements (paveau, 2013). conclusion the analysis of the 101 writing instructions revealed that the developers of ffl handbooks in our corpus are yet to develop effective practices of digital writing. indeed, out of the 101 tasks identified, learners were invited to carry out 88 simulated digital writing tasks. the greater emphasis on simulated digital writing tasks in handbooks is probably linked to the absence of a curriculum strategy to develop digital literacy skills that could accompany the development of the language skills defined by the cefr. at a time when learners are living in a world of multimodal texts, authors of ffl handbooks have not yet begun to take into account available research findings relative to the relationship between literacy and digital technology to implement, within ffl classes, digital writing lessons that take all these dimensions into account. 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(2003). la recherche appliquée en pédagogie. des modèles pour l’enseignement. de boeck supérieur. received: january 1, 2018 accepted: february 2, 2018 59 182_josd_template original article possible application of virtual reality in geography teaching ivan stojšić1*, anđelija ivkov džigurski1, olja maričić2, ljubica ivanović bibić1, smiljana đukičin vučković1 1 university of novi sad, faculty of sciences, department of geography, tourism, and hotel management, novi sad, republic of serbia 2 university of novi sad, faculty of education in sombor, sombor, republic of serbia *email: ivan.stojsic@yahoo.com abstract virtual reality represents simulated three-dimensional environment created by hardware and software, which providing realistic experience and possibility of interaction to the end-user. benefits provided by immersive virtual reality in educational setting were recognised in the past decades, however mass application was left out due to the lack of development and high price. intensive development of new platforms and virtual reality devices in the last few years started up with oculus rift, and subsequently accelerated in the year 2014 by occurrence of google cardboard. nowadays, for the first time in history, immersive virtual reality is available to millions of people. in the mid 2015 google commenced developing expeditions pioneer program aiming to massively utilise the google cardboard platform in education. expeditions and other vr apps can enhance geography teaching and learning. realistic experience acquired by utilisation of virtual reality in teaching process significantly overcome possibilities provided by images and illustrations in the textbook. besides literature review on usage of virtual reality in education this paper presents suggestion of vr mobile apps that can be used together with the google cardboard head mounted displays (hmds) in geography classes, thereby emphasising advantages and disadvantages as well as possible obstacles which may occur in introducing the immersive virtual reality in the educational process. keywords: geography education; google cardboard; immersive virtual reality, innovations in teaching; virtual education. introduction modern education which has to prepare the individual for fast-changing society is not possible to conduct without adjustment to the global development and influence of the new technologies to all segments of human life (milutinović, 2008). nowadays, children grow up in the media environment where usage of computers, the internet and mobile devices is part of everyday life, representing both challenge and development possibility for educational institutions (andevski, vidaković, & arsenijević, 2014; arnold, 2015; hussein & nätterdal, 2015; kőrösi & esztelecki, 2015). digital competence is one of the 11 general and cross-subjects competencies in the educational system of the republic of serbia dedicated to the completion of high school education in which the aim is providing students with skills to utilise resources in the field of information and communication technologies (ict) in everyday life, education and fujournal of subject didactics, 2016 vol. 1, no. 2, 83-96, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.438169 ture job (zavod za vrednovanje kvaliteta obrazovanja i vaspitanja, 2013). a lot of programs for permanent professional development of the teaching staff provide capacity for acquiring digital competencies, thus it is necessary to emphasise that for the school years 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 there was accredited program “electronic communications in enhancing the teaching – m-learning” whose main topics were: android apps, mobile internet in education and use of mobile devices in education (kőrösi & esztelecki, 2015; zavod za unapređenje obrazovanja i vaspitanja, 2014, 2016). andevski et al. (2014) conducted the research during the school year 2013/2014 on use of the internet in teaching and learning on the sample of 175 high school students and 32 teachers. the results of this research showed that 69.9% of students had their own computer and that 88% used the internet at home, while 81.5% of teachers used the internet often (andevski et al., 2014). popadić (2011) pointed out that contemporary students are interested in modern technologies and they are computer literate, however it is necessary to direct their interests and use of modern technologies to utilisation in learning process. numerous papers were written on possibilities and methods of application of computers and the internet in geography classes (see ivkov-džigurski, ivanović, & pašić, 2009; popadić, 2011; živković & jovanović, 2006). when it comes to formal use of mobile devices in teaching, serbia is left behind since schools mostly forbid use of mobile phones during classes (kőrösi & esztelecki, 2015). sung, chang, and liu (2016) conducted a meta-analysis of the effects of mobile devices in teaching and learning in which 108 experimental and quasi-experimental journal articles published during the period from 1993 until 2013 were analyzed. the results of this meta-analysis showed that learning with mobile devices is significantly more effective than traditional lecture-style teaching or desktop-computer-based instruction (mean effect size of 0.523, according to hattie’s criterion represents a medium effect size). additionally 22 experimental studies (in which affective variables were involved) were analyzed and positive impact of the application of mobile devices on motivation, satisfaction and attitudes toward education were determined (mean effect size of 0.433, according to hattie’s criterion represents a medium effect size). also, the authors noticed that the use of mobile phones in education increased significantly since 2009 with positive trend (sung et al., 2016). golijanin et al. (2014) pointed out that nowadays high school students cannot imagine their lives without mobile phones, and in their research 75% of students reported that they used their mobile devices for communication on social networks during the classes, but they also used their smartphones to browse information teacher was talking about (half of the students). kőrösi & esztelecki (2015) explored the use of mobile phones in schools in vojvodina (republic of serbia). in this research 455 elementary and high school students (age 1118) together with 49 teachers took part. the results showed that 71.8% of students (age 11-14 = 68.22%, and age 15-18 = 73.46%) and 45.8% of teachers had mobile phone and that 69.37% of students already used their mobile devices for learning (e.g. for browsing and gathering information and making notes). the use of mobile devices in teaching was supported by majority of students and teachers in possession of smartphones, while teachers who did not possess them quite often were poorly informed about didactical possibilities of mobile devices (kőrösi & esztelecki, 2015). yap (2016) pointed out the importance of smart mobile phones which students possess and possibility of their application for educational purpose. data on possession and use of mobile phones are important when considering implementation of byod (bring i. stojšić et al.84 your own device) or byot (bring your own technology) programs which already have been implemented in many schools worldwide (arnold, 2015; kőrösi & esztelecki, 2015; mclean, 2016; yap, 2016). implementation and use of virtual reality (vr) in education is naturally linked to the teaching and learning using computers and the internet (pantelidis, 2009) and educational apps and mobile devices (hussein & nätterdal, 2015). virtual reality and education gatalo et al. (2006) emphasized that development of virtual reality started with the machine (which provided the user with the sense of flying) constructed by edwin link in 1929, and sensorama device constructed by morton heilig in the beginning of 1960s. freina & ott (2015) stressed that term virtual reality originates from the early 60s of the last century and that there are two different types of virtual reality, immersive and non-immersive. non-immersive vr is based on computer generated environment and simulates real or imaginary places which can be accessed by computer, while immersive (or complete) virtual reality creates perception of presence in simulated environment and demands use of additional devices, mostly hmd (head mounted display) (freina & ott, 2015). merchant, goetz, cifuentes, keeney-kennicutt, and davis (2014) emphasized that immersive vr was beyond schools’ budget, that quality of instructional design of virtual environment was poor and that there were many inconveniences in using old hmds. while immersive vr was in stagnation, non-immersive (computer-based) vr developed rapidly following the development of computers. this technology (non-immersive vr) found its place in k-12 and higher education in the form of using games, simulations and virtual worlds (such as second life). merchant et al. (2014) conducted a meta-analysis of non-immersive virtual reality use in education and examined 13 studies in the category of games, 29 studies in the category of simulations and 27 studies in the category of virtual worlds. the results of this meta-analysis showed that all of them (games, simulations and virtual worlds) had positive influence on learning outcome and that games gave better results comparing to simulations and virtual worlds (merchant et al., 2014). in the last few years, especially in 2016, significant progress was achieved in the development of immersive vr devices causing new way of thinking on possibilities to utilise this technology in education. this paper discusses possible application of immersive virtual reality in geography teaching process. immersive virtual reality can be defined as computer generated three-dimensional environment available in real-time and in compliance to end-user behaviour (nadrljanski, 2003) by applying special hardware-software aids (gatalo et al., 2006). hussein & nätterdal (2015) pointed out that immersive vr is a collection of hardware (pc or mobile, hmd and tracking sensors) and software to deliver an immersive experience. recent definition of vr was proposed by lavalle (2016, p. 1): “inducing targeted behaviour in an organism by using artificial sensory stimulation, while the organism has little or no awareness of the interference.”. virtual reality is based on the senses of sight, hearing and touch (gatalo et al., 2006), while freina & ott (2015) emphasized that for the complete immersion in a virtual environment all five senses should be involved, however the focus is on sight and hearing. jorgić (2014) stressed out that virtual education can be defined as a process of knowledge, skills and habits acquisition in simulated (computer generated), three-dimensional auditory and tactile environment in real time and in compliance to the end-user behavior. according to vilotijević & vilotijević (2008) virtual reality is three dimensional computer virtual reality in geography teaching 85 generated simulation which student experiences in real-time and the interaction is complete and real. spatial immersion into virtual reality creates perception of being physically present in a non-physical world (freina & ott, 2015), student feels its presence in virtual surrounding and that he/she is part of it (pantelidis, 2009). virtual reality allows active learning as a first person experience (savičić & egić, 2010), which is contrary to what schools usually promote (learning by using symbols and the “third person” experience) (winn, 1993). auditive one-way approach (mostly engaging students’ hearing) dominates in traditional educational process while virtual education provides more substantial possibilities and it is more visually advanced (jorgić, 2014). most researchers agree that there are important educational and motivational potential in utilisation of immersive virtual reality in teaching and learning (freina & ott, 2015; hussein & nätterdal, 2015; martín-gutiérrez, mora, añorbe-díaz, & gonzález-marrero, 2017; mikropoulos, 1996; pantelidis, 2009; savičić i egić, 2010; yap, 2016; youngblut, 1997). constructivism stands out as the best theoretical basis for the development of vr educational contents (martín-gutiérrez et al., 2017; pantelidis, 2009; savičić & egić, 2010; winn, 1993; youngblut, 1997). vr systems and devices the roots of immersive vr can be traced to the development of hmds (winn, 1993). ivan sutherland constructed the first hmd device in 1968 that could track position of the user and generate stereoscopic image for left and right eye (gatalo et al., 2006). over the past decades a lot of different (diverse software and hardware) devices based on hmd system were developed, which allowed the user audio and visual experience of virtual environment where navigation and interaction was possible by head motion or by haptic accessories, mostly haptic gloves (savičić & ergić, 2010). small screen resolution (hmd consists of a helmet with two displays, one for each eye) represented significant problem in the past (gatalo et al., 2006), as well as the price which amounted to more than 15,000 usd at the end of the past century, preventing massive use (youngblut, 1997). besides hmd devices for immersive vr, cave (cave automatic virtual environment) system was also developed. cave is a device for immersive vr where virtual environment is projected in square space. users wear polarised glasses in order to obtain 3d virtual environment, and by assistance of additional equipment they perform navigation and interaction with the environment. however, high price of cave device prevented the widespread use (gatalo et al., 2006). in the beginning of the 1990s massive use of devices for immersive vr was announced, but due to the high price and numerous limitations and imperfection of hmd devices from that time which couldn’t fulfil user’s expectation this attempt failed on the market (lavalle, 2016; mclellan, 2004). afterwards, the use of immersive vr was limited to vr laboratories at universities, and in specialised military, engineering and medical fields (mclellan, 2004). until few years ago, immersive vr was not available to most of the population, especially was not available for application in elementary and high schools (hussein & nätterdal, 2015; merchant et al., 2014; yap, 2016). intensive development of new devices for immersive vr started with oculus rift, and accelerated in the year 2014 with occurrence of google cardboard hmd. lavalle (2016) pointed out that we are attending the rebirth of immersive vr. oculus rift (https://www3.oculus.com/en-us/rift/) was the first affordable, comfortable and lightweight computer assisted hd vr hmd device with stereoscopic displays and i. stojšić et al.86 ultra wide field of view. the first prototype version of this device occurred in the year 2012, after successful kickstarter campaign by palmer luckey, where 2.4 million dollars were collected for realization of this project, and the company was sold later on to facebook (hussein & nätterdal, 2015; lavalle, 2016). success of oculus rift reverted the interest of this technology and set the immersive vr together with augmented reality (ar) into the focus of investments in new technologies (martín-gutiérrez et al., 2017). “health and safety warnings” guidelines for the oculus rift recommend that children under 13 should not use the device (freina & ott, 2015). samsung gear vr (https://www3.oculus.com/en-us/gear-vr/) is a smartphone assisted wireless hmd vr device that uses the oculus platform (lavalle, 2016; martíngutiérrez et al., 2017). until now seven models of samsung galaxy smartphones support different versions of this device. like the oculus rift, the samsung gear vr is not recommended for children under 13. htc vive (https://www.vive.com/eu/) is a computer assisted vr hmd device, providing 360º immersive experience and with the help of laser position sensors users can move within the tracking space (martín-gutiérrez et al., 2017). google cardboard (https://vr.google.com/cardboard/) is a platform for immersive vr developed by google in 2014 which uses smartphone and cheap cardboard (or plastic) hmd. due to its popular price (cheapest models are few dollars only) it enables anyone in possession of supported smartphone to jump into the world of virtual reality (defanti, 2016; papaefthymiou, plelis, mavromatis, & papagiannakis, 2015). the google cardboard hmd is produced by various manufacturers and can be used with both android and ios smartphones (yap, 2016). instructions for independent development of the google cardboard hmd viewer is available at: https://www.google.com/get/cardboard/ get-cardboard/. one of the most comprehensive lists of mobile devices that work with the google cardboard hmd viewers is available at: https://www.freeflyvr.com/compatible/. google also developed new platform for immersive vr called daydream (https://vr.google.com/daydream/). daydream is more enhanced version of google cardboard, but currently the biggest lack of this platform is that daydream hmd operates only with google pixel and motorola moto z models of smartphones. new vr hmds devices are available in massive proportion, more advanced and cheaper than similar devices available in previous decades, but still there are certain problems such as demanded computer features in order to support the oculus rift and the htc vive (computers in our schools probably do not meet requested demands), also the samsung gear vr and the daydream hmd operates only with few smartphone models which are very pricey. currently google cardboard is the most suitable option for use in schools. for successful learning by applying immersive vr devices, proper preparation is required (vilotijević & vilotijević, 2008). implementation of immersive vr technology besides financial investment demands thoroughly planning, training of teaching staff and students, as well as continued support in order to ensure efficient and safe use (savičić & egić, 2010). a brief review of the literature following the history of virtual reality mclellan (2004) pointed out that during the 60s and 70s of the 20th century air force established a laboratory at wright-patterson air force base in ohio in order to develop flight simulator using the hmd device with aim to ease virtual reality in geography teaching 87 on learning. taking into account sources about the usage of immersive vr in education pantelidis (2009) stated that significant use and researches started during the 1980s, but mclellan (2004) noted that popularity lasted up to the beginning of 1990s only, when due to unfulfilled expectation the interest for this technology decreased, however researches continued in smaller extent mostly at universities. mikropoulos (1997) conducted pilot research in which 8 physics students participated. students were presented with the content of laser principles and engineering by application of desktop computer assisted hmd device. results showed that students successfully mastered vr educational content. one of the students had problem with navigation, while half of the students felt occasionally disoriented in virtual environment. vr is important, as the author stated, since it enables understanding through research and it can help in processing the abstract educational contents which are often in the science education (mikropoulos, 1997). natsis, vrellis, papachristos, & mikropoulos (2012) researched the importance of presence and application of various viewing conditions (stereoscopic vs. monoscopic) in educational virtual environment (eve). research was conducted on 98 students from the university of ioannina (greece) with the educational content on ancient greek pottery, but 2 students gave up due virtual sickness. this research showed that learning outcomes were better with monoscopic display. the level of interaction, realistic presentation and clarity of the virtual environment and its objects, as well as students’ engagement in learning are more important than stereoscopic view. the authors pointed out that stereoscopic display can significantly influence learning outcome, but it depends on the topic of the learning units (natsis et al., 2012). passing (2009) in his meta-analysis criticised numerous papers since they created methodological confusion in the literature on usage of vr in education. significant number of authors didn’t use appropriate methodologies in forecasting trends for future usage of vr in education. the author also provided detailed overview of studies in which use of virtual reality in educational settings was successful (passing, 2009). there is a growing number of studies and papers dealing with the implementation of new hmd devices (oculus rift, samsung gear vr, htc vive, google cardboard hmd and others) in teaching and learning (see bastiaens, wood, & reiners, 2014; bower & sturman, 2015; castaneda & pacampara, 2016; defanti, 2016; freina & ott, 2015; hussein & nätterdal, 2015; lartigue, scoville, & pham, 2014; polcar & horejsi, 2015; schuster, groß, vossen, richert, & jeschke, 2015; yap, 2016). freina & ott (2015) analysed literature published during 2013 and 2014 related to the use of immersive vr in education. significant number of papers was written on usage of this technology in university and high school education (especially in the field of medicine, physics, astronomy, chemistry and computer science). notable number of published papers was in the field of adult education and training. much lesser number of published papers was related to elementary education (authors explained this with the facts that oculus rift is not recommendable for children under 13 years of age, and they didn’t find any paper dealing with the usage of immersive virtual reality in teaching and learning process with children under the age of 10). the smallest number of papers was related to the use of this technology with children with special needs (freina & ott, 2015). polcar & horejsi (2015) researched differences in cyber sickness and knowledge acquiring by applying pc (non-immersive vr), stereoscopic wall projection with 3d glasses (type of cave system) and oculus rift dk2. this research included 45 students and the i. stojšić et al.88 results showed that stereoscopic wall projection caused the most of cyber sickness, thus oculus rift dk2 caused considerable discomfort and the least inconvenience is caused by pc. equally good results in terms of knowledge acquiring showed the use of stereoscopic projection and pc, while the result of the oculus rift dk2 was failed for one third. the authors explained worse results with the use of the oculus rift with the facts that the respondents were not accustomed to this new technology, that they used a dk2 version of the oculus rift which is not the final version but development one, and that the cyber sickness is distracting obstacle (polcar & horejsi, 2015). hussein & nätterdal (2015) conducted a qualitative research (by interviewing the participants) to determine the difference between mobile non-vr application and vr application with the same educational content in astronomy. total of 25 students (from gothenburg university and lagmans high school in vara) and teachers/researchers (from university of gothenburg and chalmers and lagmans high school) participated in this research. the samsung gear vr was used. when it comes to usefulness, 11 participants stated that vr app was more useful than non-vr app, 6 participants stated that both applications were equally useful, while 8 of them selected mobile non-vr app as more useful. when it comes to effectiveness 21 participants selected vr app, while 3 of them stated that both applications were equals effective. answering to the question which application they would rather select, 23 participants selected vr version of the application. as advantages of vr application participants stated that they were more focused and that they felt as if the content presented via virtual reality was more interesting comparing to the same contents presented via mobile application, and that virtual reality could provide a different perspective of the educational content. as disadvantages of vr application, participants stated that it was hard for them to read the text and that safe environment is a must while using vr apps, because they lost the touch with real environment. the results of this study also showed that 16 out of 25 participants had no negative symptoms while using vr app, 6 felt slight inconveniences, while 3 participants felt motion sickness (hussein & nätterdal, 2015). yap (2016) conducted a research using the google cardboаrd hmds and 360º video processing the module on history of hawaii. the results of this research showed that all participants (26 in total, grade 9) were satisfied by using the google cardboаrd hmds. post-test results were significantly better comparing to the pre-test results and 83% of participants believed that the use of google cardboаrd could make it easier to remember the educational content due to the 3d factor. it is important to emphasise that 75% of students expressed that this platform should be used in english, math, science, and social studies, and 87% of students independently downloaded additional vr apps for google cardboаrd (yap, 2016). martín-gutiérrez et al. (2017) extracted four main aspects of advantages in using virtual technologies (vr and ar): • virtual technologies raise motivation and engagement of students since immersive experience makes them feel like protagonists, and 3d models enrich learning experience. • virtual technologies enable a constructivist learning approach. students have free interaction with virtual objects which enables them to research, experiment and receive feedback. • virtual technologies (vr/ar) became available and it is of significant importance that they are available via smartphones, tablets and consoles. • virtual technologies enable more interaction comparing to traditional learning means. virtual reality in geography teaching 89 immersive experience is very important when studying the environment (with real objects) which can’t be approached in another way. google cardboard vr apps suitable for use in geography teaching mikropoulos (1996) pointed out that the need for utilisation of various media in school geography is obvious and that virtual reality is a powerful teaching tool assisting to overcome lacks of traditional instruction. romelić (2005, p. 29) noted that the geography classes should be based on observation and that observation is “in the base of every teaching situation in didactical practice of geography”. virtual reality in the geography classes opens up possibility that allow students to observe geographical objects, phenomena and processes directly in the classroom, as well as to perform analysis and synthesis (mikropoulos, 1996). it is not appropriate to use vr devices with every teaching material. educational contents must be carefully selected in order to application of immersive vr increase their obviousness and understanding (pantelidis, 2009). when selecting vr educational content it is necessary to take into account that they have to be in compliance with the objective of the lesson and must contribute to the achievement of educational outcomes and standards of the subject. google cardboard is a vr platform which due to its low cost, mobility and simplicity to use can be used in geography classes and for independent learning (in case when schools, students or teachers are in possession of applicable smartphones). this vr platform can be used with children over the age of 7, but under teacher or parent control. many mobile apps that support google cardboard vr platform were developed in recent years, and some of them have educational features. vr apps which can be used in geography education are: • cardboard application (https://vr.google.com/cardboard/) is the basic app for google cardboard and it is important for geography teaching because it contains vr version of google earth. the google earth program provides possibility of detailed view of earth surface and certain parts, which makes them more visible, and at the same time lectures are more interesting (ivkov-džigurski et al., 2009). • expeditions application (https://www.google.com/edu/expeditions/) was developed as part of the expeditions pioneer program, which began to develop in mid-2015 under the section of google that deals with education. this vr app offers the possibility for teachers to take their students on virtual tours. each trip is collection of several 360º vr panoramic photos on particular topic. with each vr panorama text is stated as an explanation together with questions for students on three levels. teacher on his/her tablet (which controls the expedition and what students see on their devices) may also mark important points on the vr panorama (yap, 2016). there are more than 200 expeditions available within this vr app (defanti, 2016) and new ones are added continuously. some of the expeditions which could be used in geography classes are: astronomy; the solar system; international space station; earth timeline; rocks, minerals, and gems; fossils; a journey to the mesozoic at the senckenberg nature museum in frankfurt; volcanoes; volcanoes around the world; mount everest; mont blanc; dolomites; mount fuji; grand canyon; slovakian caves; earthquakes; stratosphere; clouds; wind; underwater excursion; lake baikal; angel falls; coral reefs; biomes; biodiversity and preservation; america`s national parks; a trip to north pole; antarctica; greenland; amazon; iceland; greece; canada; ethiopia; farming in tanzania; namibia; egypt; south africa; singapore; kathmandu; moscow; venice; sites i. stojšić et al.90 along the thames river; aztec and mayan ruins; machu picchu; petra; native american cultures; 7 new wonders of the world; taj mahal; the great wall of china and many more. each panorama can be used individually, so teachers can use them flexibly. numerous blogs and groups on social networking sites are dedicated to the use of vr and the google cardboard hmds in teaching. besides of exchange of teaching experiences, additional materials can be also found, as well as numerous written preparation for classes with expeditions vr app. • street view application provides possibility to display all contents of this app in stereoscopic view. cities, world sightseeing places, nature, museums and galleries can be explored with this mobile app. also, this app provides possibility for making vr panoramic images (defanti, 2016). • mobile apps such as: titans of space; view-master® space; mars is a real place vr; star chart vr; startracker vr and similar can be used in processing certain contents of mathematical geography. • eon experience avr (http://www.eonreality.com/eon-experience-avr/) is a mobile app which combines augmented and virtual reality and contains gamified educational contents in the field of anatomy, biology, geography, history, physics, astronomy and other subjects. some of the contents of this app which can be used in geography teaching are: planetarium, earth continents, earth tropics, earth oceans, arizona crater as well as numerous vr video materials from different countries. • sitesvr is an app that provides the possibility of sightseeing religious objects, archaeological sites, museums, fortifications, and nature in many countries (turkey, egypt, saudi arabia, syria, morocco, kuwait, yemen, macedonia, belgium, and france). • cardboard camera is an app that enables capture of 360º panoramic images. this app may have application in the realization of the contents about local environment, and also can be used during the fieldwork or excursions. it is also possible to make 360º video materials with special cameras like: samsung gear 360, lg 360 cam, giroptic 360cam, gopro odyssey, nokia ozo and similar. • other mobile vr apps that can be used are: youtube 360° videos; discovery vr; view-master® destinations; vr cities; ascape, etc. possibility that the users can make immersive vr contents has become a reality (martín-gutiérrez et al., 2017). teachers and students in addition to making vr 360º photos and videos can build vr apps for the google cardboard hmd, and game engine unity can be used for this purpose. also, teachers can create educational vr contents through various mobile apps and their corresponding creators (such as cospaces, entiti, crowdvr 360, eon studio and similar). navigation provided by the google cardboard hmd (head motion and magnetic trigger or button for touching the screen) is not suitable for all vr apps. some vr apps require additional controllers, such as cardboard controller with qr codes, or using bluetooth gamepad or keyboard (other mobile device can be used as a controller as well). leap motion vr, which is assessed as one of the best options for interaction in immersive vr, can be used with the google cardboard hmd, but must be connected with the computer and the smartphone (papaefthymiou et al., 2015). certain applications offer possibility of voice utilisation. the google cardboard hmd is the most applicable device for immersive vr that can be used in our schools, however it should be stressed out that the disadvantages and possible obstacles are still numerous: virtual reality in geography teaching 91 • school regulations and teachers often prohibit the use of mobile devices during the classes (kőrösi & esztelecki, 2015). also, implementation of byot/byod programs is still not recognised as an option in the educational system of the republic of serbia. • problem with availability of the wifi internet in the classrooms (because most vr apps requires connection to the internet). • costs of purchasing applicable smartphones and the google cardboard hmds (for classroom group work it would take at least 6 mobile devices and 6 google cardboard hmds, as well as a tablet for teacher). • limited digital competencies of our teachers and their insufficient knowledge of vr technology represent a significant problem. trainings for teachers should be organized. • children safe use of the google cardboard hmd is possible by adult assistance only, also time limitation is recommended. • google cardboard uses the built-in accelerometer of phones which can lag causing discomfort and motion sickness for many users (hussein & nätterdal, 2015). there is a solution for this problem because most of the vr apps (including the expeditions app) provide possibility to switch view from stereoscopic to monoscopic (in such cases vr contents can be followed only on a mobile device without a google cardboard hmd). conclusion due to its unique features virtual reality differs from other information and communication technologies (mikropoulos & bellou, 2006). the level of interactivity which virtual reality can provide is way beyond traditional multimedia programs (mclellan, 2003) and vr can change the way of interaction between students and teaching materials (pantelidis, 2009). virtual environments and 3d objects can explain certain educational contents that text cannot, and those are unique benefits of vr applicable in education (hussein & nätterdal, 2015). bastiaens et al. (2014) pointed out that vr software tools can be used to bring textbook content to life. virtual reality promotes active learning and enables better concentration since students are focused on virtual environment with a strong sense of presence within (hussein & nätterdal, 2015). non-immersive (computer-based) vr has already found its place in education via application of simulation, games and virtual worlds, however immersive vr had no significant application up till now. advantages of immersive vr were marked in past decades, together with disadvantages, but massive application in education was left out due to insufficient development and high price. success of oculus rift in 2012 led to new interest for this technology. in the past few years, especially in 2016, a lot of new devices and platforms for immersive vr were developed (commercial version of the oculus rift, new version of the samsung gear vr, the htc vive, daydream, etc.). google cardboard vr platform which uses smart mobile phones is currently the most cost-effective for use in schools. more than million students worldwide had the opportunity to test and use virtual reality with google cardboard hmds via expeditions pioneer program, since schools received equipment from google. expeditions and other vr apps for google cardboard can enhance geography education as well as to increase obviousness and interestingness of educational contents. experience and the extent of realisticity that can be obtained by vr cannot be compared to other teaching tools traditionally used in geography instruction, but good selection of vr educational resources with keeping in mind educational outcomes and standards is i. stojšić et al.92 necessary. the changes that took place in technology and in the global society and economy also have changed the roles of teachers in schools. teachers in modern classrooms are more facilitators than lecturers, and application of new technologies can help them with new roles. most previous studies on the usage of immersive vr in educational settings were performed on small samples. results of large-scale studies are needed. common feedback from participants in the previous studies showed that the teaching content became more interesting with vr and that students' motivation was increased, while significant drawbacks such as motion sickness still exist. pantelidis (2009) pointed out that disadvantages of introducing immersive vr in schools are above all price of devices and need for training of the end-users, together with safety and health issues which might occur and possible repulsion against new technologies. listed disadvantages are present even today but in various degrees. further development of immersive vr will continue to bring new devices and improved vr educational software, but empirical testing of efficiency of this technology in geography teaching is required. acknowledgements: the paper is a part of the project no. 114-451-2080/2016 financed by the provincial secretariat for science and technological development of the autonomous province of vojvodina, serbia references andevski, m., vidaković, m., & arsenijević, o. 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(2006). realizacija oblika i metoda rada upotrebom kompjutera u nastavi geografije [realization of the form and methods of work through the use of computer in teaching geography]. zbornik radova geografski fakultet univerziteta u beogradu, 54, 249-260. virtual reality in geography teaching 95 received: january 22, 2017 accepted: march 18, 2017 i. stojšić et al.96 167_josd_template original article the discourse for the integration of ict in stem education: attitudes expressed in texts on education in greece (1984-2006) katerina nikolakopoulou, gerasimos koustourakis, vassilis komis and konstantinos ravanis* department of educational sciences and early childhood education, university of patras, greece *email: ravanis@upatras.gr abstract in this article an attempt is made to study the attitudes in the “discourse” on the integration of information and communication technologies (ict) in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (stem) education in greece during the critical period 1984-2006, the period when the most important programme related to this integration was completed. the approach to the discourse was carried out using quality analysis of texts in the journal “contemporary education” through the use of a specialized methodological tool. the results of the analysis revealed that until the middle of the period being examined, there was a strong tendency to adopt attitudes that claimed that the integration of icts would bring about and/or should bring about minimal change, while in recent years attitudes which adopt the perspective of real influence of icts in the change in teaching practices have started to increase. keywords: attitudes towards ict; discourse analysis; ict in stem education theoretical framework the concept of discourse from foucault’s theoretical framework is suitable for the analysis of various meanings and perceptions which are expressed on a particular issue by the social subjects, like the integration of icts into teaching action (whisnant, 2012). discourse comprises a culturally constructed reproduction of reality at a specific historical period which is created, maintained, put forward and promoted by the socially powerful, who use the available means of communication for this purpose (foucault, 1972; pitsoe & letseka, 2013). so, discourse appears as a political good promoted by bodies who exercise power, aimed at the predominance of a dominant view which is passed off as “truth” (jones & ball, 1994, p. 171). such a version of the truth may constitute a demonstration of the need for the utilization of icts in the teaching of curriculum subjects in education. more precisely, foucault mentions that every society, at a particular moment in time aims through discourse at the shaping of its own regime of truth, which is linked to policies that promote “the establishment of domains in which the practice of true and journal of subject didactics, 2016 vol. 1, no. 2, 67-81, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.438164 false can be made at once ordered and pertinent” (foucault, 1991b, p. 79). in other words, talking about a regime of truth is an attempt to maintain that form of discourse, which is promoted as truth, with the aim of controlling the regulation of the language, thought and desire of the social subjects (foucault, 1978). and this is because discourse appears simultaneously as text, in written and oral forms, and action as it is noted in people’s everyday practices (foucault, 1977). however, discourse does not remain static but “undergoes constant changes as new utterances are added to it” (foucault, 1991a, p. 54). consequently, as far as the shaping of discourse on icts is concerned, it is important to trace the varied and as a result different versions of it, as they are expressed in the pages of scientific journals with wide resonance in educational circles. the discourse which relates to the utilization of icts in greek compulsory education was shaped by the action of the official recontextualizing field (orf), in other words, the ministry of education (bernstein, 2000), and is linked to the implementation of a new interdisciplinary curriculum which was established, applying the decisions of european leaders in lisbon in 2000 for the integration of icts in the educational process (koustourakis, 2007). here the international element proves to be dominant in the shaping of greek education policy in the area of school knowledge which contains icts as a basic element of the educational action. what’s more, for the shaping of the particular contemporary greek educational policy for icts faculty members from the greek universities who belong to the pedagogical recontextualizing field (prf) were activated within the framework of the orf, and they were activated in the sector of the new technologies and pedagogy (koustourakis & panagiotakopoulos, 2008). indeed, the prf, which is made up of the universities, the teachers, who can act either autonomously or through their trade union organizations, scientific journals, the publishing houses and the press that occupies itself with educational issues (bernstein, 2000), play a decisive role in the shaping of the attitudes and actions of the teachers concerning the integration of the icts in greek stem education. foucault perceived discourse on a particular issue, such as the discourse on icts, as a magnetic field which concentrates “the totality of all effective statements (whether spoken or written)” which is expressed following a particular set of rules “in their dispersion as events” (foucault, 1972, p. 27). in this case, the written statements of the members of the prf, which set out in a clear way, following the rules of publication for scientific articles in the pages of scientific journals through which “their attitudes”, related to the integration of icts in stem greek education, can be traced, are important. indeed, the integration of icts into education brings about significant changes in the educational process and the approach to school knowledge, which is why it is to be expected that it would be picked up on by members of the prf with the expression of differing and often opposing attitudes. fishbein & ajzen (1975, p. 6), described attitude as the “learned pre-disposition to respond in a consistently favourable and unfavourable manner with respect to a given object”, while for capan (2012) attitudes represent the intellectual evaluations of an issue based on one’s proximity or distance from it. over the past two decades, with the spread of technology in schools, a significant number of studies have been conducted related to the attitudes of teachers towards the integration of icts into the schools (jimoyiannis & komis, 2007; wen & shih, 2008). some research has been concerned with the way in which attitudes on teaching are influenced by the need to use icts in the teaching act (ertmer, 2005; goos, galbraith, renshaw, & geiger, 2003), other research focuses on the particularly positive attitudes of k. nikolakopoulou et al.68 teachers towards computers and the acceptance of their utilization for teaching (karagiorgi & charalambous, 2006; cure & ozdener, 2008; foley & ojeda, 2008) and finally, there is research that is concerned with the tracing of negative attitudes of teachers who are called on to use icts, and which range from “mild discomfort to extreme avoidance” (todman, 2000, p. 27). many studies also mention the factors which influence the teachers’ attitudes to icts. the teachers generally have positive attitudes towards the training programmes they attended, the general role that ict can play in education and the integration of ict in the educational process (jimoyiannis & komis, 2006, 2007). on occasions, the attitudes are linked to technical parameters (morris, 2010) and it is seen that when the teachers do not use the available equipment often, this happens either because they don’t possess the necessary knowledge to prepare the students to approach the new social challenges (kocak usluel, kuskaya mumcu & demiraslan, 2007) or because the teachers’ technical knowledge cannot guarantee the effective teaching of ict (schoepp, 2005). pelgrum studied the influence of the head teachers’ attitudes on ict and concluded that “there is a clear association between the attitudes of school principals and the emphasis on computer integrated learning within the school“ (1993, p. 209). trigwell, prosser & waterhouse (2009) highlighted the existence of a concatenation of relationships, which starts from the teachers’ way of thinking about teaching, the pupils’ approaches to learning and technology, the quality of learning and the learning outcomes. a number of researchers (baylor & ritchie, 2002; albirini, 2006) highlighted from the findings of their studies the existence of a strong relationship between the attitude of the teachers and the successful use of ict. any change in teaching methodology should meet the needs of learners and educators in the digital age (sharma, 2011, p. 390) and more specifically contain understanding of ‘why i’m using ict’ and not simply ‘how do i use ict’ (towndrow & vallance, 2004). the “persistent digital disconnect between the tech-intensive lives of students outside of school, and the unsatisfactory experiences provided by many schools to use technology meaningfully” (project tomorrow, 2011, p. 3) is highlighted. kay (2006) noted that the shift from computer training to the focus on “informed pedagogy” proved to be of especial significance. from ertmer et al.'s (2012) research it emerged that educators who hold 'student-centred beliefs undergird student-centred practices (authenticity, student choice, collaboration). moreover tended…to enact student-centred curricula despite technological, administrative, or assessment barriers”. in addition, from their findings it became clear that “most teachers indicated that internal factors (e.g., passion for technology, having a problem-solving mentality) and support from others (administrators and personal learning networks) played key roles in shaping their practices. teachers noted that the strongest barriers preventing other teachers from using technology were their existing attitudes and beliefs towards technology, as well as their current levels of knowledge and skills” (ertmer et al., 2012, p. 423). then, various observation scales have been created for the evaluation of the attitudes towards ict of the pupils, the teachers and the heads of the school units (rosen & weil, 1995; korukonda & finn, 2003). these scales are made up of subscales which can be summarised in four general categories: a) anxiety – avoidance – aversion to do with the prospect of the use of computers, b) self-efficacy/trust, c) enthusiasm/pleasure/amusement from the use of icts, and d) usefulness of ict/negative impact on personal and social life. rogers (1995) attempts to approach the spread of innovation and explain why some individuals adopt innovation and others don’t. in addition, he attempts to categorize these the discourse for the integration of ict in stem education in greece 69 people based on the moment in time during which they adopted them. siorenta & jimoyiannis (2008), studying the attitudes of teachers of the natural sciences in greece, ascertained the existence of three groups of teachers: a) the traditionalists, who were possessed by the attitudes of strict adherence to the presentation of the knowledge content of physics through the use of the school textbooks and who are unwilling to incorporate teaching laboratories and activities based on the use of ict in their classroom, b) the non-traditionalists, who have a learner-centred orientation and positive attitude towards the adoption of laboratories and the teaching of physics through the use of ict and c) the undecided, who waver between the traditional and the non-traditional approaches in the teaching of natural sciences and likewise in the role of the laboratory and teaching which utilizes ict (siorenta & jimoyiannis, 2008, p. 198). macleod (2005) notes the existence of two extreme teacher attitudes regarding the use of ict in teaching. some teachers are strong supporters of technological innovation, while others are unwilling to accept icts as necessary in the learning process. in the first case we find attitudes that simply see the learning of icts as an autonomous teaching goal, and restricted only in the value of the endeavour simply at a technical level. in the other case we come across the attitude that icts constitute a tool with consequences not only simply at the level of technology but at the level of social changes and reforms. these extreme positions create a continuous spectrum in which various intermediary attitudes to technology are shaped (juniu, 2005). aviram & tami (2004) recognise as attitude the discourse for the integration of icts into education, the attitude which is expressed concerning the extent and level of change to which the integration will or should lead. changes are understood as simple technical shifts in administrative or educational functions, important shifts in teaching practices, radical change in all the educational processes or even ending up at complete de-schooling. analysing attitudes to ict in education, they distinguish five categories: agnostic attitudes, expressed by those who aren’t interested in or don’t know1. what any changes are or should be. conservative, is the attitude of those who claim that schools need to survive with2. minimal change and that icts simply constitute an additional tool. moderate attitudes are supported by those who believe that with the integration3. of ict, schools will be lead to extensive change in teaching practices. radical attitude, which is founded on the belief that schools are to change radi-4. cally in all educational or administrative processes. extreme radical attitude which marks de-schooling and the end of the form of5. today’s school. since the incorporation of ict nowadays continues internationally to constitute a stake for education, the systematic recording of multiple, varied gradated attitudes on the introduction of ict in stem education, the recording of the prevailing trends and their interpretation offer important information which can be expected to influence the development of public discourse. aviram & tami (2004) note that it is important for us to investigate the issue of the integration of technologies into education below the surface and “encourage the development of a theoretical discussion, based on empirical data”, which will provide information on any shift and/or progress in the sector, contributing to the enrichment of the desired dialogue. the present research aims at the investigation of the attitudes of the authors of rek. nikolakopoulou et al.70 search and theoretical texts, which come from the prf and formulate their attitudes in the greek university scientific press between 1984 – 2006, relating to the extent and level of the suspected changes which the integration of ict may lead to in greek stem education. methodology and research questions in this research we will be occupied with the approach to the following research questions: how is the discourse on the incorporation of ict in stem education, which is• expressed through the pages of the greek scientific journal press, shaped? are there any changes in the formulation of the particular discourse on the inte-• gration of ict in greek stem education during the time period we focus our interest on? the research focusses on the content study of the scientific journal “contemporary education” which belongs to the prf (bernstein, 2000) and which had wide distribution and acceptance in educational circles from the 1980s and on, contributing to the circulation of the discourse on the incorporation of icts in greek stem education. this is because this journal publishes articles which present a variety of attitudes on the part of the authors, who belong to the prf, on the issue in question, and constitute effective statements for the acceptance, or not, of “truth” (foucault, 1972), which is promoted by the dominant discourse, which was shaped by the action of orf (education ministry) and requests the utilization of icts in the teaching process, in this way implementing the related decisions of european union leaders on education (koustourakis, 2007). this research focusses on texts published in the pages of the journal contemporary education between 1984 and 2006 and which focus on the integration of ict into education. the year 1984 marks the start of the introduction of experimental teaching of information science in greek secondary education (panagiotakopoulos & koustourakis, 2005) and 2006 is the year of publication of teaching material implementing the new curriculum for compulsory education which was established in 2002 and includes educational software for all the subjects (koustourakis, 2007). during this time a wide programme was implemented in greece which concerns the attempt to introduce ict into education, which took place with funding from the european union’s community support framework. precisely due to the attempt to implement this venture, intense discussion on ict developed and many researchers as well as educators presented research as well as theoretical texts on the issue that occupies us. consequently, our research material is made up of articles which were published in the journal contemporary education and which refer to ict and their utilization in education. qualitative content analysis was performed on these articles, during which since we defined the ‘theme’ as basic unit for data recording and the ‘article’ as context unit, and the attitudes of the authors towards ict were sought in the whole article (kripendorff, 2004). we also attempted the quantification of some data in order to record trends. the articles were analysed with the digital software nvivo 8. the units of analysis that were noted were assigned to one of the following five analysis categories, which emerge from the work of aviram & tami (2004) and reveal authors’ attitudes towards ict: agnostic attitude1. conservative attitude2. the discourse for the integration of ict in stem education in greece 71 moderate attitude3. radical attitude4. extreme radical attitude5. the five particular analysis categories were used in the study of the research material as the attitudes of the authors of the articles analysed were sought with the aim of describing the extent and level of the changes proposed by the authors themselves during the integration of ict into the educational framework and their utilization in stem teaching in greece. results from study of the contents of the journal contemporary education 97 articles which approach the relationship between ict and education were identified and analysed. it should be noted that this journal was versatile and representative of all the possible trends and attitudes from any potential author on the issue being researched during the period studied. in our analysis we distinguished 3 categories of authors, who all come from the prf and focus their interest on ict. they are faculty members in greek universities, who chiefly approach the issue through research, and teachers as much those specialised in stem education as those from the social sciences and humanities. next we will present the results of the content analysis on the attitudes towards ict as they are expressed in the articles, as much from a quantitative as from a qualitative perspective. the quantitative perspective the analysis of the ninety-seven articles revealed the trends which appear in the authors’ attitudes concerning the extent of changes brought about by the integration of ict in greek stem education. in the specific articles pinpointed 349 references on authors’ attitudes towards ict. as table 1 shows, the majority of authors adopt a conservative attitude (46.4%), while those who hold agnostic attitudes follow with a high percentage too (36.1%). a satisfactory number of authors (12.4%) have moderate attitudes towards the integration of ict in stem education, while the adoption of radical attitudes is a fairly rare choice (5.1%). it is interesting that there is an absence of extreme radical attitudes and related references to strong doubting of the existing educational system, something which is to be expected, as we will discuss next. k. nikolakopoulou et al.72 table 1. scientific articles and references by attitude to icts category in table 2 an attempt it made at correlation between the scientific specialization and the attitudes of the authors, as they are expressed through the content of the scientific journal contemporary education, on the integration of icts into the teaching process. it appears that independent of the category to which the authors belong, they chiefly adopt conservative attitudes and secondly agnostic attitudes while almost 4/5 of the radical attitudes are expressed by university faculty members. an analysis of the proposals which are expressed in the articles, leads to the ascertainment that a large percentage of the authors who adopt agnostic attitudes (34%) don’t propose the integration of ict into the teaching of particular objects of learning but almost the same percentage (31%) propose their integration into the information science lesson. similarly, the authors with conservative (52%) or radical attitudes (60%) don’t discuss the integration of ict into some particular teaching object. in contrast, moderate attitudes are accompanied primarily by proposals for the integration of icts into the natural sciences. the authors, the majority of whom are primary or secondary school teachers, tend to follow the ‘obvious’ long-established practices, without tending to utilise the dynamism of the new means and their possible contribution to educational practice and learning (miller & olson, 1995), following conservative forms of thought and practices (jimoyiannis & siorenta, 2001). from a study of the data in graph 1 the dominance of two forms of discourse on the incorporation of icts in greek stem education between 1984 and 2006 emerge. hence, in this case the effective statements, which shape the dominant attitudes of truth towards the integration of icts into the teaching practice in greek schools (foucault, 1992; jones & ball, 1994) on the part of the prf authors whose articles were analysed, focus on cases of agnostic or conservative attitudes. more specifically, the conservative attitude appears to be the prevailing form of truth for the teaching use of icts at the beginning of the 1980s when the teaching of information science was introduced into greek secondary education, as at the beginning of the 21st century when we saw the reform of the curriculum in greek compulsory education which was aimed at the implementation of the decisions of the european leaders at the treaty of lisbon in 2000 for the integration of icts the discourse for the integration of ict in stem education in greece 73 table 2. correlation between attitudes and scientific specialization of authors in their writings on the integration of icts in stem education into teaching practice (koustourakis, 2007). small changes in the development of the discourse on icts, between the two predominant attitudes, can be observed at the end of the 1990s where the version of agnostic attitudes prevails, as at the beginning of the 21st century where the agnostic co-exists with the conservative attitude while these two constitute the two dominant forms of expression of discourse on icts. the moderate attitude is noted to a small extent in the authors’ discourse in the mid 1980s. finally, moderate attitudes appear to a very small extent in published discourse after 1997. it is the moderate attitude which reappears, and the radical attitude which is noted for the first time. in essence, this is when the discussion started in greece on the reformative perspective of the integration of icts in the educational process. the qualitative perspective the qualitative approach to the articles led to the search for their fundamental assumptions, on the basis of which they were assigned to various attitude categories. the articles in which the conservative attitude was dominant were based on three main assumptions: the computer is accepted as an additional tool, a “dynamic teaching aid which1. helps children develop fundamental skills” (michaelides, 1997, p. 73) a supplement that contributes to the improvement of the teaching process and offers a “new form to the traditional way of teaching” (bairaktaris, 1984, p. 113) “many opportunities in order to present a concept better” (papadaki, 1998, p. 67) without nevertheless the communicative teaching environment differentiating especially as compared with the traditional. concern is expressed over the instrumental way in which the integration of icts in2. education is perceived, for example over the fact that “it is restricted to its objective of providing some manner of education for all the population” (milios, 1985, p. 68). this concern often leads to the refusal to incorporate icts, while concerns, such as “the neglect of ideals and lack of socio-political sensitivity” predominate (gabriel & tzepoglou, 1985, p. 77). k. nikolakopoulou et al.74 graph 1. the development of attitudes in discourse on the integration of icts in greek stem education between 1984 and 2006 to this context of rejection and disapproval of technocratic approaches to edu-3. cation is added the necessity of ensuring a broader education for the pupils, “ensuring the student of a more general background of education, so that preparation of scientists who are the equivalent of ‘specialist fools’ can be avoided” (sofios, 1985, p. 21), and the formation of critically thinking individuals. a position of ‘resistance’ to technocracy is often expressed strongly, for example “students and progressive teachers to oppose the technocratic dehumanization” (eleftheriou, 1985, p. 62). the emphasis on agnostic attitude is based on the following three fundamental assumptions: conventional teaching material and chiefly the school textbook are seen simply1. as tools on the same level as icts, since the computer will become established as “the intellectual tool that the pupils will use as spontaneously as a pen or a pencil…” (bairaktaris, 1985, p. 93) “…it will be able to supplement or even replace, the traditional textbook” (gasparakis, 1987, p. 101). the employment of the introduction of computers as progress and development,2. despite the intense debate which points to the scepticism and critical mood (csikszentmihalyi, 2000; burgess, 2001). hence, the introduction of icts is seen as an ‘a priori’ process of progress, development, improvement and upgrading of the learning process, which should be sought in order for the opportunity for the “modernisation of education” not to be missed (bairaktaris, 1985, p. 95), “upgrading of primary and secondary education and the demands of the times” (tsolakidis, 1998, p. 98). a deterministically identified course is then expressed for incorporation, which “constitutes an urgent need” (jimoyiannis & theodorou, 2000, p. 40) and which should be made use of “for the benefit of the pupils and teachers of the future” (jimoyiannis, 2002, p. 65). remaining with given and particular existing attitudes on learning and the3. teacher, the utilization of new means as tools, “users must resort to a variety of mechanisms and make use of the search possibilities that are offered” (nikolaou & karagiorgi, 2003, p.75), without any prospect of the change they may bring about being noted. the debate on the adoption of moderate attitudes for the integration of icts in the teaching of stem is based on: expectations of change in teaching methodology which would facilitate the acti-1. vation of the pupil, investigation, experimentation and discovery since he would “participate actively in a cycle of feeling-action-thought and through investigation…to the discovery and construction of knowledge” (vahtsevanou-stamouli, 2005, p. 170), provide “effective supervision of the system and…intervention and modification of the properties of the objects in the environment” (bakas, 2005, p. 157) and establish the new profile of the teacher “intermediator” (karaminas, 2001, p. 84). within this context, organizational changes, like the conversion of the classroom2. into a computer laboratory, the establishment of new rates of access to knowledge and the transition from the serial1 to the hypertext2 mode of learning are discussed, so that the pupil can “develop self activated learning” (jorjakakis & polakis, 1999, p. 91), as is the change in the organization of the classroom, so as to permit a combination of individual and group learning. the discourse for the integration of ict in stem education in greece 75 __________________________________________ 1 school knowledge is presented serially, placing one topic after the other. the attempt to present knowledge takes place with the creation of a linear text in a course with a clear beginning and end (chevallard, 1985; ravanis, 2003, 2010). 2 the hypertext means of learning refers to “computer-based texts that are read in a nonlinear fashion and that are organized on multiple dimensions…capable of being explored in different ways, with the different exploration paths producing what are essentially multiple texts for the same topic” (spiro & jehng, 1990, p. 166). innovative attitudes and expected changes, flexible and adapted to the needs3. and interests of the pupils, founded on the “active self-education of the individuals themselves” (kapodistria, 2000, p. 45), as well as the creation of open, innovative, flexible applications for “construction of worlds” where “the user can walk, fly, produce objects and make them disappear, be transformed…” (tsolakidis & fokidis, 2004, p. 126). in the thinking of the authors who express radical attitudes, the following fundamental arguments prevail: the computer transforms the social terms of the conduct of teaching, “in the con-1. ditions of the teacher-pupil communication of the cognitive object” (filippou, 1986, p. 85). moreover, a “trend towards the gradual replacement of the teacher” is predicted and obviously a new, differentiated role for the educator since he “will be a kind of intermediary, heading towards his own ultimate elimination” (filippou, 1986, p. 86). the change in the means of social organization and orientation towards a “soci-2. ety which is dominated by perhaps a significant technical innovation, rather than by political conflicts” (ziamos, 1988, p. 104), in the “relationships of social reality and political plans” (chasapis, 2002, p. 54), towards a cultural reality of “interpenetration and osmosis” (kaitatzi-whitlock, 2003, p. 376). the need for the deconstruction and criticism of the understood reality is evident,3. since “significance comes from differences and not similarities, which are highlighted by the removal of rationalism” (self, 1997, p. 303), while the non-neutrality of the incorporation of ict is revealed very early on, that is to say that the computer “isn’t such a simple, colourless, neutral and apolitical hypothesis…” (raptis, 1994, p. 14). discussion and conclusions in this paper we focussed our interest on the approach to and analysis of texts which refer to icts and were expressed in the framework of the prf and more specifically in the scientific journal contemporary education, which due its circulation among the members of the prf, in other words primary and secondary school teachers, postgraduate students and faculty members at greek universities (bernstein, 2000), contributes to the broader expression and diffusion of ideas on the issue in question. in addition, the authors of the articles come from the prf since they are faculty members and teachers, as much from the sciences as from the humanities. from the analysis of the research material it emerged that through the attitudes of the authors towards icts not one version of discourse on their utilization in the educational process appeared, but four, revealing the existence of a discontinuity between the specific discourses (foucault, 1978). moreover, the findings of this research demonstrate the predominance in the official written discourse of the authors throughout the time period we studied, of the conservative attitude (46.39%) and the agnostic attitude (36.08%). more specifically, the conservative attitude expresses a tendency to persevere with the given educational system. it is in the direction of a structural-functional position which aims at the maintenance of the teaching approaches that are applied within the context of the school classrooms and the development of mechanisms that will exclude or place controls on potentially unforeseen situations arising from the introduction of new teaching methods. the conservative comprises the dominant choice for the incorporation of icts for all categories of authors. hence, in the dominant discourse in the articles, an interest can be discerned in a renewal of teaching practice, utilization of new technologies in the same way as the traditional technologies (board, school book, various teaching aids for the natural sciences and so on), for the use of icts as a tool that will reinforce the exk. nikolakopoulou et al.76 isting learning environment and bring about the activation of the pupils’ interests. however beyond these choices recorded in the conservative framework of ideas, there doesn’t appear to be anything else of interest. the fact that a large part of the authors concur in their attitudes, and the encouragement of the development of conservative thought and discourse, show a tendency for good adaptation in this context and for this reason the icts are perceived as a means that “has not brought about a widespread revolution in methods of teaching or in school structure or organizations” (hativa & lesgold, 1996, p. 134) but in their greater part “they generally provide either an add-on activity or simply technological versions of the workbook approaches that are already prevalent in the nation’s classrooms” (hadley & sheingold, 1993, p. 265). the modification of long-established teaching methods, the integration of innovative attitudes in teaching practice, such as for example the utilization of icts in teaching, which have the potential to modify the working environment is neither obvious, nor easy. also significant is the adoption – to a great extent – of an agnostic position by the authors of the articles studied. the authors with agnostic attitudes adopt positions of parallelism between the book and the computer, they see it as yet another tool in the existing variety of tools for the children. at the same time, they developed a rhetoric which functions as symbolic pressure for the integration of ict and contributes as expected to a determinist acceptance and incorporation of icts. the mere existence of computers is considered progress and development and their incorporation in administration and educational process constitutes a necessity, without reference being made to further prospects for change. in fact it constitutes a process of neutral and determinist significance for education. and a fundamental admission for them: technology exists, constitutes progress, is at the disposal of education and should be made use of to its advantage. the agnostic attitude which appears in a large number of articles and references reveals a change in the discourse on icts due to the influence of the actual circumstances in the specific time period (foucault, 1991a) which were created for the teachers and that came from a series of factors such as: the abrupt, mass and pressing introduction of computers into the schools, the inadequate prior training of the teachers, the lack of preparation of the bodies involved, the enthusiasm and the vague but excessive optimism regarding the variety of possibilities their integration could potentially bring about in the educational framework of stem teaching, pressure from the markets and the parents, the emphasis placed on the development of educational software. in addition, another strong factor, which leads to an agnostic attitude is perhaps a rhetoric in the institutional texts which is without grounds or a relationship with reality, concerning the direct necessity for the digital literacy of all within the framework of the society of knowledge. computers exist and the contextual framework exerts pressure for their incorporation, which should be realized with no thought for change and their use. the circulation of the discourse of ict within society as we approach and enter the 21st century, with the gradually increasing familiarity of teachers, pupils as well as a large part of society and especially the young, with the computer contributes to the transformation of the corresponding attitudes on the necessity and usefulness of its utilization in everyday life (foucault, 1977, 1991a). so, of particular interest is the appearance after 1997 of a moderate attitude for the incorporation of icts, a reformative utilization of them for the shaping of new constructivist, collaborative, inquiry based learning environments, whose supporters are chiefly authors who are stem teachers. the dynamically develthe discourse for the integration of ict in stem education in greece 77 oping potential, brought about through technology, for the regulation of more effective access to the ‘gap’ which is created between the pupils’ every day spontaneous knowledge and scientific knowledge is highlighted, with the supplementing of the pupils’ inadequate direct experience and the creation of environments of direct experience (e.g. virtual reality, simulator). in addition, here we meet too the demand for the ‘construction’ of the ‘actively self-educating’ flexible pupil, of the life-long learner. the integration of technology aims at the solution of practical problems, in some changes within the framework and more innovative attitudes and perspectives on teaching methodologies. in these articles, which appear after 1997, the change from teacher-centred to pupilcentred relations is described as well as the change to environments where with the use of ict the activation of the pupils, investigation, experimentation, discovery and the establishment of the teacher ‘intermediator’ are facilitated, and also some changes within the framework towards individualised learning rates of access to knowledge. a small portion of authors adopts a radical, critical and sceptical position towards computers, revealing ‘ideologies’ that are dispersed across society, exercise ‘symbolic control’ and exert pressure in the direction of misguided acceptance of the incorporation of icts in schools. university authors, while the majority of them held conservative attitudes, as we have already mentioned, to a small degree, although proportionally the biggest of all the categories, support radical attitudes. some focus on revealing the “internal conflicts” of the topic studied, with the aim of maintaining the ‘other’ rarer ‘eye’ in the discourse on the integration of ict and certain alternative proposals. the authors highlight the radical transformation of the communicative learning relationship and the gradual replacement of the ‘teacher’ with the computer, and the transfer to ‘disintermediation’ and the creation of a new ‘hybrid’ form of educational communicative relationship. moreover, the complete absence of extreme radical positions in the authors of the articles studied is noted, which is to be absolutely expected since some extreme expressions of opinion – like extreme radicalism or deschooling – are not imaginable and do not represent feasible choices for greek society and the educational reality and by extension for the developing dialogue. this research revealed the attitudes of university and school teachers regarding the integration of ict into education as they were expressed in their articles between 1984 and 2006. this expression allows the study of the potential influence of similar attitudes on the political-educational choices that were made as much during this period as well as over the following years and until today. it also provides an opportunity to study today potential changes in related articles and so assess the weight of experience of the applications in the attitudes of today’s researchers and teachers. finally, the study of approaches, as aviram & tami’s (2004) framework foresees, in other words, of the attitudes towards the objectives of the integration of icts in education, would give a complete understanding of the general 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(1988). education and information science in contemporary society. 38, 100-108. received: october 3, 2016 accepted: november 14, 2016 the discourse for the integration of ict in stem education in greece 81 210_josd_template original article slovenian national minorities and emigrants in selected primary school curricula and textbooks eva konečnik kotnik*, marija javornik krečič*, andjelija ivkov džigurski**, ljubica ivanović bibić** and lucija jagodič*** * faculty of arts, university of maribor, koroška cesta 160, 2000 maribor, slovenia ** faculty of science, university of novi sad, trg dositeja obradovića 3, 21000 novi sad, serbia *** zavarovalnica triglav, d.d.,slovenija email: eva.konecnik@um.si abstract the article analyses the curriculum of the primary school subjects geography, history and civic and homeland education and ethics, along with some textbooks for these subjects. the purpose of the paper is to determine whether these subjects include material on slovenian national minorities and emigrants and objectives closely related to such material, which content and objectives are included and to what extent. pupils in slovenian primary school address real issues concerning slovenian national minorities and emigrants, while the message and quantitative representation differ, depending on the basic definition and purpose of the subject. in addition to curricula and textbooks, the behaviour and attitude of pupils to slovenians abroad is influenced primarily by teachers and their knowledge of their own subject and other subjects, their understanding of the processes of knowledge construction and knowledge of the school vertical and the horizontal. keywords: national minorities, emigrants, syllabus, primary school. introduction and theoretical-conceptual framework slovenians have long been living in the neighbouring countries of italy, austria and hungary as autochthonous inhabitants, i.e. national minorities. as inhabitants with different status, slovenians also live in the territory of former yugoslavia, to which they began to migrate in large numbers from the 1880s onwards. moreover, slovenian emigrants live in other european countries and overseas. from the end of the 1870s until the beginning of world war i alone, between 250,000 and 300,000 people emigrated from the slovenian ethnic territory—most of them to the united states of america. the emigration of slovenians continued after world war i, when migratory flows were also directed to argentina, brazil and canada. after world war ii, almost half of the slovenian political refugees mijournal of subject didactics, 2017 vol. 2, no. 2, 81-96, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1239747 grated to argentina and other south american countries, while others went to the usa, canada, australia and some western european countries. at the beginning of the 1950s, migration for economic reasons commenced again, reaching a peak in the second half of the same decade. a new type of migrant emerged: migrants who retained the citizenship of their native country, and were regarded as temporary migrants by the host country. in the slovenian terminology, the term zdomec [migrant worker] began to be used for them. in recent decades, such migrations have included an increasing number of highly educated people and experts. today, slovenian emigrants and their descendants constitute more than one-fifth of the slovenian nation (klemenčič 2012: 1-3, see also lukšič hacin 2016, josipović 2016, etc.), from all the aforementioned, it could be concluded that slovenia is a migrant country. if pupils are acquainted with and understand the origins of their compatriots’ migrations, as well as the lives of migrants (and minorities), this can be helpful not only for “creating an inclusive atmosphere in school and preventing conflicts between peers due to ethnic, cultural, linguistic or religious reasons” (žitnik serafin 2016: 16), but also for creating an inclusive culture that extends beyond school boundaries. “creating an inclusive social environment and open intercultural relationships is a prerequisite for an inwardly safe and stable society” (ibid.). according to ribičič (2014: 189), “it is difficult for members of the national majority to understand the situation of ethnic minority communities and their members. it is much easier for them to understand the situation of ‘their’ national communities and their members who live abroad as minorities” (quoted in žitnik serafin 2016, 16). the fact that understanding oneself is a good starting point for understanding others holds true, especially for those in the process of being educated. owing to a lack of socially participatory experience, it is even more important for pupils to go through a meaningful and experience-based learning process about tolerant cohabitation, which begins with the understanding of oneself and “one’s own.” these facts suggest that it is very important for school materials to cover issues of migration and minorities, as well as issues of intercultural education, given the multifaceted educational potential they hold. unsurprisingly, in recent years, studies of school materials have become widespread among researchers of issues related to migration (vrečer 2012, 2016, šabec 2015, 2016, žitnik serafin 2016 and others). these studies predominantly focused on the analysis of textbook materials but also partly on the curricula of select subjects (e.g., geography, history) from the perspective of the intercultural material being presented; attention was drawn to some professional mistakes, in particular to the perpetuation of stereotypes—whether intentionally or unintentionally—and also to some missed opportunities. the present study was conducted with the aim of striving for a peaceful coexistence between slovenians and the other nations with whom the slovenian nation is in contact, as well as with the aim of studying the role that education and school policy play in all of this. the study provides a partial answer to the question of how schooling affects the behaviour and attitude towards slovenians living abroad, and in connection with that also how it affects slovenians’ national identity, their attitude towards other migrants, especially those immigrating to slovenia. purpose of the study school is one of the fundamental factors in consolidating the nation’s cultural awareness and identity, which brings the issue of school curricula documentation to the forefront, since these form the legal basis for carrying out school lessons. the present research 82 allowed us to gain insight into the state of affairs in this field and provided the basis for improvement in and rationalization of the field. the purpose of the paper is to present the results of an analytical comparison of three primary school curricula, i.e. geography, history, civic and homeland education and ethics, along with some of the textbooks for these subjects. we endeavoured to establish whether these subjects included material on slovenian national minorities and emigrants, or objectives that are closely connected with these subjects. furthermore, we aimed to establish which materials and objectives are included and their extent. we took into consideration the key areas of educational objectives: i.e. the field of cognitive knowledge / behaviour, the field of skills and competence development, as well as the field of value development. we believe that this “knowledge in the broadest sense” is in many ways complex and, as such, has much educational potential, as well as potential for personality and social development. methodology for the empirical part the descriptive method was used for the purposes of this paper. by means of review protocols for curricula and textbooks, we analysed and compared the curricula and certain textbooks for three compulsory primary school subjects: geography, history, and civic and homeland education and ethics. the selection of subjects was based on the assumption that these subjects, would, by definition, be the ones most closely connected with all the dimensions of the concepts of ‘national minority’, and ‘emigrants’ (compared to other compulsory subjects in primary school). the comparison relied on the general structure of curricula in the republic of slovenia, which—in addition to the basic definition of a particular subject and certain other chapters—list the general objectives of the subject, the competencies developed by pupils in the framework of the subject, as well as the content and operational objectives of the subject. we focused on the aforementioned structural parts of curricula. we described the content of the selected textbooks, including any illustrative-graphic materials and their extent. results and discussion in this chapter, we will present the results of the comparative analysis of the curricula and selected textbooks for the subjects of geography, history, and civic and homeland education and ethics in slovenian primary school. analysis of the curriculum and textbooks for primary school geography in the curriculum for primary school geography, the material connected with slovenian national minorities and emigrants relates—directly or indirectly—to the following general objectives, skills and values. in the subject geography, pupils develop knowledge and understanding of the following (general objectives): locations and spaces (local, regional and global aspects), in order to be able to put local, national and international events in a geographical framework and understand basic spatial relationships; main socio-economic systems on earth (agriculture, settlement, economy, energy, population, etc.), in order to gain a sense of space; diversity of people and societies on earth, in order to appreciate the cultural wealth 83 of humankind; major geographical phenomena and processes in their home region (in their hometown, municipality, i.e. on the local level), country (regional level) and the world (global level) from the point of view of temporal changes, in order to realize that everything is constantly changing (procedural aspect). (učni načrt geografija 2011: 6) in geography classes, pupils develop the following skills: using verbal, quantitative and symbolic data, such as texts, images, graphs, tables, diagrams and maps (cartographic, numerical and functional literacy); collecting and using sources of information with field methods and work techniques (drawing panoramic images, thematic maps, mapping, surveying, measuring, etc.); collecting and interpreting secondary sources of information and using statistical data; using communication, thinking, practical and social skills in exploring geographical issues at the local, regional, national and global levels; carrying out basic geographical studies of and research about their home region and slovenia, including the ability to participate successfully in decision-making related to their development; evaluating contradictions in the environment (local, regional and global) of the modern world, and at the same time being trained to recognize the necessity of sustainable development and the responsibility for preserving the physical and biological life conditions for future generations (ibid.). in geography classes, pupils develop values that contribute to the following: development of positive feelings towards their homeland, a sense of belonging to their nation and state, and appreciation of its natural and cultural heritage; interest in social needs, solving common, sustainable, spatial issues at the local, national, regional and global levels; evaluation of the diversity and beauty of the natural environment, on the one hand, and the differences in living conditions and social needs, on the other; connecting different aspects of education, such as cognitive, emotional, ethical, aesthetic, motoric; understanding the importance of relationships and values when making decisions about spatial interventions; being prepared for the responsible use of geographical knowledge and skills in personal, professional and public life; respect for the right to equality of all people, including preservation of the quality of the natural and social environment for future generations; solving local, regional and global issues according to the principles of sustainable development and the principles of the universal declaration of human rights (ibid.: 7). in the primary school geography curriculum, areas of general capability and competence are defined separately, as well. for the present study, civic capability is the most interesting among the seven types of capability (ibid.: 21): pupils: understand the concepts of national and cultural belonging and the impact of european and global culture on different nations; 84 recognize the sense of belonging to the local community, the state, the eu, europe and the world; become aware of the main advantages of being part of the eu; respect the values and privacy of others, respond appropriately to negative social phenomena and understand the importance of respecting the varying values of nations and ethnic groups; know the possibilities for decision-making and co-decision-making in the development of their local region and beyond; show solidarity (e.g., by empathy) and solve problems together; know about human rights; critically assess information they receive from mass media; explain how each citizen can influence the planning and development of his or her living environment; develop positive emotions toward their homeland, a sense of belonging to their nation and state, as well as an appreciation for its natural and cultural heritage; develop the capacity to put themselves in the position of other people. in the curricula, operational objectives and content should be subordinate to the definition of general objectives, skills, values and competences. in practice, the operational objectives and content are the part of the curriculum of which teachers make the most use— which means that in reality these two items dictate the classes. a detailed overview of the primary school geography curriculum shows that, according to the operational objectives and content, the potential to address issues of national minorities and emigration exists as early as in the sixth grade. the operational objectives of the grade directed towards this are as follows (ibid.: 8): pupils learn about the natural and cultural heritage of slovenia and the importance of experiencing the natural environment; are being trained in the use of communication and thinking, along with practical and social skills for exploring geographical issues at the local, regional and global levels; develop positive emotions toward their homeland, a sense of belonging to their nation and state, as well as an appreciation for its natural and cultural heritage. in the corresponding textbooks for the sixth grade, there are no materials on national minorities and emigrants, which in reality means that the practical application of the operational objectives from the curriculum does not take this direction. in reality, the application of material connected to national minorities and emigrants depends on teachers. this content relates mainly to a school excursion, in the framework of which it could be addressed, if, for instance, there were an excursion to a region characterized by emigration issues. in sixth grade, pupils are supposed to (ibid.: 10) do the following: visit at least one natural-geographical regional unit of slovenia (an interdisciplinary excursion); learn about the values and the uniqueness of the slovenian landscape, develop an appreciation of and respect for the slovenian natural and cultural heritage, as well as a secure attachment to the slovenian state. in seventh-grade geography classes, pupils are supposed to follow the operational objectives below, which can be connected, either directly or indirectly, to the concepts of national minorities and emigration (ibid.). 85 pupils should do the following: develop views and values such as respect for other nations and cultures and international cooperation; recognize the need to preserve the natural and cultural heritage; understand the geographical dimensions and the consequences of the interconnectedness of today’s world; deepen and build on acquired knowledge by undertaking an interdisciplinary excursion to a selected natural-geographical unit of slovenia; be trained in the use of communication, thinking, practical and social skills for exploring geographical issues at the local, regional and global levels. 86 table 1. a brief overview of the curricular content for primary school geography that relates, directly or indirectly, to the issues of slovenian national minorities and emigrants (učni načrt geografija 2011). � � ����������� ���� ��� ��������������������������������������� � ���� ��� �������� ���� ����� ����� ����������� ��� �� !� "�� #�� ����� ������$� %�&����� ���������� ��� � ����� ������� ������� �������� ���!� '����� � ��������!� (��)�� ������������ * ���� ��� ��� �� � �� � ���+�� �� �,������ ���� ���� -��������� �� � �����.��������� ������-���&�������������-!� "������� �������/�� �� ����� !� '��� � � � ��� ����# !� (��0 ��� ����� �� 1 ���� ��� ���2���� ���� ������ �������#��&��� !� "�������� ��������,� �� ��� ������������� ������ ����� ���#��&��� !� '��#��&��� 3��&���4��� -����������� ��� ��������!� (������5� ����� ���������!�����5� ����� ���� ���!�����5 � ����� �������!� 6�����5 ������ ��� �������������!� ������5 ��� ���7������!� ���8���#��&��� ������� ���� �� �� � �� ���� ��� �&�� ��� � ���� ����� � ������#��&��� 3����&������� !� *��������-�� from a substantive and directly operational standpoint, in the chapter “population and settlement of europe and asia,” seventh grade pupils are supposed to (ibid.: 11) describe the linguistic and religious diversity of europe and asia on a thematic map and draw conclusions about the consequences. in the chapter “southern europe – diverse religious and ethnic composition of the population,” pupils are supposed to use a map to describe the diverse national and religious composition of the population of the southern part of europe, and to consider the causes behind the uneven distribution of the population. in the chapter “central europe,” pupils are supposed to use statistical data to compare the size and population of countries, and to describe the national and religious composition of the population. in the chapter “western europe” (ibid.: 12), pupils are supposed to analyse the influence of natural factors on settlement, and to name the main representatives of the population and their past and present economic orientation. the above topics all enable teachers to address issues of national minorities and emigration. the textbooks for the seventh-grade show that in reality, these issues are addressed only to a limited extent. for instance, in the chapter “population of europe” in the textbook geografija 7 [geography 7] (bahar, košak 1999: 32), the terms “nation” and “national minority” are explained. in the same chapter, pupils are given the task of explaining where slovenians live outside of slovenia’s borders as a minority and which national minorities exist in slovenia. half a page is devoted to this topic. in the chapter “population of central europe” from the same textbook, pupils again encounter the concept of national minority (ibid.: 62). pupils are given the task of explaining where state borders do not coincide with ethnic borders. a photograph of the bilingual town sign for the village of dobrovnik in the prekmurje region is also shown. in eighth-grade geography classes, pupils are supposed to follow the operational objectives below, which can be connected, either directly or indirectly, to the issues of national minorities and emigration (učni načrt geografija 2011: 13): pupils do the following: learn about the burning issues in the modern world by studying examples from several continents; evaluate the importance of america and the united states of america in the world; develop views and values such as respect for other nations and cultures, along with international cooperation; become aware of the need to preserve the natural and cultural heritage; understand the geographical dimensions and the consequences of the interconnectedness of today’s world. in the chapter “australia and oceania – population and way of life as a consequence of a highly developed economy” (ibid.: 15), pupils have to describe the settlement characteristics of the continent. in the chapter “population of north america,” pupils are supposed to describe the composition of the population of north america and draw conclusions about the advantages and disadvantages of multiethnic communities. furthermore, they are supposed to learn about the assimilation, integration and segregation of different cultures. in the chapter “canada and the united states of america,” they are supposed to identify and understand the prevailing social, political and economic processes in north america and to determine their effects on the region. furthermore, by means of analysing data, they are supposed to evaluate the impact of technological development and of the post-industrial era on the region. 87 the chapter “population of australia” in the textbook geografija 8 [geography 8] (bahar, račič, resnik planinc 2000: 34) states that after world war ii, many slovenians moved to australia. a single sentence is devoted to the topic of slovenian emigrants. in the same textbook, slovenian emigrants are also mentioned in the chapter “population of canada” (ibid.: 51), where one passage is devoted to them. in the textbook geografija za 8. razred 9-letne osnovne šole [geography for the 8th grade of the 9-year primary school] (novak, otič, vovk korže 2001: 80), a one-sentence description of the migration of slovenians to australia can be found in the chapter “australia and oceania – the continent of indigenous peoples and immigrants.” in ninth-grade geography classes, pupils are supposed to follow the operational objectives below, which can be connected, either directly or indirectly, to the issues of national minorities and emigration (učni načrt geografija 2011: 13) pupils do the following: learn about the geographical characteristics of slovenia; develop a spatial conception of slovenia, europe and the world; use examples to evaluate and relate to the natural and cultural heritage of their homeland; connect the natural geographical situation with the potential for economic development, and make comparisons with neighbouring countries; indicate solutions for crucial individual issues of demographic development while learning about population characteristics; develop positive emotions toward their homeland, a sense of belonging to their nation and state, as well as an appreciation for its natural and cultural heritage and respect for national rights; deepen and build on (in a cross-curricular manner) acquired knowledge by undertaking an interdisciplinary excursion to a selected natural-geographical unit of slovenia. from a substantively operational standpoint, in the chapter “the geographical position of slovenia” (ibid.: 13), pupils are supposed to make use of a corresponding map to describe the geographical position of slovenia, evaluate the importance of its position at the juncture of europe’s natural units and language groups, as well as in view of eu expansion in the spheres of economy and transport. in the chapter “european union – connecting european countries and slovenia,” pupils are supposed to evaluate the importance of slovenia’s integration into the eu in the economic and political sphere, and to become aware of the importance of knowledge, which makes it possible to find employment within the eu. in the chapter “slovenian visibility in europe and the world,” pupils are supposed to list important achievements of slovenians on a european and global scale. in the chapter “peri-pannonian regions; peri-pannonian plains; peri-pannonian hills” (ibid.: 17), pupils are supposed use an example to explain the interdependence of people’s lives from topography, climate, soil and water. the same is true for other slovenian regions. in the chapter “the slovenian geographical area as a restrictive and stimulating factor in slovenia’s development” (ibid.: 18), pupils are supposed to understand the most important natural and social geographical phenomena and processes, and understand how these affect the population and the economy, list and explain the factors that influence the varied population density of slovenia, explain the factors that influence population growth, compare slovenia’s population growth to that in the eu, as well as use statistical data for their home town or a large settlement in the vicinity as an 88 example to describe the ethnic composition of slovenia’s population. in the chapter “economy,” pupils are supposed to explain the causes and consequences of the migration of the population within slovenia and the eu. in the chapter “slovenia is a small and very diverse central-european country” from the textbook živim v sloveniji [living in slovenia] (senegačnik, drobnjak, otič 2003: 9), there is a subchapter “state borders are not also ethnic borders.” here, the following concepts are referred to and described: ethnic border, nationally mixed area and slovenian minorities in neighbouring countries. a cartographic depiction of the nationally mixed areas in slovenia and its vicinity is included. three-quarters of a page in the textbook are devoted to this topic. in the same textbook, the subchapter “migrations are the result of changes in historical and economic development” of the chapter “the population of slovenia is changing” (ibid.: 43), explains the concepts of migration, emigrants and migrant workers. a full page in the textbook is devoted to the topic. in the textbook geografija za osmi razred 8-letne osnovne šole in deveti razred 9-letne osnovne šole [geography for the 8thgrade of the 8-year primary school and the 9th grade of the 9year primary school] (račič, večerič 2006: 9), the chapter “slovenia is a central-european state” explains the concept of national or ethnic territory, and a full page is devoted to explaining the concept of state border; exercises are also included. for instance, using the map of slovenia, pupils have to explain the difference between state and ethnic borders. in the textbook, a cartographic depiction of the state and ethnic borders of slovenia is included on the same page. in the chapter “i am one of the inhabitants of slovenia” (ibid.: 10), the concepts of migration, migrant workers, emigrants, nation and national minority are explained. a graphic display of immigration to and emigration from slovenia for the years 1961 to 1998 is also included. half a page is devoted to this topic. in the textbook raziskujem slovenijo 9 [exploring slovenia 9] (verdeu 2011: 26), the chapter “population throughout time” describes the migration movements of slovenia’s population. a graphic display of immigrants to and emigrants from slovenia from 1921 to 2010 is included. half the page is devoted to this topic. the chapter “slovenians around the world” (ibid.: 34) explains the concepts of minorities in neighbouring countries, migrant workers, emigrants and nationally mixed areas. pictorial and cartographic materials are also included. two pages are devoted to these topics. analysis of the curriculum and textbooks for primary school history in the primary school history curriculum, the material related to slovenian national minorities and emigrants relates, either directly or indirectly, to the following general objectives, skills and values. general objectives (učni načrt zgodovina 2011: 5)—pupils are able to do the following: acquire, deepen and disseminate knowledge about the everyday life, work and mentality of people in particular historical periods and about the reasons why all of those may change; develop awareness of national identity and national belonging, while acquiring, deepening and disseminating knowledge about slovenian history; emphasize the importance of the positive cultural influences of neighbouring nations on the slovenian nation; assess the importance of preserving and protecting cultural heritage, using examples from local history, and develop a responsible attitude towards the environment; develop the ability to understand and respect different cultures, religions, races and 89 communities; develop receptiveness to values important for living in a modern democratic society: tolerance in mutual relations and contacts, respect for differences and diversity, mutual cooperation, respect for human rights and democratic citizenship. from the analysis of the primary school history curriculum, we can conclude that according to the operational objectives and content, some opportunities for indirectly addressing the issues of national minorities and emigration exist as early as in the sixth grade. the operational objectives of the class directed towards this are as follows: the elective topic “way of life” (ibid.: 9): pupils reach conclusions about the importance of having rules for coexistence in a community; 90 table 2. a brief overview of the curricular content of primary school history that relates, directly or indirectly, to the issues of slovenian national minorities and emigrants (učni načrt zgodovina 2011). � ����������� � ��� ��� �������� ����� � ��������� �� ���� ���������������� �������������� ��������������������������� ������� ���������� ���� ��� ����� �� ��� � � ��������� ��� ���� � �� ��� ��������� ����� ������ � ������� ��� ��� ����� ��� ���� ���������� ��� ������ ��� ���� ������� ��������������� ������������ ������������������ ������� � ������� ������ ����� �������������������� ���� ������������������ ��� ����������� ������������������� ��������������� ������ �������� ���������������� ��������������������� ���� � ��� ��� ���!�"� ������� � �# �����$����%���������� ���������� ���������� ������� � ���� ��������������������� ���� ������������� ���� ��� ����� �������� ���� � ����������������������������# ���� ���&�� ���� � ��� ��� ���!�"� ������� � �'������������������(�� �� �������������&�� ��� ����� �� ���� ( ��� ��� ��� � ����� ��� ���� ������ ��� ���� ��������� �����"������������������������� ����� ��� �� ����������������)��� ����*� ��������� ���!�"� ������� � �+������ �� ,�� ����&�� ������������������� � �� � ���� ���� ���������������� ���� � ��� ��� ��� !�"� ���� ��� � � &�� � ���� ��������� �� ��� ��� ���� �-��� ������� � ��� �������������������������� ������������������������ +����� ��� � �������� �������"�������� ���!�"� ������� � �.�� �� ���� �������-������������������ �� ���� ��� ����� �� ���.�� �� ������� ������������� ������ ��� ����������%� .�� �� ��� /������� �� ��� � ��������� ��� �������� ��� �� �����-���������� � ��� �������� �����������"����������������0��� ���� ������������ �������������������� ����������� ���� �������������������������� 1������������ ����� ������ ������� ���� ������ ���� ���������� ��� � ���� ��� ���� ������������� �������� ���� ��� ��� ��������� ��� ����������� the elective topic “cultural heritage”: using examples from local history, pupils describe the importance of preserving and protecting cultural heritage, and using examples from everyday life, pupils show the importance of respecting different cultures, as well as the importance of promoting tolerance towards different cultures and of intercultural cooperation. the sixth-grade history textbooks show that the projected operational objectives are in reality not applied to the issues of national minorities and emigration. in seventh grade, in the framework of the required topic “middle ages – the creation of a new cultural and political image of europe, the migration of peoples” (ibid.: 14), pupils, inter alia, explain the new political map of europe after the migration of peoples; this material could be made more current by referring to later and more recent migrations. it is up to the teacher to decide whether to make the contents more current, since the textbooks do not directly offer this possibility (razpotnik, snoji 2011; simonič mervic 2006; otič, potočnik 2007). in eighth grade, in the framework of the required topic “the borders of the known world expand” (učni načrt zgodovina 2011: 15), pupils explain what kind of political, social, economic and cultural consequences the great geographical discoveries held for the old and new worlds. here it is possible to make references to the issues of later migration. in the framework of the required topic “industrialization” (ibid.: 20), pupils, inter alia, show on the map in which directions europeans migrated. textbooks, for instance raziskujem preteklost 8 [exploring the past 8] (mirjanić, razpotnik, snoj 2010), encourage opportunities for application. the chapter “why europeans set out for the distant world” (ibid.: 24), describes traders, travellers and the reasons for going off to foreign countries. four pages are devoted to this topic. in the chapter “how industrial development affected the slovenian territory” (ibid.: 167), one-third of a page describes slovenian emigration abroad, and a photograph of slovenians in pennsylvania (usa) is included. a picture of the slovenian newspaper amerikanski slovenec is also included, and the accompanying text states that the following slovenian societies are still active in the usa: slovenian national benefit society, slovenian catholic mission, the slovenian women’s union of america and the american slovenian catholic union. also included is a photograph of the aleksandrinke, the slovenian women who once worked in egypt as wet nurses. the textbook koraki v času, novi vek, zgodovina za 8. razred devetletke [steps in time, modern era: history for the 8th grade of the 9-year primary school] (cvirn, hriberšek balkovec, studen 2001: 160) provides a description of slovenian emigration at the turn of the 20th century. emigration is described in two sentences, stating that during that time slovenians emigrated to america and to western european countries and that there were 180,000 of them in the united states. in ninth grade, in the framework of the required topic “political characteristics of the 20th century” (učni načrt zgodovina 2011: 22), pupils analyse the peace treaties made after world war i and anticipate their consequences, thus also learning about the problems of national minorities. in the framework of the required topic “slovenians in the 20th and 21st centuries” (ibid.: 23), pupils explain why slovenians decided to establish their own country – slovenia. in this context, the teacher can also explain the issue of minorities and the rights that they have in foreign countries. it is also important for pupils to be aware of the minorities within slovenia and to develop tolerance for and understanding of them. in the framework of the elective topic “changes in everyday life in the 20th century” (ibid.: 25), pupils explain the consequences of people’s migrations and the types of contact between people with different cultural customs. pupils draw conclusions about 91 the importance of migration for intercultural contact and provide examples of contrasts. the chapter “during world war i, slovenians decide to establish a new state” in the textbook koraki v času, 20. stoletje: zgodovina za 8. razred osemletke in 9. razred devetletke [steps in time, modern era: history for the 8th grade of the 9-year primary school] (dolenc, gabrič, rode 2003: 18) describes how slovenians strove for a new state in which they would play a major role. this topic is important in terms of understanding the development of national belonging. the chapter “slovenian borders and slovenians outside the homeland“ (ibid.: 144) devotes three pages to describing the formation of the current state border after world war ii; furthermore, emigrants are described. the entire process of establishing the western and northern borders, as well as the border with hungary is explained. pupils get acquainted with why and how minorities came into being, as well as with their rights and the causes behind emigration. also included are photographs of slovenian cultural events abroad and cartographic depictions of the northern and western borders in the year 1945. the chapter “where will the boundaries of the new state be?” in the textbook naše stoletje: zgodovina za 9. razred osnovne šole [our century: history for the 9th grade of primary school] (kern, nećak, repe 2005: 70), describes the struggle to establish borders. in the chapter “national minorities and emigration” (ibid.: 223), emigrants and minorities are described on three pages. photographs of bilingual town signs and a photograph of the slovenian grammar school in klagenfurt are also included. the term “assimilation” is explained. also described are the hungarian and italian national minorities in slovenia. analysis of the primary school curriculum for the subject civic and homeland education and ethics the general objectives of civic and homeland education and ethics (učni načrt državljanska in domovinska vzgoja ter etika 2011: 6) emphasise, inter alia, the development of political literacy among pupils, the topic that relates most directly to the subject of national minorities and emigrants. the following aims contribute to pupils’ political literacy: getting acquainted with the structure and functioning of the community, society, state, international networks and global communities; getting acquainted with human rights and the rights of children; getting acquainted with the basic principles of democratic decisionmaking and democratic institutions in the local environment, in slovenia, in the european union and in global communities; discussions about the coexistence of different people and social groups; being in touch with current social, political, economic and environmental issues; being informed about international situations and events, as well as about slovenia’s role in them in the political, economic and military spheres; reflecting on the conditions in which people live in various parts of the world and on the their future prospects. the operational objectives and content in the seventh and eighth grades highlight the following material, which can be related, either directly or indirectly, to the issues of national minorities and emigration: through the topics described above, pupils are supposed to achieve objectives such as the following: understanding the concepts of nation, state and homeland; learning about the multiple reasons for uniting / the historical origins of communities; developing 92 the ability to study differences within the community and between communities; understanding the origins of images about others and those different from us; recognizing the importance of tolerance and mutual respect for a culture of coexistence; gaining insight into the structure and functioning of the community; acquiring basic knowledge about the establishment and characteristics of the state of slovenia; realizing that citizens are the holders of political power; developing the ability to distinguish between national and civic identity; developing a positive attitude towards the civic community; learning about the political and other rights of citizens (ibid.: 15-19). as can be seen from the listed objectives and content of the subject civic and homeland education and ethics, the subject is strongly linked to the issues in its title. however, it should be borne in mind that the subject relies on the teacher’s orientation towards cross-curricular connections, in particular with history, geography, slovenian language 93 table 3. a brief overview of the curricular content for civic and homeland education and ethics in primary school that relates—directly or indirectly—to the issues of slovenian national minorities and emigrants. (ibid.). ������ �� ������ � ����������� ������ ���� � � � �� �������� ��������� ��� ����� ��������� �������� � !� ���"�����# �$�%#����� #������ ��������� %���&��"# ��� ����% ��''�%����#( �"��"%� �' ���)�#����� � *� �"% �����"�� ��+�%�# ����% ���,�%# �' ��� ����"���� ��� ����% ����"�����# �# #�������# ��'�"����� ,� #��%����$�# ��� $%�-"����#� .� /��� ,���# ��� ����"���� ��&����%0 1� ������ 2 �3 � �4��� �3 1� 5�6�7�� �3 �������� �� �� 5�$",��� �' �������� �# � ����"���� �' ����8��#� !� �� $�������� ����"���� �' ����8��#� *� �������� ,����&��&� ����8��#��$ ��� $��%����#�� .� �� ��#���"����� 9� ������ #����� :� �"%�$��� ������ ;� �������� �# � ���,�% �' ��� �"%�$��� ������ �������� �� 3������ �� 1���� 5�<1 �� �� � ����8��=# %�&�� �� ���� ��� �� #���� '�% ��������� �� > � and some elective subjects (ibid.: 20). that is to say, it is based on already acquired knowledge and on skills acquired in the framework of other subjects; consequently, the objective is not only acquiring knowledge, but also training pupils for civic engagement in accordance with ethical principles (ibid.). conclusions this paper analysed the curricula of the primary school subjects of geography, history, and civic and homeland education and ethics, along with some of the textbooks for these subjects. we sought to establish whether these subjects included material on slovenian national minorities and emigrants or objectives that are closely connected with these topics. furthermore, we endeavoured to establish which materials and objectives were included and to what extent. we took into account the crucial groups of educational objectives, i.e. the field of cognitive knowledge/behaviour, the field of skill and competence development and the field of value development. a comparative analysis of selected curricula and textbooks confirmed the assumption that in slovenian primary school, pupils do encounter material dealing with slovenian national minorities and emigrants in the framework of the subjects of geography, history and civic and homeland education and ethics. the extent to which these topics are covered and the message conveyed differ from subject to subject, depending on each subject’s basic definition and purpose. the basic framework of the subject geography is the geographical area. in accordance with the curriculum for geography, pupils get acquainted with the issue of national minorities and emigrants while studying the specific geographical areas for which these themes are typical (e.g. the usa, canada, australia, the peri-pannonian regions, etc.). for the most part, brief information about relevant topics (e.g., information about the existence of slovenian emigrants in australia) is given within the framework of various geographical areas or regions of the world. in the ninth grade, the geographical area of slovenia is addressed throughout the year, with content arranged thematically. in this grade, objectives connected to slovenian national minorities and emigrants are included in the most direct way. the materials are based on the following concepts: ethnic border, state border, nationally mixed area, national/ethnic territory, slovenian minorities in neighbouring countries, migrations, migratory movement, emigrants and migrant workers. pupils deal with these while learning about their country’s socio-geographical characteristics, population and economy. some of these concepts, e.g., national minority, nation and bilingualism, have already been discussed in the seventh grade, when pupils learn about the geographical area of europe. in the general description of the subject geography, the development of civic competencies is highlighted, among other objectives. within the framework of this subject, pupils develop these competencies indirectly and directly. thus, they develop certain skills, abilities and values, for example, positive emotions toward their homeland, and a sense of belonging to their nation and state, as well as an appreciation for its natural and cultural heritage. similar competencies are developed indirectly through geographical topics and information, as well as directly through varied forms and methods of teaching geography, also depending on the orientation regarding content and objectives. in accordance with the general objectives of the subjects and the objectives of each grade, topics related to national minorities and emigrants can be applied in other grades, not only in the seventh and ninth. however, in reality, such application is dependent on the teacher’s network of associations and on their assess94 ment of the importance of current issues, as well as on prompts in the didactic materials, such as textbooks. the more teachers are aware of the educational potential of discussing current affairs, the more frequently and more diversely these are included in the teaching process. in geography classes, one should not underestimate the practical experience of the geographical space that pupils acquire through excursions and fieldwork. both forms of work have great experiential value and motivational impetus, including when it comes to getting acquainted with current issues (e.g., experiencing bilingual areas and signs, etc.). the fundamental orientation of the subject history is connected with a particular past time frame, from which the subject draws an understanding of the present. discussion of material about national minorities and emigrants is thus largely either included in the time period during which minorities were formed and emigration occurred, or discussed in the framework of certain issues related to both. considering that complex “knowledge” about minorities and emigrants (and in general) develops at the level of information, skills, abilities and values, we can conclude (as is true for geography) that the application of this material is possible in different grades, but this depends on teachers’ knowledge, their attitude towards the subject, their values and the materials they use. the curriculum and textbooks for history in eighth grade (at the level of cognitive behaviour) partly address the topic in question directly. the discussion of the emigration of slovenians to the rest of the world as a consequence of industrialization is quite detailed. the issue of national minorities is addressed in the ninth grade when discussing the 20th and 21st centuries (peace treaties, formation of borders, emergence of countries, national minorities and emigrants). some textbooks for the ninth grade address the issues of national minorities and emigration together. the fundamental orientation of the subject civic and homeland education and ethics is to train pupils for civic engagement in accordance with ethical principles. for this, certain information is required, and particularly the direct and indirect development of values and ethical principles. the following are some of the concepts giving direction to the subject and are related to the topic of national minorities and emigrants: identity, community, citizenship, national belonging, human rights and citizens’ rights, etc. as is clear from the definition of the subject, its direction is largely built on the content (information) that pupils have received in the framework of other subjects, e.g., geography and history. assuming a complex understanding of the issue of national minorities and emigration, it may be problematic that the subject civic and homeland education and ethics is taught in the seventh and eighth grades, since pupils receive most of the information about national minorities and emigration only in the ninth grade in geography and history. therefore, the correlation between subjects should be reversed (from the general understanding of citizenship and ethics in the broadest sense in seventh grade, to concrete information and knowledge about the real situation in ninth grade). on the other hand, the agendas of the subjects geography and history seem to be well harmonized when it comes to acquiring knowledge about national minorities and emigration. thus, in ninth grade, pupils learn about both the spatial and temporal dimensions of the issue at hand. in principle, the exact timing for addressing certain topics depends on the curricula (which also form the basis for confirming textbooks), while in reality, the agenda behind which topics are addressed in a particular grade also depends on the teacher’s yearly lesson plan and practical circumstances. consequently, it is not possible to accurately determine how much knowledge pupils acquire in the framework of a specific subject over a certain period of time, to later use it in the framework of another subject. it is also 95 not possible to determine to what extent they can simultaneously address certain issues, for instance those of national minorities and emigrants. we can therefore conclude that the effectiveness of pupils getting familiar with, understanding, being aware of, evaluating and integrating knowledge of current issues is highly dependent on teachers, on their knowledge and evaluation of the subject that they teach and of other subjects, on their understanding the processes of knowledge building and on knowledge of the vertical and horizontal in school, but also on their ability to communicate with other teachers and harmonize the learning process with other teachers at school. references bahar, igor, račič, jože, resnik planinc, tatjana (2000). geografija 8, učbenik za osmi razred 9letne osnovne šole. ljubljana: mladinska knjiga. bahar, igor, košak, marija (1999). geografija 7, učbenik za sedmi razred 9-letne osnovne šole. ljubljana: mladinska knjiga. cvirn, janez, hriberšek balkovec, elizabeta, studen, andrej (2001). koraki v času, novi vek, zgodovina za 8. razred devetletke. ljubljana: dzs. dolenc, ervin, gabrič, aleš, rode, marjan (2003). koraki v času, 20. stoletje: zgodovina za 8. razred osemletke in 9. razred devetletke. ljubljana: dzs. državljanska in domovinska vzgoja ter etika, učni načrt, program osnovna šola (2011). ministrstvo rs za šolstvo in šport, zavod za šolstvo rs. ljubljana. geografija, učni načrt, program osnovna šola (2011). ministrstvo rs za šolstvo in šport. zavod za šolstvo rs. ljubljana. kern, ana nuša, nećak, dušan, repe, božo (2005). naše stoletje: zgodovina za 9. razred osnovne šole. ljubljana: modrijan. klemenčič, matjaž (2012). “slovenska identiteta in kulturna zavest v jezikovno in etnično stičnih prostorih v preteklosti in sedanjosti.” osnutek vloge. mirjanić, anita miranda, razpotnik, jelka, snoj, damjan (2010). raziskujem preteklost 8, učbenik za zgodovino za 8. razred osnovne šole. ljubljana: rokus klett. mirjanić, anita miranda, razpotnik, jelka, snoj, damjan (2011). raziskujem preteklost 7. ljubljana: rokus klett. novak, franci, otič, marta, vovk korže, ana (2001). geografija za 8. razred. ljubljana: dzs. otič, marta, potočnik, dragan (2007). zgodovina 7: svet skozi čas. ljubljana: mladinska račič, jože, večerić, danica (2006). geografija 9, učbenik za geografijo v devetem razredu osnovne šole. ljubljana: mladinska knjiga. senegačnik, jurij, drobnjak, borut, otič, marta (2003). živim v sloveniji, geografija za deveti razred osnovne šole. ljubljana: modrijan. simonič mervic, karmen (2006). stari svet: zgodovina za 7. razred devetletne osnovne šole. ljubljana: modrijan. verdeu, helena (2011). raziskujem slovenijo 9, učbenik za deveti razred osnovne šole. ljubljana: rokus klett. zgodovina, učni načrt, program osnovna šola (2011). ministrstvo rs za šolstvo in šport, zavod za šolstvo rs. ljubljana. received: february 6, 2018 accepted: april 22, 2018 96 192_josd_template original article the probable causes for the espoused inadequacies in science student teachers’ practice teaching in schools at the national university of lesotho maseqao regina mabejane1, thabiso nyabanyaba1, dimitris koliopoulos2 and konstantinos ravanis2* 1department of science education, national university of lesotho, lesotho 2department of educational sciences and early childhood education, university of patras, greece email: ravanis@upatras.gr abstract the observed and reported pervasive inadequacy with both pre-service and in-service teachers in classroom teaching still abounds despite the various efforts made in many countries to improve teacher education and teacher preparation programs. this study has been conducted in lesotho, a small mountainous landlocked country in the republic of south africa with a population of about 2 million. in lesotho there are currently only two teacher training institutions, the national university of lesotho and the lesotho college of education. the purpose of this study was to explore where the shortfall might lie in the pre-service teacher training that led to science student teachers’ reported inadequacies in classroom teaching. the data were collected through the semi-structured interviews of the directly involved people comprising 20 student teachers 20 teaching practice tutors, 2 teacher educators and 2 regular practicing teachers. the data from the interviews were complemented with the analysis of the documents using template analysis strategy and constant comparison method. the main findings of the study revealed that the courses and the procedures for teacher preparation embraced the development of the pre-service teachers’ professional knowledge and qualities. however, the major constraints for attainment of the aspired teacher product were time and procedures. it was hoped that the context in which it was conducted would inform and influence policy and practice in education at various levels, extending into the general field of research. keywords: pre/in-service teacher education, student teachers, teaching practice introduction teaching is a complex, multitasking and multidimensional process that deals with varied intertwined factors that requires deep knowledge and understanding (ball & forzani, 2009); göran, 2009; hollins, 2011). the complexity of teacher education is not only with pre-service teacher education but transects all levels (morine-dershimer & kent, 1999; perrot, 1982; pollard, 2002; ravanis, balias, komis & karalis, 2011). this certainly calls journal of subject didactics, 2017 vol. 2, no. 1, 1-19, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1238616 for a sound foundation in the professional development of pre-service teachers that would produce a teacher with aspired capabilities and qualities. the observed and reported pervasive inadequacy with both pre-service and in-service teachers in classroom teaching still abounds despite the various efforts made in many countries to improve teacher education and teacher preparation programs (darling hammond, 2000; zeichner, 2010). the proliferation of research into teacher knowledge as expressed by connelly, clandinin & he (1997, p. 666) “is part of a revolution in how educators think about classroom practice”. one would therefore argue that it should not only be with prospective teachers that research be concerned, but there is a dire need to research into teacher educators’ work also, which berry (2007) cited in berry and van driel (2012) points out that it is limited resulting in little knowledge about teacher educators’ pedagogy of teaching specific subject matter. ben-peretz (2011) observes from the research analysis of internationally conducted studies mostly done in the west on teacher professional knowledge that there is none that considers what is entailed in the teacher training curriculum and pedagogies employed to teach the student teachers to teach, as well as the observing and documenting of the implementation by student teachers of the acquired knowledge. on the same note, cochran-smith and fries (2005) attest that in studying causes and effects in teacher preparation, the two-causal links in preparation [training] and classroom practice should be considered. this study on teacher knowledge has been conducted in a different context and culture, seeking the perceptions and views of the concerned people in the two phases of the pre-service stage. they include teacher educators (tes) responsible for coursework training, student teachers (sts), teaching practice tutors (tpts) who are experienced teachers in support of the sts during practice, and regular practicing teachers (rpts) who are already teaching. getting participants’ perspective in this case was reacting to korthagen, loughran, & russel quoted in allen & peach (2007, p. 24) who in criticism of the research conducted in teacher education say, “ironically, all over the world, candidates’ voices are rarely used to ascertain whether their teacher education program achieves its goals”. the teacher training program at the national university of lesotho (nul) follows a traditional 4-year model, with 3.5 yrs coursework training on campus offered through intra/inter departments and faculties. basically, the training program comprises subject content, general and specific pedagogies, and educational theories embracing issues such as general aspects of philosophy, psychology, history and sociology of education. the terminal 10 weeks practice in schools comes in the last semester of the final year with no specific content but the guideline for practice and roles for all taking part. the curriculum studies (methods) courses start in the 3rd year extending into the 4th year during which student teachers practice teaching through micro/peer teaching sessions in the two teaching subjects. allen and peach (2007) in response to the same criticism, in their study of the connection between on-campus and in-field components and their impact on sts’ learning to teach sought their views and opinions as a way of getting their voice. martin & dismuke (2015) too, sought sts’ perceptions of their learning and engagement in a writing methods course. in this study the exploration was taken further to include more stakeholders, thus getting even more voices. the intent was to investigate the science teacher training curriculum, the methodologies and pedagogies employed in the training and the nature of sts’ classroom practice to establish the probable shortcomings that might lead to the re2 ported inadequacies. it was hoped that the context in which it was conducted would inform and influence policy and practice in education at various levels, extending into the general field of research. theoretical background over the years, there has been a concern raised about the national university of lesotho (nul) sts’ inadequacy in classroom teaching during teaching practice (national university of lesotho, 2007). the insufficiency manifested itself in various areas and to varying degree. the areas included subject content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge with their entailed components and general handling of the teaching-learning environment. the same sentiment is shared by lewin (2004) about the sts on tp from the teacher training college in lesotho. from the study of the pre-service teacher education in ghana, lesotho, malawi, trinidad & tobago and south africa lewin attests, “... dynamic linking of college/university based learning to its application is the exception rather than the rule” (lewin, 2004, p. 11). this implies that there is a discernible gap between what is done and learned during coursework training and practice in schools which has also been observed in other parts of the world. in lesotho as elsewhere, science teachers do not perform as expected (ayadin & boz, 2012; government of lesotho, 2006; loughran, mulhall & berry, 2008; unesco, 2013). that triggered a desire to consider helping pre-service teachers learn to teach effectively (grossman, 1990; magnusson, krajcik & borko, 1999; ravanis, balias, karalis & komis, 2010). this study explored the learning of the student teachers who study in a dual status that according to caena, 2014, p. 2) makes it “an intensive experience that requires student teachers to be both learners and teachers simultaneously”. furthermore, the content they learn is in itself complex in that it comprises theoretical and practical knowledge that needs to be thought about, learned to be known and understood, and enacted (lee & schallert, 2016) for personal benefit and that of the students to be taught thereafter. the sts’ learning to teach entails the amalgam of content knowledge (ck) and pedagogical knowledge (pk), which is pedagogical content knowledge (pck) that is manifested in practice (koliopoulos & ravanis, 2000; mtika, robson & fitzpatrick, 2014; van driel & berry, 2012; van driel, verloop & de vos, 1998). these domains are dynamic and therefore require continuing reflection for their ongoing development. considering the nature of the requirements for teacher preparation, this study was underpinned by three notions: (1) pck as the specialist knowledge for teachers (shulman, 1986), the effect of which has been underscored. it is a teacher knowledge domain crucial for teacher professional development (abell, 2008; aydin & boz, 2012; magnuson et al., 1999; van driel & berry, 2012) the development of which is embedded in classroom practice. one takes it that what teachers know, both the “what and how” of teaching is demonstrated mainly in action directed by planning. the components of pck considered were based on those presented by magnuson et al. (1999). (2) practice and theory the associated features of teaching and learning. but the disparity between them has been alluded to as far back as early 1900s, dewey (1904, 1964) cited in ball (2000). (3) reflective practice a goal for teacher preparation programs and a vehicle for ongoing professional development (korthagen & vasalos, 2005; zeichner & liston, 1996). it is regarded a crucial aspect in teacher development programs to enhance the quality of classroom teaching and learning leading to the development of alternative pedagogical 3 practices and abilities in order to react accordingly to unexpected occurrences (collier, 1999; leavy & hourigan, 2016) thus ensuring ongoing professional growth. the handbook guiding nul student teachers’ practice in schools advocates learning from experience (national university of lesotho, 2015). the teacher training programs at nul as elsewhere, offer theoretical subject content, pedagogical studies and educational theories courses on campus and teaching practice in schools (allen, ambrosetti & turner, 2007; ozdemir & yildrim, 2012; shuls & ritter, 2013). the general pedagogies and subject content are offered by the sister department and another faculty respectively; and the “contextualization” (kirk, 1986) into subject specific pedagogical approaches is by the science education department in the curriculum studies courses. this situation portrays one facet of the fragmentation that ball (2000, p. 242) notes, saying “… teacher education throughout the 20th century has consistently been structured across a persistent divide between subject matter and pedagogy”. the need for and importance of practice teaching as part of teacher education programs has been emphasized in literature (allen & peach, 2007; ben-peretz & rumney, 1991; gȕrsoy, 2013) though not divorced from challenges (ozdemir & yildirim, 2012; sariҫoban, 2010). since the learning environment and activities in the two phases differ, there is a need for different forms of support (niemi & jakku-sihvonen, 2009). the collaboration between the training institution and practice schools for concerted support to the sts is inevitable, also with reported benefits and challenges (allen, ambrosetti & turner, 2013; gȕrsoy, 2013). in as much as there is a strong feeling that what prospective teachers ought to know and be able to do is crucial (ball, thames & phelps, 2008; darling-hammond, 2005; anthopoulou & ravanis, 2016), ball (2000) warns of the problems facing teacher education programs in offering sts what is suitable for them to learn for teaching. the implication being that it is not just a matter for teachers knowing what to teach as may be given in course synopsis for te or the school syllabus for st and how to teach it, but it should be teaching what should be taught and how to beneficially handle that very knowledge in learning and practice methodological framework the main research question sought the perceptions and opinions of tes, sts, tpts and rpts based on their experiences with the preparation that the science pre-service teachers were afforded in learning to teach in the selected science subjects, and how they exhibited that professional knowledge during tp. those perceptions served as a window through which the researcher could better understand the situation from which to establish the probable cause(s) for the reported shortfall. the identification of the site within nul with the specific department, courses and participants drew boundaries for the study and thus created a case (creswell, 2015). according to cohen, manion & morrison (2011) a case study observes effect in real context and context determines causes and effects. the reported shortcomings with sts’ classroom teaching during teaching practice (tp) could be viewed as effects of the training. cochran-smith and fries (2005) have this to say about studying causes and effects in teacher preparation: it requires at least two causal links – the first linking teacher preparation with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions teacher candidates learn during the preparation 4 period; and the second linking that repertoire of knowledge, skills, and dispositions – as enacted in classroom practice – with pupils’ learning or other outcomes (cochran-smith & fries, 2005, p. 51). the interest here did not essentially extent to the impact of sts’ teaching on students’ learning, rather, the impact of the training they underwent on them, that then formed the basis for their practice. the interactions within the site of investigation are illustrated in fig. 1 covering the two-links referred to. the study participants the study participants were the directly involved people at nul and practice schools. the purposive sampling to obtain rich information from which the data were collected through the semi-structured interviews comprised 20 student teachers 20 teaching practice tutors, 2 teacher educators and 2 regular practicing teachers for whom pseudonyms were used. the sts were drawn from year iv biology and physics curriculum studies courses coupled with the concerned tes and the resultant tpts. the rpts within five years of teaching, who had gone through the same training were involved to verify the view about sts’ limitations. it was believed that they would provide their training experiences in relation to the practicalities they were observing. research methods the associated research tools in a qualitative study include observation, interview, survey, and document analysis (mouton, 2001). in this study the interviews were employed for all targeted participants between december 2014 and january 2016. except for sts who were involved in preand post-tp interviews, the rest had one interview, all ran one-onone. the observation of sts’ teaching was done by tpts who provided the written reports which were complemented with other related documents. those comprised already existing (course synopses, course outlines and tp handbook) and sts’ produced tp reports with the lesson plans ranging from 5 to 10 for all 20 sts. the interview schedules derived from the research questions were designed to suit each category of participants, and they targeted five areas with the following questions: 1) what content was offered to sts for their learning to teach? 2) what methodologies and pedagogical approaches were employed to help sts learn to teach? 3) how did the sts enact the acquired knowledge? 4) how did the theoretical coursework link with classroom practice? 5) what were the general views of the study participants about the training? 5 teacher educator university student teacher university/ practice school teaching practice tutor practice school figure 1. links between teacher educator, student teacher and teaching practice tutor data analysis the data from the interviews were complemented with the analysis of the documents using template analysis which is a particular way of thematic analysis that follows the basic steps in content analysis (brooks & king, 2012) in conjunction with constant comparison method (miles & huberman, 1984). the data were collected from individual events and documents and analyzed at that level and later related to others in relation to the five areas. in the final analysis all data were consolidated to make a comprehensive picture of the whole situation. results presentation and discussion the results from various sources were presented and discussed on the basis of the five areas incorporating the prominent themes derived from the data. those were: teacher knowledge, teacher qualities, practice teaching and training procedures which are integrated in the focal areas. the quotes used have been drawn from all sources used to collect the data conveying the pertinent message. the training content basically, the teacher training content constituted conceptual and practical knowledge targeting the lesotho high school curriculum that the sts were going to teach considering also some prevailing circumstances therein that they were equipped to cope with, and the methods to teach it underpinned by the learning theories. the basis for the content that the sts were trained on was the course synopsis which was the same for both courses from which tes developed course outlines used as their teaching curriculum. the different presentation and expression reflected could be manifested as the ‘open and flexible’ curriculum frameworks (vellopoulou & ravanis, 2012) influenced by their longstanding execution of the synopsis, interactions with schools and sts’ reflections from tp. the content incorporated the topics that seemed essential to form a base for teacher knowledge comprising the domains of teacher knowledge, ck, pk and pck and their components with the omission of assessment. tes posited: i am guided a lot by the requirements ... stipulated requirements in the course synopsis. they need to understand relevance of biology, ... the content of biology for high school students, … different strategies for teaching the subject… check their own understanding of the content … how to prepare for their own teaching… planning for teaching at different levels, planning the whole syllabus. …why do we teach the subject? what is this subject? what is in it that we have to teach? (teb). from the course synopsis we draw course outlines. physics content that has to be taught at that level … ways of teaching that …addressing the problems that teachers face out there ... to be familiar with that content, sometimes they tend to teach it from what they read so that it is something they don’t understand (tep). the exclusion of assessment was recognized by all sts some already indicating their feeling of its impact even before going on tp. for instance, stb5 said, “...assessment ... we didn’t do it, i am still not comfortable … no practice”. tes too acknowledged that they did not treat assessment as a topic for training which they felt could have a negative impact on sts’ performance. it surfaced during sts’ practice, aired by some sts themselves 6 during post-tp interview and in their reports, tpts interview and reports and tes interview. the questions they asked were simple recall questions merely requiring regurgitation of what had been taught. some tpts had to help sts to develop the skill which was expected to extend their learning. the selected courses were to be done over an academic year. but since they were done in the final year in which sts were going on tp in the second semester, they were actually done in the first semester and that created a great challenge as attested by one te saying: having to do a seven credit hour course in a semester and the students having to do all that … it’s too much... my students’ load is packed. they are always under pressure... a semester is too short to prepare for the whole curriculum ...we need more time. i don’t know where it will come in. if the course could be like err, they are not going for teaching practice until their fifth year. then we could have a whole year so that this seven credit hour course really is a seven credit hour course. then we could have more time to have them here dealing with a lot of aspects of teaching at high school level (teb). this implies the strain the te and sts were bearing on account of workload and time allocation within the institutional organization and procedures. that could be one of the reasons why tes identified those topics that they deemed challenging for use in preparing sts. however, those were not necessarily the topics that the sts were going to teach during tp. for instance, only 3 of 8 biology and 2 of 10 physics sts (about 28%) taught similar topics to those they dealt with on campus. with the available time for coursework training, it is obvious that it could not be possible for sts to develop pck for all high school subject topics, that then confirming the feeling expressed by magnusson et al., (1999, p. 126) that “pre-service teachers would only be able to develop a fraction of the pedagogical content knowledge they will need to be effective”. some of the issues such as interpretation of the syllabus, lesson planning, reflection and learning from others that sts identified as the factors anticipated would contribute to their teaching with competence, almost all of them acknowledged their having played part in their teaching such topics. echoing the limited time in which the courses were done and the heavy workload that teb already pointed out which ultimately led to the feeling of uncertainty with the sts, rptp and stb3 attested: we do not have enough time to go through all the elements of physics education to the extent that we end up going to the teaching practice without a thorough understanding of exactly how we are going to deal with it or maybe how it should be done practically at the teaching practice. we end up using our own knowledge maybe from high school or from the physics courses or maybe from the other science courses which we underwent (rptp). we have a lot of pressure from doing laboratory reports from the fost [faculty of science and technology]. sometimes we are not able to give our all to our science education studies... increase time for learning more in approaching students... more time to understand how to bring the content we have to the level of students, employ that content through experimentation it is not enough to do them for three hours a week...if we did the curriculum studies only the whole semester, we should, from 8 o’clock till 5 (stb3). 7 there is definitely no specific content designed by the faculty of education (fed) or the science education department for sts to guide their learning to teach during tp. in some countries such as turkey where there are practicum sessions in the course of training, there is planned “school experience course” (gürsoy, 2013) to prepare sts for the terminal extended field experience. the information provided by the tp handbook however, despite probable limitations in detailing the content issues, which is the case with the manuals designed for a similar purpose such as the faculty-school cooperation booklet used in turkey, it has been designed to provide support to the st in addition to that provided by the tpt and the tes. the handbook was hardly used by those who had a copy (sts and tes) which they only got a week before tp started while tpts did not have it at all. it offers the conceptual knowledge that could help the concerned people and with concerted effort and clear goals could develop sts in professional teacher knowledge and dispositions. it gives inspiring words to one as a teacher and her/his work of teaching as the introduction presents: teaching is about conveying passion for learning, innovativeness and solving problems and giving learners inspiration and tools to meet the challenges of life. a teacher is the heart and soul of a class, the pulse that keeps lessons lively and engaging (national university of lesotho, 2015, p. 1). tpts as co-educators with assumed practitioners’ expertise were to assist with the practicalities of classroom teaching, embracing the elements of teacher knowledge. methodologies and pedagogical approaches in the context of this study, methodologies are the overall procedures and the pedagogies the methods and strategies employed in teaching. basically, tes in the coursework training employed didactic approach, the goal of which according to magnusson et al. (1999, p. 101) is to transmit the facts of the subject in this case being those of teacher knowledge in a specific subject area. they further indicate that in executing the instruction under this approach the instructor “presents information, generally through lecture or discussion, and questions directed to students” who are held accountable for knowing the facts produced by the subject. in explaining how they executed their work tes declared: i use classroom talk from the first day. i come up with the exercise where they talk… talking at group level and then at classroom level. there is a time when some authority or authoritative discourse comes in. i also give them something to go and read… give them more on the characteristics of physics so that they see and understand why this approach will be more effective compared to lecturing. for their teaching practice they have to give me lessons where they were doing conceptual teaching and where they were doing classroom talk (tep). i pose a question, they talk about it, we talk about it then i supplement their ideas. sometimes i do lecture… if i am supposed to give them an outline for how to tackle a topic … i go through them one by one and i would give them a handout… i would elaborate, so i would be talking a lot… i would be talking a lot in that explanation. show, let them practice, give feedback (teb). tes enacted and advocated teaching strategies they considered appropriate for the 8 specific subjects/topics. that could be making their pedagogical approaches accessible to sts, who might be learning from the practical example, giving them concrete pointers for their teaching practice (koster et al., 2016). from sts’ perspective, tes’ methodologies and pedagogical approaches included provision of information coupled with them working with it to practice. some explanations were: what she demonstrated most was the interactive lecture, she involved us in her instruction. we didn’t necessarily have time to maybe do the experiments, it was given as the information to consider... we were given different learning strategies and we were told to go home and research and then present on them (stb6). most of the time (truly) he was telling us what to do … he was demonstrating by talking every day. by lecturing, most of the work was done by him because most of the theories and methods that he told us to use he did not give us a chance for doing them. we were comparing the…the syllabus and the … (pause) …and the topics in the books and try to understand err… how we can approach those topics (stp12). the sts were aware of the mode of teaching their tes employed which aligned for both groups. for sts to practice teaching, tes engaged them in peer teaching which they all appreciated. one te however, doubted its benefit to the sts, the sentiment shared by rpts and some tpts. he stated: peer teaching ... because they are teaching people who are of the same level it doesn’t give them the correct picture ... of what happens in the class ... sometimes the peers control somehow... i am there listening, this person doesn’t feel free ... is absolutely not free to do it to the extent that you say, does this thing inform me anyhow? because this person is not free, is not doing the work the way you would expect ... you can’t give them the whole 40 minutes (tep). the other te had a different view and articulated: ...they begin to realize what it means now to be a teacher because they now begin to do a lesson plan, they practice teaching, they practice every aspect of a lesson and they get feedback. and that practice is very important. and of course, teaching practice now gives them more time for the prolonged practice. confidence begins to grow even before they leave for their tp. but invariably they will leave, and i am not happy with them (teb). although tep expressed some doubt about the intended effect of peer teaching both tes acknowledged the need for that practical experience for sts. it offered not only a platform for practicing teaching skills, but at the same time it enhanced collaborative learning and reflection. they thus not only learned how to teach but also to critique and accept criticism provided through the feedback by te and peers, developing necessary qualities in a supportive environment. collaborative group reflection (miller & shifflet, 2016) during peer teaching and after tp created an opportunity for learning from one another. tes claimed that the information gathered from such reflections informed their 9 teaching of subsequent groups of student teachers. sts appreciated having been afforded an opportunity to prepare for and do practice teaching with their peers that helped them to develop confidence and some personal traits such as combating stammering (stb11). however, implying that practice in context and in reasonable time could be more beneficial, some sts uttered: since i haven’t taught at all, i haven’t met the students, the learners and all, i don’t know, i cannot say i am really, really ready because sometimes the method depends on the students that you teach, how they behave and how well they are equipped with the knowledge that you are about to present to them (stb3). micro [peer] teaching, we are doing it minimally and what i see about it is, we teach people who already know. to me i feel like we should maybe micro teach smaller children, the people that we are going to meet when we get to the field. the whole classroom experience i find it not giving me the whole classroom experience that i need. we teach a 40 minutes lesson in 7 minutes (stp9). the uncertainty with handling students with their diverse background could influence the way the teacher conducts her/his teaching as cohen and grossman (2016) confirm that students have a great influence on the manner in which a teacher facilitates the teaching. the rpts talked of students’ influence from experience when they were sts and the observations made with sts practicing in their schools just as some tpts also indicated. in general, although tes essentially taught through telling the expected, they involved sts in various ways and mostly engaging them in collaborative learning and searching for information, and then discussing and presenting on the issues. the sts found that involvement applicable for high school students. nonetheless, sts earned for more practical learning to have a feel of the advocated strategies thus in line with a view expressed by magnusson et al. (1999, p. 124) in saying, “simply telling teachers…, does not provide sufficient information or support to enable them to successfully put those ideas into practice”. tpts in practice schools were expected to serve as co-educators, professional friends, guides and supervisors to the sts during tp. the handbook outlines the roles of the tpt which bear the effective supportive elements for the holistic development of the student teachers. this consideration of the overall welfare of the st is legitimate as the endeavor itself involves thoughts, feelings, knowledge and actions of the novice who definitely requires professional support. in all cases regarding the assistance and support to st seemed to have been left to the discretion of individuals. the quotations that follow, in particular indicate how tpts’ could instill their beliefs about and practices in teaching and learning into sts. tpts posited: the tutors actually demonstrate to the student teachers. they demonstrate how they handle the class...the classroom management. they teach and these student teachers, they will be observing the tutors and we would be expecting him or her to do exactly what we are doing in the class; the way they handle classroom management as a whole, the way you handle your topics (tptb11). 10 echoing the same view differently another tpt uttered: if he had problems in presenting certain topics … i remember he said, how am i supposed to present this? i told him that you should do this, do this, and do this. at the end, the notes, i gave him my notebook where i had made the last preparation last year (tptb9). according to the handbook, the tpt is regarded as a pivot of support and guidance to the st, not providing the recipe tactics. the handbook stipulates that: it is necessary to gradually introduce student teachers to the practice of teaching. it is therefore, proposed to start with observations and shared teaching or team-teaching before giving the student teacher the responsibility for teaching a class on his/her own...the tutor is expected to be present in the lesson and is encouraged to use the lesson observation form and to provide feedback to the student teacher by discussing the observations after the lesson (national university of lesotho, 2015, p. 7). despite tpts relating in the interview that practice in the school was a platform for further learning and reflection for the sts, where they related their learning and the practices of the veteran teachers to what was learned during coursework training, picking the new ideas and skills; their assistance was provided to varying degree in different areas of teaching. they considered some elements of teacher knowledge while mostly focusing on sts’ qualities as revealed in the reports they provided for which they were not given guidelines. generally, few of them observed sts’ teaching to a significant extent. of the 5 biology and 5 physics tpts who explicitly talked of observations, some even let sts observe their teaching and shared the teaching. the rest of them went with the sts to class in the first week to get them started either merely for introducing them to the students or observing one or two lessons. the missing assessment component was noted hence signifying the importance of the practice phase. one of the tpts in her report explained her assistance saying, “before she could give a test to students she would come to me and we discuss it and allocate marks thoroughly” (tptp7). tpts believed that confidence for a teacher was very crucial which the st was being assisted to develop with regard to content to teach, the methods of teaching it and assessment. confidence is one of the attributes of expertise in teaching (smith & strahan, 2004) and it was acknowledged by all. the issues that tpts considered important included: daily lesson planning, active learner involvement and motivation, regular assessment with timely feedback and good command of the subject matter. student teachers’ enactment of the acquired knowledge the “enactment involves the planning and carrying out of new practices” (magnusson et al., 1999, p. 125). one believes that with the training the sts were afforded in their teaching subjects during the curriculum studies courses, they could exhibit their ability to teach drawing from the learned subject content and the pedagogies including planning for their teaching. lesson planning, as having a potential for positive impact for successful teaching, all sts drew their daily lesson plans. all of them except one acknowledged that lesson planning helped in guiding their teaching even though again they all struggled at the beginning and gradually improved the skill. according to one st, it was not the planning 11 that was a problem, the claim that could be observed from the analysis of her lesson plans, but it was the timing. she pronounced: ... it took me time to adjust to the 40 minutes period because here we were doing microteaching [peer teaching] of 7 minutes. but eventually i got it ... not the planning itself and what goes into it” (stp10). of those tpts who worked in close association with the sts one of them made this observation: it was a bit challenging for him to make a lesson plan. had to learn a proper way of doing it and get familiar with the format. for the first two lessons teaching on his own the confidence was still low but improved as time goes on (tptp1). the gradual improvement with the teaching skills and disposition could be inevitable with the beginner. the training methodologies also impact on sts’ performance. the exceptional case was that of one st who did not in any way acknowledge the importance of lesson planning. in her words she said: seriously, i don’t even know why lesson plans are made because something that i am going to teach, it’s in me. i don’t have to put it down because when i get there in the class i don’t check or keep checking the lesson plan. i just give something that i have. even the activities i might write the activities or the exercises in the lesson plan only to find that i don’t use those exercises, i use the ones that (pause) really, i don’t find them helpful (stp13). one might conclude that this st acted on impulse therefore leaving little room for the learned theories and pedagogies to help her develop. from analysis, lesson planning proved to be generally a great challenge to them. there was very limited alignment of the content in the sections of the plan. for instance, stb1 basically throughout the lesson explained the content whereas the lesson objectives were: “at the end of the lesson students should be able to: (1) identify main features used to classify viruses. (2) describe the features of viruses that enable them to adapt to their environment” with no room for students engagement geared towards their attainment. with almost all sts, the content was vaguely stated. similar limitations were observed by tes, despite tpts’ claim that they checked the lesson plans before sts went to teach. tep said, “they know the structure of a lesson plan but what must go into the lesson plan becomes problematic. the presentation stage you will find that it is too general”. even with the lesson evaluation that they ought to do for every lesson, the vague descriptive statements revolved around students’ weaknesses not reflecting their relationship to other pertinent factors. tp handbook considers reflective practice a crucial element for professional growth just as leavy and hourigan (2016) declared. the means to improve as part of the lesson plan in most cases were not related to the observations presented neither did they reflect any impact on the subsequent lessons both from their lesson plans and reports. some expressions for a number of lessons by a st included those such as “the lesson went very well”, or “the lesson was successful” despite some indicated challenges. the challenge with reflection was also alluded to by tes while tpts had no idea of what was meant when asked about lesson reflection by 12 sts and hence there was no mention of it in the reports. the methods that sts commonly used were discussion/classroom talk, group work, question and answer, students search for information and presenting their work, and lecturing. the latter being the dominant one despite tes’ discouragement and demonstration and advocacy for the appropriate ones. some sts justifying their resorting to lecturing claimed: with a large number of students it was difficult to select appropriate method and materials. group discussion was time consuming, difficult to control students making noise… this forced me to use, most of the times, methods that are more teacher centered” (stb11). i used the lecture method in order to clarify the abstract concepts that students did not have prior knowledge about them...it [method] did not engage students actively in the classroom teaching and learning, that is, students were just passive” (stb4). classroom talk, and socio-cultural theory did not work because at school there was much work to be covered and there are some disciplinary and facilitation challenges (stp10). the desired learner involvement though sts themselves were afforded during coursework training and appreciated, it posed classroom management and lesson facilitation challenges according to the sts as revealed in the preceding and ensuing quotes from tes: in group work you see that they are giving them problems to solve ... you can really see that they lectured and after lecturing then they give group work. so, the group work is supposed to be giving students classroom talk, so that is a challenge (tep). they have not been strong enough in terms of how to use the methods effectively in terms of how to at least help the students learn the content to the desired level of understanding. the teaching methods they struggle with especially are the ones that require them to engage students in active learning. … most of the lessons, it’s not about the students being actively involved. they will make effort when they know somebody is going to be there. then they will prepare a good lesson that will earn them very high marks, but immediately afterwards, they revert back to their continuous lecturing (teb). rptp confirmed: they [sts] only do most of the work when they know that their lecturers are coming. that’s when you see that one is making so many plans, planning for the topic he has taught for about two weeks ago, which means that lesson plan does not serve its purpose (rptp). here the root of sts’ challenge is to involve students in active learning. consequently, they employed cheating tactics which the rptp felt could be combated by frequent tes’ visits. tpts were satisfied with sts’ content knowledge though in a few cases limitations 13 were reported. tptb11 and tptb8 had this to say respectively, “giving learners content is still a problem … they have too much content but lack methodology”, and “…struggled in giving learners content appropriate for them… taught form a [first year of secondary] content that is beyond their understanding”. and teb expressed dissatisfaction saying: some i find that they have mastered the ability of being comfortable in their classrooms, but they are still shallow and they still show misconceptions in the subject. when i look at the quality of their presentation, the content of it, the depth of it, how they worked at helping the students, facilitating learning, mm-m (slowly shaking her head and frowning). there was clear sense of discontent with the te from her remarks and gesture. sts consulted tpts and other teachers on a number of issues as encouraged during tp orientation workshop held before they left for tp, revealed in all their tp reports. they consulted their peers as in the case of the physics group that had formed a social media group. the remnants of the omitted assessment skill endured to this stage. the st who declared his uncertainty before leaving for tp further confirmed the impact: i wasn’t quite sure of assessment strategies. upon arriving in class, we review content of previous day, what we learned, with questions simple questions for recalling (stb5). the similar view expressed by another st: the skill of testing was lacking, and i think it was going to be important if i acquired that skill. i really struggled a lot to come out with a formal test for the level of the classes i was teaching. maybe it was because i got little idea about how to test (stp1). in general, there were still those observable and worth noting limitations reflected by sts, also witnessed by their tutors and tes, some of which could give a cue to the probable cause(s) of the shortfall. linking coursework and practice teaching the opportunity that tes created for sts to practice teaching through peer teaching incorporated extensive planning and preparation using the school curriculum materials already set a ground for the field experience. the value of that experience has been underscored by both tes and sts who acknowledged its contribution during their actual practice despite the limited time it was done in and being done out of context; not in actual schools with actual students. that portrayed yet another fragmentation facet. moreover, the general practice by the faculty of education (fed) was that tes followed the sts into practice schools stating in the tp handbook: the staff of the faculty of education will visit all student teachers in their schools. whenever possible they will consult with the teaching practice tutor and together assist in the professional growth of the student teacher by supervising his/her lessons (national university of lesotho, 2015, p. 4). usually only two visits are made per st, one for observation and the other for assess14 ment in their two teaching subjects. the seemingly unbinding te-tpt collaboration has given a leeway for solitary support with no common goal for the professional development of their shared trainee. to add to the already limited te-st visits, it is not the concerned te who necessarily follows the sts into practice, but any allocated te. the procedure that created doubtful feeling with some counterparts such as the tpt who expressed this opinion: …you find that the observers or the supervisors who came to the school usually they were just people from the faculty of education. sometimes … they are not people who are specialists in the science subjects. one feels … being observed by someone maybe from totally different field… a person might not be familiar with the appropriate strategies and methods of teaching science (tptb1). one is tempted to think that it would be even worse in the case where the st had a challenge with the meaning and use of the scientific technical terms which one st attached to this tpt had and even acknowledged her inadequacy in that regard. almost all the participants in interviews and some reports complained that the duration of tp was limited. that might have been one of the probable reasons for tes leaving out tpts upon visiting sts also them not being the subject specialist. the apparent lack of communication, collaboration and their effect left tpts overwhelmed about the operation and the training institution’s expectations. one of them proclaimed: one thing that i think should be done is, if we want to help this person, we should have a discussion. … when you have come, try to tell me what it is you have found from the student teacher so that... i should follow up. as the educator you may have seen things that i have not seen. it’s true you have told the student teacher, but i don’t know it. we can actually sit down with the student teacher, either i follow that in class or … talk about it. i don’t even know what it is that i have to guide this person in, what is expected of me. what i feel is, we must make a three legged pot, the student teacher, the educator and the tutor, work hand in hand in trying to help this person (tptb11). with this apparent dissonance and without the tp handbook, the desired support mechanisms to enable continuity in sts’ learning are close to non-existence. nonetheless, sts have in the random fashion been assisted in their professional development to varying degree and proficiency. but the feeling was that that was not a product that was aspired for, there still being some apparent limitations reported. general views the tes’ rationale for teaching the courses was for sts’ understanding and familiarization with teaching what they would be teaching and their coping within the school context. the participants acknowledged that the training was worthwhile and did prepare sts academically, professionally and personally for teaching. however, the prominent concern was in respect of the procedures and the limited time which seemed to be an enduring challenge as expressed by rptp who completed his studies in 2011, saying: the training itself, it was good even though it had no enough time to be executed... and i do believe that the training if can be given enough time i think can serve its 15 purpose. as for now, it did not serve its purpose fully (rptp). on the institutional procedures teb pointed out: our teaching practice assumes that our student teachers have mentors in the schools. i am not sure whether the tpts are doing what they are really supposed to be doing. we are not supervising teaching practice in such a way that at least you can follow a number of students on a continuous period of time (teb). although teaching practice was considered an integral part of teacher training, tpts were unhappy with lack of collaboration between them and the tes to ensure a concerted effort for the benefit of the sts. in addition, the duration of tp was found by all participants to be short, therefore not quite meeting the assumption that it was an extension of learning for sts. conclusions in an attempt to answer the research, question the essence of which was to explore the two phases of the pre-service stage for the professional development of science student teachers at nul in learning to teach in order to establish the cause(s) of the reported inadequacies, all participants acknowledged the conceptual and practical knowledge that the sts were afforded. the main findings of the study revealed that the courses and the procedures for teacher preparation embraced the development of the pre-service teachers’ professional knowledge and qualities the most prominent being confidence. however, the major constraints for attainment of the aspired teacher product were time and procedures which jeopardized the desired professional development. those had the attributes such as omission of assessment as part of the training content, the frequency and duration of peer teaching sessions, out of context practice teaching, tp methodologies, fed staff visits, te-tpt collaboration and lack of meaningful observations of sts’ teaching by tpts. in particular, without clear collaboration and shared goal(s) at all levels, and well informed and prepared tpts, efforts could not be geared in the same direction resulting in sts’ suffering the consequences of the divergent perceptions about their learning to teach. it is maintained that if there could be some evident concerted and strong support, guidance and supervisory systems which keep the trainees, trainers and tpts interactively engaged, time might be utilized in a manner that there could be a decline in limitations reported on sts’ classroom practice during tp. it is therefore recommended that the fragmentation that leads to chasms, idiosyncratic practices and 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(1996). reflective teaching: an introduction. mahwah, nj: lawrence. received: may 17, 2017 accepted: june 1, 2017 19 180_josd_template case study what role does the textbook play in the era of the interactive whiteboard? a didactic approach to teachers’ professional writings cedric fluckiger1, sylviane bachy2* and bertrand daunay1 1théodile-cirel, university of lille 3, domaine universitaire du pont de bois, bp 60149, 59653 villeneuve d’ascq cedex, france 2didactic center, academic pole of brussels, avenue f.d. roosevelt 50, cp129/9, 1050 brussels, belgium *email: sylviane.bachy@ulb.ac.be abstract this article presents the questions raised and the first results of an exploratory study in the field of didactics that investigates, from a subjectivist perspective, the processes of search, selection and adaptation of teaching or learning resources by teachers, and in particular when an interactive whiteboard (iwb) is used. in continuation of the studies on the “documentary work” performed by teachers, we seek to identify how this process varies according to the disciplines taught. we will focus on the cases of teachers who primarily or exclusively use textbooks. keywords: didactics; digital resources; iwb. introduction the development, utilization and transformation, as well as the search, circulation and exchange, of resources, be it in or outside the classroom, play a decisive role in the work of teachers (barrère 2002, p. 59 sqq.). these various actions prompt us to consider the strictly didactic dimension, i.e., the dimension related to teaching and learning contents1, as central to teachers’ work (daunay, eds., 2011, p. 16 sqq.). the question of resources has taken on new significance and form due to the massive introduction in classrooms of digital tools that can make all the work carried out by a teacher on the basis of resources, more visible in the eyes of the teacher him/herself, of the students, of the parents and of the educational institution. yet this question has thus far been little examined in research studies, and the context that has recently emerged journal of subject didactics, 2016 vol. 1, no. 2, 101-117, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.438175 __________________________________________ 1 in frenchspeaking research, didactics is a field of research that studies questions concerning teaching and learning in the school milieu. in particular, it focuses on the teaching and learning of specific contents, as opposed to the much broader questions raised by pedagogical research. from the growing importance of digital tools used in schools calls for an investigation into this area2. it is with this in mind that we have undertaken an exploratory, specific and clearly delineated research study on the resources used by teachers (in late primary or early secondary school) to prepare their classes in the era of the iwb3. our goal is to identify, describe and characterize, from the perspective of teachers, the educational or pedagogical resources used, and in particular iwbs: how do teachers use, combine and modify the available resources? what sources of teaching material do they prefer : colleagues, collaborative teacher networks, schools’ websites, textbooks, newspapers and magazines, documentary websites? what strategies do they use to assess the relevance and adequacy of the resources for teaching their students? how do they adapt these resources to the needs of their students and to their objectives? in order to address these questions we have adopted a subjectivist standpoint by focusing on the processes of classification and categorization conducted by the teachers themselves, as well as the methods of selection and evaluation of resources they implement effectively 4. we will first discuss the sources of our theoretical reflections and provide some terminological clarification and methodological indications. we will then focus the discussion on the first results of our research: the importance given to the textbook both in the teachers’ discourse and in the classroom practices observed. we will discuss the reasons, from the teachers’ view point, for the renewed use of a tool that may be perceived as “traditional” in the digital age, as well as how teachers use the traditional textbook for writing documents to be used in the classroom. the sources of didactic questioning in the approach we have adopted, research questions are at the intersection of the study of three items: digital tools, teachers’ professional writings, and their documentary work. didactic approaches to digital educational technologies and the iwb existing didactic studies on the iwb have mostly focused, in the french-speaking environment1 on the functionalities of iwbs, on the subject of their diffusion and adoption by teachers (villemonteix and beziat, 2013), on the skills teachers must acquire and their needs in terms of training (meyer, 2012) or on their representations of the tool (boulc'h and baron, 2011). analyses that focus, among other things, on teachers' work (numa bocage, clauzard and monchaux, 2011, skutil and manenova, 2012, turel and johnson 2012), indicate that the iwb has been integrated into standard classroom practices and mechanisms. in anglo-saxon literature on the subject more abundant than frenchspeaking literature a number of studies have concentrated on the perceptions of the c. fluckiger et al.102 __________________________________________ 2 this has prompted the anr (national agency for research), led by éric bruillard, to undertake the current extensive project that consists of: firstly, a large-scale study on the resources used by teachers in four disciplines taught in secondary education, using various institutional sources; and secondly, an analysis, by monitoring a panel of teachers, of the recent changes in their practices. 3 the research, conducted over a 15 month period, was commissioned by a district in the lille area, in the context of the deployment of iwbs in lille schools, and funded by the senate.the project was led by cédric fluckiger, with the collaboration of sylviane bachy and bertrand daunay. 4 some of the results of this research were presented at the jocair 5 symposium, paris-descartes, 26-28 june 2014 (fluckiger, bachy, daunay, 2014). 5 where they are still relatively rare, probably due to the fact that france is lagging behind in terms of equipment (boulc'h and baron, 2011; etic survey, 2010), especially compared to britain (where 100% of primary schools are equipped with iwb). learners regarding the use of iwbs (hall & higgins, 2005), on the development of the pedagogical creativity of teachers (wood et ashfield, 2008) and on the impact of iwbs on teaching strategies (higgins, beauchamp and miller, 2007; türel and johnson, 2012). the results of these studies reveal positive feedback from the learners in that iwbs allow access to wider resources than the ordinary blackboard does, e.g., it provides access to the internet, game programs, videos, assessment tasks, and works done by others (hall & higgins, 2005). in addition, according to higgins et al. (2007), the ease with which elements from the different settings can be combined and integrated into teachers’ presentations enables them to develop lessons more adapted to the different learning profiles. however, no research study has specifically examined the effect of the iwb on teachers’ relations to resources. in addition to the iwb, the recent development of digital technology raises new research questions about teachers’ resources due to the introduction of new teaching tools, to changes in teacher-learner practices (research and dissemination of information or documents into networks that are more or less independent from academic institutions, etc.), and to the emergence of new institutional requirements (common knowledge foundation, etc.). alongside the prescribed school textbooks, teachers have access to multiple sources enabling them to design and prepare their lessons: material borrowed from colleagues, posted on personal websites, disseminated via collaborative teacher networks, proposed by academic websites, etc. in particular, the presence of an iwb in the classroom gives teachers the opportunity to offer a variety of document formats to their students: images and graphs, texts, exercises, videos, sounds, etc. given the number of possible resources available, the question arises as to how teachers manage to respond to the challenges facing them. how do they choose, select and assess the relevance and validity of these resources and documents? e.g., in science or history, what criteria do teachers use to assess whether the resource is suitable for the level of students of a particular class? what types of exercises does it enable learners to practice? under what conditions does it foster investigative processes? in what way is it adapted to the learning objectives of the lesson? what changes or adaptations can be made to it? what is its origin? what are its underlying point(s) of view or value (s)? how are those point (s) of view and value (s) compatible with the principles and missions of the school (see bruillard, 2007, on wikipedia)? how do teachers master those complex dimensions of resources, making choices and deciding how to use them? what references do they construct? what types of resources can they share easily? what, in terms of these resources, do they decide to modify and adapt for their pupils, e.g., keep a graph, but edit the text? the above-mentioned questions are in line with those raised by mishra and koehler (2006). they study the systemic links found between pedagogical practices (teaching methods), the use of technology and the disciplinary content. this theoretical model is known as technological and pedagogical content and knowledge (tpack). bachy (2014) has added personal epistemology to this theoretical model by discussing the beliefs and perceptions of teachers in relation to other elements of the system. more specifically and regarding the iwb, four elements seem to contribute to this evolution in the management of resources: the large number of possible sources of educational or didactic materials that teachers with an iwb can use, allows them to integrate resources with different origins and forms into their classroom practices (higgins et al, 2007); the integration of new online media sources enables teachers to choose from a wider what role does the textbook play in the era of the interactive whiteboard? 103 range of resources. the resources can be modified and adapted differently to suit the disciplines taught (higgins et al. 2005). this leads to the analysis of the organization, management and compilation of resources of various types in different disciplines; changes in the views on the teaching and learning contents and practices that accompany the adoption of new educational technologies (mishra and koehler, 2006) raise the question of teachers’ perceptions on the use of documentary resources, particularly digital ones; finally, the iwb enables (and to a large extent encourages or even forces) teachers to make modifications in the “text” of the documents and resources, in the course of the lessons (bastide and fluckiger, 2013). this changes their relations to resources that can no longer be considered as distinct and autonomous “sources”. teachers’ professional writings the questions raised by research on the use of digital technology in the work of teachers are close to those concerning teachers’ professional writings, which remain a “blind spot of research” (daunay, 2015), which françoise clerc already noted in 1999. indeed, the professional writings of teachers have received little attention outside training situations, even in the many studies performed by the language and work network (lazar coord., 1999; borzeix, fraenkelcoord,. 2001/2005). neither have disciplinary didactics produced extensive studies on the professional writings of teachers. this is probably due to the fact that classroom tools, such as exercise books or blackboards, have been given little attention in the field of didactics (nonnon, 2004). however, a comprehensive approach to teachers’ writings has been proposed from a didactic perspective, in a book (daunay ed., 2011) that reports on a collective research project. this approach is didactic in the sense that its aim is to understand the didactic element of teachers’ writings, and to examine what makes the teachers “didactic subjects” in their writings. because the research project and daunay’s book were only intended to describe the writings produced, certain aspects were overlooked the actual writing process, and also the reading process. furthermore the focus placed on teachers’ writings on paper have led the researchers to overlook an important aspect of this realm of teachers’ writings: the role of electronic writing, which has only been discussed during interviews. this approach to teachers’ writings shows, among other things, the discrepancy between the observed importance of teachers’ writings in their professional exercise and the lack of recognition of the producers of those writings, i.e., the teachers themselves as educators and researchers. thus, it has contributed to uncovering disciplinary specifities in teachers’ writings and writing practices on the basis of indicators that can potentially help in the description of the categories of writings (the recipients, circulation between the actors, time factors, public or private status, genres, etc.), which are all methodological paths to be explored. preparing a lesson plan, creating a handout for students or a document to be projected on the iwb, including combining and arranging various resources, is undoubtedly an activity whereby teachers produce written materials. this is why the above-mentioned results prompt an examination of the writing processes that specifically pertain to class preparation. more particularly, they call for an examination of the processes of adaptation and modification of resources that occur during “documentary work" performed by teachers (gueudet and trouche, 2008). c. fluckiger et al.104 educational resources educational resources, particularly digital resources, have been the subjects of several studies. bibeau (2006) for example, proposes a taxonomy of educational resources. baron and dané (2013) distinguish three modes of resource validation via an institution, private means or via a community. these studies point to the question of the typologies or of the validation processes used by the actors themselves. gueudet and trouche (2008, 2010) have, for their part, concentrated on the documentary work of teachers. according to them, “the growth of the internet” has made available a wealth of resources that has changed the work of teachers and contributed to the development of collective work. they define resources as follows: “we give this word a very broad meaning: a textbook, school curricula, software dedicated to education are, of course, resources (they are part of what the anglo-saxon literature calls the material curriculum).” (gueudet and trouche 2008). they show “the importance of the documentary work of teachers, the variety of sources from which their work draws, the evolving nature (especially because of the rise in digital technology) and the complexity of what it produces, the interweaving of individual and collective factors”(ibid.). they propose a specific approach they call “the documentary approach to didactics”, inspired by rabardel’s instrumental approach (1995). in their view, a teacher’s activity consists of searching for, combining, designing, and reviewing resources for teaching. then they develop what they call the document (by analogy with the concept of the instrument in the instrumental approach) incorporating both the re-combined resources and utilization patterns “saturated with professional experience and knowledge.” thus, they talk of “documentary geneses”. furthermore, and again using an approach rooted in the theory of activity – including engestrom’s works (1987) they examine the collective forms of this work as well as communities of practice of teachers, in the sense meant by wenger (1998). based on these works, we have formulated a minimal definition of what we consider a resource. a resource is what a teacher consults, creates, modifies, adapts with the conscious objective of preparing or giving a class lesson: it can be in the form of a textbook, website, preparation sheet, sound document, video or photo, newspaper article, sheets for students, a class lesson sheet designed for the teacher or for students, existing or newly prepared documents, etc. the distinction made by gueudet and trouche (2008) between “resource” and “document” is heuristic and is not central to our approach, even though it does shed light on some of the results. we consider resources to be what teachers utilize for the conscious purpose of teaching. this excludes, for example, their general knowledge, the information they possess, etc., unless the teachers themselves designate them as resources, under the subjectivist stance we have adopted, and present in the following section. towards a typology of resource uses with the iwb bétrancourt’s typology (2007) of the uses of information and communication technologies in the classroom seems to be an invaluable tool for reflecting on the question of resources. the author distinguishes four taxonomies of actions for supporting information processing and storage during a teaching activity. this can be linked to our reflections regarding adaptations or creations of textbooks. the storage and re-use of complex and/or mass information (websites, access to what role does the textbook play in the era of the interactive whiteboard? 105 stored images, cd-rom, etc.). this category is not really specific to the iwb. it could be implemented with a computer in conjunction with a projection system. the choice of resources tends to be made before hand. interactivity is considered underdeveloped in the sense that the resources can only be slightly modified. however, we have seen that a teacher can select certain resources and adapt them to respond to his/her students’ needs. s/he may leave out an element of a document (a video for example) or use annotations related to other sessions in the framework of a new activity. automatic processing of complex information (exercisers, educational software such as the actimath textbook, etc.). this category largely supports the interactivity specific to the iwb in relation to the basic resources. the teacher or student can act directly on the latter. türel and johnson (2012) argue that this high level of interactivity greatly benefits learning (e.g., it supports motivation, involvement, multimodality, fast feedback). the testimonies of teachers are in keeping with this: “the students understand the concepts more easily, so they are more interested and it is more enjoyable, and i like its interactive dimension” (teacher 5). the representation and visualization of information (graphic representation, enlargement of illustrations, conceptual map, text scrolling upwards as it is read). the teachers in our study emphasize the benefits of this category. for teacher 5, when the students have the same documents in front of them, “it makes it easier for them to follow; they are not lost.” according to the teachers, better visibility of resources and the “power of images” (by being able to see an exact replica of the printed textbook students use) increase the learners’ participation. in addition, these graphic representations can be interactive, thereby creating cognitive conflict situations as in an interactive simulation. the process of production and creation (multiple writing on the iwb, adding to or modifying the base). this category of action is not specific to the iwb either, in terms of the initial production of the textbook or of the resources. indeed, in the absence of an iwb, one could, for example, use a collaborative writing program. however, some teachers can, in the course of a lesson, use different media and create, “live”, a new didactic material. the iwb makes it possible to retrieve the history log of the session or, for example, to modify a text. this allows the sharing of resources between colleagues. thus, we find, as meyer did (2012), that the interactivity of the iwb has a different impact on resource uses depending on the categories of action. this typology (adapted to include the use of the iwb and to address the question of educational and teaching resources) could serve as a frame of reference for comparing disciplines. a specific and circumscribed approach: some methodological elements our research, which is built on a didactic framework and based on the studies cited above, is characterized, on the one hand, by a focus on the perspectives and perceptions of teachers, and on the other hand, by a search for disciplinary specificity with a view to a comparative analysis. indeed, the originality of our study, in comparison with other works on the documentary resources of teachers, lies in our seeking to adopt a subjectivist stance and in our focusing on the processes of classification and categorization of teachers themselves. we do not attempt to pre-establish a categorization of the resources and of how they are used by teachers. our aim is to characterize teachers’ practices while focusing attention on the means of selection and evaluation of the resources (evaluation of their relevance, c. fluckiger et al.106 correctness, legitimacy, suitability for the students and the didactic or educational objectives), and on the resource sharing mechanism, less from the perspective of the actual processes than from that of the possibilities, aspirations, fears of being judged, pride, etc. which this evokes (skutil and manenova, 2012). furthermore, we devote attention to the disciplinary variations, whether actual or perceived, as expressed by the subjects. our methodology consists of: collecting, from between 10 and 15 teachers, the resources and educational or didactic materials used in different disciplines (science, french, history, mathematics) and in the preparation for the brevet informatique et internet (b2i), the examination for the internet and computer user's certificate in france; categorizing the above-mentioned resources and materials according to their nature (image, sound, text, etc.), origin (textbook, academic website, a teacher’s personal website, magazine, etc.), the context of their development, the modifications made by the teachers, and their didactic functions, etc.; questioning the teachers about the resources. search methods, the methods used for evaluating their relevance and legitimacy, the possible adaptations of the resources to the didactic needs, the importance and role given to these resources in the processes, the types of tasks assigned to students in order for them to master the resources, etc.; observing how the resources are used in class, by comparing our observations with the teachers’ statements. for this purpose we will proceed in three stages (appendix 1), using a methodology similar to that implemented in the previously mentioned research on teachers’ professional writings (daunay, dir, 2011): a first informal and short, designed to enable the teachers to cite the resources used, to determine where they found them, to ascertain what in their experience has changed with the introduction of the iwb, to specify the problems they encounter in terms of resources, to describe the resources and the content of the class we will observe; an observation of the classes, and the collection of all the resources used by the teachers over a determined period of time or according to a specified content; a long interview, the purpose of which is to compare the teachers’ statements with our observations and the resources collected from them. the observations are structured by a framework common to all the researchers, consisting of three parts: the general context elements we identify the discipline, content, teaching methods and case scenarios; elements for identifying the resources used the observation serves to identify what they are called in class, their nature (editable text, images, graphics, etc.), their origin (textbook, website, software), how the resources are used (support tool for the teacher, illustration, problem solving, etc.), what are the changes made by the teacher and / or students and how they circulate in the classroom; elements of the technological setup put in place in a given context depending on the resources available the detailed description of technological equipment makes it what role does the textbook play in the era of the interactive whiteboard? 107 possible to compare the different situations observed. indeed, there is considerable variety in the infrastructure related to the use of an iwb. the observation grid helps to describe whether the classroom is equipped with a fixed iwb, a mobile iwb (on wheels) or a portable iwb, and if the iwb is used in conjunction with a video projector, a computer and speakers, or if it is a touch screen iwb (i.e., used with fingers or a special stylus), or if it is electromagnetic, optical (laser) or ultrasonic (makes the surface interactive). we also establish whether the resources can be exported, whether the users’ actions can be stored, whether the source files can be exported, whether there is handwriting recognition, and finally whether the iwb is software compatible, i.e., compatible with minimalist software that allows for screen shots, or compatible with advanced software that enables the user to use a large range of different resources with the iwb. the results presented below, based on the analysis of the transcripts and documents relative to 10 observed teachers who agreed to be interviewed, illustrate this aspect quite representatively, in that it shows how a traditional resource – the textbook continues to be used while being transformed in the presence of an iwb6. the future of the textbook in the context of the iwb the choice made by the majority of the teachers we have observed is to use the students’ textbook as the base resource. this choice implies that the iwb is becoming a mode of usage of textbooks. “i have used the textbook even more since i got an iwb.” says teacher 3. we try here to explain the reasons for this form of usage and to examine how the textbook is, in practice, used for “writing” class materials. in addition we report here what teachers say about their choices, indicating the similarities and differences, and describe what we have observed in their classrooms. the distinction between the digital and paper understanding the use of the textbook during classroom practices structured around an iwb implies, first of all, determining the classic distinction between “digital” and “non-digital” resources. the interest of a subjectivist stance lies in its not confining the analysis to categories a priori. this would not make any sense for the actors, nor would it fit the contours of their practices. therefore, this applies to the distinction between digital and non-digital resources. consequently, we do not talk of digital resources. in addition to the fact that their definition is subject to debate (bibeau, 2006; baron and dané, 2013), and that a resource may or may not have a digital dimension depending on how or when it is used and who uses it (higgins et al 2007), it is interesting to examine all the resources in order to: identify the differences between those perceived by their users as digital or not; perceive the differences between the practices of teachers, in terms of resources, according to whether or not they use digital tools; consider the future of traditional resources in the context of a growing use of digital technology (in particular, and in this case, the iwb). c. fluckiger et al.108 __________________________________________ 6 some information concerning the teachers are attached in the annex. we thank them warmly for their help. for anonymity’ sake we do not name them or their workplace. we do not specify their gender or their age or the characteristics of the schools and students involved, because these are indications that we will not use as variables in this article. a section of the textbook can be scanned (a page, an image, a text, etc.) so that it can be displayed on the iwb. paper documents can be distributed to students while being projected on the iwb consisting of a combination of photocopied or scanned excerpts of a textbook and of documents found on the internet. which ones are “digital” and which ones are not? that is why we essentially talk of resources in a digital environment. thus, depending on the textbooks used, teachers choose whether to use their electronic version or not. those using actimath à l’infini (van in) in grade 9 (s1, s2 advanced science option) choose to use the electronic version because they find the design of that particular version to have user-friendly functions (evaluation, exercise corrections, new subjects of study, etc.). in grade 5 teacher 2, who uses cap math (hatier) and le français à la découverte de l’histoire-géographie (hachette), considers the versions for iwbs to be of no added value and prefers to digitize the printed textbook and project it through the iwb. this teacher thinks that the electronic version of cap math (hatier) is not designed to be used with the iwb, whereas the e-version of cleo (retz) “goes a little further, it can be modified: you can use colour and shading, you can circle areas of the document.” these are choices of opportunities that either facilitates or not some of the operations involved in the document-writing task. however, it does not fundamentally change the writing process, which constantly shifts from paper to digital and vice versa. the teachers who hold such points of view use smart board type iwb without any additional software. it is interesting to take a look at how the iwb is used in conjunction with textbooks because, as mentioned above, it helps understand where digital and non-digital resources overlap. moreover, the question of how textbooks are used is relevant to understanding teaching practices, which, in our opinion, is a subject not yet sufficiently documented. for a long time textbooks have served to operationalize official instructions (see choppin, 1992, p. 114 ff.). as nicole tutiaux-guillon (forthcoming) stated regarding the teaching of history and geography, textbooks can be used as a tool for updating teachers’ knowledge concerning new topics. in line with this author, we think hat, although they are not indicative of the knowledge or practices at play in the classroom, textbooks often aid the teachers in their work with students and are a relevant indicator of the organization of the contents of school subjects. it is also worth adding that some of the teachers participating in the survey elected to create their own lesson materials or teaching resources. using the iwb in conjunction with software such as active inspire, they are able to construct and organize contents, as well as adapt and manipulate resources themselves during class. the textbook: a tool for organizing contents and developments the fact that textbooks serve to operationalize and update the contents to be taught largely explains why the teachers we interviewed use them as support, or even as a fulcrum for writing class materials. as teacher 6 said: “i often use the textbook as a base and then i add one or two extra documents”. the textbook is a reliable tool for teachers. “in general, i tend to trust what is in the textbooks, especially in history and geography” (teacher 5). this confidence relates not only to accuracy, but also to the fact that the proposed contents are suited to the target level. a textbook is a tool “that is designed upstream; that is what it is for” (teacher 6), and “it is reassuring” (teacher 5). conversely, for this teacher, the videos she downloads as illustrations for her lessons are used with caution, “i had seen in the comments on the what role does the textbook play in the era of the interactive whiteboard? 109 internet that there were small historical errors in a short video”. apparently, paradoxically, it is precisely the growing number of possible resources used in the writing process and the diversity of their origin and formats (films, texts, images, etc.) that reinforces the use of the textbook as a content organizer. indeed, the textbook primarily serves as an organizer for the teacher. at the individual level, the textbook is used by some as an organizer of the contents to be taught: “i do not wonder what i am going to do in class because i follow the textbook,” says a teacher in p1, and goes on to say “the preparation is structured by the textbook” to the point that he adapted and re-worded the whole teacher’s guide because “i find it difficult to get into the process if i do not rewrite it. i syphon the guide”. this dimension of content organization is sometimes related to a degree of distrust in the information found online which is why teacher 3 distinguishes between “sources” found on the internet, which she extensively draws from, and “knowledge”, the reliability of which the print out guarantees: “i try to find sources, but in terms of knowledge i still use the textbooks and other books more.” but the textbook can also play the role of collective organizer between several teachers, for example. thus, teachers justify their choice by the fact that using the textbook ensures more coherence in the progressions common to a cycle, a school or even a class when it has rotating teachers. this is the case with one of the teachers we interviewed. therefore the textbook constitutes a benchmark for assessing the suitability of other resources to be used in class. teacher 5 used the beginning of a long video she found on the internet to illustrate a lesson on the arrival of the celts in france: “i had seen in the comments on the internet that there were small historical errors. however they were either related to details only experts would know, or they appeared later [in the video], because when i watched it i did not find any discrepancies with the information i had and which was given in the textbooks” it is also on the basis of the textbook’s contents that, during the collective viewing of the video, this teacher decides to say to her students “ this is complicated, but it does not matter". indeed, she continues “i did not explain because it was not useful”. the teacher relies on the textbook to define the relevant contents, which explains why she decides to exclude one element of the video from the content of her lesson. finally, according to the teachers, the textbook helps to ensure coherence and “readability” of the contents for the students. the fact that learners in the same learning cycle have the same textbook, for example, helps them to not become disoriented. indeed, as a teacher in p1 explains, “they can see that we work in the same way and this gives them some bearing”. for this teacher, the textbook is something of a “ritual”, which does not change, even if the teacher changes. thus, the editorial choices in the textbook, the presentation of concepts and standardized progressions it proposes seem to provide a framework for teachers’ writing process, including when modifications in the components (texts, illustrations, exercises) are made – modifications made all the more easily and quickly when the components are digitized. the capabilities of the iwb expands the range of possible uses of the textbook one reason why the textbook is an important (or the main) resource in the process of writing educational materials is that, by using it in association with the iwb, the teacher and learners are able to work in ways that are not possible with the printed version of the books. c. fluckiger et al.110 for example, the actions performed in class can be saved. according to some teachers, one advantage lies in being able to save the notes taken during class and to reuse explanations given in previous lessons if need be, e.g., when a pupil is absent. another advantage in using a textbook in combination with an iwb is that it offers opportunities for individual and collective work. all the teachers are of the opinion that being able to project a textbook onto an iwb is “a definite plus for the kids” (teacher 2). the attention and motivation of the students are thought to increase. the same teacher explains that there used to be “difficulties with collective activities” because of the time it took and the students’ lack of attention. s/he adds “with the iwb, things like manipulations, phases of collective learning, explanations to the class, and getting students to explain procedures to others are easier than with the blackboard. that is what you can do with the iwb”. teacher 3 says “i use it a lot for interactivity when they have to perform manipulations”. individual exercise is one thing, but the iwb makes collective stimulation possible: “there is exercise that each child performs, and then manipulation that is done collectively”. these educational capabilities, perceived positively by teachers, also relate to the latter’s representations of students. indeed students are presented by the media and by educational institutions as “digital natives” (prensky, 2001), an image which also imposes itself upon teachers (fluckiger, 2011). teacher 5 expresses this clearly “it is a generation that does virtually everything through video technologies, game consoles, tv, etc. when something is projected onto a whiteboard, they are interested, or at least they pay more attention than if i tell them to open their textbook at page x and to look at the document”. all teachers also stress the time gained during exercise evaluation: answers can be automatically displayed without having to re-write the questions as the questions are already there. as far as the complex resources, such as graphics, are concerned, they are already in an educational format. two teachers in s1 and s2 who use actimath à l’infini like to use the blank space on the iwb to return to concepts that have already been taught. this also allows them to use the automatic text recognition and to save what has been written in class with a direct connection to the page of the smart board handbook. however, teacher 2 states that he cannot do without what he calls (jokingly) the “real board” – whether “black” or “white”. according to him “the writing is done on that board”. he explains that writing on the iwb is not easy and, furthermore, that the projected image of the text is not always of good quality. this implies that a lot of work is needed to ensure that the text “that comes on the ibw” is the same quality as the text printed on paper. the type of iwb used may therefore also influence how and how much they are used, and the continued use of the traditional blackboard. those among the observed teachers who used the active inspire program with an iwb no longer have a traditional blackboard in their classroom. this is not a problem except in cases of technical failure. other teachers still have a blackboard in their classroom, but it is not central to the room and is mostly used to hang maps from, or for magnet panels. thus, in the discourses and practices of the teachers as a whole, the iwb appears as a tool that helps optimize the use of the textbook, whether for didactic or pedagogical purposes, as is shown in the aspects discussed above. the link between iwb and textbooks seems an important aspect of the question of resources in the digital era. first of all, as mentioned above, the class textbook seems to structure the use of the iwb. secondly the textbook, when used in connection with the internet (gueudet, trouche, 2008; 2010), allows the teachers access to a greater number what role does the textbook play in the era of the interactive whiteboard? 111 of resources that can be used in class. thirdly, far from reducing the usage of textbooks (other than those of the class), it seems to reinforce it. teacher 2 explains that he has been using textbooks more since he got an iwb: “i use textbooks more because they provide a variety of documents”. indeed textbooks are identified as necessary resources for other teachers. for example, teacher 3 says: “i have a few copies of various textbooks, so i look at different books, i look at how they approach the content of a lesson and then from that, i make my own plan, choose my own documents which i can show to the children and use”. digital tools and iwbs enable and require the teachers to adapt the textbook all the teachers participating in the study use the textbook as their main resource when they prepare and teach their lesson. it can even be said that the textbook structures the use of iwbs. here the question arises of the benefits of reproducing information from the textbook on to the iwb. the combined use of the textbook with an iwb makes it both necessary and possible to modify and adapt the textbook. several teachers stress the fact that they can enlarge the image, and raise or lower it to increase its visibility. this is not possible when a document is simply projected on to a screen without using an iwb or when they write on a blackboard. as teacher 2 points out, it is also possible to edit the page, to change the colour of words or circle them. this practice makes it possible to keep track of classroom interactions. the printed textbook, whose content cannot be modified, is transformed, in the discourse and practices of the teachers observed, into an evolutive object which can be modified in the margin during the didactic interaction. however, the relation between the iwb and the textbook lies beyond the mere possibility of modifying the document. the malleability of the tool facilitates the adaptation of textbooks by teachers. this is an important aspect of the “documentary work" of teachers and its “evolving nature” (gueudet, trouche, 2008). indeed, as teacher 1 indicates: “even if you use the textbook, you select information here and there” or as teacher 5 explains: “i scanned the textbook, but also other history textbooks that i had at home.” teacher 3 who is faithful to the textbook when preparing her classes and feels compelled to use it (“i spent so much money on buying this textbook, i must use it, otherwise i do not see the point”). it is the rigidity of the textbook that causes her to not favour using it with the students in class: “it is not something i will use for class, because i feel constrained to use only what the book offers in terms of documents”. she added: “we have to follow the approach of the textbook, but i think it is not open enough”. we can, in light of the discourses and practices of the teachers we interviewed, identify some reasons for adapting textbooks: prettifying the object by adding “nice illustrations even if they may not have any disciplinary content, will create an attractive presentation, “as teacher 1,who uses emoticons, indicates; making the work that is being carried out more attractive: some teachers annotate the answers, by highlighting, circling or by adding different icons for errors and good answers; modifying the content along the way to get the class “back on track” when it seems to be “lost” by using a resource that is more or less related to, and sometimes disconnected from the lesson. the fun element is mentioned several times in this conc. fluckiger et al.112 text; adding or modifying content in the preparation of or during the class when an internet resource seems more relevant from a didactic point of view: “i took more photos, i browsed the internet” (teacher 4). “we had to talk about the greeks arriving by way of the sea. they were talking about the ship, so i looked on google images for greek ships of that era so that they could visualize it” (teacher 5). making the learning of a concept that has already been taught more stimulating when a teacher goes over “the teachable content of cap math”, by taking one page of the textbook and “turning its content into a maths challenge” as did teacher 1. this not only helps the teacher teach a given content but it also enables him/her to “work on social and civic competences” by implementing group work; focusing on the learning objective: “i feel that in a textbook there can be a huge number of different tasks [...], but actually i want to focus on [...] as the core of my lesson” (teacher 4); adapting the textbook to suit the students’ level by doing “what the textbook says, but in different stages. we get the same results, but often in a more segmented way, because the students need that” (teacher 2); following the textbook, but organizing work in a different and better suited way: “you have to go over things again before and then see what can be worked on with groups, in workshops, etc., depending on the constraints of the class.”(teacher 4); modifying the order in which the textbook’s content is displayed: “i do the same thing, but i teach the subjects separately (geometry, numeration, etc.), as opposed to the textbook cap math where the subjects are mixed together” (teacher 2); keeping track of what has been done in class which the textbook does not always allow, explains a teacher: “i like to keep track of what has been done” (teacher 2); differentiating the students: e.g., a teacher can ask half the class to do an exercise alone, using the textbook, while the other students who have more difficulty, work with the modified textbook and the iwb, with help from the teacher. the choice to adapt the textbook depends on the teachers and the textbooks, e.g., a teacher may choose to follow a mathematics textbook to the letter, whilst another teacher using the same textbook will modify it to suit his/her needs. however, in turn, s/he will use the french textbook “as it is”. the teacher may modify the book during his/her preparation work before teaching the class, or while s/he is teaching the class, depending on the reactions of the students. the iwb proves a powerful ally for the teacher in cases where the latter changes how s/he uses the textbook in class without prior preparation. but it is also useful when the teacher adapts the textbook using other resources because it helps to create coherent “collages”. as teacher 2 explains: “you find different elements and you arrange them your own way”. let us note that in our observations, we distinguish two groups of teachers: those who essentially use the software provided with the iwb as a source of resources: the modification of the resources then consists for the most part of highlighting keywords in the instructions, in the solutions to the exercises or in adding explanations in the blank space on the board; those who create their own resources using resource creation software, such as active inspire: the creation or modification of resources consists of choosing content among different sources and creating specific tasks. what role does the textbook play in the era of the interactive whiteboard? 113 conclusion this article has aimed to present the premises, methodology and some results of a research study that raises questions, which we believe, pave the way for new areas of study concerning new tools that have emerged in school classrooms. it shows that technological innovations have major implications in terms of didactics and pedagogy. they have an effect on the training of future teachers and the management of educational institutions. we believe that, in order to understand the new ways in which resources are used and the obstacles related to the growing number of resources, a subjectivist approach is required, attentive to the typologies used by teachers, their attitudes, their selection process, and to the methods used to validate the relevance of resources and adapt them accordingly. we have presented here the choices made by some teachers to use primarily, or even exclusively, a “traditional” textbook, either in a digital format or in a scanned version. the textbook seems to serve as a guide for teachers who are confronted with a growing wealth of resources. while minimizing, de facto, the problem related to the choice of resources, the iwb allows, according to teachers, for greater didactic flexibility. indeed, while allowing the teachers to rely on the structuring and guiding properties of the textbook, the iwb helps them free themselves, at least partially, from some of the constraints associated with the printed textbooks, by modifying the stages of the process, by adapting or adding illustrations to the resource, etc. our study shows that the extent to which available resources are modified and new resources are created could be influenced by the type of iwb used (smart board or activboard) and by the teachers’ experience in the use of this tool. as higgins, beauchamps and miller (2007) pointed out, the extent to which resources are modified and adapted depends on the teacher’s level of experience in using the iwb. this suggests that, from a didactic point of view, increasing technological skills and a growing sense of confidence in the use of the iwb may help teachers to become more autonomous and to reinforce their selectiveness and even their creativity in the face of the growing number of resources. references bachy s. 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(à paraître) les questions socialement vives l’enseignement de l’histoire-géographie engagent-elles à une recomposition disciplinaire? in audigier f., sgard a., tutiauxguillon n. dir., les recompositions disciplinaires, bruxelles, de boeck. villemonteix f., béziat, j. (2013). le tni à l’école primaire: entre contraintes et engagement, sticef, vol. 20: http://sticef.univ-lemans.fr/num/vol2013/17-villemonteix-reiah/sticef_2013_ns_villewhat role does the textbook play in the era of the interactive whiteboard? 115 monteix_17p.pdf. wenger e. (1998), communities of practice. learning, meaning and identity, cambridge, uk, cambridge university press. wood r. et ashfield j. (2008). the use of interactive whiteboard for creative teaching and learning in literacy and mathematics: a case study. british journal of educational technology 39, 1, 84-96. appendix 1 guide to interviews and observation grids7 short interview what do you plan on showing us during our observations? 1. (if using the iwb) what has changed for you in the course preparation? 2. what sources / resources do you use? 3. where do you find them?4. observation grids 1 / elements of general context: discipline (s) identifiedcontent in the discipline collective / individual / group work situation / phase of the course material available in class 2 / elements to be identified for each resource used how are class resources named ? : document, resource, image ... • type of the resource: editable, non-editable, image, graphic, video, sound ...• origin of the resource: journal, website • new resources or already used • what is the activity support • what is not discussed, even hidden from the resource• what changes have been made by the teacher (on the surface or in the "text"-• itself) what changes have been made by the students • circulation of resource distribution by a student• c. fluckiger et al.116 __________________________________________ 7tni research: teachers face digital resources (fluckiger c., daunay b., bachy s., orange d., sido x., souplet, c., 20132015, lille3) 3 / typology interactive whiteboard basic equipment: whiteboard, blackboard, digital board, wall video projector,• computer loudspeakers... type: fixed, mobile (on wheels), portable (roll-up panel)• technologies used: touch screen (fingers or stylus), electromagnetic (stylus• with programmable buttons), optics (laser use of a stylus), radio or ultrasound (via a box in a corner that makes the surface interactive) accessories: tablets voting boxes scannerpen• interactivity: with a pen, with fingers, with both, via a computer• export of possible activities: save any changes (annotation, ..), exports source• files to new files, recognizes handwriting, exporting files not possible software: just screenshot, minimalist (screenshot, annotation, insert different• elements such as pictures or texts into notepad), advanced (resource libraries images, animation navigation, ...) long interview topics to be covered: if tbi: what has changed for the resources 1. if you had to choose / keep a document, which one and why? where did you2. find it...? evaluation of the relevance of a resource ("how do you know if this resource is3. adapted to the students, is correct, if you can use it in class ...") difficulties of the "document" preparation, preparation of courses, how do you4. prepare investments in time, equipment ease / difficulty, satisfaction / dissatisfaction5. in preparing courses, searching for resources, adapting them ... the typologies and categories of resources mobilized (possible question: "but6. you put it with what?") modification of resources in class, during classes 7. safeguarding resources, re-using in the following years: opportunities, prob-8. lems ... sharing resources: easy to give, exchange, put online modified ones? 9. explore links with epistemology, discipline, pedagogy 10. if you lost all data on the iwb, what would you do?11. received: jauary 9, 2017 accepted: february 10, 2017 what role does the textbook play in the era of the interactive whiteboard? 117