This study examined the similarities and differences among 171 Grade 7-12 science teachers from three different countries (54 U.S, 63 Bolivian, and 54 Turkish) with respect to their attitudes toward environmental education (EE) and instructional practices. The instrument employed explored how teachers‘ knowledge, instructional practices, decisionmaking process, and cultural features influenced their EE attitudes and praxis. The instrument, which was translated into Spanish and Turkish and then back into English, contained a personal data form that included demographic questions and a three-part questionnaire.  Based on the analysis completed, significant differences were found between these three countries with respect to 1) teacher‘s knowledge about global environmental issues, 2) teachers rationales for including environmental education in their science classroom instruction, and 3) while there were no significant differences in the importance of religion in the teachers lives, there were significant differences in the extent to which teachers reported religion influencing instructional decisions. In addition, there were differences regarding the resources that teachers reported drawing on as they included EE in their classrooms.  There were no significant differences found when comparing the three countries with respect to extent to which each country reported including technological and/or environmental problems in science classroom instruction. Finally, generally there was agreement regarding teachers‘ goals and objectives in science classrooms with respect to EE and the most important global environmental problems/threats.

Fostering young people‟s commitment to protect biodiversity is an important goal of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in both, industrial countries and designated biodiversity hotspots. However, little empirical evidence exists to describe factors that influence such commitments. Based on the Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) theory, 15 to 19-year-old Chilean (n= 216) and German (n= 217) pupils‟ commitment to protect biodiversity was investigated. Comparisons revealed that Chilean adolescents showed higher personal norms and commitments to protect biodiversity. Regression analysis showed that within the German sample, the „Schwartz‟-value universalism was an important predictor for three different kinds of behavioural commitment. In both samples, „ascription of responsibility‟, „perceived ability to reduce threat‟ and, above all, „personal norms‟ were positive predictors. The paper concludes with a discussion of the results in the light of existing evidence and suggests implications for biodiversity education.

Only few psychological differences between the sexes can be proven empirically. Presented here is a study about learning in the extracurricular environment of a zoological garden during a school excursion with particular regard to the differences between boys and girls. In the main focus are, hereby, motivational and cognitive levels of the aforementioned learning situation. A pre/post-test design was conducted with 223 fifth graders of the highest stratification level (Gymnasium). Girls showed a higher degree of intrinsic motivation and also had statistically significant more knowledge gain in the subscale of open-ended knowledge-items. The results are discussed within the framework of the Contextual Model of Learning. 
 

Research on playfulness, science, and creativity suggests that there is a connection between having positive background experiences with science and the development of interest in science. However, there is little empirical research on where, how, and when teachers’ interests in science develop. The purpose of this research was to explore connections between preservice elementary teachers’ background science experiences and interest in science. Subjects were 53 preservice teachers in two sections of a science methods course. The data were collected by administering a self-report Science Background Experiences Survey. Students with low and high initial interest in science were significantly different on remembering about their elementary school science and involvement in non-school science activities including science related field trips, play and exploration.  

This study examined the effect of diaries on self-regulation strategies of the pre-service science teachers. The participants of the study were 60 pre-service science teachers, 30 of which were in the experimental and the remaining 30 were in the control group. The Pintrich’s self-regulation model was taken as a basis in the study. The Pintrich’s model of self-regulation includes 3 general categories of strategies: (a) cognitive learning strategies, (b) metacognitive or self-regulatory strategies to control cognition, and (c) resource management strategies. In the study, the pre-service science teachers in the experimental group reported the self-regulation strategies they used for daily learning activities by writing the diary-report form for fourteen weeks. The data of the study were collected by the motivated strategies for learning questionnaire. At the end of the study, the intrinsic motivation, task value, metacognition, time management strategy usage status of the experimental group which reported their self-regulation strategies were significantly  different from those of the control group.