This paper focuses upon the problem of raising environmental awareness in the context of school science. By focusing, as it does, on the relationship between the self and the natural environment, the paper discusses the difficulties that exist, such as the students’ involvement with the natural world, as their object of study, the empirical treatment and the modeling of the natural world, and the purpose of learning science, as well as the possibilities for promoting the development of such relationship by keeping the natural world, as an object of study, in the foreground of the teachinglearning process. Such possibilities refer to the awareness of the personal and wider significance of science ideas and socio-scientific issues, the wonder evoked by science ideas and by natural forms and phenomena, the aesthetic appreciation of the natural world, and the ‘story of the universe’, as a story that addresses the interconnection of science and human life. The educational importance of ‘awareness’ is also discussed in the paper.

In this study on long-term educational programs (LTP) in nature, facilitated by an environmental agency we followed two distinct programs enacted in schools and in nature parks as case studies. Data were collected through observations of activities in schools and in the outdoors and through interviews with students, teachers and facilitators. In one program there were more student-centered and hands on activities and substantial environmental action. In the other program it was the students’ first experience with outdoor and environmental education, and the teachers were more active in the outdoors as “story tellers” and role models. In this program, the students brought up their own concern of littering rather than following the environmental agency’s concern of illegal herb harvesting. In general, in both programs the participant students expressed high satisfaction, and indicated learning about the environment. We found as well limited collaboration between the operating environmental organization and the schools and no connection to the school curriculum. Post priori, teachers as well as the environmental educators acknowledged the need to address the school curriculum and to better involve the teachers.

Science and education for sustainability have recently become estranged. Both of these learning areas are also experiencing issues that are affecting students’ understandings in these areas. This paper presents a framework of learning containing 12 components that reconstructs the relationship between these two areas and could have the potential to overcome their current issues. A 15 week science/education for sustainability programme that was undertaken by 22 New Zealand students aged 11-12 years was analysed in terms of the components of the proposed framework. An interpretive analysis of the learning that took place showed beneficial effects on students’ understandings. Not only did these students demonstrate understandings of sustainability and development of their scientific literacy, they also showed an emerging politicisation in that they were able to take action on an issue in a number of ways. It was also suggested that further components could be added to the proposed framework in order to develop additional knowledge and skills that could enable students to gain a deeper understanding of and ability to make decisions about the multifaceted environmental issues found in today’s world.
 

The increasing use of private rather than public transport is impacting on the environment in a number of ways, including contributing to the major problem of global warming. It is necessary, therefore, to improve strategies to encourage greater use of public transport. The aim of this study is to explore which perceived aspects of public transport might be acting as deterrents to the use of public transport, and which might act as motivators to increase its use. To act as a motivator a positive characteristic must be both seen as true for public transport and felt to be important by individuals. In contrast, negative characteristics that fulfil these criteria are likely to act as deterrents to the use of public transport. A questionnaire was used to determine the beliefs and views of Turkish students (n=980) about such characteristics. Some characteristics, such as comfort, journey time, and timetable frequency and reliability were viewed as important and also believed to be inferior for public transport. We suggest that there are opportunities for education for behaviour change in terms of increasing student’s appreciation of the importance of reducing global warming and their understanding of the role that public transport could play in this, and in terms of increasing students’ understanding of the full economic cost of private transport.

The teaching of science is important, both to meet the need for future workers in fields requiring scientific capability and to equip students for full participation in modern societies where many decisions depend upon knowledge of science. However, many teachers in Australian primary schools do not allocate science education sufficient amounts of time to achieve these outcomes. This study reports data obtained from 216 teachers in the primary schools in a provincial Australian school system. The purpose of the study was to assess the effects of existing strategies using Primary Connections for promoting science teaching and to inform future professional development strategies. Teachers reported moderate levels of self-efficacy for teaching science and a proportion reported allocating little or no time to teaching science. Both self-efficacy for science teaching and the amount of science taught were higher for teachers who had used Primary Connections curriculum materials.

Although studies examining student understanding of key concepts are common throughout the science education literature, few have examined science concepts linked to conservation or environmental issues such as global warming and alternative energy. How students make sense of these complex concepts has the potential to influence their role as future decision-makers; it therefore becomes important to explore this baseline knowledge, especially when such concepts receive limited discussion in typical school curricula. In this study, a questionnaire incorporating both multiple choice and open-ended responses was administered to high school sophomores to better understand their conceptions of solar energy and photovoltaic cells. Analysis revealed that while students reported familiarity with photovoltaic cells, there was confusion as to how they actually worked. An underlying misconception involved the roles of light or heat from the sun in the function of these solar cells. Implications for instruction and future research are suggested.