ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING USING INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING Veronika Šinigoj, Stanislav Avsec University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education, Slovenia

MAIN POINTS OF THE PRESENTATION 1. INTRODUCTION 2. INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING 3. PROJECT CHAIN REACTION 4. METHODOLOGY 5. RESULTS 6. CONCLUSION

1 INTRODUCTION  The purpose of the study is aimed to confirm inquiry-based learning method as efficient learning method for science and technology.  The study was carried out in the context of EU FP7 project Chain Reaction.  Learning topics (smart electric car, water turbine, green heating and plants in space) are about renewable energy resources.  The Chain Reaction project promote learning green competences (environmental protection).

2 INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING (IBL)  IBL is an inductive teaching method.  Foundation of IBL is constructivism.  Students are presented with questions or problems at the begining of learning process.  Students work organized in collaborative and cooperative groups.  Learning is student-centered. Students actively search information and solutions for real-world problems.  Teacher serves as facilitator, work with student groups if they need help.

2 INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING  IBL develops skills, logical thinking, responsibility for learning and critical thinking allowing students to interact with materials, models....  School activity days carried out in the context of Chain Reaction project were coordinated with 5E model.  Phases of 5E model:  engagement.  exploration,  explanation,  elaboration,  evaluation.

3 CHAIN REACTION PROJECT   Chain Reacton is a three-year project funded by the European Commission.  It aims to develop Inquiry Based Science Education.  Topics diverse and cover space science, environmental education and climate change.

3 CHAIN REACTION PROJECT Topics at Slovenian schools Smart electric car  Students compose cars with Fischertechnik. They combine electrical and mechanical engineering and computer science. Water turbine  Students create a water turbine and propose modifications. They include modification in their model of water turbine and test them.

3 CHAIN REACTION PROJECT Topics at Slovenian schools Green heating  Students carry out simple investigations to find out wich colour and type of surface is best for absorbing infrared radiation so that it can be used in a solar panel. Plants in space  Students carry out investigations into various aspects of photosynthesis, work out what plants could best be used in the life-support system and into human physiology to work out what needs a crew would have for oxygen and food on the journey.

4 METHODOLOGY Sample  The sample consist of 260 eight- and ninth-grade students (53.8 % females and 46.2 % males).  The study included five Slovenian Primary Schools (Table 1). Table 1: The percentage of pupils according to school. School namePercentage of participants Number of students OŠ Ketteja in Murna, Ljubljana16.9 %44 OŠ Mokronog16.5 %43 OŠ Ivana Cankarja, Vrhnika19.6 %51 OŠ Antona Tomaža Linharta, Radovljica 20.8 %54 OŠ Davorina Jenka, Cerklje na Gorenjskem 26.2 %68

4 METHODOLOGY Sample  Students were randomly tasked with one of four topics (Table 2):  Smart electric car  Water turbine  Green heating  Plants in space  Table 2: The percentage of students according to the topic. Green topicPercentage of participants Number of students Plants in space16.2 %42 Water turbine25.0 %65 Smart electric car25.8 %67 Green heating33.1 %86

4 METHODOLOGY Instrument  After school activity day students solved questionnaire which has been drawn up with 13 questions.  Questions are covering 5 categories: 1. Physical learning environment (suitability, user-friendly, and comfort of equipment.) 2. Teaching materials (quantity of information, modernity of materials) 3. Learning process (balance of independent work, co-operation and assistance, needed aid quantity, clarity of instructions and explanations) 4. Reactions (satisfaction with acquired knowledge, option of their own creativity, recommending a method of work to others) 5. Content (modernity, attractiveness and attraction of topics)

4 METHODOLOGY Data collection and analysis  Students solved anonymous questionnaires after school activity day.  15 minutes, individual, method paper- pencil  Data were processed with SPSS.  We used basic tools of descriptive statistic, ANOVA, MANOVA…  Instrument reliability was established with the parameter Cronbach alpha.

5 RESULTS

5 RESULTS Students’ attitudes toward green IBL

5 RESULTS

5 RESULTS Gender differences

5 RESULTS Topic differences

6 CONCLUSION  Inquiry-based learning is rather seldom to be used in Secondary education.  Male were more satisfied that female (topics were more adapted to male).  The study revealed that inquiry-based learning is suitable for teaching green competences.  In the future, the curriculum designers should pay more attention to include more green competences and green jobs promotion in education and training.

Thank you for your kind attention!  Questions are welcome to my address: Ljubljana, September 29