The present study aims to improve the quality and the effectiveness of Science Education in early grades along with the goals of UNESCO's emerging agenda for sustainable development and the 4 th goal about quality in education. It examines the interaction between formal and non-formal education in designing and organizing complete educational programs directly connected with science education curriculum and utilizing innovative tools targeting to an attractive and rich context for science education. According to the second Science Centre World Summit (SCWS, 2017), museums promote scientific knowledge which is considered a pure cultural component and as such it is studied under the prism of cultural historical activity theory. Activity Theory is used in this research as a theoretical framework for the design and analysis of educational activities, with an emphasis on active and interactive learning processes. It is a predominantly socio-cultural theory offering a broad scope of design and implementation for linking science with culture and society. The educational program developed, "Thunderbolt hunt", is different from the usual educational programs offered because, although it cultivates scientific method skills, it is implemented in the Archaeological museum of Ioannina which constitutes a non-formal learning environment of general interest. The process of designing such programs is based on a number of principles and on numerous fields: the socio-cultural theory of activity, the science education and the museum education. The museum thus becomes a facilitator of scientific knowledge while at the same time functions as a dynamic meeting place for students with their social, cultural and historical environment. The preliminary results of the study are presented in this paper.

In the last decades, constructivism has dominated Early Childhood Science Education. Within this context, alternative ideas of pre-school pupils have been thoroughly explored and analyzed. Nevertheless, research on these ideas in individuals with learning difficulties remains scarce. Aiming to fill this gap, the present study explores alternative ideas on thermal phenomena of pupils with learning difficulties and compare them with those without learning difficulties. For this purpose, an experimental investigation was conducted with 25 pupils with learning difficulties ( M = 72,50 months, s.d. = 8,11) and 25 pupils without learning difficulties ( M = 72,50 months, s.d. = 9,50). Drawing from constructivist theory, a structured, computerized tool (A.I.H.E.T) was developed to fulfill research’s goal. Findings suggest that pupils with and without learning difficulties use almost the same ideas on thermal phenomena, on a different frequency though. The results support further the findings of other research, according to which inclusive science education not only is feasible but also it has great benefits for students with and without learning difficulties. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43545-022-00603-5.

The study is based on an implementation of the basic steps of the Change Laboratory methodology (Engeström, Virkkunen, Helle, Pihlaja & Poikela, 1996) at the University of Ioannina. It was derived by a discussion with master's students during a course about science education curricula in pre-school and primary education and their effectiveness in the current educational system. Students' engagement in Science Education is a multifaceted and complex process. Under a socio-cultural approach it constitutes an activity system which consists of several elements and as a whole, is interconnected and interacting with more activity systems which interfere in the process. The element that connects all the above systems is the shared object which in the case we are studding is the enhancement of teachers' confidence in teaching science education. The developmental work research methodology (Virkkunen & Newnham, 2013; Engestrom, 2015) was chosen in order the participants to reflect on the current activity, to identify the contradictions of the activity and propose solutions forming a new model. Within this implementation Engestrom's triangular model of the Activity system (2001) is deployed and qualitative research methods are applied to analyze the content of the CL sessions occurred among participants. The findings of this study attempt to examine the challenges of the participating teachers in teaching science education and how their confidence can be enhanced and furthermore, the CL methodology as a tool in professional development.

A number of diverse arguments have been proposed by researchers of science education regarding the reason science should be taught in schools. These arguments inevitable play a key role in the curriculum designed by policy makers. The present study turns its attention into the democratic argument and tries to explore its validity through a distinct socio-scientific issue that citizen is likely to come across in their everyday life, that of radiation emitted from cell phones. In particular, it tries to study the required knowledge of physics that will enable individuals to deal with the emission of radiation from cell phones in an effective way. Moreover, drawing from sharp conflicts that have arisen during the last years around the world between citizens and cell phone companies regarding the installation of cell towers within residential areas, it tries to record information about different places in the world where the cell phone controversy has made headline news.

This study presents the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of an educational programme that combines an online game and an outdoor activity with mobile learning in science education. The object of the study is to test the capacity of the programme to integrate science, culture and the environment, while transferring knowledge about marble. To this end, we align our theoretical orientation with the overall project design to devise an initial scheme that is pilot-tested by 155 university students of early childhood education and evaluated through a questionnaire. Qualitative data through participants’ feedback after the programme, observation notes and data from video recordings supplement the overall assessment. The results show high levels of satisfaction among the participants in terms of the quality of the activities, the distance between stations, the duration and structure of the programme, contact with marble, and the knowledge acquired.

This paper attempts to transfer L.S. Vygotsky’s experimental-genetic method in Science Education and, furthermore, into non-formal settings. The nature of Science Education in early school grades as well as the flexibility and the need to some extent of incorporating arts in Science Education indicate that experimental-genetic method may be applied as a useful tool of analysis which will provide in-depth insights about the learning process. The method was applied to the data, collected from the implementation of the educational program «Thunderbolt hunt» at the Archaeological Museum of Ioannina, Greece. Unlike many other courses, this educational program is based on the museums’ exhibits and introduces concepts of science as well as cultivates scientific method. In this paper a meta-analysis of the implementation of the program to a first grade of a public primary school is presented. The data analysis shows explicitly the relation between the formation of the concept of air and the social relations and interactions between the students. The combination of transcending the misconceptions about air, conducting experiments and trying to adapt a new way of working result in a lot of contradictions while at the same time give space for reflection which altogether create «the dramatic character of the organized interaction».

this paper presents the development of a distance learning course for pre-service teachers which focuses on science education in museums with the use of technology. the purpose was mainly to adapt to the new situation of the pandemic, and offer pre-service teachers an online version of the course following an expansive learning cycle. Towards this direction, the course 'Τhe Role of the Museum in science and technology Education' was developed in an online version, so as to connect science education and technology with the museums, and is addressed to pre-service teachers during the last year of their studies. cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) was used as a theoretical framework for the design and the analysis of the course. Τhe methodology followed in an expansive learning cycle with the participation of 88 pre-service teachers. the results presented in this paper concern pre-service teachers' views about distance museum education, conflicts during the distance learning course, and the connections of scientific topics with the 17 sustainable Development Goals that pre-service teachers made. the development of this course shows an example of alternative methods of learning that can be implemented in crisis situations.

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