Environmental Literacy can empower individuals to make appropriate environment-related choices and act more responsibly towards the environment. Environmental literacy was measured among a sample of 461 pre-service teachers enrolled at the Department of Pre-school Education at the University of Ioannina, in Greece. Results indicate that pre-service teachers have positive attitudes towards the environment, a moderate level of environmental knowledge while their participation in environmental actions is limited, particularly collective actions. Statistical analyses also highlighted that Environment Literacy depends on year of study and high school course specialization. These findings are further discussed.

In a modern yet demanding society, scientific literacy (SL) is an essential skill that enables the individual to explain, understand and discuss issues related to science, health, and the environment. The purpose of this research study is to validate the Scientific Literacy Assessment (SLA) tool in the Greek language and investigate the level of SL of 362 Greek pre-service primary school teachers. Reliability and validity were examined using exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, and a statistical analysis was performed to verify the factor structure of the two components of SLA. The results revealed that the level of demonstrated knowledge (SLA-D1) was moderate while motivational beliefs about learning science were satisfactory (SLA-MB). In terms of demographic factors such as gender, high school course specialization and undergraduate year, the results demonstrated an effect on SLA scores. Recommendations for further research in primary teacher preparation programs are presented.

Although students are expected to finish school having a solid understanding of scientific concepts, they graduate from universities maintaining their former misconceptions in several fields, like physics. This study aims at validating the Thermal Concept Evaluation (TCE) test for university student’s misconceptions of thermal concepts in everyday contexts. The test was administered to 643 first-year students from six different tertiary education departments in Greece. Item Response Theory (IRT) was used in order to validate and adjust the instrument to the Greek population of students and estimate the discriminating power of items. This assessment found that the majority of students held alternative conceptions about thermal concepts. Socio-demographic and academic variables have impact on students’ performance.

International research shows that primary school teachers don’t have the necessary level of self-efficacy to provide high quality science learning and teaching opportunities to their students. The aim of the present study is to validate the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI-B) and to investigate the self-efficacy beliefs of 408 Greek pre-service primary teachers to teach physics. The STEBI-B assesses two dimensions: Personal Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs (PSTEB) and Science Teaching Outcome Expectancy (STOE). An exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis substantiated this 2-factor structure. Moreover, results revealed that gender and year of study did not have a significant effect on Personal Physics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs (PPTEB) or Physics Teaching Outcome Expectancy (PTOE). On the contrary, high school course specialization had an effect on PPTEB. Both self-efficacy dimensions were positively correlated with variables such as interest in the subject of physics, interest in teaching physics, general self-efficacy in teaching physics, self-related knowledge in concepts of physics and self-related effectiveness in teaching physics. The findings also showed that variables such as interest in physics and self-related effectiveness in physics teaching were predictors of the PPTEB and PTOE dimensions. The discussion presents implications for the organization, structure, and dynamics of elementary teacher preparations. The limitations section acknowledges the weaknesses that restrict the applicability of the findings to other contexts.

In recent decades, enhancing scientific literacy has been the ultimate goal of science education worldwide. This effort aims to develop the skills by individuals to cope with the challenges of the modern world, which requires scientific knowledge and thinking. This research study aimed to investigate and compare the scientific literacy level of Greek pre-service teachers and primary school students. The total number of participants was 787, of which 362 were pre-service teachers and 425 primary school students. Scientific literacy was assessed with the selected response measure of demonstrated scientific literacy (SLA-D). According to descriptive analyses and statistical hypothesis tests, pre-service teachers’ scientific literacy level was considered significantly higher than students, as was expected. However, the scientific literacy level of both pre-service teachers and students in the sample remained low. This work provides recommendations for actions that can help improve the scientific literacy level of both students and teachers so that schools become a source of scientifically literate future citizens.

One of the fundamental problems that can impede the achievement of a sound understanding of a scientific concept is misconception. This study examines students’ perceptions of the concepts related to heat and temperature and how they evolve during the various levels of education. The findings from the literature review of students’ perceptions of heat issues combined with the results of this research, as obtained through the responses of students of primary, secondary, and tertiary education in Greece regarding the problems of temperature and heat, permitted the identification of alternative ideas of students for this conceptual area.