Computational thinking is a highly appreciated skill by mathematicians. It was forecasted that, in the next few years, half of the jobs in science, mathematics, technology and engineering (abbreviated as STEM, including arts as STEAM) will use some kind of computation. It is therefore necessary to enhance the learning of mathematics by collaborative problem-solving activities focused on both learning mathematics and developing computational thinking. The problems in science offer a reasonable context in which to investigate the common overarching concepts (e.g., measuring the length). An interdisciplinary STEAM collaborative problem-solving activity was designed and piloted with 27 lower secondary students aged 13.07 ± 1.21 years. Different levels of willingness to use the technology were observed and the factors influencing it were identified. We found that strong background knowledge implies high demands when controlling the used device. On the other hand, when a nice and user-friendly application was used, students did not need to perceive any control over it. After the intervention, the students’ views on the tablet changed and they reported more STEAM-related functions of the device.

The paper is focused on the investigation of impact of created experimental natural scientific programme for preschool-age children. Our programme concentrates on physics teaching adapted for preschool age in which children have possibilities to make experiments themselves—empirical cognition. Its innovation with respect to other stimulation programmes implemented in the past consists of including connection and thus developing a wide spectrum of intellectual abilities. Primarily, we are focusing on the impact of stimulation programme research on selected psychological variables, specifically intellectual abilities—intellectual maturity. Its second aim is to compare and test the validity of drawing tests designed for intellectual-level investigation of preschool-age children, school maturity, and school readiness. The obtained results do not provide evidence in support of the stimulation programme on developing intellectual/conceptual maturity. The results of the second part of the research (i.e., drawing) shows that the indicative level of intellect, perception, and motor maturity are closely related.

According to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 measurements, Slovak primary school pupils commonly can reach some below average scores in terms of scientific literacy and have less and less positive attitudes towards the natural sciences. Natural sciences and statistics are intertwined disciplines. This implies that there is a room for teachers to try using interdisciplinarity and including basic statistics in the laboratory lessons of natural sciences. The aim of this research paper is to identify the difficulties that can occur when primary pupils collect and process data during a practical research task, combining, here, the knowledge stemming from the natural sciences and statistical reasoning. The research sample consisted of nine primary pupils from grade 1 to grade 4; the average age was 9.44 ± 1.33 years. Pupils were divided into the three age heterogeneous groups who were assigned a laboratory exam. The data were collected via an unstructured participatory observation. The results of our analysis of verbal expressions and practical activities suggest that pupils in our research sample are in the range of levels of nonformal and inconsistent understanding of statistics. In addition, we observed here some characteristics of consistent noncritical understanding. These findings suggest that, with the proper stimulation and frequent research activities requiring the direct activity and involvement of pupils, they could achieve higher levels of statistical literacy as well.

Applications of knowledge in the real life and practical use of knowledge from natural sciences are typical for current modernization trends in teaching at Slovak schools. In this paper, we focus on emphasizing the interdisciplinary relationship among physics, mathematics and geography. Considering a specific example of Mercator projection, we present close connections of the given subjects via using modern ICT tools, especially dynamical geometry software GeoGebra. We demonstrate how this problem can be useful in school practice as a motivating factor which yields the development of a pupils’ intellect.

Science popularization is demanding from the financial as well as the time point of view. It is necessary to find the premises that would be easily available to general public. Another important step is to promote the event so that it would attract the audience. The preparation of scientific experiments itself also requires some financial resources. If we want to take advantage of these resources in the most useful and effective way, we have to find answers to the question: â??What, where and how do we want to popularise?