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Developing Greek Primary School Students’ Critical Thinking through an Approach of Teaching Science which Incorporates Aspects of History of Science

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Abstract

In this paper, the development of sixth grade students’ critical thinking skills in science courses is discussed relatively to the contribution of the integration of aspects of History of Science into instruction. Towards this direction a project on electromagnetism was designed and implemented aiming to engage primary school students in a critical examination of knowledge (importance, complexity and human implications) by generating argumentation and discussion in their classrooms. The “Test of Everyday Reasoning (TER)”, which targets the core critical thinking skills identified in “The Delphi Report” consensus, was translated and standardized for the Greek population in order to be used for the project’s assessment. A pre-post analysis was conducted for the experimental group and the control group. The encouraging results regarding critical thinking skills development are supportive to the integration of aspects of History of Science in science courses.

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Notes

  1. TER was translated into Greek (Malamitsa et al. 2007, 2008) and a field-test was arranged which included 350 persons (primary, secondary and undergraduate students) from urban, suburban and rural areas of Greece.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Primary Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, 134 Lykourgou Str., Kallithea, 17675, Athens, Greece

    Katerina Malamitsa

  2. Faculty of Primary Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, 23 Ellispondou Str., Lofos Skouze, 10444, Athens, Greece

    Michael Kasoutas

  3. Faculty of Primary Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, 13A, Nauarinou Str., 10680, Athens, Greece

    Panagiotis Kokkotas

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  1. Katerina Malamitsa
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  2. Michael Kasoutas
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  3. Panagiotis Kokkotas
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Correspondence to Panagiotis Kokkotas.

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Malamitsa, K., Kasoutas, M. & Kokkotas, P. Developing Greek Primary School Students’ Critical Thinking through an Approach of Teaching Science which Incorporates Aspects of History of Science. Sci & Educ 18, 457–468 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-008-9150-x

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