Izhodišča: V šoli otroci preživijo velik del dneva, zato ima šola pomembno vlogo pri zdravju otrok in mladostnikov pa tudi pri sodelovanju z zdravstvenimi službami.
Ugotoviti stališče ravnateljev o ...pomenu, smotrnosti in o možnosti umestitve šolske medicinske sestre v osnovne šole.
Podatki so zbrani s strukturiranim anketnim vprašalnikom. Vzorec zajema 55,6 % (n = 266) celotne populacije ravnateljev osnovnih šol. Uporabljena je deskriptivna statistika. Soodvisnost je analizirana z multiplo regresijsko in dimenzije odvisne spremenljivke s faktorsko analizo.
Na osnovnih šolah najpogosteje ukrepajo zaradi akutnega bolezenskega stanja (PV = 3,48), psihosomatskih (PV = 3,42) in kroničnih bolezni (PV = 3,22) (lestvica 1-6). Ravnatelji prepoznavajo potrebo po nalogah šolske medicinske sestre iz promocije zdravja in zdravstvenih storitev, saj je 11 od 13 predlogov dobilo v povprečju oceno nad 4 (lestvica 1-5). Najprimernejšo umestitev šolske medicinske sestre vidijo deloma v zdravstvenem domu, deloma v šoli (60,2 %); najprimernejši delodajalec je zdravstveni dom (59,4 %). Mnenja se ne razlikujejo glede na velikost šole in vključitev v mrežo Zdravih šol. Ravnatelji s šol, v katerih je telesnih poškodb učencev več, izražajo značilno večjo potrebo po šolski medicinski sestri (b = 0,208, p < 0,014), kar velja tudi za ravnatelje z mnenjem, da je usposabljanje učiteljev za prepoznavanje in ukrepanje ob zdravstvenih težavah v odgovornosti zdravstvenega doma (b = 0,270, p < 0,000).
Ravnatelji menijo, da se v šolah srečujejo z zdravstvenimi težavami učencev, a učitelji za ukrepanje nimajo dovolj znanja niti kompetenc. Pozitivno prepoznavajo umestitev šolske medicinske sestre v šolo.
Background: Children spend most of their days in schools, therefore schools play an important role in children’s inter-institutional health care.
To identify views of school principals on the importance, relevance and possible placement of school nurses in Slovenian schools.
A structured questionnaire was used. The sample consisted of 55.6% (n=266) of the total population of elementary school principals; descriptive statistics was used. Interdependence was analysed with multiple regression, while dependent variable dimensions were obtained with factor analysis.
The most frequent interventions in schools are the result of acute medical conditions (M=3.48), psychosomatic disorders (M=3.42) and chronic diseases (M=3.22) (1-6 scale). Principals ranked the need for suggested services of school nurses highly, as 11 out of 13 suggestions received a mean value of over 4 (on a 1-5 scale), not only in health promotion/education but also in other medical services. The most appropriate work location of school nurses is partly in primary health centres and partly in schools (60.2%); the most appropriate employer is the primary health centre (59.4%). Opinions of principals do not differ according to the size of school or participation in the network ‘Schools for health’. Principals of schools with a higher number of interventions due to children’s injuries expressed a significantly higher need for school nurse services in the school (b=0.208, p<0.014); the same also goes for principals who feel that training teachers to recognise and act upon children’s health problems has to be organised by a primary health centre (b=0.270, p<0.000).
In school principals’ view, schools are faced with children’s health problems but teachers do not have enough knowledge or competences to take appropriate measures. They positively recognise the placement of school nurses in schools.
Izvleček
Izhodišča: V šoli otroci preživijo velik del dneva, zato ima šola pomembno vlogo pri zdravju otrok in mladostnikov pa tudi pri sodelovanju z zdravstvenimi službami.
Namen:
Ugotoviti stališče ...ravnateljev o pomenu, smotrnosti in o možnosti umestitve šolske medicinske sestre v osnovne šole.
Preiskovanci in metode:
Podatki so zbrani s strukturiranim anketnim vprašalnikom. Vzorec zajema 55,6 % (n = 266) celotne populacije ravnateljev osnovnih šol. Uporabljena je deskriptivna statistika. Soodvisnost je analizirana z multiplo regresijsko in dimenzije odvisne spremenljivke s faktorsko analizo.
Rezultati:
Na osnovnih šolah najpogosteje ukrepajo zaradi akutnega bolezenskega stanja (PV = 3,48), psihosomatskih (PV = 3,42) in kroničnih bolezni (PV = 3,22) (lestvica 1-6). Ravnatelji prepoznavajo potrebo po nalogah šolske medicinske sestre iz promocije zdravja in zdravstvenih storitev, saj je 11 od 13 predlogov dobilo v povprečju oceno nad 4 (lestvica 1-5). Najprimernejšo umestitev šolske medicinske sestre vidijo deloma v zdravstvenem domu, deloma v šoli (60,2 %); najprimernejši delodajalec je zdravstveni dom (59,4 %). Mnenja se ne razlikujejo glede na velikost šole in vključitev v mrežo Zdravih šol. Ravnatelji s šol, v katerih je telesnih poškodb učencev več, izražajo značilno večjo potrebo po šolski medicinski sestri (b = 0,208, p < 0,014), kar velja tudi za ravnatelje z mnenjem, da je usposabljanje učiteljev za prepoznavanje in ukrepanje ob zdravstvenih težavah v odgovornosti zdravstvenega doma (b = 0,270, p < 0,000).
Zaključki:
Ravnatelji menijo, da se v šolah srečujejo z zdravstvenimi težavami učencev, a učitelji za ukrepanje nimajo dovolj znanja niti kompetenc. Pozitivno prepoznavajo umestitev šolske medicinske sestre v šolo.
In this article we discuss the rationale and possibilities to provide school health services in Slovenian schools as is the common practice in many schools abroad. School nursing ensures preventive ...services, early identification of problems, interventions, and referrals and advances the general well being of students during the school day. The aim of the study was to gather information about the teachers' and healthcare professionals' experiences and views about school nursing in Slovenia. A qualitative research, method was employed in the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted (four focus groups and two individual interviews). The interviews were analyzed with the open coding method. The analysis yielded five main categories: children's health problems at school, interventions conducted while children are at school, teachers' ability to recognize and act upon children's health issues, health promotion at school, and the need for health care professionals at schools. The teachers can not and should not assume the responsibility to intervene with diverse students' actual and potential health problems and therefore welcome the presence of a school nurse during the school day. The healthcare professionals participating in the study recognize and appreciate the significance of school nursing. They are, however, convinced that restructuring of health care organization in Slovenia and ensuing introduction of school nursing in the near future is hardly expected. Further research is needed to substantiate the need of school nursing within the health care system of Slovenia.
This study examines how lower secondary school students understand the circulatory system, using the structure-behavior-function (SBF) framework for conceptual representation. It evaluates the ...progress of students' understanding after interventions with two different teaching approaches, one using a biology textbook supported by augmented reality (AR) technology and the other using only a textbook as a main source of information. The data analysis is based on the assumption that systemic understanding demands the perception of three system dimensions: the components forming the system at all levels of organization (its structures), the interactions and mechanisms between them (its behavior), and the function as a whole outcome (its phenomena). The results indicate that both learning approaches contribute to a higher level of understanding the circulatory system. The group using AR-supported educational materials showed statistically significant better improvements in their knowledge of the circulatory system, including all three components of the SBF framework.
Learning the basics of human anatomy is challenging for schoolchildren due to its three-dimensional nature and complexity as a system. This study created educational materials for learning about and ...teaching the human circulatory system based on augmented reality (AR) technology and a structure–behavior–function (SBF) model, including 2D/3D animations, a game, and a video to complement the current 2D representations in school textbooks. To evaluate the effectiveness of the materials developed, an instructional activity was carried out among fifty-one seventh- and eighth-grade students from a school in central Slovenia. A pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest for the instructional activity tested students’ knowledge, and their acceptance of the AR technology was explored through a questionnaire. The results showed significant improvements in students’ understanding of the basic anatomy and physiology of the human heart and circulatory system and the effects of adrenaline on the human circulatory system. Students expressed moderate enthusiasm for AR technology, showing the greatest level of acceptance of AR technology making learning more interesting and fun, improving learning, and making it easy to use. Although students showing more knowledge on the pretest expressed higher acceptance of AR technology, the gain in knowledge after an instructional activity was equally beneficial for all participants. The study indicates a beneficial effect of applying 3D animation, videos, and AR technology to understand dynamic and complex biological phenomena.
The present research explores benefits of using young students’ drawings in combination with written responses for gathering information about science concepts. Younger students are still very ...limited in their verbal expression and less biologically literate than older students. The aim was to determine primary school students’ conceptions about owls, experiences with owls and their sources of information, and to then determine how beneficial it is to combine information gathered from drawings and written responses in comparison to previous research done with lower secondary school students. Altogether, 280 students attending fourth and fifth grades from schools in Slovenia participated in the research. Students knew well the specific features of owls. Drawings provided more clear information about body parts and proportions, while owls’ specific habitats, behaviours and diet were more thoroughly described in their written responses. Students without experiences with living owls represented owls less thoroughly. Comparison of frequencies of responses in main categories of conceptions about owls showed that using drawings and written responses is equally beneficial for younger and older students. Gathering primary school students’ conceptions about science concepts with both drawings and written responses enables better assessment of a student’s knowledge than using just drawings or written responses.
Evolution is a key concept of biology, fundamental to understand the world and address important societal problems, but research studies show that it is still not widely understood and accepted. ...Several factors are known to influence evolution acceptance and understanding, but little information is available regarding the impacts of the curriculum on these aspects. Very few curricula have been examined to assess the coverage of biological evolution. The available studies do not allow comparative analyses, due to the different methodologies employed by the authors. However, such an analysis would be useful for research purposes and for the development of appropriate educational policies to address the problem of a lack of evolution acceptance in some countries. In this paper we describe the steps through which we developed a valid and reliable instrument for curricula analysis known as FACE: “Framework to Assess the Coverage of biological Evolution by school curricula.” This framework was developed based on the “Understanding Evolution Conceptual Framework” (UECF). After an initial pilot study, our framework was reformulated based on identified issues and experts’ opinions. To generate validity and reliability evidence in support of the framework, it was applied to four European countries’ curricula. For each country, a team of a minimum of two national and two foreign coders worked independently to assess the curriculum using this framework for content analysis. Reliability evidence was estimated using Krippendorf's alpha and resulted in appropriate values for coding the examined curricula. Some issues that coders faced during the analysis were discussed and, to ensure better reliability for future researchers, additional guidelines and one extra category were included in the framework. The final version of the framework includes six categories and 34 subcategories. FACE is a useful tool for the analysis and the comparison of curricula and school textbooks regarding the coverage of evolution, and such results can guide curricula development.
Background
Evolution is a unifying theme in biology and its understanding is essential to address sustainability problems. However, many people across the world do not understand evolution. Textbooks ...are among the most widely used educational resources and the way they depict evolution may greatly impact students’ scientific literacy in evolution. In this paper we investigate which evolution concepts are addressed in European science textbooks, from the 1st to the 9th grade. A content analysis using the ‘Framework for the Assessment of school Curricula on the presence of Evolutionary concepts”, was performed on textbooks from eight European countries: Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Slovenia. At least two experienced coders per country independently analysed the texts, images and activities, discussed the results and reached a final consensus.
Results
Our results show that textbooks lack or rarely address concepts considered important for evolution understanding, notably the processes driving evolution and their daily life implications, limiting opportunities for education for sustainability.
Conclusions
We recommend that science textbooks emphasize evolution and its processes since the first school years. This recommendation is particularly relevant for the analysed textbooks from Cyprus and Belgium, that cover less than 45% of the concepts important to evolution literacy.