Advances in Historical Studies
2013. Vol.2, No.1, 17-18
Published Online March 2013 in SciRes (http://www.scirp.org/journal/ahs) http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ahs.2013.21005
Review Ph.D. Thesis: Psyco-Education Factors of
Applying Visualisation in Science Education.
Šiauliai University, Lithuania*
Raffaele Pisano1,2
1Sciences, Sociétés, Cultures dans leurs Evolutions, University of Lille 1, Lille, France
2Research Center for Theory and History of Science, University of West Bohemia, Plzen, Czech Republic
Received December 23rd, 2012; revised January 26th, 2013; accepted February 8th, 2013
This paper presents a review of a Ph.D. Thesis by Renata Bilbokaitė, Natural Science Education Research
Centre, Šiauliai University, Lithuania.
Keywords: History of Science and Science Education; Science and Society; Economy; I.T.
On the Author
Renata Bilbokaitė, already busy with research as junior
worker at the Natural Science Education Research Centre at
Šiauliai University, defends her Ph.D. Thesis at the same Uni-
versity in November 2012: Psycho-Educational Factors of
Applying Visualisation in Science Education. Language: Li-
thuanian/English. Research supervisor: Prof. Dr. Vincentas La-
manauskas (Šiauliai University, Lithuania). The location of the
defense is the Academic Council of Education Studies of Ši-
auliai University. The committee is composed of a distinguish-
ed and international members and opponents. Her doctoral
studies involved 2009-2012 period. She prepared and published
over 100 scientific articles in scientific journals, and presented
over 80 works in international as well as national scientific and
practical conferences, giving lectures for teachers, in the sphere
of science education particularly focusing on applying visuali-
sation in science education, management & quality in the
higher education, image of pedagogues.
On the General Description and Topicality
The thesis is organized by an Introduction and three main
chapters. 1) Visualisation in science education: psycho-educa-
tional context concerning a state of art on the main objects and
interactions of cognitive and socio-educational aspects; 2)
Empiric psycho-educational factors of applying visualisation in
science education on Epistemic-Exploratory-Diagnostic-Veri-
fication methodologies and related results; 3) Psycho-educa-
tional model of applying visualisation within science education,
the nucleus of the thesis on this new modelling approach in
science education studies. Passionate and interesting Discussion
and Conclusions included Recommendations for different kind
of readers and an international and updated list of References
close the volume of this notable doctoral research under an
excellent and proficient supervision. A CD-Rom is annexed,
too. The results of the dissertation research are illustrated by 72
figures and 31 tables.
The author has performed good orientation and wide educa-
tional and scientific knowledge of different parts of theory of
science education considered in the thesis: epistemic analyses,
analytical approach, and experimental approach included
analysis of data.
The topic of thesis is contemporary and relevant in the con-
text of up-to-date research in the sphere of science education,
science and society. Particularly, a useful relevance of the Ph.D.
thesis is
[...] is supposed by the complex assimilation of knowl-
edge in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Geography and Ma-
thematics in comprehensive schools, which is affected by
many factors, linked with conditions of the information
representation within educational reality (p. 9).
The Introduction focus on the role played by the contempo-
rary society, its transformations and technological progress
related to science education and ITC.
The chapter one is mainly focused on Application of aids in
lessons of past, present and future and aspects of learning-
genders (9 paragraphs).
The chapter two ascribes on Attention and memory within
structures of mental models’ formation and related motivations
within the educational conte xt s (7 paragraphs).
The chapter three is dedicated to study the methodology and
results applied to epistemic and exploratory procedures of visu-
alization in science education. It is composed of Discussion,
Conclusions and Recommendations.
On the Aims, Methods and Benefits
The aims and methods are performed in the Introduction as
well as the hypothesis and methods of the research. Thanks to
the using of different fonts and structure of the text is proper
and helps the reader to better orientation in the text.
One of the greatest problems within the reality of the science
education is the inappropriate understanding of conceptions,
phenomenon, topics and other elements of the content. Learners
*Short review.
In the running text of this paper some quotations are cited. The pages refers
her Ph.D. thesis.

R. PISANO
understand conceptions individually, constructing the own
epistemic (p. 10).
Based on the well-declared Researches Hypotheses the main
objective is psycho-educational factors of applying visualisa-
tion in science education. Particularly it “[…] is to analyse
psycho-educational factors of applying visualisation during
lessons of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Geography and Mathe-
matics in 9 - 10 forms, reasons for their heterogeneity, and the
model of named factors.” (p. 13). The author deeply precise the
role played by theoretical and empirical sub-objectives con-
cerning “[…] characteristics of visualisation within ontology of
the image […]” (p. 14), and “[…] verify results of researches
with empirical substantiation of attitude of Subjects of science
education—teachers and students—towards reasons, affecting
the higher need for externalised visual representations and their
effect on heterogeneous groups of learners under aspects of
gender and form.” (Ivi). On that account an original schema of
research methodology (p. 17) is originally proposed by the
author.
The Ph.D. thesis ascribes two main methods: theoretical and
empirical-practical. A data collection for exploring opinion of
populations, e.g., “[...] Philosophical and social ontological
aspect of the discourse of visualisation is revealed by analysing
the meaning of externalised visual representations on aspects of
postmodernism, globalisation, synergetics and innovations by
supplementing with ontological importance for knowledge and
information societies” is proposed (p. 18). The empirical-prac-
tical method mainly concerns “[...] benefits of applying visu-
alisation in science education on psycho-educational aspect
were gained during the empirically based theoretical discourse
analysis” (p. 19).
From a methodological and pedagogical-scientific point of
view I am also mostly appreciative of the clarity and precision
of the exposition constantly paid attention both contents and
understanding both for specialists and scientific and manage-
ment readers, both Lithuanian and Western European scholars.
On the Results and Author’s Recommendations
The results and modelling presented by the author are crucial
and the overall technical intensity of the thesis is significant and
typically for a very much qualified Ph.D. thesis: Identifications
of factors, Exploratory research, Diagnostic research, Verifi-
cation of results (Chapter 2, Section 2.2). “The Ph.D. thesis
research results and the constructed model application of con-
crete aids of visualisation should be verified during lessons by
forming questions if the similar positive factors exist in differ-
ent classes, groups of students with different skills as well as on
heterogonous aspects of gender, learning needs, educational
environments and activities.” (p. 32). Thus the results are very
original and certainly considerable such as important classes of
science education, history and science education items within
an international panorama. In fact some modelling and outlines
are already published in highly reputable conferences and jour-
nals in science education and management & quality.
Particularly, the Ph.D. thesis ascribes two main results: con-
clusion within theoretical context and conclusions within em-
pirical-practical context.
When it come the former, according to the author visualisa-
tion is indivisible from the image ontogenesis “[...] within the
context of the psychological discourse, application of visualisa-
tion could affect the management (stimulations) of cognitive
processes of the Subject-together with the artefact of external
multimodal and multidimensional externalised representations”
(pp. 33-34).
When it come the empirical-practical context: “[...] students
in 9 - 10 forms experience learning difficulties in subjects of
science education due to limitedness of activity of cognitive
processes (perception, attention, memory and imagination)” [...
and ...] attitude of teachers experts, it is identified that in disci-
plines of science education, classical visualisation methods and
ways, presenting educational information, dominate, the usage
of which during the last five years had a tendency to decrease
and as it is planned—it is about to decrease in future” (p. 35).
The author close her results with a list of recommendations
for different kind of readers: authors of manuals, software,
managers of publishing houses, scientists and teachers (pp.
38-39 and correlated pages).
Conclusion
The structure of thesis conforms to principles and requests to
the structure of a scientific Ph.D. thesis. The author studied and
used appropriate number of international references sources
used and cited in the thesis. It is the largely evidence of the
deep theoretical knowledge and extremely good orientation in
the problem discussed in science education. The word process-
ing of the thesis appears also adequate. The using of different
fonts and structure of the text is proper and helps the reader to
better orientation in the text. Thus the Ph.D. thesis is well writ-
ten and swell organized, with a suitable Introduction to inter-
esting contents-chapters and through international references to
cited works.
In my opinion, the author produced an urgent-emergency and
a significant research and contribution of support for both sci-
ence education readings, scientist-pedagogists and historians of
science and natural science specialists.
The thesis by Renata Bilbokaitė performed all the conditions
for gaining the PhD. degree in Science Education. The volume
composition makes for absorbing reading.
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