44 ● The articles should be published between 2010-2022. ● The articles should be published in journals and/or proceedings (In case of Slovenia also a handbook for teachers was considered, because it is relevant for the topic). Based on the above criteria, we gathered the appropriate articles related to the topic and concluded the following findings. 3 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 CHALLENGES IN A CLASSROOM SETTING According to research, teaching science in a classroom setting can be quite challenging. When planning a face to face lesson, science teachers have to take into consideration different factors that might affect the quality of the teaching and learning process, the students’ interest and motivation and the level of achieving the expected learning outcomes. These factors include the time limit, the laboratory equipment & material, the use of appropriate teaching methods, the students’ level of engagement & motivation in class. The time limit in relation to the overburdened curriculum that needs to be covered is one of the main challenges mentioned by researchers and teachers themselves (see Chapter 3.3 OTA needs analysis & Kubilay et al., 2012). Science lessons require much more teaching time than other theoretical subjects, as they usually imply a combination of the theoretical part with hands-on activities, experimentation and teamwork. Teachers are not given the time needed to effectively interact with their students or promote investigation, experimentation, collaboration and peer learning. Teachers also need extra time before the delivery of the lesson to prepare the necessary tools or resources and after the lesson to tidy-up everything. When preparing a lesson plan, science teachers also need to consider the use of laboratory equipment, material or ICT tools. Sometimes the lack of classroom resources or inadequate infrastructure does not allow teachers to incorporate a handson approach or technology in their lessons, as reported in desk research of the EU project IN2STEAM (also Seals et al., 2017). This issue worsens due to the high number of students in the class. One teacher usually needs to support and find enough resources to cover the needs of 20 to 25 students. The scarce use of innovative methodology or technology in class is also due to the lack of motivation among teachers. The traditional education followed at least in the schools of Cyprus promotes a conventional learning approach, which relies on repetition and memorization of information concluding in a written or oral evaluation.
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