Recent research findings have shown that cooperative learning improves students' thinking skills as it allows them to communicate actively with each other (Johnson, Johnson and Smith, 2014). Therefore, cooperative learning has been proposed by many educators to be implemented in classrooms to produce lifelong learners and critical thinkers (Lunenburg, 2011). The current study investigates the effect of cooperative learning in Biology classroom, on students' learning and achievement of scientific skills. A convenient sample of 120 students from two grade levels, seven and ten, participated in the study in a private school in Beirut, where biology was taught to each class of the two different grades using two different teaching methods: cooperative learning (experimental group) and individualistic-direct learning (control group). Pre-and post-tests were administrated to both groups of each grade to compare students' achievement particularly in scientific skills items before and after intervention. Results of the study show that cooperative learning has a significant effect on students' achievement in learning and practicing scientific skills in grade ten, however no significant effect was shown in the acquisition of new scientific skills for grade seven students.

BackgroundThere is a scarcity of studies that evaluate the psychosocial determinants of eating behavior among adolescents in the Eastern Mediterranean region. The availability of such data is limited by the lack of valid culturally appropriate tools. The current study aims to develop and validate an Arabic questionnaire that measures psychosocial determinants of eating behavior among adolescents.MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out to validate a five-scale questionnaire developed to measure nutrition-related knowledge, attitude, practices, and self-efficacy and social norms. Content validity was assessed by Lawshe’s method, factor analysis was used to assess construct validity, and Cronbach’s α was used to test internal consistency. Temporal stability was assessed by test–retest reliability. A random sample of public and private school students participated in the validation study.ResultsAll the five scales demonstrated excellent content validity (content validity ratio, CVR ≥0.778). Factor analysis revealed several dimensions for each scale. Cronbach’s α for the identified dimensions or subscales ranged between 0.495 and 0.809 indicating acceptable internal consistency. Cronbach’s α for the total scales ranged between 0.759 and 0.836. Test–retest analysis revealed good temporal stability (intraclass correlation, ICC >0.7).ConclusionsA psychometrically valid tool to measure psychosocial determinants of eating behavior was developed. This tool can serve as a potential instrument for pretest and impact evaluation of ongoing nutrition education interventions and curricula. Based on results obtained from this tool, efficacious modifications can be instilled for nutrition policies and interventions.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s41043-017-0086-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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This paper investigates Lebanese grade 7 biology teachers' mathematical knowledge and skills, by exploring how they explain a visual representation in an activity depending on the mathematical concept "Function". Twenty Lebanese in-service biology teachers participated in the study, and were interviewed about their explanation for the designed activity. The data analysis reveals that teachers refer to different entities as constituting models, and express different way far away from the mathematical concept "Function". Based on the collected data, the findings could not be generalized to all biology teachers, but it is safe to conclude that it would be enriching for students if biology teachers had a background in mathematics and mathematics education, in order to deal with situations of exploration and analysis of the different constraints that might affect biology activities. In addition, the results highlight the need to review the teachers' preparation programs in a way that considers integrating mathematics into sciences, as well as a need to introduce a reform to the Lebanese Biology curriculum, in order to explicitly include all the mathematical competencies required to build up scientific knowledge.