Conference Agenda

Contribution

In modern times, global and national policymakers have frequently relied on international assessments (LSAs), such as Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), to monitor instructional results and inform policy support (Li et al., 2025;Van Rijn et al.,2024). A major concern is that RL remains low at 386 points in PISA-2022 study in Kazakhstan, which is much lower than the OECD (2023) average (476 scores). In 2022 RL was revealed 40 scores drop a lack of digital skills related to the computer-based test. A gap in literacy, particularly in rural areas, was detected by the poor results in PISA (only 36% of students have scores above level 2)(Abildina et al.,2024). This indicator, in turn, requires to be improved use of digital resources, as traditional methods have proven ineffective in digital era. The development will allow us to adapt to the modern information society and strengthen students' analytical skills.

Pre-service teachers’ perceptions of RL through digital learning

Reading literacy is conceptualized as functional skills beyond decoding words, including interpreting and utilizing the texts for one's own purposes , making inferences and critically evaluating, develop knowledge and potential (Sarmurzin et al.,2025).The researchers from Portugal like Patrícia Dinis da Costa, Patrícia Almeida and Luísa Araújo(2013)identify three main components of RL: situation (the purpose of reading), text (content), and aspect (interpretation). Additionally the European Union defines RL as emphasizing practical understanding and public implementation using international frameworks such as PISA and PIRLS (Sarmurzin et al.,2025). It is a key part of functional literacy and is assessed as a basic skill in the education system. Pre–service teachers’ perceptions of RL through digital learning play a vital role in understanding implementation practice which reasonably influence in the classroom interactions and effectiveness as educators(Sun,et.,2024).Realizing these implementation is important for designing effectively professional development programmes in educational policies and practices, and creating supportive school environments that improve student learning and can prevent lifelong barriers, while digital competence can open up opportunities.

Promoting RL through digital learning in schools

The government's promotion RL through digital learning in schools is essential requiring a encompassing, supported national effort to address shortcomings in PISA. Nowadays the priority of the national policy is ambitious reform agenda focused on digitalization which foster digital learning of citizens to secure Kazakhstan’s long-term stability(Tokayev,2025). These initiatives create school environments that improve students’ critical thinking and analytical skills in relation to digital complexities(OECD,2019;Dr.Amita 2025). Continuing professional development (CPD) and supportive policies enable pre-service teachers to integrate effectively reading instruction in the classroom, address gaps in learning materials and manage high teaching loads(Yelubayeva,2023).This holds particular relevance for Kazakhstan, where geographical disparities create significant barriers to traditional educational programs,especially for rural pre-service educators (Shamatov et al.,2023).

The aim of this study is to investigate (1) the perceptions and practices of pre-service teachers regarding RL through digital learning and (2) its implementation in the curriculum in developing countries, of which Kazakhstan is one. The education system faces significant resource inequalities between urban and rural schools, hindering the equitable development of reading skills through digital learning (Sarmurzin et al.,2021).The research questions targeting pre-service teachers help address these gaps, focusing on scalable digital solutions. Consequently, this study aims to address the following research questions:

How do pre-service teachers perceive the role of digital educational platforms for RL development and familiar with framework of PISA?

What digital reading instruction methods do pre-service teachers currently use, and how do they differ between urban and rural schools in Kazakhstan?

What barriers may hinder the implementation of digital reading instruction in Kazakhstan's national curricula in different types of schools?

Science learning goes beyond the limits of the formal education settings with the acknowledgment of informal learning settings, such as science museums, science centers, and botanical gardens. Research provided strong evidence that science learning in informal settings is supportive to increase interest, engagement, and conceptual understanding (Falk & Dierking, 2010). Among these comprehensive settings, science museums are critical cornerstones by providing contextually rich opportunities for lifelong science learning (Bamberger & Tal, 2007).

Science museums are unique in their structure, enabling them to offer diverse learning opportunities. Unlike formal settings, science museums’ flexibility allows science museum educators (SMEs) to adopt learner-centered approaches by considering the curiosity of children and exploration (Hein, 1998). These characteristics of science museums make them powerful places to develop conceptual understanding and positive attitudes toward science (National Research Council, 2009).

As science museums are central to science learning in informal settings, SMEs have an important role in designing and implementing educational activities, in visitor interactions, and supporting science learning (Falk, 2016). SMEs hold a critical stance with their pedagogical positions blending teaching, learning, facilitating, and communicating (Tran, 2007). SMEs, due to the inherent structure of science museums, are more prone to teach heterogeneous groups including diverse, unprecedented backgrounds and abilities.

Even though the literature examines children’s learning, attitudes, and various outcomes in science museums and other informal learning settings, SMEs have received comparatively less attention. As educators are critical in shaping the nature of teaching and learning in these settings (Tal & Morag, 2007), this gap becomes more notable.

In line with these, recent studies started to focus on content knowledge of informal educators in “Informal Science Education Pedagogical Content Knowledge” (ISE-PCK) with five distinct dimensions (Busch et al., 2023). However, in these complex and interactive learning settings, it is not sufficient to identify their content knowledge. To address extensive and motivational dimensions of teaching, Hammerness et al. (2005) introduced the term pedagogical vision. This term extends PCK by including values, hope for students’ futures, and emotions. For SMEs, who engage in multifaceted contexts and have broader aims in their teaching, such as raising awareness in science, understanding their pedagogical visions is crucial to get insight into their broader drivers of teaching.

Previous studies indicated that SMEs tend to prioritize raising awareness and curiosity by providing authentic experiences to the children, which are difficult to achieve in formal classrooms (Eshach, 2007). As science museums play a critical role in the public views and engagement in science and are considered effective tools for promoting science education (Jakobsson & Davidsson, 2012), studies considered some aspects of SMEs’ experiences. In a study conducted by Shaby et al. (2016), SMEs’ goals regarding science museums were examined. The results showed that museum educators identified science museum goals as changing public views regarding science, promoting science learning, and minimizing inequality in society. While there is focus on the goals and interactions of SMEs, these are not fully efficient and adequate to capture SMEs’ broader pedagogical visions.

Consequently, this study aims to focus on pedagogical visions of SMEs. In this way, this study contributes to a comprehension of SMEs’ science teaching in depth. Thus, it will offer insight into science teaching in informal settings, especially science museums. Understanding these visions is essential not only for advancing research on informal science education but also for improving the design of museum programs and activities, strengthening the educational role of science museums. In this vein, this study is guided by the following research question:

• What are the pedagogical visions of science museum educators on teaching in a science museum?

Scientific attitudes, comprising curiosity, open-mindedness, skepticism, objectivity, perseverance, and intellectual honesty, are central to the mission of Science High Schools (SHS) in Türkiye (Schibeci, 1983; Aiken, 1969). Yet beyond formal instruction, extracurricular scientific engagement through projects, competitions, and congresses constitutes a distinct pedagogical space where these dispositions may be cultivated differently than in traditional classrooms. This study adopts a didactic lens to investigate how project-based and event-based scientific experiences function as learning environments that mediate attitude formation, while simultaneously interrogating whether such opportunities are equitably accessible and institutionally supported, a question squarely rooted in educational quality assurance.

The research question guiding this inquiry is: What are science high school students' experiences with scientific projects and events in developing scientific attitudes? Rather than treating scientific attitudes as outcomes of classroom instruction alone, this question positions project and event participation as an independent didactic domain, one that involves self-directed inquiry, collaboration with peers and mentors, public dissemination of findings, and iterative problem-solving. These processes engage students in authentic scientific practices that formal curricula frequently cannot replicate (Bybee et al., 2006; Chinn & Malhotra, 2002).

The theoretical foundation draws on Schibeci's (1983) comprehensive framework, which distinguishes between attitudes toward science as a body of knowledge, attitudes toward scientific processes, and attitudes toward scientists as a social group. Complementing this, self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) provides a motivational lens through which autonomy, competence, and relatedness, key psychological needs, can be evaluated within project contexts. Together, these frameworks enable systematic analysis of how voluntary, interest-driven scientific engagement nurtures attitudinal dimensions that compulsory instruction may not reach.

The study examines how the pedagogical architecture of TUBITAK-supported programs, school-organized congresses, physics journals, and science clubs differs from conventional teaching-learning sequences. Each of these contexts demands distinct cognitive and affective engagement: TUBITAK projects require hypothesis formation and data analysis; Olympiads demand sustained independent study; congresses necessitate academic writing and public presentation; and science clubs facilitate peer-driven discourse and expert interaction. Understanding how each context shapes scientific attitudes contributes directly to didactic theory regarding the design of learning environments beyond the classroom.

From a quality assurance standpoint, critical questions emerge about institutional commitment. Do all students have equal access to project mentorship? Are competitions structured to foster intrinsic motivation or merely reward performance? Students themselves reported frustrations with limited expert guidance, insufficient recognition of effort, and time pressures imposed by concurrent academic demands, signals that project-based learning, while valued, may not be systematically embedded in institutional quality frameworks (Harlen, 2010; Aktaş, 2016).

The European dimension of this study lies in its relevance to broader debates about project-based and experiential learning across European educational systems. Programmes analogous to TUBITAK exist across Europe, from Germany's Bundeswettbewerb Mathematik to France's Concours Général, yet comparative scholarship on how such programmes cultivate scientific dispositions remains sparse. Findings regarding the motivational, identity-forming, and attitudinal effects of structured scientific competitions and congresses offer transferable insights for policy-makers and educators designing extracurricular science programs within diverse national contexts (Zohar & Dori, 2003; Jewett & Kuhn, 2015).