Abstract:

Schoolchildren who have been born since 2000 are part of the generation that Prensky (2001) described as Digital Natives, a term that reflects their innate ability to integrate new technologies that appear on the scene with ease. Modern science curricula are geared towards the cultivation of knowledge and skills and aim at experiential learning and attempt to connect science with society, environment and culture.

Research goals:
The mail goal of this doctoral thesis study is to examine whether the theoretical approach that emerged from the conceptual interconnection of the Next Generation Science Standards (NRC, 2012) and 21st century skills (P21, 2019) combined with the adoption of new trends in Science Education, could engage students to approach a contemporary issue in a scientific way of thinking.

In addition, focus is placed on the extent to which the use of Digital and blended learning environments (Olympiou & Zacharia, 2014;Kapici, Akcay, and Jong 2019;Smyrnaiou & Weil-Barais, 2005) succeeds to engage students to approach problems in a scientific way through the negotiation and study of a variety of science principles. Therefore, we embedded activities created with three different technological tools in order to support meaning generation through the use, creation and even modification of technological models for the representation of natural phenomena. These are educational robotics platform Lego Mindstorms EV3, and two simulations created with Python programming language and ChoiCo a kit for designing and playing educational digital games.

Methodology:
Educational design research was chosen as the most appropriate method for conducting this study (McKenny & Reeves, 2018, Bakker, 2018). The research was conducted in three phases: a) the design of activities and digital learning environments, b) pilot implementation, data collection and analysis, c) reflection, revision of interventions, and the main implementation of the research.

Research sample and implementation:
In order to evaluate the impact of the research in a typical public school classroom setting, we selected entire classes rather than selected groups of students. The research was conducted in two phases in the school year 2021-22, at the 4th High School of Daphnis. The pilot phase (7 weeks) and the main phase (8 weeks) for two hours per week. The sample consisted of four classes of the second grade, two in each phase (46 and 48 students respectively).

Conclusion:
From the qualitative analysis of the data collected emerged that the theoretical framework of this study has the necessary features to actively engage students in a horizontal exploration of contemporary issues and enhance their interest in the direction of building scientific knowledge. The results also revealed the significant role of technological environments to the clarification of misconceptions and the development of important skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, communication and technological literacy. Within this context of science learning, tomorrow's researchers will gain the background to conduct small or larger scale researches, collect and analyze data, exploit and/or create models of systems, construct explanations and argue in favor of them.

Keywords:

NGSS, 21st Century Skills, Science Education, interdisciplinary, Knowledge negotiation, Students Engagement, digital, blended Learning Environments.