Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant shift from traditional, in-person teaching to online education, which has become indispensable. Nowadays, online learning is increasingly popular, encompassing educational programs delivered exclusively through digital platforms like video conferences and virtual classrooms. The flexibility of online education allows students to learn at their own pace and according to their schedule, but it also poses potential disadvantages. In this article, we explore the impact of online teaching on the practical subject of biology and students’ perceptions of education in primary, secondary, and tertiary schools in Slovakia. Our research focuses on evaluating the progress of online biology teaching, examining methods of knowledge testing, and assessing both the positives and negatives.

Background The increased prevalence of overweight and obesity in the Czech Republic and Slovakia has led to heightened emphasis on weight control, particularly among women. Our aim is to explore body image perceptions among women in both countries and compare their attitudes, focusing on the relationship between body image and body mass index (BMI), height, weight, body fat and the weight control.Methods The cross-sectional study involved 358 female students from the University of Pardubice and Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, with equal representation from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Body parameters were assessed using anthropometric methods and the InBody 230 diagnostic device, while participants' perceptions of their bodies were evaluated using the Body Shape Questionnaire.Results The results confirmed that BMI did not significantly influence self-perception among Slovak students, while Czech participants with increasing obesity tended to perceive themselves more negatively. Significantly higher median values for BMI (p = 0.0509), weight (p = 0.0507), height (p = 0.05) and body image (p = 0.002) were observed in the Czech Republic compared with Slovakia. No significant difference was found in weight control and fat between participants from both countries.Conclusions Although obesity was demonstrated in both nations, body satisfaction was different for participants from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The closing of schools due to COVID-19 was a critical incident that should have caused a rethinking of education in our country. Among the many changes that this crisis has brought, one is fully remote teaching. Our research focuses on a comparison of the changes between on-site and remote forms of biology teaching, the opinions and feelings of teaching staff across all the institutional levels, and their opinions regarding the usage of online teaching tools in the future. The research shows that teachers have used both time-tested teaching aids and modern technology to generate an environment that would be as close to on-site teaching as possible. Similarly, the teachers with longer teaching experience had felt a greater degree of stress during the remote teaching period. Teachers of primary and tertiary schools agree that they can imagine having a combined form of education in the future but that the practical classes of biology must be completed on-site. On the other hand, most secondary school teachers want to preserve only the on-site form of teaching. Our study provides information on the current state of coping with the pandemic situation in Slovakia from teachers’ perspectives.

Slovak universities have had the chance to gain money from the pre-admission funds as well as from the European social fund (ESF) since 2004. In the framework of the several challenges of the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic all universities out of capital Bratislava region could submit the projects dealing with the educational activities. The article describes the experience connected with the implementation of the ESF"s projects of the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra. It introduces one of the activities of the project A - CENTRUM: Academics training and monitoring centre of human sources which was realized by the faculty during 2004-2005 and following project: A-CENTRUM for 21 century: From present to distance education, which is realized now. Faculty of Natural Sciences in these projects has prepared the educational modules for teachers in practice named: Natural sciences dealing with the further education of teachers of mathematics, computer science and natural sciences" subjects at the elementary and high schools. The introduced projects and their activities are the example of the real ability of the faculty to communicate with teachers effectively and offered them interesting programme for using at schools. Engagement in these projects reflects also the possibility of an academic space to realize the activities with the positive response in practice.Two examples of activities for teachers in practice are given in the article:modern didactic computer teaching programmes in biology,graphics calculators in mathematics education.Both examples follow the effect of increasing efficiency of teacher's work and pupil's motivation.

The aim of our work was to describe some experiences from realization of the healthy education in the facultative subjects on the Department of Zoology and Anthropology FPV UKF Nitra. The subjects are: Education to health and healthy lifestyle, Education to marriages and parenthood and also in obligatory subjects: Biology of children and selected chapters from Hygiene and Didactic of biology. Students after graduation of these subjects obtain competences to performance function of project coordinator in project "School supporting health", coordinator of anti drug education on the elementary and high schools and of course work as biology teachers.

Prevention problems of drugs addictions have became an important part of educational process. In the human body is an organ, which will suffer directly or indirectly by using the drugs. Our aims in this record are the possibilities of using the worksheets in the drug prevention subject in the 7-th class of the elementary school. We tested the drafts in the two groups of pupils between 12 and 13 years. Observed file was 30 pupils, control group was also 30 pupils. We found pupils in the observed group more successful in problem solving than pupils from the other group.