Enrichment programming for gifted and talented high school students

The author describes a special program for gifted and talented high school students that is based on Renzulli's Enrichment Triad Model. In the Seminar I class for freshmen, enrichment activities emphasize training in research and computer skills. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors in the Seminar II class spend more time on Type III projects.     

Understanding resilience in diverse,talented students in an urban high school

This article summarizes findings from a 3‐year study of 35 economically disadvantaged, ethnically diverse, academically talented high school students who either achieved or underachieved in their urban high school. In particular, the resilience of these two groups of high ability students is explored. Comparative case study and ethnographic methods were used to examine the ways in which some academically talented students develop and/or employ strategies associated with resilience to achieve at high levels. Both risk factors and protective factors are examined to explore participants’ pathways toward either positive or negative outcomes. The results of this study suggest that some protective factors helped some academically talented students to achieve at high levels. The protective factors include supportive adults; friendships with other achieving students; opportunity to take honors and advanced classes; participation in multiple extracurricular activities both after school and during the summer; the development of a strong belief in self; and ways to cope with the negative aspects of their school and urban environment; and in some cases, their family lives. Other protective factors include students’ relationships with supportive adults and their previous participation in a gifted and talented program.

Students who underachieved had specific risk factors, such as having older siblings who dropped out of school or became involved in drugs and/or alcohol. They also appeared to have developed fewer protective factors. The combination of the presence of risk factors and the absence of protective factors may ha ve impeded the ability of some underachieving students to achieve at higher levels.     

中学生物学教学中的科学素质培养

科学素质包括科学知识、科学方法和科学思想三个方面。如果一个人只具备科学知识 ,而不懂科学方法 ,没有科学思想 ,就不能说明他受过系统的科学教育。生物学教育要实施科学素质教育 ,必须在上述三个方面全面加以实施。其主要内容包括 :科学知识 ;科学兴趣 ;科学方法 ;科学态度 ;科学精神     

Cooperative learning and group educational modules: Effects on cognitive achievement of high school biology students

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of cooperative learning and Group Educational Modules (GEM) on the achievement of high school biology students. GEM materials are self-instructional packets designed for use with groups of biology students. Cooperative learning is a classroom learning environment in which students work in small, mixed-ability groups toward a common goal. A 2 × 2 factorial design was used in this study. The independent variables considered included (1) participation of students in the GEM project, and (2) use of cooperative learning techniques including heterogeneous grouping and group incentives. The dependent variables for all treatment groups were scores on the instrument developed for this study. A total of 11 teachers with 36 classes and 715 students were included in this study. All teachers involved covered the same general subject matter during the study period. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used as the data analysis procedure. Significant differences were found in the achievement of students using GEM materials and those using traditional instructional approaches. The use of cooperative learning also produced significant differences when compared to traditional classroom structures.     

Pushing to the edge: Rutgers astrophysics institute motivates talented high school students

The Rutgers Astrophysics Institute is a program in which gifted high school students learn about contemporary science and its methods, and conduct independent authentic research using real‐time data. The students use the processes of science to acquire knowledge, and serve as cognitive apprentices to an expert astrophysicist. A variety of naturalistic and statistical methods were employed to gather data concerning various changes in the students as a result of their participation in the institute. Specifically, we concluded that students were able to (a) distinguish between observational data and models, devise testing experiments, and reflect on the analysis and the interpretation of X‐ray data; (b) achieve results comparable to those of regular Advanced Placement (AP) students on individual AP exam problems (the students had not taken AP Physics), (c) engage in elements of meaningful authentic research, and (d) change their approaches toward learning science. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 958–985, 2003     

Cognitive style and mathematics anxiety among high school students

The recent concern over declining mathematics achievement test scores has drawn attention to mathematics anxiety. One possible cause of the development of mathematics anxiety is cognitive learning style. The authors investigated the association of field dependent/independent cognitive style with mathematics anxiety. A three-way analysis of variance (cognitive style by achievement level by sex) was performed on math anxiety scores of 481 secondary students. Findings indicated that field dependent learners experienced more mathematics anxiety than did field independent learners. Interactions between sex and cognitive style and between achievement level and cognitive style also were significant. Implications for instruction and for future research are discussed.     

高中生生物学习动机与成绩的关系研究

通过调查高中生生物学习动机的现状,将其与学生的生物成绩作相关性分析,得出二者相关系数为R=0.228,同时发现此系数在不同成绩段的学生之间具有差异性;学生的内部学习动机对成绩的影响起主要作用,最后根据调查结果提出三条建议来培养与激发学生的生物学学习动机。     

The effects of individual or group guidelines on the calibration accuracy and achievement of high school biology students

A 2 × 2 factorial design was employed in a quasi-experiment to investigate the effects of guidelines in group or individual settings on the calibration accuracy and achievement of 82 high school biology students. Significant main effects indicated that calibration practice with guidelines and practice in group settings increased prediction and postdiction accuracy. A significant interaction showed that students who practiced calibration in groups using guidelines showed the greatest accuracy in their predictions and postdictions. Students in the guidelines condition and in the group setting condition had significantly higher achievement scores. The findings of this study suggest that the use of guidelines and group settings can promote calibration accuracy and achievement in high school biology courses.     

Gifted and talented students: Implications for school counselors

Educators will have a better understanding of the dysynchrony of young gifted children's cognitive, socio‐emotional, and motor development by carefully observing the various traits of these children.     

中学生物教学实施小组合作学习的体会

合作学习是新课程标准倡导的学习方式之一．在初中生物学教学中开展小组合作学习,其过程包括课前准备和课堂操作,课前准备由分组、制定规则、选题和预习构成,课堂操作由提出目标、小组分工、讨论解疑、得出答案、班级交流和合理评价等程序进行．在合作学习过程中教师应是组织者、引导者和参与者,既要充分尊重和发挥学生的主体作用,又要增强教师的引导调控作用．     

Queering high school biology textbooks

As teachers committed to educating all students, we need to learn more about how instructional materials shape representations of sexuality and gender. Through its insistent deconstruction of the norms that structure practice and belief, queer theory offers perspectives from which science educators can question assumptions embedded in textbooks. This article applies queer theory to analyze eight biology textbooks used in the United States. Specifically, we ask how biology textbooks address sexuality outside the heterosexual norm and if they propagate heteronormative attitudes. The textbooks examined offer deafening silences, antiseptic factoids, socially sanitized concepts, and politically correct binary‐gendered illustrations. In these textbooks, the term homosexuality was used only in the context of AIDS where, along with iv drug users, they were identified as an affected group. The pervasive acceptance of heteronormative behavior privileges students that fit the heterosexual norm, and oppresses through omission and silence those who do not. We offer implications for practice to help science educators broaden their perspectives on the constructs of sexuality and gender to construct new ways of knowing and understanding differences in science classrooms and the natural world. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 41: 617–636, 2004     

角色扮演教学法在高中生物教学中的应用

结合教学实例,分析角色扮演教学法的概念及实施的步骤,运用角色扮演活动进行教学,可以促使学生进一步认识并掌握生物基本概念,充分体现学生的主体,促使学生学会沟通与合作,培养学生各种能力.     

中学生物实验的遗憾

生物学实验是学生获取生物知识的最有效手段之一，同时在对学生整体素质的提高方面，起到了非实验教学无法替代的作用。现行的生物课本中安排的生物实验仍有不少的遗憾。