Relationships between middle school students' science concept structure interrelatedness competence and selected cognitive and affective tendencies

An investigation was conducted to determine the relationships between Concept Structure Interrelatedness Competence (ConSIC) and 10 predictor variables of which 6 comprised a cognitive cluster and 4 made up an affective set. Data were collected from 105 middle school students and treated by way of stepwise multiple regression, linear multiple regression, and product-moment correlation techniques. The findings revealed that previous experience with concept structure interrelatedness and verbal scholastic aptitude accounted for the greatest amount of variance in predicting ConSIC. Significant positive correlations were also found between ConSIC and science achievement-course grades, scholastic aptitude-verbal, scholastic aptitude-quantitative, previous experience with concept structure interrelatedness, and self-concept of science ability. Positive significant correlations also surfaced among all of the affective variables (attitudes toward science, interest in science, science curiosity, and self-concept of science ability). Implications have been discussed in terms of classroom science teaching, science content analysis, curriculum design, and content selection.     

Religious culture as a school subject

In Russia a new school subject has been introduced in order to facilitate educators in shaping the enculturation process of the autonomous student into the cumulative tradition. In this article the Russian societal and educational context is described and the concepts ‘religion’ and ‘culture’ are clarified. Together they build the concentric structural model in which a distinction is drawn between different layers representing various influential factors related to RE, not only in Russia but also in the western world. In our view this concentric structural model is constitutive for the new school subject of religious culture. The presentation of the model and its application is central in this article.     

Gender differences in high school students' efficacy-expectation/performance discrepancies across four subject matter domains

This study investigated gender-related differences in the efficacy-expectation/performance discrepancies of high school students across four subject matter domains. Participants (N = 131) completed American College Testing (ACT) assessments in English, mathematics, reading, and science. Additionally, prior to each domain-specific test, students rated their perceived self-efficacy expectation for successful performance on that test. As anticipated, most students reporting greater efficacy expectation also tended to perform at higher levels, particularly in mathematics. Unexpectedly, the majority of student efficacy/performance discrepancy scores fell outside the congruent range in all content areas. Approximately equal numbers of male and female students inaccurately estimated their performance capabilities, with most noncongruent students tending to fall into either the extreme overestimation/underestimation categories. Implications are discussed regarding the application of these findings to refining educational methods, and enhancing self-motivation in educational settings.     

Agriculture as a subject in primary school

Many countries have included agriculture as a subject in primary school for a number of reasons. The present article briefly presents five rationales for including agriculture and offers three main approaches which seem to emerge from current practice. The main results of the subsequent discussion can be summarized as follows: integrating education with rural development most of the time would mean including agriculture as a subject in primary schools in rural areas and compensating it in core curriculum with some sort of practical subject taught in urban areas. It becomes clear that narrow vocational and extension-support approaches to school agriculture should be avoided in favour of a more general approach which relates agriculture to science. Unless these problems — curricular, technical, and organizational — are tackled, the results of school agriculture and its acceptance by those concerned will remain far behind expectations and possibilities.

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Zusammenfassung Zahlreiche Länder haben aus einer Vielzahl von Gründen Landwirtschaftskunde als Primarschulfach eingeführt. Die vorliegende Studie unterbreitet verschiedene Grundprinzipien für das Einbeziehen von Landwirtschaftskunde ins Curriculum und bietet drei Hauptansätze, die anscheinend aus derzeit üblichen Praktiken entstehen. Die wichtigsten Ergebnisse der damit zusammenhängenden Diskussion können folgendermaßen zusammengefaßt werden: Die Verknüpfung von Erziehung mit ländlicher Entwicklung bedeutet meistens, Landwirtschaft als ein Primarschulfach in ländlichen Gebieten einzubeziehen und im Kerncurriculum durch ein in städtischen Bereichen unterrichtetes praktisches Fach zu ersetzen. Es wird klar, daß Ansätze zur Landwirtschaft als Schulfach, die im engeren Sinne berufsbezogen sind oder die landwirtschaftliche Beratung fördern, zugunsten eines allgemeineren, Landwirtschaft mit Wissenschaft verknüpfenden Ansatzes vermieden werden sollten. Wenn diese Probleme curricularer, technischer und organisatorischer Art nicht gelöst werden können bleiben die Erfolge der Schullandwirtschaft und ihre Anerkennung durch die Betroffenen nicht nur weit hinter den Erwartungen anderer, sondern auch hinter ihrer, Möglichkeiten zurück.

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Résumé Plusieurs raisons ont améné de nombreux pays à introduire l'agriculture en tant que matière dans le contenu du programme d'études, de l'école primaire. Cet article présente brièvement cinq raisons d'être de l'introduction de cette nouvelle matière et trois approches principales qui semblent émerger de pratiques courantes. Les principaux résultats de la discussion subséquente peuvent être résumés de la façon suivante; l'intégration de l'éducation dans le développement rural signifie presque toujours introduire l'agriculture en tant que matière dans le plan d'études des écoles primaires des zones rurales et compenser cet enseignement par celui d'un sujet pratique dans les zones urbaines. Il apparaît évident que les approches purement professionnelles ou d'aide au développment de cette matière doivent être évitées en faveur d'une approche plus générale qui établirait une relation entre l'agriculture et la science. Les résultats de cette matière enseignée à l'école et sa réception par les personnes concernées resteront bien au-delà des espérances et des possibilités, si ces problèmes curriculaires, techniques et organisationnels ne sont pas résolus.

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For materials published by GTZ please write to: GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit GmbH), Postfach 5180, D-6236 Eschborn 1, Federal Republic of Germany.     

The relationship between affective response to social comparison and academic performance in high school

The goal of the present study was to study the relationship between affective responses to social comparison and test scores among high school students. Our analyses showed that three types of responses to social comparison could be distinguished: an empathic, constructive, and destructive response. Whereas girls scored higher on empathic response, boys scored higher on destructive response. In addition, students who had a high social comparison orientation (SCO) scored higher on all three types of responses than students who expressed a low SCO. Multilevel regression analyses indicated that, after controlling for previous performance, a destructive response was negatively related to performance on tests for reading comprehension and mathematics. An empathic response was positively related to performance on reading comprehension only whereas a constructive response compensated the negative relationship between destructive response and reading comprehension. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Should religious education be a compulsory school subject?

Britain is an increasingly secular society, yet religious education is a compulsory school subject. Is its compulsory status justifiable? Religious education was made compulsory in 1944 partly so as to support the moral values underlying democracy. This civic justification faded after the war, but even today one official justification of religious education is in terms of moral education. Another has to do with understanding and respecting other religions and beliefs. This essay examines both justifications and concludes that neither is strong enough to support the continued existence of religious education as a separate, compulsory subject. The same verdict is passed on a third justification, based on a recommended switch in the content of religious education classes to the critical analysis of religious claims.     

Two elementary school affective education programs — a research review

In recent years, a number of developmental counselling programs have become increasingly popular among counselors and teachers both in Canada and the United States. Programs such as Developing Understanding of Self and Others (D.U.S.O.), the Human Development Program (H.D.P.) and Toward Affective Development (T.A.D.) are designed to promote greater self-awareness, greater self-confidence and better interpersonal skills among students. In the present paper, the two most widely used elementary school programs, D.U.S.O. and the H.D.P., are examined and compared in terms of their objectives and format. Next, the research on each program is reviewed and finally suggestions for further research are made.Paper presented at the 9th International Round Table for the Advancement of Counselling, Thessaloniki (Greece), April 1980. Inquiries or requests for offprints should be directed to Dr. S. Robertson, Department of Educational Psychology, the University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4 Canada.     

Metaphors as a reflection of middle school students' perceptions of school: A cross-cultural analysis

This study analyzes the perceptions of Turkish and American middle school students of school and schooling by examining the metaphors they produce. A total of 18 American and 24 Turkish students were interviewed as part of this study. The results show differences in the participants' perceptions of schooling by culture. Turkish participants perceived the school environment as family-like, care-giving, psychologically nurturing, educationally exemplary, and physically appealing. School was also seen as a fundamental prerequisite in the preparation for life and the possibility of employment, promising upward social mobility as an adult. Overall, while some American participants perceived school as a wild, crowded, chaotic, boring, painful, regulated environment in which students must learn to survive, others see it as a place of joy, caring, involvement, and learning. The study also indicates that metaphors are useful tools in understanding how students as real actors of school make sense of schooling and their experiences in school.     

Localizing English literature as a school subject: a Malaysian experience

This article explores some of the complexities involved in the act of localizing English literature as a school subject. Informed by Goodson and Marsh’s stages of subject development, I explore the ways in which post-16 English literature was localized in Malaysia from an introduced and mythologized subject entitled “English” to its reconceptualization as “Literature in English” in the year 1998. The main question this article asks is: can a mythologized subject be sustained when it is introduced into another context (i.e., Malaysia)? This question is explored through attempts made to localize it by the subject’s governing body in Malaysia, namely the Malaysian Examinations Council. Relevant documents as well as an interview with a subject committee member involved in the subject’s reconceptualization form the data of this article. Analysis suggests that not only were acts of localization incoherent in the subject’s implementation, the rationale for localization was also not shared by some constituencies within and beyond the education system. This article concludes by highlighting the importance of ensuring that support from relevant constituencies is based upon a shared understanding of a subject’s role, aims and conceptualization in order to sustain subject development in an education system.     

教育决策科学化

很高兴看到很多教育决策者亲自开展有关研究,也有很多教育专家和研究人员为教育决策所做的研究,这是一件很好的事情.虽然,研究不等同于决策,但是,研究是科学决策的前提之一. 教育是种复杂的社会活动,受多种因素的影响,教育的本质决定了教育决策是种高难度的行为,不能仅凭直觉和个人经验做出教育决策,需要重视教育决策科学化的研究.现在社会上几乎人人可以凭直觉对教育指手画脚、说三道四,但是真正要做出科学的教育决策是不容易的.什么样的教育决策才是科学的呢?     

素质教育与中学生心理卫生

本针对当前中学生普遍存在的心理问题,从学校,家庭,社会角度进行分析,强调了加强素质教育的重要性,提出了素质教育是确保中学生心理卫生的根本措施。     

Changing middle school students' conceptions of matter and molecules

The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to understand the conceptual frameworks that sixth-grade students use to explain the nature of matter and molecules, and (2) to assess the effectiveness of two alternative curriculum units in promoting students' scientific understanding. The study involved 15 sixth-grade science classes taught by 12 teachers in each of two successive years. Data were collected through paper-and-pencil tests and clinical interviews. The results revealed that students' entering conceptions differed from scientific conceptions in various ways. These differences included molecular conceptions concerning the nature, arrangement, and motion of molecules as well as macroscopic conceptions concerning the nature of matter and its physical changes. The results also showed that the students taught by the revised unit in Year 2 performed significantly better than the students taught by the original commercial curriculum unit in Year 1 for 9 of the 10 conceptual categories. Implications for science teaching and curriculum development are discussed.     

‘Culture of Religion’ – a controversial secular school subject

ABSTRACT

This paper analyses the context, emergence, organisation and curriculum of the school subject known as ‘Culture of Religions’ (Kultura religija), which is given as an example of good practice in the Toledo Guiding Principles of the OSCE. It was designed, piloted and to a certain extent introduced in state schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina by a collaboration of international organisations and institutions, together with representatives from various local organisations. This paper addresses the challenges and opportunities that render this school subject not only highly relevant but also a controversial issue of education policy today.     

Academic attachment: Predicting students' affective reactions to the university

In attempting to develop a predictive model of student attachment to the university, this research concentrates on four variable sets: perceptions of university goals, perceptions of university academic climate, perceptions of university academic environment, and feelings of academic alienation. Using a sample of 460 university students, multiple discriminant analytic results indicate that of these four variable sets, perceptions of the academic climate and feelings of academic alienation exert more influence on students' attachment to the university than do perceptions of university goals and perceptions of the academic environment. These findings are discussed within the context of a model of the university student operating very much as a democratic citizen in the university political system.     

Relations of middle school students' perceptions of family and school contexts with academic achievement

The purposes of this study were to examine the relations of both family and school contexts on students' academic achievement and to explore the mediating effects of students' perceptions of their motivations and academic self‐competence between the family and school contexts and achievement. Participants were 230 fifth‐ and sixth‐grade students. Students' perceptions of parenting style (demandingness and responsiveness), parental involvement (parental values and involvement in school functions), teaching style (teacher control and responsiveness), and school atmosphere (school responsiveness and supportive social environment) significantly predicted their school achievement; however, students' motivations and self‐competence mediated the relations between students' contexts and their academic achievement. Furthermore, parental values, teacher responsiveness, school responsiveness, and supportive social environment predicted students' motivations and academic competence above and beyond parenting style, parental involvement, and teacher control. The importance of students' supportive relationships and the internalization of the messages conveyed to them underscore the need for a contextual view by school psychologists when consulting with parents and education staff regarding achievement concerns. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Mainland Chinese students' group work adaptation in a UK business school

Built from data collected through three-phase in-depth interviews, this study explores from cultural and social perspectives why Chinese students may initially be termed silent participants when they first commence group work with western students; and then examines the impact of cultural interaction through group work on their adjustment. ‘Discourse system’ is used to categorise how they adapt over the course of the year, with changes in expressing opinions, holding ground and self-autonomy. The study suggests that preparation for the new educational system and cultures of learning before students' departure, a facilitative environment in which students have interactive contact with different cultures and tutors' support are essential for Chinese students to achieve a fulfilled learning experience in the UK.     

中学生学习心理素质教育浅论

学习心理素质培养既是素质教育的重要内容,又是提高学生综合素质的必要条件。本文在探讨中学生学习心理素质问题的基础上,制定了行之有效的学习心理素质培养策略。