A change of perspective – Exploring Mexican primary and secondary school students’ perceptions of their teachers differentiated instructional practice

With the increasing student diversity, the establishment of inclusive classrooms has become a top concern of policy-makers worldwide urging teachers to differentiate their instruction according to students’ individual learning needs. As the implementation of differentiated instruction (DI) relies mainly on teachers, previous research has mostly focused on examining teachers’ perspectives on their use of differentiation. In contrast, far less attention has been paid to explore students’ perspectives about their experiences in inclusive classrooms. Therefore, this study aims at examining students’ experiences of their teachers’ actual DI practice. Moreover, this study sets the spotlight on Mexico, a country that has faced changes with a recent proposed educational model. Results from a mixed analysis of variance revealed that students do in fact perceive that their teachers implement DI practices. It appears that both primary and secondary school teachers implement more frequent variants of mastery learning as well as tutoring systems as a means to differentiate their instruction. Implications of the results, as well as further lines of research, are discussed.     

Japan’s educational practices for mathematically gifted students

This study documents the inclusive, deliberate, and unintended educational practices in Japan for mathematically gifted students. It also aims to identify various schools’ strengths and challenges in improving the mathematics education of these students. Case studies with multisite designs were undertaken in five middle schools selected using purposive sampling. Mathematics education practices – assessed in terms of assessment, mathematics instruction, support and interventions, and teachers’ collaboration – guided the data collection and analysis. The primary goal of this study was to describe current school practices and identify common strengths and challenges (including outlier practices across schools) which were valuable in generating conclusion regarding how certain practices might lead to different student and/or teacher outcomes.     

Secondary school students’ perceptions of working life skills in science-related careers

ABSTRACT

School students demonstrate a lack of interest in choosing science studies and science-related careers. To better understand the underlying reasons, this study aims to examine secondary school students’ perceptions of working life skills and how these perceptions relate to the skills of the twenty-first century. The participants in this study were 144 Finnish 7th graders (aged 13–14 years). Using a questionnaire and qualitative content analysis, we examined their perceptions of working life skills in ‘careers in science’ and ‘careers with science’. Results reveal that although students have a great deal of knowledge about working life skills, it is often just stereotyped. Sector-specific knowledge and skills were highlighted in particular but skills related to society, organisation, time and higher order thinking, were often omitted. Results also indicate that students do not associate ‘careers in science’ with creativity, innovation, collaboration or technology and ICT skills. Conversely, according to the students, these careers demand more sector-specific knowledge and responsibility than ‘careers with science’. We conclude that students need more wide-ranging information about scientific careers and the competencies demanded; such information can be acquired by e.g. interacting with professionals and their real working life problems.     

Students’ and teachers’ perspectives about quality of engineering education in Portugal

Quality in higher education is a subject of increasing importance. This idea can be supported by looking at different sources, namely, the scientific literature, national and transnational governments’ policies, such as those emerging from the Bologna Process. Also, the internationalisation of higher education and, within it, students’ and staff mobility among institutions, has brought to the agenda the quality issue, particularly with regard to the teaching and learning process. Several authors argue that the meaning of quality depends on who defines it. This article focuses on a study that looks at how teachers and students in higher education institutions, in Portugal and in the domain of Engineering, see the quality issue. Data was collected through interviews to teachers (six) and students (38) in two different Portuguese institutions. The results indicate that, although teachers and students refer to the same dimensions that influence quality, they have different perspectives about their importance. From the point of view of the authors, this discrepancy requires some pedagogical actions in the context where the study was developed and, also, further research to see if the same tendency exists in different settings.     

杜威论学生自治

对于道德教育,杜威主张“间接的”,学生自治是这种理论的一大体现;同时它还符合美国当时的社会运动及政治主张,带有鲜明的美国色彩;此外,这种制度还能收获学生管理方面的便利。“五四”以后,杜威来华曾亲自传布,受潮流的激荡,风行一时,各级学校大都设有学生自治组织,然而最终却有些水土不服。因为没有自治习惯的学生,骤然得到了自治权,反生出许多无谓的是非,教师也没有相应的经验加以指导。今日的学校教育,寄希望于“直接的道德教学”来培养学生的自治能力,困难颇大、且成效不显。历史的经验,值得深思,但须注意防止流弊,而且更应追求其精神,而不必苛求其形式。     

从学生视角谈我国高校体育教育专业改革与发展

我国体育教育专业的改革与发展要与时俱进,使人全面发展,提高人自身的生存、适应能力,才能实现可持续发展。纵观现有关学生素质研究文献资料,其研究结果表明：学生的整体素质在下降。这与我国高校体育教育专业改革的初衷背道而驰。运用综合研究方法对我国高校体育教育专业改革与发展进行梳理,从学生发展视角提出：加大学生入学教育、专业教育;统一教师对培养目标的认识,提高学生＂教学＂能力;改善教学场馆设施;拓宽学生知识面,增设民族传统体育项目。     

Students’ awareness of science teachers’ leadership,attitudes toward science,and positive thinking

There appears to be a complex network of cognitive and affective factors that influence students’ decisions to study science and motivate their choices to engage in science-oriented careers. This study explored 330 Taiwanese senior high school students’ awareness of their science teacher’s learning leadership and how it relates to the students’ attitudes toward science and positive thinking. Initial results revealed that the optimism of positive thinking is highly and positively correlated with the future participation in science and learning science in school attitudes toward science and self-concept in science. Moreover, structural equation modelling (SEM) results indicated that the subscale of teachers’ leadership with idealised influence was the most predictive of students’ attitudes toward science (β = .37), and the leadership with laissez-faire was predictive of students’ positive thinking (β = .21). In addition, the interview results were consistent with the quantitative findings. The correlation and SEM results indicate some of the associations and potential relationships amongst the motivational and affective factors studied and students’ attitudes toward and intentions to study science, which will increase their likelihood of future involvement in science careers.     

The changing role of students’ unions within contemporary higher education

Despite profound changes to the higher education sector in the UK over recent years, which have tended to emphasise the role of prospective students as active choosers within a marketplace and encourage higher education institutions (HEIs) to place more emphasis on student engagement and representation as a means of improving the quality of the learning experience, the role of students’ unions has remained largely unexplored. To start to redress this gap, this paper draws on a UK-wide survey of students’ union officers and a series of focus groups with 86 students and higher education staff in 10 case study institutions. It outlines the ways in which students’ unions are believed, by those closely involved with them, to have changed over recent years, focusing on: the shift towards a much greater emphasis on representation in the role and function of the students’ union; the increasing importance of non-elected officers; and the emergence of more cooperative relationships between the students’ union and senior institutional management. The article then discusses the implications of these findings for both our understanding of the political engagement of students, and theorising student involvement in the governance of HEIs.     

Place-based education from three perspectives

Abstract

This article examines the perception of the Czech place-based education program School for Sustainable Development from the perspectives of the participating students, teachers, and representatives of the local municipalities. The study is based on an analysis of paired or group interviews with 47 students, 7 teachers, and 6 representatives. The findings show that while the teachers perceived the process of the students’ involvement in planning and conducting a community-based project as highly participative, the students’ opportunities to shape the process through making their own decisions were rather limited and the teachers kept control over important parts of the process to themselves. While the cooperation of the schools with their respective municipalities was appreciated by most of the respondents, several barriers have been identified. Participation in the project has likely increased the teachers’ self-effectiveness, developed the students’ interpersonal competence, and improved the atmosphere at the schools involved.

Abbreviations: PBE: place-based education; ENEC: European Network for Environmental Citizenship; STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics; SSD: The School for Sustainable Development.     

Conceptions of Memorizing and Understanding in Learning,and Self-Efficacy Held by University Biology Majors

This study aims to explore Taiwanese university students’ conceptions of learning biology as memorizing or as understanding, and their self-efficacy. To this end, two questionnaires were utilized to survey 293 Taiwanese university students with biology-related majors. A questionnaire for measuring students’ conceptions of memorizing and understanding was validated through an exploratory factor analysis of participants’ responses. As for the questionnaire regarding the students’ biology learning self-efficacy (BLSE), an exploratory factor analysis revealed a total of four factors including higher-order cognitive skills (BLSE-HC), everyday application (BLSE-EA), science communication (BLSE-SC), and practical works (BLSE-PW). The results of the cluster analysis according to the participants’ conceptions of learning biology indicated that students in the two major clusters either viewed learning biology as understanding or possessed mixed-conceptions of memorizing and understanding. The students in the third cluster mainly focused on memorizing in their learning while the students in the fourth cluster showed less agreement with both conceptions of memorizing and understanding. This study further revealed that the conception of learning as understanding was positively associated with the BLSE of university students with biology-related majors. However, the conception of learning as memorizing may foster students’ BLSE only when such a notion co-exists with the conception of learning with understanding.     

Exploring formative assessment as a tool for learning: students’ experiences of different methods of formative assessment

This study aims to provide a greater insight into how formative assessments are experienced and understood by students. Two different formative assessment methods, an individual, written assessment and an oral group assessment, were components of a pathology course within a medical curriculum. In a cohort of 70 students, written accounts were collected from 17 students and group interviews were carried out to explore the students’ experiences of these two forms of assessment. All students were engaged in both assessment methods, which were conducted a few weeks apart, and data were collected soon after each assessment. Our findings suggest that formative assessments motivate students to study, make them aware of what they have learned and where they need to study more. Thus, formative assessment can act as a tool for learning, contributing to the process and outcomes of learning. A closer look at students’ experiences of each form of assessment reveals interesting differences.     

Social media and students’ behavioral intentions to enroll in postgraduate studies in Kenya: a moderated mediation model of brand personality and attitude

ABSTRACT

Using cross-sectional data from 504 students from four Kenyan universities, this study evaluates the indirect effect of brand personality on the relationship between social media and students’ behavioral intentions to enroll in postgraduate studies. Additionally, the study examines the moderating effect of attitude on the relationship between social media and brand personality, social media and students’ behavioral intentions, brand personality and students’ behavioral intentions. Finally, it investigates the moderating effect of attitude on the indirect process of brand personality on the relationship between social media and students’ behavioral intentions. The study is guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior, Technology Acceptance Model and Self Congruity Theory. Process Macro is used to analyze data. Results indicate that social media significantly predicts students’ behavioral intentions and this relationship is partially mediated by brand personality. Besides, attitude moderates the relationship between social media and students’ behavioral intentions and also the relationship between brand personality and students’ behavioral intentions. Finally, attitude has a conditional effect on the indirect relationship between social media and student’s behavioral intentions via brand personality and this effect is much stronger with a higher level of attitude. These findings contribute new knowledge to literature and theory.     

大学文化:提升学生学习的育人文化

大学文化是育人为本的文化,基于提升学生学习在高等教育中的核心价值地位,大学文化的关注点必须更加聚焦于学生学习.以提升学生学习为出发点的研究视角,是一个离大学文化的育人内涵最为切近的角度.调查表明,大学文化建设在提升学生学习方面,已经取得了一定成果,促进了大学育人目标的实现.但其中呈现出来的问题,需要我们进一步面向教育本身,把提升学生学习放到大学文化建设中应有的重要位置,强调提升学生学习的大学文化新理念.     

基于学生视角的大学生逃课现象调查分析

大学生逃课现象已引起全社会的普遍关注,然而基于教育管理层面所做的原因分析和据此采取的应对措施却收效甚微。本研究基于学生的视角调查了解大学生逃课的特点、态度和情感体验、原因及大学生期望的学校应对策略,以期减少大学生逃课现象,提高大学教育质量。     

卓越工程师计划实施的成效、不足与思考——基于华东理工大学7个专业的实证调查

文章以华东理工大学7个专业学生为研究对象,从学情分析的视角对"卓越计划"学生培养质量进行了分析.研究发现与普通班学生相比,虽然卓越班学生培养质量显著高于普通班学生,尤其是学生的学习投入程度、对教育教学改革、实习实践机会满意度最为显著;但卓越计划并没有完全达到其面向工业界、面向世界、面向未来的培养目标,学生的设计能力、领...     

Relations between students’ perceptions of the teaching-learning environment and teachers’ approaches to teaching: a qualitative study

ABSTRACT

In recent decades, a constructivist view of learning has triggered a change in teaching-learning environments (TLEs). Teacher-centred TLEs have been replaced by student-centred ones where the teachers’ approaches to teaching are more learning- than content-focused. Previous research exploring the relationship between student-centred TLEs and the quality of learning has shown contradictory results. Previous studies also indicate that various elements of TLEs may influence students’ learning. This study explored course-level types of elements, enhancing or hindering, related to TLEs, which the course students described. The TLEs of the courses varied because the teachers adopted different types of approaches to teaching. The data for this study were collected through semi-structured interviews with undergraduate students (N = 33) from three compulsory courses. The interviews were designed so that students could describe their perceptions of the course as well as their learning experiences and processes. The data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. The results revealed that when the teacher employed a consonant learning-focused approach to teaching, the students perceived almost all elements of the TLE as enhancing. When the teacher’s approach to teaching was identified as dissonant, the students perceived several elements of the TLE as hindering. This study revealed that inclusion of student-activating teaching-learning activities is important when designing TLEs, but that it is also crucial to design elements which guide and structure students’ learning.

Abbreviation: TLE: teaching-learning environment     

First‐year secondary school mathematics students’ conceptions of mathematical proofs and proving

The aim of this study is to investigate students’ conceptions about proof in mathematics and mathematics teaching. A five‐point Likert‐type questionnaire was administered in order to gather data. The sample of the study included 33 first‐year secondary school mathematics students (at the same time student teachers). The data collected were analysed and interpreted using the methods of qualitative and quantitative analysis. The results have revealed that the students think that mathematical proof has an important place in mathematics and mathematics education. The students’ studying methods for exams based on imitative reasoning which can be described as a type of reasoning built on copying proof, for example, by looking at a textbook or course notes proof or through remembering a proof algorithm. Moreover, they addressed to the differences between mathematics taught in high school and university as the main cause of their difficulties in proof and proving.     

Gesticulating science: Emergent bilingual students’ use of gestures

This article examines how emergent bilingual students used gestures in science class, and the consequences of students’ gestures when their language repertoire limited their possibilities to express themselves. The study derived from observations in two science classes in Sweden. In the first class, 3rd grade students (9–10 years old) were involved in a unit concerning electricity. The second class consisted of 7th‐grade students (13–14 years old) working with acids and bases. Data were analyzed by using practical epistemological analysis (PEA). When students’ language proficiency limited their possibility to express themselves, using gestures resulted in the continuation of the science activities. Furthermore, both peers and teachers drew on the used gestures to talk about the science content. In some situations, the meaning of the gestures needed to be negotiated. Regardless, the gestures were always related to language. Both students and teachers participated in this process, but the teachers directed the communication toward the goal of the lessons: learning how to talk science. The study contributes to the field by showing the importance of paying attention to and valuing bilingual students’ use of gestures as a way to express scientific knowledge. In addition, it demonstrates how teachers might draw on students’ gestures to teach science and discusses the importance of creating multimodal learning environments. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 55: 121–144, 2018