学习风格的个体差异与课堂教学对策

课堂教学一直是人们关注的焦点,其存在的问题不言而喻.西方的学习风格理论为课堂教学的革新提供了新的理论基础.本文试从学习风格入手,来论述学习风格的个体差异性对课堂教学的诉求与对策.其教学对策主要体现在以下三个方面:根据学生的不同生理偏好有目的地安排教学;根据学生对独立学习或结伴学习的不同偏好来组织课堂教学;根据学生不同学习风格采取不同的课堂教学策略.     

Individual differences in strategy choices: good students, not-so-good students, and perfectionists

Consistent individual differences were found in first graders' strategy choices in addition, subtraction, and reading (word identification). Differences were present along 2 dimensions: knowledge of problems and stringency of thresholds for stating retrieved answers. Cluster analyses indicated that children could be classified into 3 groups: good students, not-so-good students, and perfectionists. Perfectionists were children who had good knowledge of problems and set very high thresholds for stating retrieved answers, good students also had good knowledge of problems but set lower thresholds, and not-so-good students had less good knowledge of problems and set low thresholds. Differences among the 3 groups were evident on measures not included in the cluster analysis as well as measures that were. Further, the groups differed in standardized achievement test performance 4 months after the experiment in ways consistent with the experimental analysis. The pattern of individual differences was similar in 2 experiments with different samples of children and problems and different methods for assessing strategy use. The results illustrated how detailed cognitive models can contribute to understanding of individual differences.     

Motivation in high school science students: A comparison of gender differences in life,physical, and earth science classes

The aims of this study were to examine self‐efficacy and other motivation variables among high school science students (n = 502); to determine the degree to which each of the four hypothesized sources of self‐efficacy makes an independent contribution to students' science self‐efficacy beliefs; to examine possible differences between life, physical, and Earth science classes; and to investigate patterns of gender differences that may vary among the fields of science. In Earth science classes, girls earned higher grades and reported stronger science self‐efficacy. In life science classes, girls earned higher grades but did not report stronger self‐efficacy, and did report higher science anxiety. In physical science, there were no gender differences in grades or self‐efficacy, but girls again reported higher levels of science anxiety. For boys across science fields, science self‐efficacy significantly predicted course grades and mastery experiences was the only significant predictor of self‐efficacy. For girls, self‐efficacy was also the strongest predictor of science grade across fields. Mastery experiences significantly predicted self‐efficacy in Earth science for girls, but social persuasions, vicarious experiences, and physiological states were better predictors of science self‐efficacy in life and physical science classes. Results support (Bandura, A., 1997) hypothesized sources of self‐efficacy, previous research findings on self‐efficacy in the domain of science, and validate the suggestion made by Lau and Roeser (2002) to disaggregate data by science field. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 955–970, 2008     

Individual differences in self-efficacy development: The effects of goal orientation and affectivity

This study examined the moderating role of the individual differences of goal orientation and affectivity on self-efficacy development. Consistent with hypotheses, results indicate that both positive and negative affectivity moderate the impact of an enactive mastery training program on efficacy development, with those higher in positive affectivity having greater change in self-efficacy as a result of training than those lower in positive affectivity, and those lower in negative affectivity having greater change in self-efficacy as a result of training than those higher in negative affectivity. The moderating impact of mastery and performance goal orientation appears to be much more complex, with initial levels of self-efficacy playing an important role in the interaction between goal orientation and efficacy development. Overall, results suggest self-efficacy development resulting from training varies depending on disposition of trainees and initial levels of efficacy.     

提高综合理科课堂教学效率的策略

提高综合理科课堂教学效率,应采取创设问题情景、开展课堂交流、探究思维过程和引导实践探究四个教学策略。     

Talking about science: An interpretation of the effects of teacher talk in a high school science classroom

This paper builds on research in science education, secondary education, and sociolinguistics by arguing that high school classrooms can be considered speech communities in which language may be selectively used and imposed on students as a means of fostering academic speech community identification. To demonstrate the ways in which a high school teacher's language use may encourage subject area identification, the results of an interactionist analysis of data from a 2-year ethnographic study of one high school chemistry classroom are presented. Findings indicate that this teacher's uses of language fell into three related categories. These uses of language served to foster identification with the academic speech community of science. As a result of the teacher's talk about science according to these three patterns, students developed or reinforced particular views of science. In addition, talking about science in ways that fostered identity with the discipline promoted the teacher as expert and built classroom solidarity or community. These results are discussed in light of sociolinguistic research on classroom competence and of the assertions of science educators regarding social and ideologic implications of language use in science instruction.     

The effects of classroom noise on children: Evidence for sex differences

To clarify the relationship between classroom noise and children's intellectual performance, 156 first-, third-, and fifth-grade children worked on a matrix task in either a noisy environment (70dbA) or in a quiet environment (40dbA). Children's performance on the intellectual task increased with age. Moreover, in the environment with classroom noise, boys consistently solved more complex matrix problems than did girls.     

Management of science classroom tasks and effects on students' learning opportunities

This study examined the work that students completed during six or seven week units of instruction in four different science classes. The purpose of the study was to assess the kinds of learning opportunities students had as they dealt with science content and the problems teachers faced in managing different kinds of assignments, particularly assignments that required students to use higher level cognitive operations. Management strategies associated with these assignments are described and the effects of these strategies are considered.     

Learning science through talking science in elementary classroom

Elementary students in grade two make sense of science ideas and knowledge through their contextual experiences. Mattis Lundin and Britt Jakobson find in their research that early grade students have sophisticated understandings of human anatomy and physiology. In order to understand what students’ know about human body and various systems, both drawings and spoken responses provide rich evidence of their understanding of the connections between science drawings and verbal explanations. In this forum contribution, we present several theoretical connections between everyday language and science communication and argue that building communication skills in science are essential. We also discuss how young participants should be valued and supported in research. Finally we discuss the need for multimodal research methods when the research participants are young.     

Assessment in the science classroom

This paper reports on research into two teachers' views and practices about assessment at the classroom level. Emphasis was given to practical work and its assessment. Findings suggest it is unhelpful to define practical work as distinct from other activities in the science classroom. Various methods used for assessing activity within the participant teachers' classrooms are described. The participant teachers were found to be primarily concerned about issues of ‘fairness’: task validity, reliability of assessment based on co-operative work and assessment of the affective domain. The place of teacher intuition in assessment is raised and briefly discussed. Directions for the ongoing research are foreshadowed. Specializations: science education, technology education, assessment and curriculum development.     

The effects of classroom climate on college science students: A replication study

This replication studied the effect of two specific classroom climates on learning of science process skills and content achievement in college science classes. Two classroom climates were established and designated as discovery classroom climate (DCC) and nondiscovery classroom climate (NDCC). The term discovery denotes the degree of freedom the teacher established in classroom interactions, both verbal and nonverbal. Verbal interactions were monitored with the Science Laboratory Interaction Categories. These data indicate that students in the two classroom climates achieved equally as well on learning of biological content of the course and on scores in science process skills as measured by the Welch Science Process Inventory. This study indicates students in the less directive discovery climate learned as much content as a more directive comparison class—they lost nothing of what is traditionally sought in a college science class. Differences between the original and the replication study on the Science Process Inventory were noted.     

Maintaining at-risk children in regular education settings: initial effects of individual differences and classroom environments

This study described the course of school failure by classifying the characteristics of 103 first-grade children who were at risk for such an outcome and examining their classroom environments over a 1- to 4-year period. We describe the association between empirically validated clusters of children and specific instructional arrangements that served to increase the risk of special education placement. We found that individual seatwork while other children were in a reading group significantly increased the risk of placement; on the other hand, small-group work was associated with nonplacement for one cluster of children (those with possible learning disabilities). Other results were inconclusive, but suggestive of patterns that may eventually assist in the definition of the elusive link between individual differences and classroom environments.     

Portraying science in the classroom: The manifestation of scientists' beliefs in classroom practice

If the goals of science education reform are to be realized, science instruction must change across the academic spectrum, including at the collegiate level. This study examines the beliefs and teaching practices of three scientists as they designed and implemented an integrated science course for nonmajors that was designed to emphasize the nature of science. Our results indicated that, like public school teachers, scientists' beliefs about the nature of science are manifested in their enactment of curriculum—although this manifestation is clearly not a straightforward or simplistic one. Personal beliefs about the nature of science can differ from those of the course, thus resulting in an enactment that differs from original conceptions. Even when personal beliefs match those of the course, sophisticated understandings of the nature of science are not enough to ensure the straightforward translation of beliefs into practice. Mitigating factors included limited pedagogical content knowledge, difficulty in achieving integration of the scientific disciplines, and lack of opportunity and scaffolding to forge true consensus between the participating scientists. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 669–691, 2003     

The effects of professional development on science teaching practices and classroom culture

The current science education reform movement emphasizes the importance of professional development as a means of improving student science achievement. Reformers have developed a vision for professional development based upon intensive and sustained training around concrete tasks that is focused on subject‐matter knowledge, connected to specific standards for student performance, and embedded in a systemic context. Using data from a National Science Foundation Teacher Enhancement program called the Local Systemic Change initiative, this study employs hierarchical linear modeling to examine the relationship between professional development and the reformers' vision of teaching practice. The findings indicate that the quantity of professional development in which teachers participate is strongly linked with both inquiry‐based teaching practice and investigative classroom culture. At the individual level, teachers' content preparation also has a powerful influence on teaching practice and classroom culture. At the school level, school socioeconomic status was found to influence practice more substantially than either principal supportiveness or available resources. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 963–980, 2000