Consistent and Inconsistent Pupils' Reasoning about Intensive Quantities: The Case of Density and Pressure

In this research we investigate whether the categorisation of physical quantities into intensive and extensive, according to scientific knowledge, is perceivable and understood by pupils aged 12–15 years. For this purpose we administered written questionnaires to 300 pupils, comprising four tasks for each intensive quantity: density and pressure. The tasks investigate whether pupils realise that intensive quantities do not depend on the amount of the system they refer to and the factors affecting pupils' reasoning and their consistency when studying phenomena involving fluids at rest or in transition. The analysis of responses led us to identify three models of consistent pupils' reasoning. It was also observed that a significant percentage of the pupils provide inconsistent answers, that is, they change their reasoning across tasks and use alternatives to scientific reasoning, influenced by phenomenological features of the tasks. According to our results we propose a number of recommendations, such as the introduction of intermediate teaching/learning steps to be followed as well as suitable experiments to be used towards the acquisition of the scientific model for density and pressure.     

Staying on task: can a thinking skills approach support a productive pedagogy for inclusion?

This study investigates the effects of a thinking skills approach on the on task rates of pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN). There were three situations: two experimental and one controlled. The experimental situations compared on task rates of 19 primary-aged pupils with SEN in thinking skills (TS) and non-thinking skills (XTS) lessons. These same 19 pupils' on task rates were then compared to the 19 different pupils with SEN in the control situation (CON). The study found that pupils with SEN had significantly higher on task rates in thinking skills lessons compared to the non-thinking skills lessons and pupils with SEN in the control situation. This study also found that pupils' on task rate was directly proportional to the level of thinking skills content in a lesson. In addition it was found that pupils in thinking skills lessons spent significantly more time working collaboratively.     

小学生同伴冲突与社会技能的培养

同伴冲突是小学生同伴交往过程中一种正常的现象,冲突的顺利解决有利于学生社会性的发展。同伴冲突对小学生社会性发展具有积极的作用,利用这种冲突,可以培养学生的社会技能,促进学生的社会性的和谐发展。     

小学生数学思维能力的培养

小学生数学思维能力的培养是小学数学教学中的一项重要内容.数学是思维的体操,发展学生思维是数学教育的灵魂.将从调动学生学习数学的积极性,促进学生积极参与思维过程;加强对学生的数学思维训练,促进学生数学思维能力的提高;加强思维方法指导,发展学生辩证思维,培养学生创造性思维能力等3个方面对如何培养小学生数学思维能力进行论述.     

小学生科学观察能力的培养——以《观察蚂蚁》一课为例

对小学生观察能力的培养,教师应从让学生处于自然的条件下观察、精心挑选材料、指导学生边思考边观察、及时记录和交流发现等方面提高学生的观察力,从而提高学生认识世界的能力。     

儿麻患者学习适应性调查研究

学习适应性是反映学生学习效率的重要指标之一,它可揭示影响学习的主要原因。儿麻患者在从康复训练为主向以文化知识学习为主的转变过程中,能否迅速掌握学习规律,有效地开展学习,是促进自身发展的关键。本研究通过对儿麻患者学习适应性的调查分析,探索其高效学习的途径     

Majoring in Technology Studies at High School and Fostering Learning

A framework for helping low-achieving pupils through reinforcement in technology at high school is presented. Social-cognitive theory, concepts of authentic learning, learning by doing and peer learning all underpin the efforts to remove pupils from the vicious circle of low expectations and failures. The primary goal of modern technology studies is to impart pupils with high cognitive and personal competencies, as an alternative to teaching motor-based skills or memorising-based knowledge. This study's subjects were two groups of pupils who learned technology in an Israeli comprehensive high school. In tenth grade, the pupils became acquainted with the LEGO-Logo learning environment, acquired thinking tools from de Bono's CoRT program and worked in groups or individually on original projects. At the same time, they learned theoretical topics such as the physics of static mechanical systems and computerised technical drawing. In the eleventh and twelfth grades, the pupils took advanced courses in mechanical engineering, such as design of machine parts, automation and control systems. Observations in classes, interviews with the pupils and their parents, and findings from pupil questionnaires indicated an improvement in the pupils' self-efficacy and increased motivation to study at the present and in the future. The main features of the program, in the pupils' eyes, were construction activities, team projects and free study. The major ‘outputs’, in the pupils' eyes, were independence, initiative and interest in their studies. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Seating order as a symbolic arrangement

The study set out to explore the bases on which the school assesses pupils’ educability and which show up as pupil categorizations manifested in seating order. The research was carried out with ethnographic methods and focused on the classroom situations of one first-grade class during one autumn term. The points of interest were those changes and episodes in which the seating order organized the action. Four stages was the spontaneous order created by the pupils themselves on their first day of school; the seating order of the other three stages was set up by the teacher on the basis of mixing boys and girls, of reading skills, of settledness, of capability for pair-work, and of “interpersonal chemistry”. It was found that the teacher made an active use of seating order as a pedagogical instrument. The pupils seemed to adopt the classification criteria and used them in their talk, but the application of these criteria, especially gender and interpersonal relations, was a constant source of dispute between the pupils and the teacher. It was concluded that seating order manifests, implements, and conveys to the pupils important symbolic elements of the representation of educability endorsed by the school.     

高年级小学生阅读-习作能力图式同化训练的教学试验研究

以教学班为单位,应用小学生阅读-习作能力图式同化训练法,对49名小学生进行了36课时(从5年级到6年级)的习作能力图式同化训练,对照班47名小学生,语文基础与试验班相匹配,接受常规阅读习作教学训练.结果表明,试验班的小学生在中心、材料、语言表达和感受描述等四个分项上的作文量表得优率均显著地高于对照班,条理性分项量表得优率差别不明显.     

Pupils' understanding of combustion

A questionnaire survey of 300, 14 and 15 year-old pupils in England and Spain was carried out to investigate pupils' general ideas about the process of buring and their ideas about specific types of combustion, using open-ended and structured response questions. Pupils' responses were analysed and categories were defined from a classification scheme previously reported by Andersson (1990). A possible model for progression of pupils' ideas about combustion is discussed. Specialization: science teacher education. Specializations: Problem-solving, pupils' alternative concepts, initial teacher education. Specializations: Environmental education, science teacher development (international).     

The relationship between attitudes toward science and science achievement

This study investigated the relationship between elementary pupils' attitudes toward science and their science achievement. Residualized gain scores were used to analyze the data. By using residualized gain scores, the effects of individual differences can be minimized. In addition to controlling for these differences, residualized gain scores do not possess the measurement errors that are normally associated with simple change scores. The subjects of this study were 583 intermediate elementary pupils. The average class size was 21. A pretest-posttest design was used. To insure consistency in the teaching of the lesson, each teacher was given an identical detailed science lesson that included all the instructions and materials needed for the activity. The pupils were pre- and posttested. The pupils' science achievement was assessed by a test, the “Hough Pupil Process Test.” It consisted of multiple choice and fill-in questions. The attitude instrument, the “Hough Attitude Inventory,” was given to the elementary pupils involved in this study. It was field tested and found to discern attitudes. The instrument consisted of six statements to which the subjects responded by circling either yes, I don't know, or no. The analysis revealed that there was a significant relationship between the pupils' residualized gain scores on the “Hough Pupil Process Test” and their residualized gain scores on the “Hough Attitude Inventory” (r = 0.45).     

Patterns of interaction between teachers' and students' classroom thinking, and their implications for the provision of learning opportunities

This paper reports on a study of teachers' and pupils' perceptions of effective teaching and learning. A total of 13 teachers and 325 pupils (aged between 11 and 12) were observed and interviewed. The central focus of the paper is the interaction that was detected between teachers' and pupils' ways of thinking. A grounded analysis of the interactional data yields support for a transactional theory of learning (the works of Bruner and Haste and Vygotsky are cited in particular). The paper also introduces the idea of a continuum of teaching strategies, and shows how percieved teacher effectiveness can be associated with the teacher's ability and willingness to move freely between different points of the continuum, thereby implicitly rejecting crude dichotomies between teacher-centred and pupil-centred learning. It is shown that pupils claim to benefit from both teacher-centred and pupil-centred strategies when the strategies are selected in order to cater for pupils' specific learning requirements. The greatest coherence in teacher pupil accounts of effective teaching and learning, however, seems to focus on the mid-point of the continuum, described here in terms of “interactive” and “reactive” strategies.     

Learning conceptions of young students in the final year of primary education

The purpose of this research was to describe young pupils' learning conceptions. In this study, a learning conception was defined as a cluster of interrelated beliefs about different aspects of learning. Firstly, 27 pupils, all in the final year of primary school, were interviewed to elicit learning-related issues as being relevant for six-graders. Secondly, a questionnaire, developed on the basis of the outcomes of the interviews, was used to determine the interrelatedness of pupils' beliefs about the selected aspects. The results showed the young pupils to have different beliefs about five aspects of learning: purpose of school; learning orientation; regulation; learning demands; and mental activities. In exploring group differences, three different learning conceptions could be distinguished: a restricted learning conception; a functional learning conception; and a developmental learning conception. The characteristics of these different learning conceptions may be indicative of how young pupils conceive learning-related aspects.     

浅谈小说作文教学改革

小学生作文教学，除了促使学生具有一定的生活体验和知识经验，掌握比较熟练的写作技能外，更需要发展学生的认识能力，包括观察力，思维力，想象力和内部语言活动能力，在培养学生阅读和写作能力的同时，还应注重激发学生的创作兴趣，只要我们努力去做到这些，想念可以取得作文教学改革的良好效果。     

Investigating pupils' images of mathematicians

This paper describes a research project that had two goals: (1) to design and develop a tool with which to investigate pupils' images of mathematicians; and (2) to use the device to compare those images held by lower secondary pupils (ages 12–13) in five countries. We report that with small cultural differences certain stereotypical images of mathematicians are common to pupils in all of these countries and these images indicate that for pupils of this age mathematicians and the work that they do are, for all practical purposes, invisible. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Is There a Place for Death Education in the Primary Curriculum?

Teachers have always had to deal with pupils experiencing bereavement and loss. Recent tragedies such as the shootings at Dunblane have highlighted the need for 'death education' to be considered in schools, although previous research has revealed that issues of confidence and effectiveness are the main barriers to the adoption of death education. However, it appears that pupils' opinions on this issue, including their views on the inclusion of death education into their curriculum, have generally not been sought.
This paper describes some small-scale research, which sought to determine pupils' views on this subject, as well as those of the professionals who teach them. The study revealed some significant differences of opinion between pupils and their teachers. The conclusion highlights important implications for professionals involved in caring for children.     

Perceptual skills and Arabic literacy patterns for mathematically gifted children with specific learning difficulties

Phonological awareness is a key factor in the development of literacy, and frequently presents itself as an area of weakness in pupils with reading difficulties. In this article, Anies Al-Hroub of the American University of Beirut sets out to define a distinguishing pattern of characteristics that supports the identification of pupils with specific learning difficulties who are gifted in mathematics and reports the assessment of the pupils' visual and auditory perceptual skills, including phonological awareness. The assessments were designed to measure auditory and visual memory skills, auditory and visual analysis skills, speed of information processing and spoken language (receptive and expressive). Furthermore, aspects of language learning such as reading, writing, spelling and parts of listening ability were all assessed for mathematically gifted pupils with specific learning difficulties who scored above the cut-off score of 120 on the WISC-III-Jordan. The article closes with recommendations for further research.     

Providing a computer based framework for algebraic thinking

This paper describes and presents the findings of a study which aimed to trace the development of pupils' use and understanding of algebraic ideas within a Logo programming context relating this to their use and understanding of similar ideas within a non-computational context. The research consisted predominantly of a three year longitudinal case study of four pairs of pupils (aged 11–14) programming in Logo during their normal school mathematics lessons. The data included video recordings of all the case study pulils' Logo sessions, and individually presented Logo and algebra structured interviews. The overall conclusion of this research is that Logo experience does enhance pupils' understanding of algebraic ideas, but the links which pupils make between Logo and algebra depend very much on the nature and extent of their Logo experience.     

Research on Baseline Assessment in Mathematics at School Entry

This paper presents findings from research investigating the skills and knowledge in Mathematics of Cypriot pupils entering primary school (Average age=5.92 (decimal years)). A performance test, which was designed to assess skills and knowledge in Mathematics identified in the Curriculum of Primary Education in Cyprus, was administered to a representative sample of pupils in Year 1 (n=835). Teachers were also asked to complete a report for each pupil. The most important findings were as follows. Firstly, the skills included in the curriculum were differentiated into those which more than 75% of pupils entering primary schools had achieved and those which more than 30% of pupils entering primary school had not achieved. Secondly, significant differences among the skills and knowledge of the whole group of pupils entering primary school have been identified. Thirdly, cluster analysis revealed five relatively homogeneous groups of pupils according to their different knowledge and skills in Mathematics. Fourthly, a correlation was identified between findings gathered from the performance test and from teachers' assessment of pupils' skills in Mathematics. Implications for the development of a national policy on baseline assessment are drawn.