THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PREDICT–OBSERVE–EXPLAIN TECHNIQUE IN PROBING STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING ABOUT ACID–BASE CHEMISTRY: A CASE FOR THE CONCEPTS OF pH, pOH, AND STRENGTH

The present study describes high school students’ conceptions about acids and bases in terms of pH, pOH, microscopic level, strength, and concentration. A total of 27 high school students participated in the study. The data was collected using 3 POE tasks and a semi-structured interview. The data analysis demonstrated that most of the students had poor understanding related to a drawing of weak and strong acids. In addition, the findings revealed that the POE’s were effective in terms of gathering students’ predictions and reasons for the prediction of outcomes in an open-ended format. The POE tasks also revealed that some of the students had misconceptions regarding pH and pOH. The students believed that pH was a measurement of the acidity, while pOH was a measurement of the basicity. The findings obtained have certain implications for the secondary chemistry program.     

DIAGNOSING STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF ENERGY AND ITS RELATED CONCEPTS IN BIOLOGICAL CONTEXT

This study diagnosed the understanding about energy and biological-context energy concepts held by 90 first-year South African university biology students. In particular, students’ explanations of energy in a biological context, how energy is involved in different biological situations and whether energy is present and what types of energy are involved in diagrams depicting biological phenomena were investigated. The pencil-and-paper diagnostic test, specifically designed for this study, was used to elicit students’ understanding using test items involving biological phenomena. The results showed that many students had problems in understanding energy and energy-related concepts in the following areas: First, the majority of the students provided definitions of energy rather than the explanations they were asked to provide, and the definition could have been rote-learned. Second, although nearly all students knew the energy conservation principle (energy cannot be created or destroyed), many of them were unable to apply this concept to biological contexts. Third, many students erroneously claimed that the energy for metabolism and life processes is made available during photosynthesis in plants, during digestion in animals or that this energy comes directly from the sun. Fourth, about two thirds of the students erroneously indicated that there is no energy involved/present in inanimate objects such as a statue. The implications for the teaching and learning of energy and its related concepts and recommendations for further research are discussed.     

STUDENTS’ SOURCES OF MOTIVATION FOR PARTICIPATING IN SCIENCE FAIRS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY WITHIN THE CANADA-WIDE SCIENCE FAIR 2008

Science fairs have been for many years a popular school activity in North America. They are a venue for the popularization of science and consequently an important encouragement for the pursuit of careers in science or engineering. However, little is known about students?? perceived motives for participating in local or national science fairs and about the way in which their involvement mediates their interest in science learning and scientific careers. The present study investigates the motivational factors associated with the high school students?? decision to participate in the 2008 Canada-Wide Science Fair, a thoroughly selected and highly motivated group. Our study examines 5 sources of motivation: (1) interest in science content, (2) sense of self-efficacy, (3) assurance of achievement through rewards or gratifications, (4) the social aspect of participating and (5) working strategies to gain scientific knowledge and methods. The understanding of the anticipated benefits participants seek through their involvement in science fairs may have the potential to help science teachers adapt instruction to appeal to a broader range of students in schools, thus nourishing the emergence of more interest in science.     

UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ VIEWS OF THE ROLE OF MATHEMATICS IN THEIR FUTURE

We report on an international study about mathematics students’ ideas of how they will use mathematics in their future study and careers. This builds on our previous research into students’ conceptions of mathematics. In this paper, we use data from two groups of students studying mathematics: those who participated in an in-depth interview and those who completed an open-ended questionnaire. We found that their responses could be grouped into four categories: don’t know; procedural skills; conceptual skills; and professional skills. Although some students held clear ideas about the role of mathematics, many were not able to articulate how it would be used in their future. This has implications for their approach to learning and our approach to teaching.     

IMPACT OF A REPRESENTATIONAL APPROACH ON STUDENTS’ REASONING AND CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING IN LEARNING MECHANICS

The aim of this study was to explore whether a representational approach could impact on the scores that measure students’ understanding of mechanics and their ability to reason. The sample consisted of 24 students who were undergraduate, preservice physics teachers in the State University of Malang, Indonesia. The students were asked to represent a claim, provide evidence for it, and then, after further representational manipulations, refinement, discussion, and critical thought, to reflect on and confirm or modify their original case. Data analysis was based on the pretest–posttest scores and students’ responses to relevant phenomena during the course. The results showed that students’ reasoning ability significantly improved with a d-effect size of 2.58 for the technical aspects and 2.51 for the conceptual validity aspects, with the average normalized gain being 0.62 (upper–medium) for the two aspects. Students’ conceptual understanding of mechanics significantly improved with a d-effect size of about 2.50 and an average normalized gain of 0.63. Students’ competence in mechanics shifted significantly from an under competent level to mastery level. This paper addresses statistically previously untested issues in learning mechanics through a representational approach and does this in a culture that is quite different from what has been researched so far using student-generated representational learning as a reasoning tool for understanding and reasoning.     

EFFECT OF CULTURE ON HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENTS’ QUESTION-ASKING ABILITY RESULTING FROM AN INQUIRY-ORIENTED CHEMISTRY LABORATORY

In order to cope with complex issues in the science–technology–environment–society context, one must develop students’ high-order learning skills, such as question-asking ability (QAA), critical thinking, evaluative thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving capabilities within science education. In this study, we are concerned with evaluating the effect of student–teacher interaction—which is regulated by culture and traditions—on the QAA in science classroom in general and, specifically in our case, in chemistry laboratory classroom. We take Arab and Jewish sectors that are according to the literature different in their culture and tradition, as a model for our investigation. Specially developed and validated tools, including a novel practical test and an adapted article followed by a questionnaire for evaluating QAA, were administered to the research student population, and the responses were analyzed quantitatively. Observations were conducted in order to better understand the quantitative results that we got. Our findings indicate that there was a difference in the QAA between the 2 sectors. According to our findings, we assume that cultures, tradition, norms, social structure, modes of living, and related factors play a significant role as far as the development of students’ QAA and apparently any intended attempt targeting the QAA paradigm shift must take into consideration the multicultural context within which it is to be implemented.     

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PROFICIENCY AND CONFIDENCE LEVELS IN DISPLAYING THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF BASIC ELECTROLYSIS CONCEPTS

This study was conducted with 330 Form 4 (grade 10) students (aged 15??C?16?years) who were involved in a course of instruction on electrolysis concepts. The main purposes of this study were (1) to assess high school chemistry students?? understanding of 19 major principles of electrolysis using a recently developed 2-tier multiple-choice diagnostic instrument, the Electrolysis Diagnostic Instrument (EDI), and (2) to assess students?? confidence levels in displaying their knowledge and understanding of these electrolysis concepts. Analysis of students?? responses to the EDI showed that they displayed very limited understanding of the electrolytic processes involving molten compounds and aqueous solutions of compounds, with a mean score of 6.82 (out of a possible maximum of 17). Students were found to possess content knowledge about several electrolysis processes but did not provide suitable explanations for the changes that had occurred, with less than 45?% of students displaying scientifically acceptable understandings about electrolysis. In addition, students displayed limited confidence about making the correct selections for the items; yet, in 16 of the 17 items, the percentage of students who were confident that they had selected the correct answer to an item was higher than the actual percentage of students who correctly answered the corresponding item. The findings suggest several implications for classroom instruction on the electrolysis topic that need to be addressed in order to facilitate better understanding by students of electrolysis concepts.     

EPISTEMOLOGICAL BELIEFS IN SCIENCE: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF LEBANESE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ EPISTEMOLOGIES

Beliefs about the nature of knowledge and knowing have been investigated extensively in educational and developmental psychology research. Hofer??s framework on personal epistemology is adopted in the present study for assessing Lebanese university students?? epistemologies of science. Participants were 213 students in their first year of science-related studies at a private university in Beirut. Two instruments were used for data collection: The science-focused epistemological beliefs questionnaire (Hofer, 2000) and an 8-item instrument adapted from the modified version of the ??Views on Science?CTechnology?CSociety?? (Dogan & Abd-El-Khalick, 2008), and an additional item developed by the authors. Thirty students were purposively selected for completing the second instrument followed by a semi-structured interview. Data analysis yielded the following assertions regarding students?? epistemologies of science: (1) Scientific knowledge is liable to change; (2) the source of scientists?? knowledge is inherent to human??s construction, whereas the source of personal knowledge is independent from human subjectivity and based on external authority; (3) scientific knowledge is proven and validated through the concerted effort of scientists; and (4) absolute truth cannot be attained because of the lack of means to access knowledge. Findings highlighted the need to foster an academic culture that promotes students?? epistemologies and explicitly addresses the nature and processes of science in curricula and instruction.     

STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ANTI-PHASE TECHNIQUE FOR COMMON MODE NOISE SUPPRESSION

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THE IMPACT OF PEER INSTRUCTION ON COLLEGE STUDENTS’ BELIEFS ABOUT PHYSICS AND CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM

The purpose of this study is to assess students’ conceptual learning of electricity and magnetism and examine how these conceptions, beliefs about physics, and quantitative problem-solving skills would change after peer instruction (PI). The Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM), Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS), multiple-choice test was administered as a pre- and posttest with Solomon 4 group design to students (N  =  138) enrolled on freshman level physics course. The number of chapter taught to the students was 14. Problem-solving strategy steps were asked to students in the exam. The analyses of CSEM showed that the treatment group (g  =  0.62) obtained significantly higher conceptual learning gain than the control group (g  =  0.36). The conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills of the students on magnetism considerably enhanced when PI was conducted (37% and 20%, respectively). CLASS results for 5 subscales (conceptual understanding, applied conceptual understanding, problem solving general, problem solving confidence, and problem solving sophistication) supported the findings of CSEM.     

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF NUFFIELD ‘O’ LEVEL CHEMISTRY COURSES IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

A study of schools entering pupils for the examinations of the Nuffield ‘O’ level Chemistry project suggests that, as yet, such schools are located near the original centres of project activity. Comparison of the heads of the Chemistry departments in matched samples of ‘Nuffield’ and ‘non‐Nuffield’ schools (summer 1969), established no significant difference in academic and professional training or in experience of non‐classroom employment. Nuffield Chemistry schools were found to have a larger percentage of pupils following sixth form science courses but the difference in annual, per capita expenditure on Chemistry teaching was significant only at the five per cent level.     

PUTTING CONTEXT IN CONTEXT: AN EXAMINATION OF THE EVIDENCE FOR THE BENEFITS OF ��CONTEXTUALISED�� TASKS

The professional literature in mathematics education is replete with calls to use tasks that are ‘authentic’, ‘relevant’ and related to ‘real life’ and the ‘real world’. Such activities are frequently advocated for their potential to motivate and engage students, but evidence of their ability to do so is rarely presented. This paper examines evidence in relation to the effectiveness of context problems in achieving their intended purposes and thereby contributing to enhanced student participation, engagement and achievement in mathematics education. It is argued that context problems are not a panacea and that categorising problems as contextualised or de-contextualised is less helpful than the consideration of more salient aspects of tasks that impact on their effectiveness. Such aspects also relate to the purposes for and affordances and limitations of particular tasks in relation to the purposes they are intended to serve, along with attention to the contexts in which students learn mathematics. Examples of theoretical and empirical programs built on these considerations are reviewed in terms of their potential to enhance participation, engagement and achievement in school mathematics.     

TESTING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MATHEMATICAL GAMES AS A PEDAGOGICAL TOOL FOR CHILDREN’S LEARNING

In an effort to engage children in mathematics learning, many primary teachers use mathematical games and activities. Games have been employed for drill and practice, warm-up activities and rewards. The effectiveness of games as a pedagogical tool requires further examination if games are to be employed for the teaching of mathematical concepts. This paper reports research that compared the effectiveness of non-digital games with non-game but engaging activities as pedagogical tools for promoting mathematical learning. In the classrooms that played games, the effects of adding teacher-led whole class discussion was explored. The research was conducted with 10?C12-year-old children in eight classrooms in three Australian primary schools, using differing instructional approaches to teach multiplication and division of decimals. A quasi-experimental design with pre-test, post-test and delayed post-test was employed, and the effects of the interventions were measured by the children??s written test performance. Test results indicated lesser gains in learning in game playing situations versus non-game activities and that teacher-led discussions during and following the game playing did not improve children??s learning. The finding that these games did not help children demonstrate a mathematical understanding of concepts under test conditions suggests that educators should carefully consider the application and appropriateness of games before employing them as a vehicle for introducing mathematical concepts.     

THE EFFECT OF KNOWLEDGE LINKING LEVELS IN BIOLOGY LESSONS UPON STUDENTS’ KNOWLEDGE STRUCTURE

Knowledge structure is an important aspect for defining students’ competency in biology learning, but how knowledge structure is influenced by the teaching process in naturalistic biology classroom settings has scarcely been empirically investigated. In this study, 49 biology lessons in the teaching unit blood and circulatory system in 9th grade German classrooms were videotaped and analyzed. Before the lesson, a questionnaire was administered to the students to solicit their responses about learning motivation. After the lesson, students’ learning outcomes on knowledge structure were examined with the concept mapping method. The video coding used in this study focused on the knowledge linking levels during the biology lesson. Out of the 49 classes, those with the highest and those with the lowest linking levels were selected based on the coding results. In high-linking classes, interrelated facts were introduced more often in the lessons, whereas in the lessons of the low-linking classes, isolated pieces of knowledge were predominant. The results from the concept mapping task showed that the students in the high-linking classes constructed more correct relations among the concepts compared to the students in the low-linking classes. The results remained stable even after controlling for learning motivation. These findings confirm the importance of teaching interrelated facts and concepts instead of isolated facts for fostering students’ knowledge structure. As a result, based on the Bavarian biology curriculum, we develop materials and programs to enable students, student teachers, and teachers to focus on interrelated facts and basic concepts instead of isolated facts in biology lessons.     

THE EFFECTS OF EPISTEMIC BELIEFS IN SCIENCE AND GENDER DIFFERENCE ON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ SCIENCE-TEXT READING: AN EYE-TRACKING STUDY

The primary purpose of this study was to explore not only the effects of epistemic beliefs in science on science-text reading but also the gender differences in epistemic beliefs and the reading process. The interactions between gender and epistemic beliefs during reading were also explored. A total of 25 university students, 13 male and 12 female, were paid to participate in the study. The scientific epistemological beliefs (SEBs) questionnaire was used to probe the subjects’ epistemic beliefs in science, while the eye-tracking method was employed to record their science-text reading process. It was demonstrated that the participants in the study had developed sophisticated SEBs. Complicated SEBs were associated with higher cognitive attention to the reading of data-related information but less mental effort to fact, scientific explanations, and the microview photos. As for the gender difference, female students displayed less mental effort in comprehending scientific explanations, but attended more to data and the microview graphic. It is argued that female learners are better at processing textual information. Interactions between SEBs and gender were found and discussed.     

INVESTIGATING A POSSIBLE GAP BETWEEN STUDENTS’ EXPECTATIONS AND PERCEPTIONS: THE CASE OF A PRE-ENTRY SCIENCE PROGRAM

This study investigated a gap that may have existed between students’ expectations and perceptions of the 2007 Pre-Entry Science Program (PESP) cohort at the National University of Lesotho and factors that might have influenced these expectations and perceptions. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used for data collection and administered to students participating in PESP. The gaps between expectations and perceptions that existed were measured using Cohen′s effect size. A large effect size was found for the ability of presenters to give students a good grasp of concepts within the subject area. Factors that seem to have influenced the students′ expectations and perceptions were identified as students′ background knowledge, previous experience, informal communication, and individual needs. Suggestions made to narrow the gap include knowing students′ expectations at the beginning of the program and then making a conscious effort to meet them.