Learning outdoors or with a computer: the contribution of the learning setting to learning and to environmental perceptions

ABSTRACT

Background: Outdoor learning and computer-based learning are two different alternatives to in-class conventional teacher-centered learning.

Purpose: This study compares the outdoor learning setting with computer-based learning in class. It examines the influence of the two different learning settings on academic achievements, the learning experience, and pro-environmental perceptions.

Sample: A total of 90 elementary school students (third and fourth-grade classes) participated in the study.

Design and methods: The academic knowledge of the study participants was tested through identical exams for both learning settings. In addition, in each group the students’ perceptions were examined by means of a questionnaire about environmental values and the learning experience.

Results: The study demonstrates that academic achievements in the two settings were similar, but the students expressed more enthusiasm about the outdoor learning experience than about in-class learning. In addition, the outdoor learning setting contributed more to promoting positive environmental perceptions even though students did not learn directly about environmental issues and sustainability.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that learning in the natural environment is valuable: Alongside the fostering of computerized learning, it is also important to promoteoutdoor learning settings and integrate both settings by implementing mobile technologies in the outdoor teaching.     

浅谈高中数学与初中数学的衔接

搞好初中与高中数学的衔接,是高一数学的一项重要内容。首先要处理好初高中教材的衔接点:"集合与函数概念","平面及其性质";其次是以旧导新,以旧带新,新旧对比,注意揭示新旧知识的内在联系,使新知识顺利地同化于原有的知识结构之中;第三是充分利用数形结合(即几何直观);第四是引导与督促。     

School belonging and math attitudes among high school students in advanced math

This study used the Trends in International Math Science (TIMSS) 2015 Advanced data from nine countries to examine the relationship between students’ sense of school belonging and their attitudes towards mathematics, and the extent to which student gender moderated these relationships. Results showed that students’ sense of school belonging emerged as a statistically significant, positive predictor of students’ liking and valuing of mathematics. For most countries, no significant moderating effect of student gender was observed. However, among Portuguese students, the relationship between students’ sense of school belonging and each attitude measure was stronger for males than for females.     

高中生生物学习动机与成绩的关系研究

通过调查高中生生物学习动机的现状,将其与学生的生物成绩作相关性分析,得出二者相关系数为R=0.228,同时发现此系数在不同成绩段的学生之间具有差异性;学生的内部学习动机对成绩的影响起主要作用,最后根据调查结果提出三条建议来培养与激发学生的生物学学习动机。     

School connectedness and high school graduation among maltreated youth

Maltreated youth have higher rates of school dropout than their non-maltreated peers. School connectedness is a modifiable predictor of school success. We hypothesized maltreated youth’s school connectedness (supportive relationships with adults at school and participation in school clubs) would be positively associated with high school graduation. We included youth with at least one Child Protective Services (CPS) report by age twelve from Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect, a prospective cohort study. Participation in extracurricular activities and adult relationships reported at age 16, high school graduation/General Education Development (GED) status reported at age 18, and demographics were provided by youth and caregivers. Maltreatment data were coded from CPS records. The outcome was graduation/receipt of GED. Multivariable logistic regressions examined the association between school connectedness and graduation/receipt of GED, controlling for confounders. In our sample of 318 maltreated youth, 73.3% graduated. School club was the only activity with a statistically significant association with graduation in bivariate analysis. Having supportive relationships with an adult at school was not significantly associated with graduation, though only 10.7% of youth reported this relationship. Maltreated youth who participated in school clubs had 2.54 times the odds of graduating, adjusted for study site, gender, poverty status, caregiver high school graduation status, and age at first CPS report (95% CI: [1.02, 6.33]). Few maltreated youth reported relationships with adults at school, and additional efforts may be needed to support these vulnerable youth. School club participation may represent an opportunity to modify maltreated youth’s risk for school dropout.     

It depends on the priorities: the presence and profile of outdoor education on school websites

School websites are one way in which school leaders inform the public about their school’s vision, values, achievements and the learning opportunities on offer in a way that highlights its distinctiveness in the most positive light. If outdoor education is perceived as a valued learning context and/or helps to differentiate one school from another, it is likely that it would be reflected on a school’s website. An interpretive thematic analysis of the websites of 20% of the secondary schools in New Zealand suggested that outdoor education has a presence in schools, although the magnitude of this presence depended on the priorities school leaders wished to promote. The positive outcomes and opportunities afforded by outdoor education were portrayed to emphasize a school’s appeal. However, policy and design constraints of websites restricted teachers’ input into their content, making it somewhat challenging to gauge the relationship between the presence of outdoor education on a school website and the quality of its pedagogical practice.     

Transformative learning through open listening: a professional development experience with urban high school teachers

This article relates how an English teacher in an urban high school described his efforts to listen and to perceive a seemingly disaffected student in his efforts to support her learning. He observed her responding to his efforts in positive and unexpected ways that involved her increased involvement in learning in his class. This teacher described how this student had presented many challenges to his teaching and how difficult attending to her overt anger and sullenness in his class was for him. However, by doing so, he said that his perceptions and understandings of her and subsequently, another student, shifted profoundly in ways that he believed helped him help these two students learn more meaningfully in his classes. This example of open listening on the part of a teacher toward his two students opened up new possibilities for learning for all three and may indicate a cycle of transformative listening which will be defined and discussed in this article. Stuart’s experiences in a professional development seminar, facilitated by the author, where teachers’ interpretive and evaluative ideas were listened to openly by colleagues and the facilitator may have influenced Stuart in his responses to his students. His involvement in this study group may have contributed to his learning to see his students in new, unique, and fuller ways, which he said he thought helped him help these students learn better in his classes.

多元智能理论视角下高中数学个性化学习方法的思考

依据加德纳的多元智能理论,着重探讨多元智能对不同学生个体数学学习的影响,在多元智能理论视角下重新审视传统的数学学习方法,对其进行改进,力求通过个性化的学习方法以使不同智能组合的学生在数学学习中得到不同程度的发展,从而更好地适应新一轮数学教育改革．     

高中数学学法研究

高中生要学好数学，首先要改变观念，其次应抓住提高听课的效率这一关键；做好课后和阶段性的复习和总结工作；做练习题的量不宜过多，亦不宜过少；掌握适合自己的学习方法。     

Problem solving in Swedish mathematics textbooks for upper secondary school

The aim of this study is to analyse how mathematical problem solving is represented in mathematical textbooks for Swedish upper secondary school. The analysis comprises dominating Swedish textbook series, and relates to uncovering (a) the quantity of tasks that are actually mathematical problems, (b) their location in the chapter, (c) their difficulty level, and (d) their context. Based on an analysis of 5,722 tasks from the area of calculus, it is concluded that the textbooks themselves contain very few tasks that can be defined as mathematical problems, and that those that are mathematical problems are found at the end of a chapter at the most difficult level, and are presented in a pure mathematical context. Implications are discussed.     

初探高中生对生物学不同学习方式的兴趣

通过对高中生在生物学学习中对不同学习方式的兴趣的调查研究 ,发现学生们对不同学习方式的兴趣水平差异显著 ,最感兴趣的学习方式是体验式学习 ;其次是接受式学习 ;再次是讨论式学习 ;兴趣水平最低的学习方式是读写式学习。对这四种学习方式的兴趣 ,男女生之间以及选修不同科目的学生之间的差异均不显著 ;对体验式学习和接受式学习的兴趣 ,不同年级学生之间的差异均不显著 ,而对读写式学习和讨论式学习的兴趣却是高三年级显著低于低年级学生。     

Reading and writing ability and drop out in the Swedish upper secondary school

A three-year programme in upper secondary school is compulsory in Sweden. In reality, some youngsters refrain from applying to the upper secondary school (8 per cent) or drop out in advance (9 per cent). In Stockholm the Youth Centre has been assigned to arrange individual programmes for these pupils. The aim of this study is to investigate their reading and writing ability and to relate this retrospectively to their school experience. Instruments measuring reading comprehension, vocabulary and dictation were carried out on 286 respondents; in addition, background information concerning school attainment was collected. Ten respondents were selected, five high and five low achievers. An unstructured interview was used to investigate their home background, school and reading experiences. Students attending individual programmes at the Youth Centre had lower than average reading and writing abilities in comparison to students at the vocational programmes in upper secondary school. The whole group is characterized by low marks, immigrant background and partial school attendance. The analyses of interview statements reveal a common category - powerlessness - for those with and without reading disabilities. Separate categories were for high achievers - boredom - and for low achievers - lack of opportunity.     

Physical activity and sedentary behaviour during outdoor learning and traditional indoor school days among Finnish primary school students

In this study, we aimed at comparing Finnish primary school students’ physical activity and sedentary time during outdoor-learning and traditional school days. Outdoor learning is defined as purposeful and planned learning experiences in the outdoors . The study population consisted 20 students in grades 1–6 at one primary school. Physical activity was measured objectively by hip-worn accelerometers. The amounts of physical activity and sedentary time were compared for the same students between five school days with outdoor learning and four traditional school days. The study’s main findings show that, moving from traditional classroom teaching to an outdoor-learning environment decreases students’ sedentary time and increases light- and moderate-intensity physical activity during the school day. No differences were observed in leisure-time physical activity on school days with or without outdoor learning. Thus, outdoor learning is an effective complement to traditional classroom teaching in promoting physically active children.     

Equivalence and performance gaps in Swedish school inspection: context and the politics of blame

This article analyses and critically discusses how context is relevant when constructing and upholding an equivalent education for all within the neo-liberal educational regime of marketisation and accountability. At the centre of the article is a study of national school inspection reports in four municipalities in Sweden, exploring performance gaps, equality and justice in an educational system, that for decades has emphasised universal welfare, justice and equality. By drawing on the concept of ‘the politics of blame’, findings show that accountability and blame are constructed in complex ways. Although teachers and schools are blamed for low expectations with little contextual consideration by Swedish Schools Inspectorate, local governments are blamed for not redistributing resources. This can both challenge and strengthen the contemporary regime in governing education.     

Curriculum integration in the senior secondary school: a case study in a national assessment context

This paper considers curriculum integration in the secondary school context and investigates the claims made that it can enhance learning outcomes for students. I argue that curriculum integration should be utilized not as a main means of curricular delivery but as a supplementary opportunity to put disciplinary knowledge to use in certain, well-planned contexts. In other words, disciplinary learning comes first and is then deepened through application in an interdisciplinary context. This argument is illustrated through a case study of a new ‘21st Century’ secondary school where interdisciplinarity is a cornerstone of the school’s philosophy. Methods for the study included weekly observations, interviews, focus groups and a survey. I conclude by suggesting that teachers require further time and assistance to develop programmes and evaluative criteria to ensure learning moves beyond thematically generated common sense knowledge, towards interdisciplinary insights.     

高中数学学习兴趣与能力的现状研究

以数学学习兴趣（I）和学习能力（J）两个指标针对高中三个年级的数学学习现状进行调查表明：1）年级因素、性别因素以及年级和性别的交叉因素对数学学习的状况非常明显的影响,年级对学习兴趣和学习能力均有显著的影响,而性别只对学习能力有影响,对学习兴趣无显著影响。2）随着年级的升高,男、女生的数学学习兴趣和学习能力都随之发生显著地变化,男生的学习兴趣和学习能力随着年级的增加而增强,因此高三男生的数学学习兴趣和能力最高;高一年级女生的学习兴趣最低,而高三女生的学习兴趣和学习能力都高于高一、高二年级。3）通过年级因素的多重比较发现,在学习兴趣方面,高二、高三无显著差别,且均高于高一;在学习能力方面,均存在非常显著的差异,且高三最高,高二次之,高一最低。     

Secondary school students’ attitudes to practical work in biology,chemistry and physics in England

ABSTRACT

Background: In England, practical work is a major part of secondary school science and yet little research has examined students’ attitudes specifically to practical work.

Purpose: To examine students’ attitudes to practical work in biology chemistry and physics in secondary schools in England.

Sample: The study involved 607 students from Year 7 to Year 10 (aged 11–15) drawn from three state-maintained secondary schools in England. The schools were, broadly speaking, representative of schools in England in terms of academic measures such as GCSE outcomes, value-added performance and socio-economic area.

Design and methods: The research considered students’ attitudes in terms of an established analytical framework incorporating the affective, behavioural and cognitive (ABC) domains and used a mixed methods approach involving questionnaires, lesson observations, and focus group discussions.

Results: Whilst secondary students’ attitudes to practical work were, generally speaking, positive they were not constant and homogenous but change over time. The affective value of practical work was found to vary by subject although in all three sciences this value decreased, albeit at different rates, as students approached their General Certificate in Secondary Education examinations (GCSE) taken at age 16.

Conclusion: The affective value of practical work needs to be considered on a subject by subject basis, rather than, as is often the case currently in school, in terms of a generic attitude to science practical work. Furthermore, the affective value of practical work can be maximised by using more at the start of secondary education (Key Stage 3 – ages 11–14) with a gradual, subject-specific, reduction as students approach their summative public examinations (age 16) when their preference for non-practical, exam orientated, teaching increases.     

Learning strategies and their relationships to academic performance of high school students in Hong Kong

The present study examines the dynamic relationship between academic performance of high school students and their respective learning and study strategies. Two hundred thirty-six high school students were recruited to participate in this study by completing a Chinese version of the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory - LASSI, to probe into the relationship. Results found that (1) there were clear differences to the learning and study strategies used by high school students with high academic performance, and those with low academic performance; (2) all the three components (Will; Self-regulation and Skill) were equally important to differentiate high academic achieving high school students from low academic achieving high school students within the strategic model of learning; and (3) a numbers of learning and study strategies were effectively predicting the academic performance of the high school students. All of these result patterns confirm that learning and study strategies used by high academic achievers and low academic achievers as well as the components used to predict students’ academic performance in the high school setting are quite different from the patterns revealed in the tertiary education sector.     

高中数学分层教学探索

数学教育是全方位的教育 ,它包括对数学学习的态度、动机和目的的教育 ;对数学能力 ,如运算能力、逻辑思维能力、空间想象能力、分析解决实际问题 (问题的解决 )能力的培养 ;对学生的基本技能 ,如运算、作图和简单的推理的训练 ;对学生进行数学思想和数学方法的教育 ;对学生进行个性品质的培养 ,如学习的毅力、科学态度、学习兴趣、学习习惯、独立思考和创新精神。强调对每一个学生的教育 (并不是限制个性发展 )。对于程度不同的学生 ,在共同提高的基础上还要体现因人而异的差别。