Life and chemical times of DKB

This article presents a historical context of D K Banerjee’s life and work on the occasion of his birth centenary and a general discussion on what Organic Chemistry is and the nature of steroids, which are widely occurring, versatile natural products that exhibit a great variety of biochemical activity. This is followed by an attempt to place Banerjee’s opus, mainly in the synthesis of steroids, in the context of the then prevailing academic atmosphere and available infrastructure. The main aspects of his work are illustrated by means of reaction schemes.     

Assessment of science learning: Living in interesting times

Beginning with a reference to living in a time of both uncertainty and opportunity, this article presents a discussion of key areas where shared understanding is needed if we are to successfully realize the design and use of high quality, valid assessments of science. The key areas discussed are: (1) assessment purpose and use, (2) the nature of assessment and the importance of research on learning, (3) assessment design processes, (4) validity arguments, (5) measurement and statistical inference, (6) affordances of technology, and (7) systems of assessment. After introducing each vital area, the article discusses how each of the five articles in the special issue is connected to the areas. Concluding comments emphasize the reminder that despite the large amount of work to be done, we are well positioned to realize the high quality, valid science education assessments that we need for K‐16 science education. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 831–841, 2012     

Knowing,researching, and reporting science education: Lessons from science and technology studies

Recent research in science and technology studies changed the way we understand science as it is practiced—that is, how scientific knowledge emerges from social, natural, social, political, cultural, historical, and economic contingencies of scientific work. Many science educators agree that students should learn not only science but also about science. In this article, we (a) outline important findings, research methods, and ways of reporting research that emerged from science and technology studies; and (b) show how familiarity with science and technology studies research can provide science educators with valuable insights about curriculum design and research on learning. We conclude that science and technology studies can serve as a resource to science education and that there is a potential for conducting collaborative work between science education and science and technology studies. Such collaborations have the potential to yield better theories about how people become competent in science from childhood to adulthood. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 213–235, 1998.     

Gender,complexity, and science for all: Systemizing and its impact on motivation to learn science for different science subjects

The present study is based on a large cross‐cultural study, which showed that a systemizing cognition type has a high impact on motivation to learn science, while the impact of gender is only indirect thorough systemizing. The present study uses the same structural equation model as in the cross‐cultural study and separately tests it for physics, chemistry, and biology. The model was confirmed for physics and chemistry, but not for biology. This is interpreted as empirical evidence for a cognitive difference between the learning of hard sciences (like physics and chemistry) and life sciences (like biology) that reflects an epistemological difference between ordered (linear) and complex (non‐linear) systems. It is concluded that a more prominent inclusion of complex issues into science teaching could motivate low and average systemizers, independent of their gender, for science learning, that is, could be a key to science for all. Thus, there is a mutual benefit between important 21st century's issues of science teaching and the need to foster students’ motivation to learn science. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 55: 147–171, 2018     

Robotics and science literacy: Thinking skills,science process skills and systems understanding

This paper reports the results of a study of the relationship of robotics activity to the use of science literacy skills and the development of systems understanding in middle school students. Twenty‐six 11–12‐year‐olds (22 males and 4 females) attending an intensive robotics course offered at a summer camp for academically advanced students participated in the research. This study analyzes how students utilized thinking skills and science process skills characteristic of scientifically literate individuals to solve a robotics challenge. In addition, a pre/post test revealed that course participants increased their systems understanding, t (21) = 22.47, p < .05. It is argued that the affordances of the robotics environment coupled with a pedagogical approach emphasizing open‐ended, extended inquiry prompts the utilization of science literacy‐based thinking and science process skills and leads to increased systems understanding. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 373–394, 2008     

略论知识经济时代的科学技术价值

科学技术是人类社会发展的巨大推动力 ,但是它给人类也带来一定的负面影响。知识经济时代将是科学技术发展的新起点     

美国科学教育标准中的生命科学教育

介绍了美国相关教育领域对各年龄段的学习者或学生 ,其中包括幼儿园～四年级、五年级～八年级、九年级～十二年级学生对生命科学学习的不同内容和要求 ,并对教师提出了应用讨论、实验探索、实践、信息探索与总结等方法 ,引导学生开展积极主动和延伸性科学探究的要求 ,有利于中学生生物学教师了解国外教育动态 ,也可供有关教师在实践中参考     

生命叙事·生命省思·生命践行——基于生命体验视域的主体性德育路径之建构

在生命体验视域里,主体性德育以生命个体的发展为目标,是一种理解和丰富生命意义、满足生命成长需要的生命活动。其展开路径首先是生命叙事,以对话和独白为表现形式;其次是生命省思,以反思、阅读、聆听、审美为表现形式;再者是生命践行,以合道德践行和非道德践行为表现形式。生命叙事和生命省思最终以生命践行为落脚点,三者在创造真善美过程中使道德学习主体得以生命超越而实现德育目标。     

浅析科学普及、公众理解科学、科学传播之异同

科学普及、公众理解科学、科学传播代表了20世纪科学传播事业发展的三个阶段,是由传统的单向的科学普及转向一个新的形态即科学传播。从这个变化的过程中理解科学普及、公众理解科学、科学传播具有深刻的意义,明晰科学普及与科学传播差别,从而更好地去适应新时期新时代视野更广、内含更深的广义科学普及的事业发展。     

The best of times,the worst of times

It is no longer possible to blame the inequalities among schools in India on parents or on an absence of demand for schooling. ‘The demand,’ as this paper shows, ‘has never looked more promising’. There is ‘a new hunger for education’. This new demand highlights the continuing discrepancies between policy and provision all the more starkly. Ramachandran gives detailed comparisons of regions and of levels of provision across India. Huge classes and inadequately trained teachers may mean that investment, enthusiasm, demand and a hugely dynamic economy still leave a majority of children barely literate and with no hope of continuing beyond the most elementary level to vocational or academic courses which might genuinely alter their future prospects. The piece ends with some firmly prioritised proposals for change.     

科学教育：过去,现在和未来

一百年来,现实的吁求,政治经济问题的直接充当了我们科学教育的思维起点,以至从过去到现在一直都没有形成健全的民族科学教育理念,使科学意识并没有深入民族文化心理之中,未来的科学教育必须在充分反思教育与科学自身处境的基础上,协调科学教育与社会发展的关系,处理好科学与人文、科学文化与民族心理、心智训练与知识掌握、普及与提高、尊重科学与唯科学主义之间的紧张与冲突,以谋求自身乃至民族的健康发展。     

Young girls in science: Academic ability,perceptions and future participation in science

Given the lack of information in either the school counseling or the gifted education fields on how school counselors and educators of the gifted work together, research into how individuals from both professions collaborate to serve gifted students and their families becomes important. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to examine gifted teachers' and coordinators' experiences working with school counselors. Fourteen participants, serving in a variety of K–12 settings, engaged in interviews regarding their different experiences working with their school counselors. Five primary themes resulted from these participants' reported experiences, including educators'/counselors' training and preparation, meeting gifted students' needs through service delivery, school counselors' perceptions and beliefs, systemic barriers and facilitators of collaboration, and teacher and counselor collaborative efforts. These findings are discussed with regard to current literature on gifted education, school counseling, and professional collaboration.     

Genetic epistemology,history of science and science education

Conclusions The main feature of Piaget & Garcia's study (1989) is the overture of a new field of research within the Piagetian framework, namely the comparative study of individual and historical development.During the 80's, several alternative models have been offered to account for the relations between individual and historical development. However, it has been suggested that there [...] appears to be widespread agreement among Piagetians and non-Piagetians that common mechanisms and processes underlie the thinking of scientists and children at all times (Gauld 1990, p. 24–5).The development of this field of research demands that theoretical research be conducted regarding the possible patterns of relationship between individual and historical development, that should be integrated to comparative empirical research on diverse topics. Further studies would then be required to provide an empirical basis for the comparative research. In other words, this field of research demands the close collaboration between epistemologists, historians, science educators, and cognitive psychologists.We have suggested that the Piagetian model needs to provide a more convincing account of the differences between individual and historical development, and of the role of internal and external factors in the progress of science. We have also argued for an overcoming of the overemphasized structural aspects of the theory, and for an unambiguous concept of history.The non-Piagetian approaches have their own strength and may be developed as alternatives to the Piagetian model. However, our intention here is to emphasize their potential contribution to the development of Piaget's theory. In McCloskey and Kargon (1988) we may find hints to deal with the specificity of similarities in content. Nersessian (1987) provided an excellent insight on how to deal with Kuhn's concept of incommensurability. ⁵ In our interpretation, Carey's work suggest that considering the relation between content and development of structures may be a productive way of developing Piaget's theory.Finally, we would like to comment on the relationship between Piaget's theory and research on students' thinking in science. Both adopt a constructivist stance. However, the vast majority of researchers have developed a strong resistance to Piaget's theory (e.g. Novak 1978; Gilbert and Swift 1985). On the one hand, this resistance should be considered a natural and healthy tendency toward a pluralistic development of research in science education. On the other hand, it may be a consequence of the difficulty of Piaget's theory in coping with the main research findings on spontaneous reasoning. In short, while many researchers in science education have emphasized the persistence of children's, adolescents' and adults' alternative conceptions, Piaget's theory suggests that reaching the formal stage is a necessary condition to understand science. This contradiction will not be overcome while Piagetian researchers are not able to offer a better account of the differences between commonsense knowledge and scientific knowledge. Freed from the constraints of the Piagetian approach, research on alternative conceptions showed an amazing development during the late 70's and the 80's. ^6,7 Further progress, however, increasingly requires theoretical tools to manage the great amount of data already available, and models to explain, rather than just describe, individuals' thought. This task can be carried out from within different theoretical approaches. In Psychogenesis and the History of Science, Piaget and Garcia presented an updated and strong model for the relationship between individual and historical development. If used in an open-minded way, this model may contribute to the development of research in science education.This study was supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico/Brazil.