Turkish grade 10 students' and science teachers' conceptions of nature of science: A national study

This study aimed to assess grade 10 Turkish students' and science teachers' conceptions of nature of science (NOS) and whether these conceptions were related to selected variables. These variables included participants' gender, geographical region, and the socioeconomic status (SES) of their city and region; teacher disciplinary background, years of teaching experience, graduate degree, and type of teacher training program; and student household SES and parents' educational level. A stratified sampling approach was used to generate a representative national sample comprising 2,087 students and 378 science teachers. After establishing their validity in the Turkish context, participants were administered a questionnaire comprising 14 modified “Views on Science‐Technology‐Society” (VOSTS) items to assess their views of certain aspects of NOS. A total of 2,020 students (97%) and 362 teachers (96%) completed the questionnaire. Participant responses were categorized as “naïve,” “have merit,” or “informed,” and the frequency distributions for these responses were compared for various groupings of participants. The majority of participants held naïve views of a majority of the target NOS aspects. Teacher views were mostly similar to those of their students. Teacher and student views of some NOS aspects were related to some of the target variables. These included teacher graduate degree and geographical region, and student household SES, parent education, and SES of their city and geographical region. The relationship between student NOS views and enhanced economic and educational capitals of their households, as well as the SES status of their cities and geographical regions point to significant cultural (specifically Western) and intellectual underpinnings of understandings about NOS. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 1083–1112, 2008     

A window into thinking: Using student writing to understand conceptual change in science learning

This study, conducted in an inner-city middle school, followed the conceptual changes shown in 25 students' writing over a 12-week science unit. Conceptual changes for 6 target students are reported. Student understanding was assessed regarding the nature of matter and physical change by paper-and-pencil pretest and posttest. The 6 target students were interviewed about the goal concepts before and after instruction. Students' writing during lesson activities provided qualitative data about their understandings of the goal concepts across the science unit. The researcher constructed concept maps from students' written statements and compared the maps across time to assess changes in the schema of core concepts, complexity, and organization as a result of instruction. Target students' changes were studied in detail to determine patterns of conceptual change. After patterns were located in target students' maps, the remaining 19 students' maps were analyzed for similar patterns. The ideas that students identified in their writing showed changes in central concepts, complexity, and organization as the lessons progressed. When instructional events were analyzed in relation to students' demonstrated ideas, understanding of the goal conceptions appeared in students' writing more often when students had opportunities to explain their new ideas orally and in writing.     

Young children's responses to "when" questions: issues of directionality

On the basis of the bulk of the available literature, it appears that in talking or reasoning about temporal sequences, preschoolers lack bidirectional flexibility and are limited to forward order, antecedent toward consequent movement. 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds and adults responded to when-questions designed to permit assessment of directional preferences. All questions referred to the second sentence of 3-sentence stories, so that before-type (antecedent to consequent) and after-type (consequent to antecedent) responses were possible for all questions. Children showed a strong preference for giving after-responses. Contrary to claims made in previous literature, preschoolers are quite capable of reasoning from consequences to antecedents when provided with a context, such as responding to when-questions, for which such movement is appropriate. Children's apparent lack of bidirectional reasoning on problems involving temporal sequence may reflect preferred directionality based on conventions associated with particular tasks rather than a lack of flexibility in temporal reasoning per se.     

A comparison of year 1 and year 6 students' conceptions of evaporation and condensation: dimensions of conceptual progression

A range of challenging activities centred on evaporation and condensation were explored with year 1 and year 6 children. Their explanations in group discussion, written responses and interview were analysed, using NUD*IST qualitative analysis software, to explore the nature and coherence of their conceptions. The data was used to critically evaluate previous claims in the literature concerning the characteristics of progression in understanding of evaporation, and to identify the main dimensions that characterize the differences in children's explanations. The older children displayed a surer sense of ontological categories, greater epistemological sophistication including their ability to link explanations and evidence, greater precision in the use of conceptual language, and a greater range of associations they could make.     

Group work experiences: Domestic MBA student experiences and outcomes when working with international students

This article forms part of an exploration into the results of a single-case, embedded study that was conducted to explore how domestic part-time graduate business students in the United States experience group work for summative assessment. Multiple information collection methods were utilised, including open-ended and semi-structured interviews, case study documents and student journals. The aim of this larger study was to understand the unique experiential factors that contribute to a student's perceptions of positive group work outcomes within a graduate-level context. However, this article will detail only one of the more unexpected findings of this study, which involves how international students affect the perception of positive group work for domestic part-time students. Since key informants of this study included only domestic part-time MBA students, the limitations and ethical implications surrounding this finding will also be addressed. This article suggests noteworthy implications in the area of professional and organisational development for faculty and administrators in higher education with regard to the use of group work in the graduate classroom. This includes the importance of utilising existing institutional resources and structures to prepare and develop administrators, faculty and staff to make more informed decisions regarding group work within a graduate context.     

Digital curation for promoting personalized learning: A study of secondary-school science students’ learning experiences

Abstract

The article presents a research study that examined the ways in which digital curation promotes personalized learning, as well as the students’ experiences of this learning process. The study was conducted in the context of K-12 education. Participants spent three months on a project that included curating a personalized digital collection. The study was conducted using a phenomenological qualitative approach for the collection and processing of data. Findings demonstrate that digital curation provides a productive learning activity that supports significant personalized, emotional, and cognitive learning experiences, enabling the curator to construct a personal subject ontology.     

Independent inquiry and the undergraduate dissertation: perceptions and experiences of final‐year social science students

This article reports on findings from a research project that investigated the experiences and perceptions of final‐year social science undergraduates enrolled on a dissertation module in a post‐1992 UK university. The dissertation was designed to provide students with the opportunity to function autonomously and determine the content and focus of a major part of their study and assessment. Using data from interviews and questionnaires, the article explores the students’ lived experience of the dissertation as a form of independent learning and assessment, the challenges they encountered, and their perceptions of peer and tutor support. While students valued the autonomy, authenticity, and ownership they felt in relation to their dissertation, they also experienced considerable ­challenges, particularly in relation to ‘time’.     

Target students in year 8 science classrooms: A comparison with and extension of existing research

Conclusion The aims of this study were to replicate existing target student research and to investigate the possible contribution student perceptions of their classroom environment could add to existing research findings. Although target students of the types previously identified were found to exist, and found in similar numbers, there the similarity with previous findings ceased. They were not dominantly male and there was a cross-gender relationship with the teacher. The inclusion of student perceptions of their classroom environment did add to the personal characteristics in helping to describe target students. However, their characteristics were not consistent across classes, and although a rationale could be developed to explain the existence of the different types of target students in classrooms, these explanations were idiosyncratic to particular classrooms. The findings in this study would suggest caution in making generalizations about the characteristics of, and rationales for, target students in Year 8 science classrooms.     

Contextualizing instruction: Leveraging students' prior knowledge and experiences to foster understanding of middle school science

Contextualizing science instruction involves utilizing students' prior knowledge and everyday experiences as a catalyst for understanding challenging science concepts. This study of two middle school science classrooms examined how students utilized the contextualizing aspects of project‐based instruction and its relationship to their science learning. Observations of focus students' participation during instruction were described in terms of a contextualizing score for their use of the project features to support their learning. Pre/posttests were administered and students' final artifacts were collected and evaluated. The results of these assessments were compared with students' contextualizing scores, demonstrating a strong positive correlation between them. These findings provide evidence to support claims of contextualizing instruction as a means to facilitate student learning, and point toward future consideration of this instructional method in broader research studies and the design of science learning environments. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 79–100, 2008     

Exploring the structure of science learning self-efficacy: the role of science learning hardiness and perceived responses to capitalization attempts among Taiwanese junior high school students

Background: Despite the growing body of research on self-efficacy, previous studies have failed to clarify exactly how it is constructed. Meanwhile, the literature indicates that, in Taiwan, junior high school students tend to show lower self-efficacy in learning science compared with elementary and senior high school students.

Purpose: This study aimed to develop a mediational model providing the factors accounting for Taiwanese junior high school adolescents’ science learning self-efficacy (SLSE), especially from the perspectives of both interpersonal and intrapersonal factors.

Design: We therefore proposed a mediational model to delineate the relationships among students’ perceived responses to capitalization attempts – science learning (PRCA-SL), science learning hardiness (SLH) and SLSE by conducting structural equation modeling (SEM).

Sample: A total of 1,170 junior high school students in Taiwan were invited to take part in the study.

Results: The results confirmed our hypothesis that students’ PRCA-SL fostered their science learning hardiness, which in turn contributed to their science learning self-efficacy.

Conclusions: The findings confirmed the mediational model wherein science learning hardiness completely mediated the relationship between PRCA-SL and science learning self-efficacy.     

Utilising social networking sites to improve writing: a case study with Chinese students in Malaysia

With the advancement of technology, writing in English is no longer confined to the classroom as nowadays students are exposed to various forms of writing on the Internet. Specifically with Generation Y in mind, online writing is a new method that needs to be implemented to enhance Malaysian students’ writing skills. This article aims at identifying what motivates English as a Second Language students to write in English on Facebook. Ten Chinese-speaking students from a private urban school were selected for this study. These students had just started secondary education after being educated in Chinese-vernacular elementary schools for six years. The students were required to participate in an ongoing discussion on their Facebook class page in order to complete a writing task. Data for this study comprised both online discussions and interviews. The findings suggest that peer influence and school surroundings motivated the students to write better in English on Facebook. The findings also imply that the use of technology in writing tasks made students write better in English owing to the exchanges of feedback and ideas that took place through this social networking site.     

Writing with word processors: an effective way to develop students' argumentative writing skills

Context one: the computer classroom It is period three on Tuesday. 8H is in the computer room. Wendy is tapping at her keyboard energetically, stopping every few minutes to read over the evolving text on the screen. The writing task is a letter to the members of the school's Student Representative Council (SRC) to persuade them that Our school is the perfect school. She is engrossed in her writing, oblivious to any movement or talk in the classroom. At another table, Susan stands behind Samantha who is peering at her monitor. Susan points to a sentence on the screen and suggests that Samantha move it to the beginning of the paragraph where, she argues, it might be more effective. Samantha uses a block command and inserts the sentence in its new position. They confer, then decide that it worked better where it was, so Samantha moves it back to its original location. Mary and Jill have been working at adjacent computers. They turn away from their keyboards and screens, move their chairs closer together and talk about the possible directions Mary's letter could take. Lauren has just printed her letter to the SRC. As she tears off the perforated edges, she approaches Tina and asks her to read it. They stand together, resting against a table, their eyes moving down the printed page. Tina suggests to Lauren that the tone is too formal. Lauren agrees and asks Tina's advice about how to loosen it up. Jacqui, the teacher, sits beside Anabelle who is reading her piece out loud. They are concentrating on the cohesiveness of the letter. Jacqui suggests where a conjunction would be useful. All the students in the classroom are engaged in writing, some independently, some collaboratively. Context two: the pen classroom English, Friday morning. The students of 8K are working on their letters to the members of the SRC. Jacqui, the teacher, sits next to Petula, but their discussion of the sequencing of the text is regularly broken. For the third time since the lesson began, Jacqui stands up and asks the girls to stop talking and get on with their writing. The students sit four to a table: they whisper to each other; the giggles and nudges indicate that they're not discussing writing. Jill has decided to move to an unoccupied table: as she gathers her books, Jill explains to Peta that she hopes she'll be able to concentrate better away from the interruptions of her friends. Abigail looks at her watch and exclaims that the bell is about to go and she has written only one paragraph. Jodie and Penny also announce that they are nowhere near finishing their letters. Jodie remarks that it's boring writing in class. Penny agrees and comments: “It's also too hard!”     

Exploring barriers and solutions to academic writing: Perspectives from students,higher education and further education tutors

Staff and student perceptions of what constitutes good academic writing in both further and higher education often differ. This is reflected in written assignments which frequently fall below the expected standard. In seeking to develop the writing skills of students and propose potential solutions to writing difficulties, a study was conducted in a university and a nearby further education college in the north west of England to explore barriers and solutions to AW difficulties. This paper reports the findings generated using unmoderated focus groups with second-year university health studies students (n=70) and moderated focus groups with further education college teachers (n=3) and health studies lecturers in a university (n=6).

Findings indicated that staff and students’ perceptions of what constitutes AW differed. The barriers to academic writing that were identified included lack of time and confidence; lack of extended writing at FE level; lack of reading and understanding of academic texts or journals; referencing; and academic jargon.