“But at school … I became a bit shy”: Korean immigrant adolescents’ discursive participation in science classrooms

In reform-based science curricula, students’ discursive participation is highly encouraged as a means of science learning as well as a goal of science education. However, Asian immigrant students are perceived to be quiet and passive in classroom discursive situations, and this reticence implies that they may face challenges in discourse-rich science classroom learning environments. Given this potentially conflicting situation, the present study aims to understand how and why Asian immigrant students participate in science classroom discourse. Findings from interviews with seven Korean immigrant adolescents illustrate that they are indeed hesitant to speak up in classrooms. Drawing upon cultural historical perspectives on identity and agency, this study shows how immigrant experiences shaped the participants’ othered identity and influenced their science classroom participation, as well as how they negotiated their identities and situations to participate in science classroom and peer communities. I will discuss implications of this study for science education research and science teacher education to support classroom participation of immigrant students.     

元认知和情感策略对理工科大学生英语学习的影响

本文报告一项关于理工科大学生学习策略使用情况的调查。调查显示：理工科学生学习策略意识不强,使用策略不多。其次,学习策略的使用没有显著的水平差异和性别差异,但是高分组和低分组学生在元认知策略和情感策略方面有差异。另外,情感策略有性别差异。元认知策略和情感策略对于理工科大学生英语学习具有积极的影响,所以应当提高学生的学习策略意识,加强学生的策略的培训。     

Developing Motivation and Cognitive Learning Strategies Through an Undergraduate Learning Community

This study describes the effects on student motivation and cognitive learning strategies of an approach involving an undergraduate learner-centered community of learners approach to instruction. Six learning communities were created using the following objectives: integrated courses, active and collaborative learning, and opportunities for learning through information technology and library resources. Instructors attended ten workshops designed to assist them in developing the learning communities according to the objectives of the program. Results indicate significant changes in motivation and cognitive strategy use by the end of participation in the learning community. Within the motivation subscales, students in the learning communities reported significantly higher levels of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, more internal control of their learning, and self-efficacy, along with significantly lower levels of test anxiety and task value. Within the learning strategies subscales, students reported increases in their use of rehearsal strategies, organization strategies, critical thinking, time management, and the use of peer learning and help-seeking behaviors.     

Evaluation of the Long-Term Impact of a University High School Summer Science Program on Students' Interest and Perceived Abilities in Science

Many biomedical research universities have established outreach programs for precollege students and teachers and partnerships with local school districts to help meet the challenges of science education reform. Science outreach programs held in university research facilities can make science more exciting and innovative for high school students and can offer them much more insight into the nature of science and laboratory research than is available in most high school science courses. This paper describes a long-term follow-up study of high school students enrolled in the Summer Science Academy program at the University of Rochester to investigate the program's impact on students' perceived abilities in higher level science courses, on participation in extracurricular science programs, as well as the program's impact on student interest in pursuing a career in science. Students' exposure during SSA to advanced laboratory techniques and their participation in authentic science investigations provided them with a very positive hands-on experience. Students who attended the program indicated that it provided a positive influence on their performance in advanced science courses, as well as their decision to participate in other science programs and their desire to pursue a career in science.     

Learner-centered inquiry in undergraduate biology: positive relationships with long-term student achievement

We determined short- and long-term correlates of a revised introductory biology curriculum on understanding of biology as a process of inquiry and learning of content. In the original curriculum students completed two traditional lecture-based introductory courses. In the revised curriculum students completed two new learner-centered, inquiry-based courses. The new courses differed significantly from those of the original curriculum through emphases on critical thinking, collaborative work, and/or inquiry-based activities. Assessments were administered to compare student understanding of the process of biological science and content knowledge in the two curricula. More seniors who completed the revised curriculum had high-level profiles on the Views About Science Survey for Biology compared with seniors who completed the original curriculum. Also as seniors, students who completed the revised curriculum scored higher on the standardized Biology Field Test. Our results showed that an intense inquiry-based learner-centered learning experience early in the biology curriculum was associated with long-term improvements in learning. We propose that students learned to learn science in the new courses which, in turn, influenced their learning in subsequent courses. Studies that determine causal effects of learner-centered inquiry-based approaches, rather than correlative relationships, are needed to test our proposed explanation.     

Teachers' understanding and the use of the learning cycle

This study examined the relationships that exist between high school science teachers' understanding of the Piagetian developmental model of intelligence, its inherent teaching procedure—the learning cycle—and classroom teaching practices. The teachers observed in this study had expressed dissatisfaction with the teaching methods they used, and, subsequently, attended a National Science Foundation sponsored in-service program designed to examine laboratory-centered science curricula and the educational and scientific theories upon which the curricula were based. The teachers who exhibited a sound understanding of the Piagetian model of intelligence and the learning cycle were more likely to effectively implement learning cycle curricula. They were able to successfully integrate their students' laboratory experiences with class discussions to construct science concepts. The teachers who exhibited misunderstandings of the Piagetian developmental model of intelligence and the learning cycle also engaged their students in laboratory activities, but these activities were weakly related to learning cycles. For example, the data gathered by their students were typically not used in class discussions to construct science concepts. Therefore, these teachers apparently did not discern the necessity of using the data and experiences from laboratory activities as the impetus for science concept attainment. Additional results comparing degrees of understanding, teaching behaviors and questioning strategies are discussed.     

当前美国高等教育面临的挑战

当前美国社会经济的发展要求高等教育必须做出迅速反应,而高校的学生构成以及学生接受高等教育的目的也日益多样化。高等学校必须开发更具有弹性、灵巧、敏感和切合实际的学位课程,设计出能满足学生需要的学习策略和学习项目;要深化改革,使高等学校的教师、职员和学生能与商业、政府和民众团体结成伙伴,从而为社会的发展做出更大的贡献。     

The Python Project: A Unique Model for Extending Research Opportunities to Undergraduate Students

Undergraduate science education curricula are traditionally composed of didactic instruction with a small number of laboratory courses that provide introductory training in research techniques. Research on learning methodologies suggests this model is relatively ineffective, whereas participation in independent research projects promotes enhanced knowledge acquisition and improves retention of students in science. However, availability of faculty mentors and limited departmental budgets prevent the majority of students from participating in research. A need therefore exists for this important component in undergraduate education in both small and large university settings. A course was designed to provide students with the opportunity to engage in a research project in a classroom setting. Importantly, the course collaborates with a sponsor''s laboratory, producing a symbiotic relationship between the classroom and the laboratory and an evolving course curriculum. Students conduct a novel gene expression study, with their collective data being relevant to the ongoing research project in the sponsor''s lab. The success of this course was assessed based on the quality of the data produced by the students, student perception data, student learning gains, and on whether the course promoted interest in and preparation for careers in science. In this paper, we describe the strategies and outcomes of this course, which represents a model for efficiently providing research opportunities to undergraduates.     

Evaluation of the Effects of the Medium of Instruction on Science Learning of Hong Kong Secondary Students: Students’ Self-Concept in Science

A longitudinal study has been conducted to explore the impact of a new language policy for Hong Kong secondary schools on science learning. According to this policy, only schools that recruit the best 25% of students can teach science in English, the students' second language, while the other schools have to teach science in Chinese, the students' native language. The study involved a student cohort of 100 schools starting from S1 for three years. The outcome of science learning is conceptualized as consisting of students' achievement and self-concept in science. This paper reports the possible effects of English-medium instruction (EMI) and Chinese-medium instruction (CMI) on students' self-concept in science, as measured by students' responses to a questionnaire. Comparing with the CMI students, the EMI students showed higher self-concepts in Chinese, English and Mathematics, but a lower self-concept in science. This finding suggests that the EMI students might experience greater learning problems in science than in other subjects, probably because science learning involves abstract thinking and the mastery of scientific terminology which make a high demand on language proficiency. The EMI students showed a greater interest in learning science than the CMI students, indicating that they were more academically oriented. The EMI students, however, formed a lower perceived self-competence in science than their CMI peers, despite that they performed better in the science achievement test than many of the CMI students. This perception supports the view that using English for instruction may have negative effects on science learning. It is also consistent with the observation that the EMI students perceived science as more difficult to understand and learn than the CMI students.     

Students' science perceptions and enrollment decisions in differing learning cycle classrooms

This investigation examined 10th‐grade biology students' decisions to enroll in elective science courses, and explored certain attitudinal perceptions of students that may be related to such decisions. The student science perceptions were focused on student and classroom attitudes in the context of differing learning cycle classrooms (high paradigmatic/high inquiry, and low paradigmatic/low inquiry). The study also examined possible differences in enrollment decisions/intentions and attitudinal perceptions among males and females in these course contexts. The specific purposes were to: (a) explore possible differences in students' decisions, and in male and female students' decisions to enroll in elective science courses in high versus low paradigmatic learning cycle classrooms; (b) describe patterns and examine possible differences in male and female students' attitudinal perceptions of science in the two course contexts; (c) investigate possible differences in students' science perceptions according to their decisions to enroll in elective science courses, participation in high versus low paradigmatic learning cycle classrooms, and the interaction between these two variables; and (d) examine students' explanations of their decisions to enroll or not enroll in elective science courses. Questionnaire and observation data were collected from 119 students in the classrooms of six learning cycle biology teachers. Results indicated that in classrooms where teachers most closely adhered to the ideal learning cycle, students had more positive attitudes than those in classrooms where teachers deviated from the ideal model. Significantly more females in high paradigmatic learning cycle classrooms planned to continue taking science course work compared with females in low paradigmatic learning cycle classrooms. Male students in low paradigmatic learning cycle classrooms had more negative perceptions of science compared with males in high paradigmatic classrooms, and in some cases, with all female students. It appears that using the model as it was originally designed may lead to more positive attitudes and persistence in science among students. Implications include the need for science educators to help teachers gain more thorough understanding of the learning cycle and its theoretical underpinnings so they may better implement this procedure in classroom teaching. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 1029–1062, 2001     

注重学科整合,全面提高学生语文素养

本文主要探讨了新课程背景下如何注重语文学科和信息技术、艺术、自然、社会等学科的整合,改变传统课堂“以教师、书本为中心,以讲授、灌输为主线”的局面,构建“以学生主动参与、探究创新为主线”的现代教学模式。注重学科间的整合,为学生学语文、用语文开辟了广阔的天地,有效地促进了学生综合素质的发展。     

Prompting undergraduate students’ metacognition of learning: implementing ‘meta-learning’ assessment tasks in the biomedical sciences

To succeed at post-secondary education, it’s essential that students develop an understanding of their own knowledge and learning processes. This metacognition of learning, or ‘meta-learning’, helps students to become more effective learners, as they become more aware of their self-regulatory processes and recognise the effectiveness of their study strategies. To increase biomedical science students’ self-awareness, we have designed and implemented meta-learning assessment tasks across our biomedical science courses. Most students reported that meta-learning tasks had a positive impact on their learning, as they prompted self-regulatory processes of forethought and self-reflection. We found that students were equally likely to change or not change their study strategies across subsequent semesters. Those students that did not change were generally high achievers, believing their study approaches were most effective, but their performance did not improve across semesters. In contrast, students who adapted, mostly by modifying how they appraised and rearranged records or improved planning and time management, performed less well overall but significantly improved their performance across semesters. Meta-learning tasks may prompt students to become more self-reflective and independent learners by affecting their approach to learning, enabling them to reflect on their study strategies, adapt and improve performance, and may enable the development of lifelong learning skills.     

Service Learning Experiences in University Science Degree Courses

This article describes a study about a service learning project at a small undergraduate university. We examined how professors and students became involved in service learning through course work and related activities. This study sought to find out why participation in service learning is low in post-secondary education science and mathematics courses. Participants described challenges to participation as well as benefits which, if emphasized, may allow for some growth in participation by science degree students.     

Embedding Multiple Literacies into STEM Curricula

In fall 2012, an interdisciplinary team of science, English, and library faculty embedded reading, writing, and information literacy strategies in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) curricula as a first step in improving student learning and retention in science courses and aligning them with the Next Generation Science and Common Core State Standards. The authors present their reading, writing, and information literacy contributions, explaining the importance of introducing these concepts and strategies into science courses.     

Students with learning disabilities in higher education: academic strategies profile

This study compared 191 college students with learning disabilities (LD) and 190 students without LD in four main areas: academic difficulties, learning strategies, functioning during examinations, and students' perception of factors that help or impede their academic success. Analysis of the personal data of students with and without LD revealed no significant differences between groups on grade point average, number of courses taken, and family status, but students with LD reported having more difficulties in humanities, social sciences, and foreign language than students without LD. Regarding academic strategies, students with LD devised unusual strategies and preferred additional oral explanations or visual explanations, whereas nondisabled students preferred more written examples. These differences indicated that students without LD used more written techniques than did students with LD. During examinations, the students with LD had difficulty concentrating and were concerned about lack of time. They experienced stress, were nervous, and felt more frustrated, helpless, or uncertain during examinations than students without LD. The implications for college students with LD are discussed.     

The long-term washback effects of the National Matriculation English Test on college English learning in China: Tertiary student perspectives

The Chinese National Matriculation English Test (NMET) aims to select higher-achieving students for tertiary education. This study presents student perceptions of the effectiveness of NMET preparation for after-test college English learning. Through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, tertiary students reported that the NMET facilitated their learning of college English. However, they also felt that having more English speaking and listening skills for the NMET would have better prepared them to handle college workloads. The students’ perceptions correlated with province of origin, senior high school and college status. Students’ suggestions for the NMET included making the speaking and listening NMET subtests obligatory, and adopting the same national standards for all English curricula to narrow the gap between secondary students’ English competence and the demands of tertiary education. Studying long-term washback effects of high stakes language tests and adopting the new China’s Standards of English could improve test preparation and the tests themselves.     

关于形式语言与自动机理论的教学方法探讨

形式语言与自动机理论是计算机科学与技术专业的一门重要专业基础理论课,搞好本课程的教学,不但能为学生学好本专业后续课程奠定坚实的理论基础,而且有利于培养学生的计算机抽象思维,形式化设计构造的能力,从而适应进一步的学习和工作中本学科专业发展的需要。本文首先对当前该课程教学中存在的一些现象进行分析,然后介绍作者总结出的一些行之有效的教学策略与方法。     

Using a Multilevel Assessment Scheme in Reforming Science Methods Courses

The development of new courses is strengthened by assessment and a response to the assessment. Two new science methods courses for elementary and secondary preservice teachers were developed, fostered by the Great Salt Lake Project. The preservice teachers designed and performed research projects that they then converted into inquiry-based teaching units. The professors applied a 3-layer assessment scheme to evaluate the courses and the preservice teachers based on changes in student attitudes, student-generated curricula, and internal course evaluations. Each type of assessment effectively informed the reform process, and strengths and weaknesses of the courses were revealed. Strengths of the courses included students learning to see science as a process and comprehending inquiry as a pedagogical approach. Weaknesses observed included a lack of understanding in three areas: the role of assessment, the need to address cultural issues, and the significance of scientific literacy.     

‘Experiencing the Theory': Constructivism in a pre-service teacher preparation program

In two Bachelor of Education courses, students experienced social constructivist principles for teaching Elementary Language Arts. In the first course, they were introduced to the theory upon which curricula, methods, and strategies are based. Implications for instruction were explored through discussion of readings and participation in child-centered activities, later examined from the points of view of the learner and of the theory. In the second course, the seminar group pursued advanced questions about social constructivist theories, methods, and strategies. Students kept informal written responses to readings; shared reactions, ideas, and questions; suggested readings and approaches; and summarized their understanding in final papers. Students evaluated both experiences as being exceptionally useful to their own understanding of instruction. Four pedagogical points are worth consideration. First, despite differences in their undergraduate disciplines, all students demonstrated that they could contribute to their peers' construction of knowledge or meaning making of the concepts and theories examined. Second, the sequence of the two courses seemed to be important for establishing a base of understanding and inquiry for the seminar group. Third, students used metacognitive analysis of their experiences in order to examine their own learning, to investigate learning in general, and to inquire into the use of this understanding in their teaching. Fourth, students' excitement, as expressed in their evaluations, suggests that they began to construct a notion of what a teacher can be, of the obligation that a teacher has to continuous professional development, and of the need to inquire about their own practice.