The Effects of Collaborative Care of Living Animals in Biology Lessons on Students’ Relatedness Toward Their Teacher Across Gender

Research in Science Education - The transition from elementary school to the upper grades can lead to ambiguous feelings toward the new, male teachers. This study investigated whether collaborative...     

Variation by Gender in Abu Dhabi High School Students’ Interests in Physics

Abu Dhabi high school students’ interest in physics in different contexts was investigated with a survey conducted in connection with the international project, The Relevance of Science Education (ROSE). The sample consisted of 2248 students in public and private schools. Means of most items that belong to the school physics context for both girls and boys were below the score of (3.0). The most interesting topics for both genders were connected with fantasy items. The least interesting items (particularly for girls) were connected with artifacts and technological processes. Girls assigned the highest scores for “why we dream” and “life and death.” Boys assigned the highest scores for “inventions and discoveries” and “life outside of earth.” The main message of the study is that new curricular approaches and textbooks can be developed through combining technological and human contexts. The implications for curriculum development, teacher professional development programs, and other education strategies in Abu Dhabi are discussed in light of the ROSE survey.     

On Stimulation of Students’Interests in English Learning

As the old saying goes that interest is the best teacher and it is quite true that the students’initiative in learning is diffi cult to spur without interest.English is the most widely used language in the world,and people are aware of the importance and necessity in English learning.But English is a second language to us,so learning it is more difficult than the acquiring of our na tive language.Interest is the internal power to spur students’learning.So how to spur the students’s interest in engliash learning is the main prblem discussing in it.     

Greek Students’ Science‐related Interests and Experiences: Gender differences and correlations

This paper explores the science‐related interests and out‐of‐school experiences of 583 ninth‐grade Greek students. The instrument of data collection consisted of a questionnaire including items on science‐related topics that could be of interest to students and on everyday, out‐of‐school, science‐related experiences. Factor analysis yielded six distinct fields of interest and five types of science‐related experiences. Significant gender differences emerge: girls are more interested in topics related to human biology, health, and fitness, and are more familiar with using instruments and devices, seeking information about nature, and doing cuisine and handicraft; while boys are more interested in science, technology, and their social dimension, and the threatening aspects of science and technology, and tend to engage more in manual work and computer use. The results of this study indicate that there is a need for the Greek science curriculum to become more appealing to students, by integrating topics and experiences that are interesting and relevant to them.     

Predicting College Students’ Intergroup Friendships Across Race/Ethnicity,Religion, Sexual Orientation,and Social Class

This study seeks to expand the literature on predicting friendship diversity beyond race/ethnicity to include religion, social class, and sexual orientation. Survey packets elicited information regarding up to four close friendships developed during college. Additional measures assessed pre-college friendship diversity, participation in college activities and diversity education, intergroup attitudes, and interpersonal communication apprehension. A total of 588 friendships (213 intragroup and 375 intergroup) were reported by 151 college students. Pre-college friendship diversity was the primary predictor of college friendship diversity across each intergroup dimension. Implications for prejudice reduction are discussed.     

The Influence of Culture on Students’ Mathematics Achievement Across 51 Countries

The results of international large-scale assessments have shown that countries vary considerably in their mathematics performance. Culture has been suggested as a possible cause for the national difference, but insufficient empirical research has been conducted to investigate the effect of culture on mathematics achievement. Based on Hofstede’s conceptualization of culture, the present study examined the relationship between national culture and students’ mathematics achievement by analyzing data from 51 countries using two-level hierarchical linear modeling. The results showed that national culture played an important role in shaping mathematic achievement. It accounted for 23.89% of the country differences in mathematics performance after controlling for student gender, family socioeconomic status, and national GDP per capita. One cultural dimension “long-term orientation” had a strong positive association with mathematics achievement. The implication of the findings is discussed, followed by a discussion of issues regarding employing culture dimensions theory in mathematics education.     

A Shadow Curriculum: Incorporating Students’ Interests into the Formal Biology Curriculum

Students have been largely ignored in discussions about how best to teach science, and many students feel the curriculum is detached from their lives and interests. This article presents a strategy for incorporating students’ interests into the formal Biology curriculum, by drawing on the political meaning of “shadow government” as alternative policies developed by parties not in office. A “shadow curriculum” thus reflects the interests and information needs of those who have no voice in deciding what the formal curriculum should include, although they are the ones who are most influenced by it. High school students’ interests in three Biology topics were identified (n = 343) and retested on another student sample (n = 375), based on their solicited questions as indicators for interests. The results of this exploratory case study showed that half of the questions asked by students in the areas of genetics, the cardiovascular system and the reproductive system are not addressed by the national curriculum. Students’ questions were then expressed in the curricular language of principles, phenomena and concepts in order to create a shadow curriculum. A procedure that could be used by other researchers and practitioners to guide the development of a curriculum that is more aligned with student interests is suggested.     

The Development of Individualized Audio‐Visual Learning Units in Junior High School Biology and the Students’ Achievements

Summaries

English

The development of series of audio‐tutorial units for biological education at junior high school level is described. The effectiveness of these units was tested with students from a Kibbutz school and found to produce higher achievement than a ‘normal’ teaching approach, based on the BSCS Yellow Version (Israeli adaptation) materials. The audio‐tutorial method led to a particularly high achievement gain in the case of girls. The achievement gains resulting from the audio‐tutorial approach are explained in terms of the motivational effect of this method on students.     

Upper Secondary Students’ Understanding of the Use of Multiple Models in Biology Textbooks—The Importance of Conceptual Variation and Incommensurability

In this study we investigate students’ ability to discern conceptual variation and the use of multiple models in genetics when reading content-specific excerpts from biology textbooks. Using the history and philosophy of science as our reference, we were able to develop a research instrument allowing students themselves to investigate the occurrence of multiple models and conceptual variation in Swedish upper secondary textbooks. Two excerpts using different models of gene function were selected from authentic textbooks. Students were given the same questionnaire-instrument after reading the two texts, and the results were compared. In this way the students themselves made a classification of the texts which could then be compared with the researchers’ classification of the texts. Forty-one upper secondary students aged 18–19 participated in the study. Nine of the students also participated in semi-structured interviews. Students recognized the existence of multiple models in a general way, but had difficulty discerning the different models and the conceptual variation that occurs between them in the texts. Further they did not recognize the occurrence of incommensurability between multiple models. Students had difficulty in transforming their general knowledge of multiple models into an understanding of content specific models of gene function in the textbooks. These findings may have implications for students’ understanding of conceptual knowledge because research has established textbooks as one of the most influential aspects in the planning and execution of biology lessons, and teachers commonly assign reading passages to their students without further explanation.     

Introductory Biology Students’ Conceptual Models and Explanations of the Origin of Variation

Mutation is the key molecular mechanism generating phenotypic variation, which is the basis for evolution. In an introductory biology course, we used a model-based pedagogy that enabled students to integrate their understanding of genetics and evolution within multiple case studies. We used student-generated conceptual models to assess understanding of the origin of variation. By midterm, only a small percentage of students articulated complete and accurate representations of the origin of variation in their models. Targeted feedback was offered through activities requiring students to critically evaluate peers’ models. At semester''s end, a substantial proportion of students significantly improved their representation of how variation arises (though one-third still did not include mutation in their models). Students’ written explanations of the origin of variation were mostly consistent with their models, although less effective than models in conveying mechanistic reasoning. This study contributes evidence that articulating the genetic origin of variation is particularly challenging for learners and may require multiple cycles of instruction, assessment, and feedback. To support meaningful learning of the origin of variation, we advocate instruction that explicitly integrates multiple scales of biological organization, assessment that promotes and reveals mechanistic and causal reasoning, and practice with explanatory models with formative feedback.     

Students’ Levels of Understanding Models and Modelling in Biology: Global or Aspect-Dependent?

It is argued that knowledge about models is an important part of a profound understanding of Nature of Science. Consequently, researchers have developed different ‘levels of understanding’ to analyse students’, teachers’, or experts’ comprehension of this topic. In some approaches, global levels of understanding have been developed which mirror the idea of an understanding of models and modelling as a whole. Opposed to this, some authors have developed levels of understanding for distinct aspects concerning models and modelling in science (i.e. aspect-dependent levels). This points to an important issue for science education research since global conceptualisations might lead to less differentiated assessments and interventions than aspect-dependent ones. To contribute to this issue, the article summarises conceptualisations of both global and aspect-dependent levels of understanding models and modelling that have been developed in science education. Further, students’ understanding of the aspects nature of models, multiple models, purpose of models, testing models, and changing models has been assessed (N?=?1,180; 11 to 19 years old; secondary schools; Berlin, Germany). It is discussed to what extent the data support the notion of global or aspect-dependent levels of understanding models and modelling in science. The results suggest that students seem to have a complex and at least partly inconsistent pattern of understanding models. Furthermore, students with high nonverbal intelligence and good marks seem to have a comparatively more consistent and more elaborated understanding of models and modelling than weaker students. Recommendations for assessment in science education research and teaching practice are made.     

First-Year College Students’ Conflict with Religion and Science

This study took place during a First Year Seminar course where 20 incoming college freshmen studied the central topic of the nature of science within the context of biological evolution. The instructor researched students’ understandings in the nature of science as they progressed through the course by examining a variety of qualitative and quantitative data including class writings, pre- and post-test selected items from the VOSTS (Views on Science-Technology-Society), and interviews. The intended outcomes of the course were to reduce the number of student misconceptions in the nature of science and to ease student apprehension when learning about evolution. Data were analyzed to determine whether students were moving toward a more generally accepted idea of the nature of science or toward another type of misconception.     

On the Application of Communicative Teaching Activities in Enhancing Students’ Interests in English Reading

Recent years,many high schools enlarged their dimensions of enrollment along with the colleges’enlarged enrollment.As a result,the vocational schools’enrollees are mostly the graduated junior high school students who are not qualified to enroll in the senior high schools.The researcher found many students didn’t have interests in English reading.They often chat,read novels,or even sleep.That badly interrupted the accomplishment of regular teaching process.Most of the colleagues of the researcher contributed that to the lowered quality of students.But there might be many further reasons decreased the students’reading interests,such as,the teachers’teaching methods,the applicability of the textbooks,the teaching environment,and etc.Many researches had been conducted on the issue of the English reading.But there are a few practical researches on how to enhance students’interests in English reading.The researcher hypothesized that the communicative teaching activities(shortened as CTA hereinafter)can enhance students’reading interests.A three-week project was conducted among 35students.CTA was arranged in each of the three stages of English reading teaching,namely the pre-reading stage,the while-reading stage and the post reading stage.The researcher analyzed the weekly diary that described the performance changes of students,and also the exercise marks they got in the classes in three weeks.The results turned out students’interests in English reading had been highly improved after the application of CTA.The significance of this project is that the application of communicative teaching activities can enhance students’reading interests.And those teachers who are meeting the same problem in their teachings can benefit from this project.     

Students’ Perceptions of Religion and Science,and How They Relate: the Effects of a Classroom Intervention

Abstract

In England, both Religious Education (RE) and science are mandatory parts of the school curriculum throughout the 5-16 age range. Nevertheless, there remain concerns that, as in many countries, students do not have a good understanding about the scope of each subject nor about how the two subjects relate. This article reports on a study that involved an intervention of six lessons in RE and six in science that were intended to help 13-15?year-old students develop a better appreciation for the relationship(s) between science and religion and a less reductionist understanding of biology. Our focus here is on the understandings that students have about the relationship between science and religion. The intervention was successful in improving the understandings of almost half of the students interviewed, but in these interviews we still found many instances where students showed misunderstandings of the nature of both religious and scientific knowledge. We argue that RE needs to attend to questions regarding the nature of knowledge if students are to develop better understandings of the scope of religions and how they arrive at their knowledge claims.     

Understanding Students’ Perceptions of the Nature of Science in the Context of Their Gender and Their Parents’ Occupation

Science & Education - A thorough understanding of the concept of the nature of science (NOS) is essential to the development of scientific literacy among students, as it provides the students...     

Context Dependence of Students’ Views about the Role of Equations in Understanding Biology

Students’ epistemological views about biology—their ideas about what “counts” as learning and understanding biology—play a role in how they approach their courses and respond to reforms. As introductory biology courses incorporate more physics and quantitative reasoning, student attitudes about the role of equations in biology become especially relevant. However, as documented in research in physics education, students’ epistemologies are not always stable and fixed entities; they can be dynamic and context-dependent. In this paper, we examine an interview with an introductory student in which she discusses the use of equations in her reformed biology course. In one part of the interview, she expresses what sounds like an entrenched negative stance toward the role equations can play in understanding biology. However, later in the interview, when discussing a different biology topic, she takes a more positive stance toward the value of equations. These results highlight how a given student can have diverse ways of thinking about the value of bringing physics and math into biology. By highlighting how attitudes can shift in response to different tasks, instructional environments, and contextual cues, we emphasize the need to attend to these factors, rather than treating students’ beliefs as fixed and stable.