The affective dimensions of learning science

In this study, we identified middle school and college students' prior ideas about electrostatic induction and interviewed them through presenting observational evidence which supported or refuted their own prior ideas. Their responses to the evidence were interpreted from perspectives based on philosophies of science, especially the Popperian and Lakatosian views of scientific hypothesis testing. In the process of confirmation, almost all of the students showed a logical error known as an 'error of affirmation of the consequent' in a syllogism. The students' falsification processes were classified into two groups: those which rejected the hard core of prior ideas, and those which modified the students' protective belt of auxiliary ideas related to the hard core while still preserving the hard core. From an analysis of the students' falsification processes, it was found that the Lakatosian rather than the Popperian view was more acceptable in understanding the students' responses to the conflicting evidence. It was observed that the quality of the understanding of auxiliary ideas should also play an important role in the changing of core concepts.     

On entrepreneurial education: dilemmas and tensions in nonformal learning

This paper revisits the current policy assumptions on youth entrepreneurship and their possible implications on entrepreneurial learning in nonformal settings. Based on secondary literature analysis, it interrogates the nonformal learning practices that promote entrepreneurship and calls for entrepreneurial learning to incorporate higher awareness of the social challenges that apply to young entrepreneurs. It is argued that the situation of young entrepreneurs is very much dependent on the local ‘regime’ of youth policy-making and reflects an overall social and political thinking on the role and status of young people.     

Model based learning as a key research area for science education

A framework is presented for thinking about cognitive factors involved in model construction in the classroom that can help us organize the research problems in this area and the articles in this issue. The framework connects concepts such as: expert consensus model, target model, intermediate models, preconceptions, learning processes, and natural reasoning skills. By connecting and elaborating on these major areas, the articles in this issue have succeeded in moving us another step toward having a theory of conceptual change that can provide guidance to teachers in the form of instructional principles. Taken together, the articles remind us that individual cognition, while not the only factor in learning, is a central determining feature of learning. However, we must work to further develop the present partial theory of conceptual change to fill in the missing cognitive core of the present shell.     

Formal,nonformal and informal education: A holistic perspective on lifelong learning

This article presents a conceptual framework for understanding the interrelationships among formal, nonformal and informal education. It provides a typology of modes of education across the life span, from childhood to old age. The nonformal education mode is the focus of the article as examples of programs for differing ages, sexes, social classes and ethnic groups are discussed. The third section of the article raises questions regarding the relationship between nonformal education for individual and social change within and across cultural and socio-economic groups. It also discusses the relationship between nonformal and formal education relative to their respective scope and outcomes.The author argues that educational resources must be viewed as interacting modes of emphasis rather than as discrete entities. Hence, all individuals are engaged in learning experiences at all times, from planned, compulsory and intentional to unplanned, voluntary and incidental. It is also argued that nonformal education may be more strongly associated with socio-economic, sex and ethno-religious groups than is formal education. Because of these strong socio-economic and cultural ties, the utility of nonformal education for social, as opposed to individual, change is often restricted. The value of nonformal, as opposed to formal, education for access to the opportunity structure for low socio-economic status populations is also questioned because of the greater legitimacy typically associated with schooling.

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Zusammenfassung Dieser Artikel legt einen konzeptuellen Rahmen für das Verständnis der Wechselbeziehungen zwischen formaler, nicht-formaler und informaler Erziehung vor. Er bietet eine Typologie von Erziehungsweisen, die sich über das ganze Leben erstrecken, von der Kindheit bis zum späten Alter. Im Zentrum des Artikels steht der nicht-formale Erziehungsmodus; Beispiele von Programmen für verschiedene Altersstufen, Geschlechter, soziale Klassen und ethnische Gruppen werden gegeben. Der dritte Teil wirft Fragen der Beziehungen zwischen nicht-formaler Erziehung für individuellen und sozialen Wandel innerhalb kultureller und sozio-ökonomischer Gruppen sowie gruppen-übergreifend auf. Ferner wird das Verhältnis nicht-formaler zu formaler Erziehung in bezug auf ihren jeweiligen Umfang und ihre Ergebnisse besprochen.Der Verfasser führt aus, daß Bildungsressourcen als interaktive Schwerpunktsetzung und nicht als getrennte Ganzheiten anzusehen sind. Somit machen alle Menschen jederzeit ihre Lernerfahrungen, von geplantem, pflichtmäßigem und absichtlichem Lernen bis zu ungeplantem, freiwilligem und zufälligem. Weiterhin wird hervorgehoben, daß nicht-formale Erziehung wohl stärker als formale mit sozio-ökonomischen, ethnisch-religiösen und Geschlechtsgruppen assoziiert ist. Wegen dieser festen sozio-ökonomischen und kulturellen Bindungen ist die Nützlichkeit nicht-formaler Erziehung für sozialen, im Gegensatz zu individuellem, Wandel oft begrenzt. Fraglich erscheint auch der Wert nicht-formaler, imGegensatz zu formaler, Erziehung für den Zugang von Gruppen mit niedrigem sozio-ökonomischen Status zu der Chancenstruktur, weil der Schule allgemein größere Legitimität zugeschrieben wird.

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Résumé Cet article présente un cadre conceptuel pour une meilleure compréhension des interrelations de l'éducation formelle, non formelle et diffuse. Il présente une typologie des differents modes d'éducation qui se succèdent au cours d'une existence, depuis l'enfance jusqu'à la vieillesse. Le mode d'éducation non formelle constitue le thème central de cet article où sont discutés des exemples de programmes en fonction de l'âge, du sexe, de la classe sociale et du groupe ethnique. La troisième partie de l'article soulève des questions sur les relations entre l'éducation non formelle de l'individu et le changement social à l'intérieur des groupes culturels et socio-économiques, mais aussi entre ces groupes. Il traite également de la relation entre l'éducation non formelle et l'éducation formelle en ce qui regarde leur champs d'action respectifs et leur résultats.L'auteur soutient que les resources éducatives doivent être considérées comme des facteurs de mise en valeur réciproque plutôt que comme des discrètes entités. Par suite, tous les individus sont engagés à tout moment dans des expériences d'apprentissage, qu'elles soient concertées, obligatoires et délibérées ou bien involontaires, imprévues et fortuites. L'auteur ajoute que l'éducation non formelle pourrait être plus fortement associée aux groupes socio-économiques, sexuels et ethno-religieux que l'éducation formelle. Ces liens culturels et socio-économiques puissants restreignent souvent, l'efficacité de l'éducation non formelle dans le changement social, contrairement à ce qui se passe pour l'individu. La valeur de l'éducation non formelle — à la différence de l'éducation formelle — comme voie d'accès aux structures de rattrapage pour les populations d'un statut socio-économique défavorisé, est aussi contestée par suite de la légitimité supérieure typiquement associée à la scolarité.

     

Creative learning in science education

Conclusion Making sense of the world-including the world of school learning-involves making connections between new and existing experiences. Whether this process is called the construction (Piaget, 1929), the generation (Osborne & Wittrock, 1985) or the creation of meaning, the relation of new experiences to existing understandings, images, experiences, and feelings are essential to the process of learning with understanding. For many years cognitive psychology has focused on the making of logical, sequential, highly structured connections. However, the computer metaphor for human information processing and storage is now being questioned and cognitive psychologists are beginning to explore the new ‘unexplorable’-parallel, holistic, divergent, creative mental processes. In addition, this paper proposes a model of the learning process in terms of reciprocally interactive cognitive, affective, and social variables.     

Should one develop nonformal education?

In the following pages we are reproducing, with the kind permission of the International Council for Educational Development (ICED) and of Unicef large extracts from a report entitled Nonformal Education for Rural Development: Strengthening Learning Opportunities for Children and Youth' (February 1973).The ICED is a non-profit research organization concerned with improving education's contribution to economic and social development in all the regions of the world.In carrying out this study, at the request of Unicef, Philip H. Coombs was assisted principally by Roy C. Prosser, Deputy Director of the Study; Manzoor Ahmed, Assistant to the Director; Roshan R. Billimoria, Research Assistant, and Sven Grabe, Special Consultant.The main part of the text printed here is drawn from Chapters II and VI of the report. Formerly Director of the International Institute for Educational Planning (Unesco). Currently Vice Chairman of ICED Among his many publications is The World Education Crisis: A Systems Analysis (1968).     

Inclusive science education: learning from Wizard

This case study reports on a student with special education needs in an inclusive seventh grade life science classroom using a framework of disability studies in education. Classroom data collected over 13 weeks consisted of qualitative (student and classroom observations, interviews, student work samples and video-taped classroom teaching and learning record using CETP-COP) methods. Three key findings emerged in the analysis and synthesis of the data: (1) The learning experiences in science for Wizard are marked by a dichotomy straddled between autonomy [“Sometimes I do” (get it)] and dependence [“Sometimes I don’t (get it)], (2) the process of learning is fragmented for Wizard because it is underscored by an emerging disciplinary literacy, (3) the nature of the inclusion is fragile and functional. Implications for classroom practices that support students with learning disabilities include focusing on student strengths, intentional use of disciplinary literacy strategies, and opportunities for eliciting student voice in decision making.     

Environmental identity formation in nonformal environmental education programs

This paper explores experiences that remained salient in the memories of former participants in three nature-based programs in Colorado, five to forty years after childhood involvement. Interviews with program founders and staff, archival research, and observations of current activities provided an understanding of each program’s history, mission and educational approach. In this context, 18 former participants were interviewed about program experiences that they remembered and program impacts on their environmental identities and academic or career choices. Results were analyzed through the lens of social practice theory, which has significant implications for the design and evaluation of environmental education programs. Results showed that social practice theory is a useful framework for interpreting the development of a social environmental identity, but an ecological identity that forms through direct contact with the natural world is an important complementary concept.     

A learning model for science education: Deriving teaching strategies

A learning model for science education was proposed by Appleton (1989), based on Osborne and Wittrock’s generative learning theory (1983) and the Piagetian notions of disequilibrium, assimilation, and accommodation. The model incorporated many aspects of difficulties in learning science experienced by students, as revealed in the LISP projects and similar research. This paper examines how the model may be used to derive teaching strategies: components of the model are analysed in terms of specific types of teacher interventions which could facilitate students’ progress to accommodation. Some established teaching strategies are analysed in terms of these interventions. Specializations: primary teacher education, teaching strategies in science.     

Planning and implementation of nonformal education projects in rural Thailand

This is a study of the factors that cause success and failure of implementation of rural nonformal education projects. The research indicates that late release of funds, the lack of a consistent plan, the lack of understanding of the roles and duties of staff, and conflicts between staff are the major problems in implementing nonformal education projects. Moreover, the successful achievement of nonformal education projects depends on co-ordination among organizations concerned, in matters of target groups, times of project implementation, and budgets. In addition, implementation should emphasize people's participation in project identification. The following changes are needed for more effective co-ordination: two-way communication in a horizontal line, the development of a workable administrative system and of similar attitudes and perceptions of staff in all organizations. In addition to these factors, staff experience is also important for successful co-ordination.

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Zusammenfassung In dem vorliegenden Bericht werden die Faktoren untersucht, die Erfolg bzw. Mißerfolg bei der Anwendung von nicht-formalen Erziehungsprojekten in ländlichen Gebieten beeinflußen. Die Forschungsergebnisse zeigen, daß die späte Bereitstellung von Geldern, das Fehlen eines schlüssigen Planes, das mangelnde Verständnis von der Rolle und den Aufgaben des Personals, sowie die Konflikte innerhalb des Personals die Hauptprobleme bei der Anwendung von nicht-formalen Erziehungsprojekten darstellen. Darüberhinaus hängt die erfolgreiche Abwicklung von nicht-formalen Erziehungsprojekten von der Koordinierung der betreffenden Organisationen ab, was die Zielgruppen, den Zeitpunkt der Projektdurchführung und die Budgets angeht. Zusätzlich sollte bei der Durchführung die Teilnahme aller bei der Projektidentifikation betont werden. Die folgenden Veränderungen sind für eine wirksamere Koordinierung erforderlich: eine beidseitige Kommunikation auf horizontaler Ebene, die Entwicklung eines durchführbaren Verwaltungssystems sowie gleichartige Haltungen und Wahrnehmungen des Personals in allen Organisationen. Außerdem ist die Erfahrung des Personals ebenfalls ein wichtiger Faktor für eine erfolgreiche Koordinierung.

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Résumé Le présent article est une étude des facteurs de succès ou d'échec de la mise en uvre des projets ruraux d'éducation non formelle. Cette analyse indique que l'attribution tardive des fonds, l'inexistence d'un plan cohérent, le manque de compréhension pour les rôles et les tâches du personnel ainsi que les conflits qui règnent au sein du personnel constituent les problèmes majeurs de la mise en uvre des projets d'éducation non formelle. En outre, le succès de l'exécution des projets d'éducation non formelle est tributaire de la coordination entre les organisations concernées pour les questions relatives aux groupes-cibles, au calendrier de mise en uvre du projet et au budget. Lors de la mise en uvre, un accent devrait également être placé sur la participation du peuple à l'identification du projet. Les changements nécessaires pour parvenir à une coordination plus efficace sont les suivants: une communication à double sens sur une ligne horizontale, le développement d'un système administratif pratique et d'attitudes ou de perceptions du même type chez le personnel de toutes les organisations. En sus de tous ces facteurs, l'expérience du personnel est d'une importance capitale pour une coordination réussie.

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This research was supported by the Canadian International Development Agency through the Broad-based Development Project at A.I.T. The research was part of the M.Sc. requirements for a degree in rural development planning of Ms Ubon Hugkuntod. Support of the Governments of France and of Belgium (Belgian Administration for Development Co-operation), through a scholarship and a secondment respectively, is gratefully acknowledged.     

Socially constructed learning in early childhood science education

This paper outlines the findings of a study in which the concept of electricity was introduced to young children in a child care centre. Three areas were examined: first, the perceived difficulties associated with the teaching of science to very young children (3–5 year olds); second, a discussion of the approach used to teach electricity to young children, and finally, the study and its findings. When the teaching of electricity (through a unit on torches) followed a socially constructed approach to learning, all of the children were able to connect up a simple electric circuit and talk about the electricity flowing around the circuit. Specialization: early childhood science education.     

Formal,nonformal and informal learning: Some North-South contrasts

It is argued that in the countries both of the South and of the North, inadequate attention has been given to the interactive dimensions of informal and formal learning. The differences between informal and formal learning have often been stressed in the past, but it is equally important to acknowledge the critical similarities as far as individual motivation and interest in learning are concerned. Before erecting new models for the integration of all three modes of learning, formal, nonformal and informal, into a system, it should be noticed that they already constitute a single comprehensive system — at least for the middle-class child. The problem in both the North and the South is often that the individual's learning is unsupported by any strong infrastructure of informal or nonformal education. This can happen in the industrialised countries, where the resources for informal learning are rich and varied, as well as in the developing world, where all too often the formal school has to operate without the support of a rich environment of literacy and learning.

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Zusammenfassung Sowohl in den südlichen als auch in den nördlichen Ländern der Welt ist nach Ansicht des Verfassers den interaktiven Dimensionen des informalen und formalen Lernens nicht genügend Aufmerksamkeit gewidmet worden. Zwar sind die Unterschiede zwischen informalen und formalen Lernen oft hervorgehoben worden, doch ist es gleichermaßen wichtig, die kritischen Ähnlichkeiten von individueller Motivation und Lerninteresse zu beachten. Bevor neue Modelle für die Integration aller drei Elemente — formal, nicht-formal und informal — in ein System aufgestellt werden, sollte man bedenken, daß diese bereits ein einziges umfassendes System darstellen, zumindest für Kinder der Mittelklasse. Im Norden wie im Süden besteht das Problem darin, daß das Lernen des Einzelnen durch keine feste Infrastruktur informaler und nicht-formaler Frziehung gestützt wird. Das kann auf Industrieländer, wo verschiedenartige Möglichkeiten für Lernen außerhalb der Schule reichlich zur Verfügung stehen, ebenso zutreffen wie auf Entwicklungsländer, wo die Schule allzuoft ohne Unterstützung durch eine an Lese-, Schreib- und anderen Lernmöglichkeiten reiche Umgebung arbeiten muß.

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Résumé Il est montré que l'attention que l'on accorde à l'importance de l'interaction de l'apprentissage scolaire formel et de l'apprentissage diffus, tant dans les pays du Nord que dans ceux du Sud, est insuffisante. La différence qui existe entre l'apprentissage scolaire formel et l'apprentissage diffus a souvent été soulignée dans le passé mais il est également important de reconnaître les similitudes criticables en ce qui regarde la motivation et l'intérêt individuels relatifs à l'apprentissage. Avant que d'ériger de nouveaux modèles d'intégration des trois modes d'apprentissage: scolaire formel, non formel et diffus, en un système, il convient de remarquer qu'ils constituent déjà bel et bien un système global en soi — du moins pour l'enfant de la classe moyenne. Le problème est que souvent, au Nord comme au Sud, l'apprentissage de l'individu n'est pas aidé par une infrastructure solide d'enseignement diffus ou non formel. Et ceci peut se produire tout aussi bien dans les pays industrialisés, où abondent les ressources de tout ordre offertes à l'apprentissage diffus, que dans le monde en développement où, trop fréquemment, le système scolaire formel doit fonctionner sans être soutenu par un milieu alphabétisé propice à l'apprentissage.

     

Reviewing affective,behavioural and cognitive learning gains in higher education

The notion of learning gains has increasingly become apparent within the higher education literature and is gaining traction in government policies in the US and UK, reflecting a desire to “quantify” the impact of university study and teaching excellence in particular. Given the increased policy focus on learning gains, it is essential that researchers and policy makers are informed about common used approaches to measure learning gains, and their expected range and magnitude. Therefore, a systematic literature search was undertaken. 52 studies (n?=?41,009) were coded into affective, behavioural and/or cognitive learning gains. The review found a rich but diverse variety of adopted methodologies and approaches to “measure” affective, behavioural and cognitive (ABC) learning gains. Nonetheless, there is a lack of consistency in the ways in which learning gains are currently measured and reported. These inconsistencies and limitations hamper effective comparisons of learning gains and teaching excellence. We recommend a greater emphasis on longitudinal measurement of learning gains using validated approaches.