Using automated analysis to assess middle school students' competence with scientific argumentation

Argumentation is fundamental to science education, both as a prominent feature of scientific reasoning and as an effective mode of learning—a perspective reflected in contemporary frameworks and standards. The successful implementation of argumentation in school science, however, requires a paradigm shift in science assessment from the measurement of knowledge and understanding to the measurement of performance and knowledge in use. Performance tasks requiring argumentation must capture the many ways students can construct and evaluate arguments in science, yet such tasks are both expensive and resource-intensive to score. In this study we explore how machine learning text classification techniques can be applied to develop efficient, valid, and accurate constructed-response measures of students' competency with written scientific argumentation that are aligned with a validated argumentation learning progression. Data come from 933 middle school students in the San Francisco Bay Area and are based on three sets of argumentation items in three different science contexts. The findings demonstrate that we have been able to develop computer scoring models that can achieve substantial to almost perfect agreement between human-assigned and computer-predicted scores. Model performance was slightly weaker for harder items targeting higher levels of the learning progression, largely due to the linguistic complexity of these responses and the sparsity of higher-level responses in the training data set. Comparing the efficacy of different scoring approaches revealed that breaking down students' arguments into multiple components (e.g., the presence of an accurate claim or providing sufficient evidence), developing computer models for each component, and combining scores from these analytic components into a holistic score produced better results than holistic scoring approaches. However, this analytical approach was found to be differentially biased when scoring responses from English learners (EL) students as compared to responses from non-EL students on some items. Differences in the severity between human and computer scores for EL between these approaches are explored, and potential sources of bias in automated scoring are discussed.     

Metaphors as a reflection of middle school students' perceptions of school: A cross-cultural analysis

This study analyzes the perceptions of Turkish and American middle school students of school and schooling by examining the metaphors they produce. A total of 18 American and 24 Turkish students were interviewed as part of this study. The results show differences in the participants' perceptions of schooling by culture. Turkish participants perceived the school environment as family-like, care-giving, psychologically nurturing, educationally exemplary, and physically appealing. School was also seen as a fundamental prerequisite in the preparation for life and the possibility of employment, promising upward social mobility as an adult. Overall, while some American participants perceived school as a wild, crowded, chaotic, boring, painful, regulated environment in which students must learn to survive, others see it as a place of joy, caring, involvement, and learning. The study also indicates that metaphors are useful tools in understanding how students as real actors of school make sense of schooling and their experiences in school.     

From “truth” to “invented reality”: A discourse analysis of high school physics students' talk about scientific knowledge

Students' views of the nature of scientific knowledge have been recognized as an important component of science learning environments. In this study, we analyze an extensive data base consisting of 23 students' written and oral discourse about ontology, epistemology, and sociology of scientific knowledge collected over a 15-month period in the context of two consecutive junior- and senior-level physics courses. Over a 2-month period at the beginning of the second year, students read, reflected on, and talked about a text which discusses epistemology in the context of physics. Our study shows that students drew on nine types of discursive resources to support their ontological, epistemological, and sociological claims. Toward the end of the study, the range and number of supportive statements had increased. Simultaneously, few students changed their ontological and sociological claims, but a considerable number changed their epistemological claims. Two case studies illustrate the development of student discourse in the course of the study. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 34 : 145–179, 1997.     

初中英语词汇教学中多模态话语分析理论的应用

英语词汇是英语的基础,本文通过了解初中英语词汇教学的现状,将多模态话语分析理论运用到初中英语词汇教学中,旨在为初中教师的词汇教学提供一种新的方式,从而提高初中学生的词汇学习效率与水平。     

Explaining systems: Investigating middle school students' understanding of emergent phenomena

Science, as with all cognitive activities, is fundamentally a matter of interpretation, sense‐making, and explanation. This study focused on a small group of middle school students as they developed understanding of a particular type of phenomena: emergent systems. Such systems are notable in that macro‐level properties emerge as the result of micro‐level interactions between system components. I describe students' initial understanding of emergent systems, as well as the ways in which their thinking came to reflect the following heuristics: (a) recognition that there may not be a singular causal force underlying the system; (b) distinguishing between micro‐ and macro‐levels of analysis; and (c) comprehending that even small changes at the micro‐level can have significant effects at the macro‐level (Resnick, 1994 ). I conclude by considering some implications for science education. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 784–806, 2000     

An analysis of Turkish high school students' metacognition and motivation

Publishing data on individual schools is becoming a common practice in more and more countries. Based on an extensive study of literature and interviews with experts in England, Scotland, The Netherlands, and France, this article reveals that publishing individual school data is not only a contested but also a very complex affair. Different stakeholders may benefit from the availability of individual (comparative) school data under the condition that some prerequisites are met. The publication system must prevent unintended effects from occurring. Additionally, criticisms on existing publication systems should be taken into account. Providing informative, correct, and comparative information is primordial. Value added measurements are explored as a promising approach.     

中学生网络游戏成瘾浅析

中学生网络游戏成瘾具有不可遏制性、情绪依赖性、耐受性、矛盾性及反复性特征，通过对中学生网络游戏成瘾的原因分析，提出了具有操作性的防范措施。     

Determinants of middle school students' intention to enroll in a high school science course: An application of the theory of reasoned action

The determinants of intentions to enroll in a high school science course were investigated, using the theory of reasoned action, among earth science students enrolled in a middle school located in a middle-income, suburban community in central Texas. The sample consisted of 5 of 14 eighth-grade earth science classes, randomly selected for this study. Classes contained Caucasian and minority students, male and female, of differing science abilities who were grouped according to general academic abilities—basic, average, and gifted and talented. The prediction of behavioral intention of sample participants was tested using four external variables, attitude, and subjective norm (Direct-Full Effects Model), attitude and subjective norm alone (Direct-Reduced Effects Model), and disaggregated data on attitude and subjective norm (Indirect Effects Model). Results of the study revealed attitude and subjective norm to be the sole predictors of behavioral intention for the aggregated data, but to be differentially effective for groups formed on the basis of sex, ethnicity, general ability, and science ability. Evidence is presented to show that the relative contributions of attitude and subjective norm to the prediction of behavioral intention varies among students depending upon their sex, ethnicity, general ability, and science ability. Results of the study are discussed in terms of increasing the enrollment of all students in elective science courses.     

中学生科技创新能力培养的个案研究

本文总结了利用兴趣驱动、资源整合和认知冲突科技创新能力的培养方式,螺旋式地培养中学生的科技创新能力的教学实践案例。     

互联网+时代下中学生阅读推广的特点与对策分析

阅读影响着青少年的一生,也影响着国家的未来。我国社会正处于剧烈变迁中,互联网+日益成为社会大众关注和使用的焦点,互联网的快速普及,导致价值混乱、过分功利、过度娱乐化,这些都影响到中学生群体的阅读推广。文章从青少年群体数字化阅读的特点分析出发,探究中学生阅读推广特点,提出解决阅读推广的对策与途径。     

The sound of music: Constructing science as sociocultural practices through oral and written discourse

In this article, we examine the oral and written discourse processes in a high school physics class and how these discourse processes are related to sociocultural practices in scientific communities. Our theoretical framework is based on sociological and anthropological studies of scientific communities and ethnographies of classroom life. We review the use of discourse analysis as a methodological orientation in science education and provide a logic‐of‐inquiry framing how we used discourse analysis in our ethnographic research. Our ethnographic analysis showed that, through students' participation in creating scientific papers on the physics of sound, their appropriation of scientific discourse was related to the framing activities of the teachers and the social practices established over time in the classroom. Our textual analysis of the student papers focused on how they used evidence to make claims. We explore the lessons learned from participating in the classroom of these students. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 36: 883–915, 1999     

在中学体育教学中运用“马太效应”的实验研究

在高中体育与健康课程教学中,由于教师的教学方法等方面的组织不当会出现“马太效应”消极影响。本文采用实验法、调查法、访问法、文献法对新乡市第一中学高一女生班学生进行为期一年的实验研究,并提出了相应的建议。     

Relating Gestures and Speech: An analysis of students' conceptions about geological sedimentary processes

Advances in cognitive science and educational research indicate that a significant part of spatial cognition is facilitated by gesture (e.g. giving directions, or describing objects or landscape features). We aligned the analysis of gestures with conceptual metaphor theory to probe the use of mental image schemas as a source of concept representations for students' learning of sedimentary processes. A hermeneutical approach enabled us to access student meaning-making from students' verbal reports and gestures about four core geological ideas that involve sea-level change and sediment deposition. The study included 25 students from three US universities. Participants were enrolled in upper-level undergraduate courses on sedimentology and stratigraphy. We used semi-structured interviews for data collection. Our gesture coding focused on three types of gestures: deictic, iconic, and metaphoric. From analysis of video recorded interviews, we interpreted image schemas in gestures and verbal reports. Results suggested that students attempted to make more iconic and metaphoric gestures when dealing with abstract concepts, such as relative sea level, base level, and unconformities. Based on the analysis of gestures that recreated certain patterns including time, strata, and sea-level fluctuations, we reasoned that proper representational gestures may indicate completeness in conceptual understanding. We concluded that students rely on image schemas to develop ideas about complex sedimentary systems. Our research also supports the hypothesis that gestures provide an independent and non-linguistic indicator of image schemas that shape conceptual development, and also play a role in the construction and communication of complex spatial and temporal concepts in the geosciences.     

Language! Effects of an individualized structured language curriculum for middle and high school students

This chapter documents the success of a 12-month individualized structured language curriculum (LANGUAGE!) provided to middle and high school juvenile offenders (n=45; 43 males; 2 females) enrolled in a rehabilitation program. Although individual students participated in the program for an average of just 22.7 weeks (SD 8.51), they made significant gains (more than three years growth) over this period in written language expression (composition), encoding (spelling), and decoding (isolated word recognition), as documented by standardized literacy measures, moving from standard scores in the 60s and 70s to the 80s and 90s. Gains on the Gray Oral Reading Test (GORT III) were consistent with these measures and well exceeded gains made by a comparison group (n=51; 48 males, 3 females) which included students attending similar rehabilitation programs for a comparable period of time, but these students were not offered the individualized LANGUAGE! curriculum. Details of the LANGUAGE! curriculum and the basis of its success are discussed.     

浅析高校辅导员的大学生心理危机干预工作

目前,高等教育的普及使大学生规模迅速扩大,受到社会、家庭等诸多因素的影响,大学生的心理危机问题和现象愈显突出。高校辅导员处于教育学生的第一线,与大学生联系最为密切,影响也最为直接。新形势下,大学生心理危机干预成为了高校辅导员的另一项重要工作内容。本文阐述了大学生的心理危机的特点,高校大学生心理危机的主要表现和识别方法,以及开展大学生心理危机干预的方法。     

中小学教师继续教育模式分析

社会发展进程中,教育扮演着重要的角色,主要为社会各个行业输送人才资源,从而推动社会经济的进一步发展。为了优化与完善我国的教育体系,培养更多的人才资源,我国推出了继续教育,此教育主要以成人教育为主,是参与学校教育之后,对全部社会成员所提供的一系列教育活动。文章以中小学教育继续教育模式为研究内容,对中学小学教师继续教育模式展开分析,及时发现其中的弊端,并提出相关建议,旨在促进中小学教师继续教育的进一步发展。