Science Teacher Learning of MBL-Supported Student-Centered Science Education in the Context of Secondary Education in Tanzania

Science teachers from secondary schools in Tanzania were offered an in-service arrangement to prepare them for the integration of technology in a student-centered approach to science teaching. The in-service arrangement consisted of workshops in which educative curriculum materials were used to prepare teachers for student-centered education and for the use and application of Microcomputer Based Laboratories (MBL)—a specific technology application for facilitating experiments in science education. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected to study whether the in-service arrangement impacted teacher learning. Teacher learning was determined by three indicators: (1) the ability to conduct MBL-supported student centered science lessons, (2) teachers’ reflection on those lessons and (3) students’ perceptions of the classroom environment. The results of the research indicate that the teachers’ were able to integrate MBL in their science lessons at an acceptable level and that they were able to create a classroom environment which was appreciated by their students as more investigative and open-ended.     

The Pedometer as a Tool to Enrich Science Learning in a Public Health Context

The United States is experiencing an obesity epidemic: A science-technology-society public health issue tied to our built environment, which is characterized by heavy dependence on automobiles and reduced opportunities to walk and bicycle for transportation. This presents an informal science education opportunity within “science in personal and social perspectives' to use pedometer technology for enhancing students' understandings about human energy balance. An exploratory study was conducted with 29 teachers to investigate how pedometers could be used for providing academic enrichment to secondary students participating in after-school Health Sciences and Technology Academy clubs. Frequency analysis revealed that the pedometer activities often investigated kilocalorie expenditure and/or incorporated hypothesis testing/experimenting. Teachers' perspectives on learning outcomes most frequently conveyed that students increased their awareness of the importance of health habits relative to kilocalorie intake and expenditure. Pedometers have considerable merit for the regular science curriculum as they allow for numerous mathematics applications and inquiry learning and target concepts such as energy and equilibrium that cut across the National Science Education Standards. Pedometers and associated resources on human energy balance are important tools that science teachers can employ in helping schools respond to the national call to prevent childhood obesity.     

创建学习型社会背景下的社区教育资源共享问题研究

新时期社区教育是创建学习型社会的重要组成部分,在社区教育发展过程中,如何实现社区教育资源共享是关键。本文就创建学习型社会背景下社区教育资源共享的内涵、现状及实现社区教育资源共享的目标、原则、策略等一系列问题加以探索和研究。     

学习化社会背景下的瑞典教育改革——以学前教育和高等教育为蓝本

二战后,瑞典为推进学习化社会的建设,政府以终身教育为指导思想大力改革传统教育体制,尤其重视学前教育的基础性和高等教育的引导作用.在学前教育的改革方面,瑞典政府明晰学前教育目标,强调儿童的全面发展,革新学前教育内容和方式.在高等教育的改革方面,瑞典政府扩大高等教育的规模,为终身教育实施提供条件,加强对高等教育的调控,为终身教育提供制度保障.     

History of Science as an Instructional Context: Student Learning in Genetics and Nature of Science

This study (1) explores the effectiveness of the contextualized history of science on student learning of nature of science (NOS) and genetics content knowledge (GCK), especially interrelationships among various genetics concepts, in high school biology classrooms; (2) provides an exemplar for teachers on how to utilize history of science in genetics instruction; and (3) suggests a modified concept mapping assessment tool for both NOS and GCK. A quasi-experimental control group research design was utilized with pretests, posttests, and delayed posttests, combining qualitative data and quantitative data. The experimental group was taught with historical curricular lessons, while the control group was taught with non-historical curricular lessons. The results indicated that students in the experimental group developed better understanding in targeted aspects of NOS immediately after the intervention and retained their learning 2 months after the intervention. Both groups developed similar genetics knowledge in the posttest, and revealed a slight decay in their understanding in the delayed posttest.     

深度学习:学习科学视阈下的最优整合

为超越认知心理学的局限,深度学习研究从狭义走向广义成为必然.复杂科学为广义深度学习研究提供了全新视角,学习科学为学习系统简化提供了合理依据,以此可重新审视深度学习的缘起、内涵、机制及过程.研究结合人工智能历史演变,指出深度学习缘起于认知心理学的重塑、课程与教学论的变革以及教育技术学的突破;基于对既有内涵的梳理,认为深度学习是学习科学视阈下对信息深度加工过程、教师深度引导过程、技术深度支持过程三者的最优整合;依托影响因素分析,点明深度学习的发生机制以知识内容为客观载体、以真实情境为客观条件、以心理机能为主观意识;从纵向优化和横向整合两个方面建立了深度学习的一般过程模型,其间三个"深度过程"和"三维机制"不断趋于最优整合,共同促进学习者深度学习.     

深度学习:学习科学视阈下的最优整合

为超越认知心理学的局限,深度学习研究从狭义走向广义成为必然.复杂科学为广义深度学习研究提供了全新视角,学习科学为学习系统简化提供了合理依据,以此可重新审视深度学习的缘起、内涵、机制及过程.研究结合人工智能历史演变,指出深度学习缘起于认知心理学的重塑、课程与教学论的变革以及教育技术学的突破;基于对既有内涵的梳理,认为深度学习是学习科学视阈下对信息深度加工过程、教师深度引导过程、技术深度支持过程三者的最优整合;依托影响因素分析,点明深度学习的发生机制以知识内容为客观载体、以真实情境为客观条件、以心理机能为主观意识;从纵向优化和横向整合两个方面建立了深度学习的一般过程模型,其间三个"深度过程"和"三维机制"不断趋于最优整合,共同促进学习者深度学习.     

学习化社会教育的新使命:闲暇教育

社会的发展与进步使人们拥有了越来越多的闲暇时间;从"求学与就业"到"学习与生活"的转变,构成了业已到来的学习化社会的显著特征,以培养人、发展人、完善人为职志的教育有了新使命闲暇教育.     

科学教育的重要途径—非正规学习

非正规学习在培养学生科学素质方面具有正规学习不可替代的重要作用。了解非正规学习的特点、规律和怎样影响人的科学素质的形成和发展对当前我国政府倡导的大力普及科学教育,提高全民,特别是未成年人的科学素质具有重大意义。非正规科学学习不仅能为学生提供丰富的认知冲突和社会互动机会,使他们建立起更加完善的知识结构,而且还能提高他们的科学论证能力。非正规学习是发展学生科学素质的必经之路。     

Becoming a Learning Organization: New Directions in Science Education Research at the National Science Foundation

The Education and Human Resources (EHR) Directorate at the National Science Foundation has been examining its role in supporting the development of new approaches to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. This article explores what it means to be scientifically literate, what it takes to become a learning organization, how the EHR Directorate is working towards becoming such an organization through rigorous self-study, and how EHR can best manage its large portfolio of awards that support investigations in STEM education to enhance their collective value to researchers, policymakers and educators. Several elements of the self-study process are described, and the implications for the Directorate as well as for the field of researchers in science education are explored.The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the National Science Foundation.     

Assessment at the Intersection of Science and Literacy

The authors of this article, all of whom have been a part of this effort to assess argumentation in literacy-rich science curriculum, have struggled with our attempts to build 3 argument-related assessments—understanding, critiquing, and constructing arguments about scientific phenomena in both oral and written modes. Loosely affiliated with the Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading Project at Lawrence Hall of Science, this effort focused on creating a suite of assessments as models for how middle school science teachers might create their own school-based, curriculum-embedded assessments of science. After reviewing the broad scope and insights derived from a 10-year history of assessments that operate at the intersection of science and literacy, we zoom in on 3 vexing but informative challenges they encountered—and addressed (if not resolved)—as they tried to assess the comprehension, critique, and construction of oral and written arguments.     

The Intersection of Language,Education, and Content: Science Instruction for ESL Students

In this study, the author investigated the relationships among Turkish students' perceived computer skills, computer attitudes, quantitative skills, qualitative skills, and gender. The author collected data from a total of 362 undergraduate students. He found that gender was a significant variable to predict computer attitudes but not perceived skills. The author found no significant correlations between perceived computer skills and attitudes. Although computer attitudes and qualitative skills were significantly and negatively correlated, the author found no significant associations between computer skills and quantitative skills and between computer attitudes and quantitative skills. At least one variable explained variances in each of the subscales of the computer-attitude scale.     

试论"做中学"科学教育的文化境脉与学生身份

"做中学"科学教育以建构主义为价值取向,力图创建以情境理论为基础的文化境脉,建构与文化境脉相联系的、互动的、体现参与的学生身份,并探讨由传统学校教育向实习场和实践共同体转化中如何确立学生身份等问题.     

Study of Self: The Self as Designer in Online Teacher Education

In this article we describe our engagement in self-study as part of an examination of design-based research for education. We focus on graduate-level online teacher education as an example of how self-study provided a means of examining deeply our teaching and our roles as teacher and designer in the learning environment. We posit that online learning environments are particularly well suited for self-study to enhance design perspectives because the interactions between teacher and students are informed by personal context and mediated by technological tools. The graduate students in our courses were teacher leaders in literacy or mathematics who were learning how to support professional development for other teachers. Throughout our self-study research we found ourselves drawing upon our previous design research experiences, which aided our ability to engage in self-study: We were part of the classroom system, focusing on our roles within the teaching and learning process as designers of the online learning environment. Three key design principles resulted from our self-study process: focusing on systems of learning and teaching, designing pedagogical tools and products, and using iterative processes. Engaging in self-study enhanced our understanding and implementation of synchronous online instruction, particularly regarding our use of technological tools to enhance student learning and support learning communities.     

Science Learning in Special Education: The Case for Constructed Versus Instructed Learning

Throughout the history of education, debate has existed between the relative merits of instructed versus constructed knowledge. In this article, we review our program of research in science education for students with disabilities in order to reveal some insights into this debate. We review research in science curriculum, mnemonic strategies, text-processing strategies, hands-on approaches, coached elaborations, “discovery” learning, correlates of effective inclusive science classrooms, and class-wide peer tutoring with differentiated curriculum enhancements. Overall, both instructed and constructed knowledge are important and can be facilitated with appropriate instructional strategies. Implications for practice and future research are provided.     

The Affordances of Minecraft Education as a Game-Based Learning Tool for Atomic Structure in Junior High School Science Education

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Video games are a medium most students are familiar with; thus, they can be used as educational tools to meet the needs of twenty-first-century...     

Creating a Context for the Learning of Science Process Skills Through Picture Books

This article provides suggestions on ways in which science process skills can be taught in a meaningful context through children’s literature. It is hoped that the following examples of how process skills can be taught using children’s books will provide a starting point from which primary teachers can create additional examples. Many possibilities exist within the world of children’s literature to develop process skills in a meaningful way.