Science content as an important consideration in science education research

Science education researchers have, with few exceptions, not used the conceptual content of science as an important variable in their research. Writings of two groups-philosophers of science, “are concerned with the influence of the conceptual knowledge shared by an intellectual community on the activities of that community and the psychologists are concerned with the influence of the conceptual knowledge held by an individual on that individual's behavior”, science, are concerned with the influence of the conceptual knowledge shared by an intellectual community on the activities of that community and the psychologists are concerned with the influence of the conceptual knowledge held by an individual on that individual's behavior. Suggestions are offered as to what kinds of science education research could be done in which the conceptual content of science is important.     

Interdisciplinary science research and education

Science history shows us that interdisciplinarity is a spontaneous process that is intrinsic to, and engendered by, research activity. It is an activity that is done rather than an object to be designed and constructed. We examine three vignettes from the history of science that display the interdisciplinary process at work and consider the implications for education. We consider recent examples of interdisciplinary science education, including where interdisciplinarity involves students in authentic scientific research. We conclude that the reconciliation of research and education is a meaningful role for interdisciplinary practice in science education.     

Exploring emotional climate in preservice science teacher education

Classroom emotional climates (ECs) are interrelated with students’ engagement with university courses. Despite growing interest in emotions and EC research, little is known about the ways in which social interactions and different subject matter mediate ECs in preservice science teacher education classes. In this study we investigated the EC and associated classroom interactions in a preservice science teacher education class. We were interested in the ways in which salient classroom interactions were related to the EC during lessons centered on debates about science-based issues (e.g., nuclear energy alternatives). Participants used audience response technology to indicate their perceptions of the EC. Analysis of conversation for salient video clips and analysis of non-verbal conduct (acoustic parameters, body movements, and facial expressions) supplemented EC data. One key contribution that this study makes to preservice science teacher education is to identify the micro-processes of successful and unsuccessful class interactions that were associated with positive and neutral EC. The structure of these interactions can inform the practice of other science educators who wish to produce positive ECs in their classes. The study also extends and explicates the construct of intensity of EC.     

Science education research and cognitive science

Cognitive science has the potential for offering explanatory models for many of the findings of empirical research in science education. In this paper, I use recent editions of international journals of science education to produce a categorisation of types of science education research, and what possible contributions each might make to cognitive science or the potential of results from cognitive science for enriching the science education research accounts. In a short, final section, the relationship of our own cognitive work to cognitive science is explored.     

Aptitude-treatment interaction research in science education

Individual differences among learners constitute an important class of variables for research on instruction. Their study has been of interest because measures of these variables usually predict learning outcome. There is renewed interest in this fact today because aptitudes now often appear to interact with instructional outcomes, relating differently to learning outcomes under different instructional treatments. Practical interest for science educators stems from the possibility that such interactions may be used to adapt science instruction to fit different learners optimally. Aptitude-treatment interactions (ATI) have been the subject of many studies in recent years and a wide variety of ATI findings are now in hand establishing the existence of ATI as a phenomena. Continuing research in this area will hopefully lead toward improved theory and practice to explain and to use aptitude for science instructional purposes. This article identifies promising areas of ATI research as well as general methodological guidelines for interested science educators.     

Categorising computer science education research

The interdisciplinary nature of Computer Science Education as a field of study is a complicating factor when authors are choosing appropriate journals and conferences for publishing research results. This paper reports a survey of 42 such publications in order to identify the types of paper frequently accepted for publication in each. We review existing taxonomies developed for the general fields of Computer Science and Education, and from this starting point, we develop a novel faceted taxonomy, specifically aimed to help new researchers in the field understand what types of papers are published and where they appear. Our results confirm previous studies indicating the predominance of practice-based, technology-driven reports. We also observe certain differences in educational themes between those found in publications grounded in the Computer Science Education corpus and those emerging from more general Higher Education literature.     

科学教育的现状及科学教育研究的意义

中国科学院院长路甬祥先生，于2000年6月10日在北京科学会党提出了在国内开展科学教育研究与实施的问题，引起了国内教育界，科技界的广泛关注，本在借鉴国外科学教育研究和实施经验的基础上，结合我国的科技发展水平，依据我国基础教育的实际，对我国开展科学教育的目的，意义进行探讨，意在为实施科学教育探寻理论基础。