LISP (Energy) — Some preliminary findings

Conclusion In concluding this tentative account of our research we can note that the research questions about teachers' alternative frameworks and their interaction with the curriculum and with classroom learning by students appear to be extremely important questions for researchers in the area of energy teaching and learning and presumably in wider contexts. There are also implications for science teacher education, both preservice and inservice. It is clearly necessary to address the confusion in both teachers' and students' understandings of energy. We would like to thank Mary and Jack, their Principals, and classes for allowing us to observe their teaching and learning, SERU colleagues for their sustained support and in particular Mark Cosgrove for his editing of this paper's drafts.     

Determinants of student readiness for flexible learning: Some preliminary findings

An exploratory study using a questionnaire and focus group interviews was conducted amongst a small sample of first‐year, first‐semester, undergraduate design students from the Faculty of Art and Design at Monash University, Australia, to determine their readiness for off‐campus, flexible, independent learning. The study explores common problems, similarities and differences among learners from South East Asia, other international students, and local Australian students. Findings of the study are presented under five key themes: dependence on the teacher and the classroom environment; flexible learning and working alone; structure; communication; and work patterns. The article details approaches to study of first‐year undergraduates taking a creative unit such as design and concludes by discussing the possible cultural attributes that have an impact on the learning as well as related concerns and problems.     

Institutional child abuse in Greece: some preliminary findings

A long-term study on child abuse and neglect in Greece is being carried out at the Institute of Child Health, Athens. A multidisciplinary team is investigating the nature of the problem in Greece, is trying a system of therapeutic intervention to families, is evaluating the adequacy of child protection as it is used in child abuse and neglect, and is examining the efficacy of the law. During a one year period, 5 children cared for in institutions were referred to the program. All were boys. All were children with minor or major handicaps. Two of died from the abusive incident. A study of the circumstances of the injury, and of the conditions in Greek institutions, supports the idea that institutional and family child abuse share many common characteristics. Special mention is made of the Greek circumstances pertaining to child protection and the law.     

Palestinian science teachers' epistemological beliefs: A preliminary survey

The purpose of the study was to determine what percentage of Palestinian science teachers held beliefs about knowledge and learning that are congruent with the recent constructivist/conceptual change epistemological basis of science education, what factors influence these beliefs, and if the beliefs about knowledge and learning were related. Two questionnaires were developed to probe teachers' beliefs in these two areas, and a sample consisting of 91 teachers with varying educational background and teaching levels responded to these questionnaires. The study showed that only a small percentage of Palestinian teachers subscribed to the recent views of learning and scientific knowledge (25% and nine percent respectively). With regard to the views of learning, this was mainly due to very few teachers believing or realising that students hold alternative preconceptions and that science learning entails conceptual change. Very few teachers also believed that science itself develops through conceptual change. Indeed, more than 80% believed that science develops through accretion and about 40% preferred the inductive model of science to the hypothetico-deductive one which only 11% preferred. It was found that these views were not related to the teachers' years of schooling, years of experience, level at which they taught, or teacher specialisation. The two views of learning and knowledge were moderately related. The results and implications for future studies are discussed.     

The effectiveness of Nurture Groups: preliminary research findings

Interest in Nurture Groups continues to grow. As Rebecca Doyle's article in the previous issue of this journal demonstrated, practitioners are enthusiastically exploring nurture-based practice as one approach to the inclusion of pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. In this article, Paul Cooper, Professor of Education at the University of Leicester, Ray Arnold and Eve Boyd, both researchers with the Nurture Groups project, provide a report on their research to date. This interim report raises some important questions for policy makers and practitioners as well as indicating ways forward into further enquiry.     

Child perpetrators--children who molest other children: preliminary findings

While the seriousness of sexual abuse by adolescents is finally beginning to receive adequate attention from the professional community, the existence of child perpetrators is largely dismissed and denied. Forty-seven boys between the ages of 4 and 13 are described who have molested children younger than themselves. Coercion was involved in all of the cases included in this study. These children had been treated in a program especially designed for child perpetrators at Children's Institute International in Los Angeles. Prior to their own sexually abusive behaviors, 49% of these boys had been sexually abused and 19% physically abused. The children all knew the people who victimized them. These male child perpetrators all knew the children they molested. In 47% of the cases the sexual abuse was of a sibling. The average number of victims of these children was 2.1 with a range of 1 to 7. The mean age at the time of perpetration was 8 years, 9 months. The mean age of the victims of these children was 6 years, 9 months. There was a history of sexual and physical abuse in the majority of the families of these children, as well as a history of substance abuse. This population is compared to adolescent perpetrators.     

Logical language,natural strategies and the teaching of science

The role of formal logic in the development and investigation of science education is analysed. Firstly, the way in which teachers use language, logical and otherwise, is described and the necessary use of logical relations in the learning of abstract concepts and ideas is investigated. The conclusions drawn from the literature indicate that learners have great difficulty in comprehending the normal logic implied in ordinary words such as ‘because’ and ‘therefore’, and that the more difficult the context, the more likely it is that even the most common logical argument will be misunderstood. Less common logical words may be misunderstood by a majority of typical pupils in science lessons.

Secondly, the development of efficient cognitive processes in the context of science curricula is investigated. The conclusion drawn from literature describing experiments (rather than suggestions based more in philosophy) suggests strongly that formal logics probably have little to offer science educators. It is argued that until science teaching starts to base itself more on ‘natural strategies’, in much the same way as it is now looking seriously at ‘alternative frameworks’ as the basis for concept development, process development in science teaching will not seriously affect the ability of most pupils to solve either scientific or everyday problems more efficiently.     

Constructivism and science education: Some epistemological problems

The paper outlines the significant influence of constructivism in contemporary science and mathematics education and emphasizes the central role that epistemology plays in constructivist theory and practice. It is claimed that constructivism is basically a variant of old-style empiricist epistemology, which had its origins in Aristotle's individualist and sense-based theory of knowledge. There are well-known problems with empiricism from which constructivism appears unable to dissociate itself.     

Women and science education in Cameroon: Some critical reflections

Ten Cameroonian women were interviewed in order to find out how they had managed to become scientists and science educators. We talked to them about the kinds of support they had been given by their families, how science was taught in schools both in the past and at present, and whether or not they thought it possible to integrated science and African traditional thought in schools and universities. We used a framework incorporating the concepts of gender and social class in order to interpret their views. On this basis, we understood why these women tended to underestimate the importance of institutional discrimination in science and to conceive of the norms of professionalism as unsurpassable. In contrast, we suggest that women in Cameroon will only be able to participate fully when their own experience and ways of knowing are incorporated into the teaching and structures of science.     

Explanation and metaphor: Some empirical questions in science education

This paper examines how science education becomes institutionalized in Third World countries using Malaysia as a case study. The findings shows that the development of science education in Malaysia has been greatly influenced by international trends and the country's socio‐political development. Science gained a place in the school curriculum in the midst of British colonial rule. The strong colonial influence on school science continued throughout the early independence period but, in the 1980s, external influences on science education came from both Western and Islamic countries. In each of the historical periods, external world cultural forces interacted with internal socio‐political forces resulting in a national science curriculum which is in accord with world cultural rules but at the same time quite indigenous in character. This study also suggests that while each nation‐state aspires to develop an indigenous form of science education that would best suit the national context, the outcome tends to be more universalistic than particularistic due to global influences.     

语言输入时期研究的逻辑问题探讨

语言习得研究在语言输入内容、时期以及人类自身机制等方面取已得了大量的成果。但在语言学习,尤其是在外语语言学习的实际指导方面未能取得突破。本文在前人研究成果的基础上就研究中存在于研究思路和语言学习阶段的逻辑问题进行初步探讨,希望能够提供不同的思路或视角,从而寻求影响语言习得的真正决定因素。     

Bilinguals' understanding of logical connectives in English and Sesotho

Students in Lesotho secondary schools were given a test on the logical connectives and, or, and if-then in either English or Sesotho. In forms 1 and 2, the Sesotho groups performed better than the English groups, although both groups performed poorly. In form 4, the English group excelled. Analysis of responses to certain categories of questions was undertaken, for example, questions with negatives, questions which called for indirect reasoning, or questions whose answers were not determinable. Certain incorrect reasoning patterns, such as inverse reasoning, were investigated. Although certain differences between language groups were found, the differences were attributed to relative understanding of language rather than to Whorfian differences in logic between language groups.     

The role of language in science education: Some reflections from Fiji

One of the issues identified in a recent study of science teaching and learning in Fiji's primary and secondary schools was the problems faced by students in coping with scientific terminology, and in expressing ideas in their own words (Muralidhar, 1989). In this paper, some examples from the study are used to illustrate the extent of the problem and to discuss the implications for teaching and learning science. It is argued that the quality of communication is an important factor in promoting the understanding of science, especially when the main sources of information for the majority of students are the textbook and the teacher. Specializations: Science teacher education, curriculum in action, problem solving, curriculum evaluation, naturalistic research.