Students’ English Learning Anxiety in Senior High School

Since 1970s,the research on second language acquisition has been developed with times.The research focus of lLanguage teach ing has shifted from the study of how to teach students to how to learn for students,with particular attention to explore the influence that students’psychological factors such as learning motivation,learning attitude and learning anxiety have on learning outcomes.Among those emotional variables,anxiety is considered to be one of the most critical psychological variables.English classroom anxiety is different from the ordinary classroom anxiety and receives much attention from scholars.Horwiz(1986) pointed out that foreign language anxiety is a unique phenomenon in language learning.In China,English learning in senior high school is a very important period.It is a common phenomenon to see students behaving anxiously in the English class.Therefore,the anxiety in the English class of senior high school de serves attention.This paper will analyze the main reasons of students’anxiety and points out several effectively methods to relieve their anxiety so as to enhance English classroom teaching and learning effect.     

High School Students’ Learning and Perceptions of Phylogenetics of Flowering Plants

Basic phylogenetics and associated “tree thinking” are often minimized or excluded in formal school curricula. Informal settings provide an opportunity to extend the K–12 school curriculum, introducing learners to new ideas, piquing interest in science, and fostering scientific literacy. Similarly, university researchers participating in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) outreach activities increase awareness of college and career options and highlight interdisciplinary fields of science research and augment the science curriculum. To aid in this effort, we designed a 6-h module in which students utilized 12 flowering plant species to generate morphological and molecular phylogenies using biological techniques and bioinformatics tools. The phylogenetics module was implemented with 83 high school students during a weeklong university STEM immersion program and aimed to increase student understanding of phylogenetics and coevolution of plants and pollinators. Student response reflected positive engagement and learning gains as evidenced through content assessments, program evaluation surveys, and program artifacts. We present the results of the first year of implementation and discuss modifications for future use in our immersion programs as well as in multiple course settings at the high school and undergraduate levels.

Just as beginning students in geography need to be taught how to read maps, so beginning students in biology should be taught how to read trees and to understand what trees communicate. O’Hara (1997 , p. 327)

     

High School Students’ Perceptions of Evolution Instruction: Acceptance and Evolution Learning Experiences

Evolution is an important and sometimes controversial component of high school biology. In this study, we used a mixed methods approach to explore students’ evolution acceptance and views of evolution teaching and learning. Students explained their acceptance and rejection of evolution in terms of evidence and conflicts with religion and authority. Students largely supported the teaching of evolution and offered several reasons for its inclusion in high school biology. Students also offered several suggestions for improving evolution instruction. Evolution acceptors’ and rejecters’ views of evolution teaching and learning differed in a number of respects, and these differences may be explained using border crossing as a theoretical lens. Relevant implications for evolution instruction are discussed.     

Fostering High School Students’ Conceptual Understandings About Seasons: The Design of a Technology-enhanced Learning Environment

The purpose of this study is to understand in what ways a technology-enhanced learning (TEL) environment supports learning about the causes of the seasons. The environment was designed to engage students in five cognitive phases: Contextualisation, Sense making, Exploration, Modeling, and Application. Seventy-five high school students participated in this study and multiple sources of data were collected to investigate students’ conceptual understandings and the interactions between the design of the environment and students’ alternative conceptions. The findings show that the number of alternative conceptions held by students were reduced except for the incorrect concepts of “the length of sunshine” and “the distance between the sun and the earth.” The percentage of partial explanations held by students was also reduced from 60.5 to 55.3% and the percentage of students holding complete scientific explanations after using Lesson Seasons rose from 2.6 to 15.8%. While some students succeeded in modeling their science concepts closely to the expert’s concepts, some failed to do so after the invention. The unsuccessful students could not remediate their alternative conceptions without explicit guidance and scaffolding. Future research can then be focused on understanding how to provide proper scaffoldings for removing some alternative concepts which are highly resistant to change.

Students’ Learning Experiences in an Early College High School

Early College High Schools (ECHS) are at the forefront of high school reform embodying the principles of rigor, relationship, and relevance. This study examines students’ learning experiences in the context of relationships and rigor at an ECHS. Specifically, I investigate factors that influence students to attend an ECHS, what they attribute to their academic success, and the challenges they experience. I draw upon data from individual and focus group interviews with students at one 3-year-old ECHS in southeastern North Carolina.     

Secondary School Students’ Reasoning About Science and Personhood

Science & Education - Scientific advances, particularly in evolutionary biology, genetics, neuroscience and artificial intelligence, present many challenges to religious and popular notions of...     

Manipulative Use and Elementary School Students’ Mathematics Learning

Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) 1998/1999, we examine the relationship between elementary students’ (K–5) manipulative use and mathematics learning. Using a cross-sectional correlational analysis, we found no relationship between manipulative use and student mathematics achievement. However, using a longitudinal analysis, we documented a positive relationship between manipulative use and student mathematics learning during their elementary school years (K–5). From a teaching and learning perspective, these findings provide important evidence of the influence of long-term manipulative use on students’ overall learning. From policy and methodological perspectives, these findings provide evidence for the importance of modeling student learning (as opposed to achievement) when studying the effectiveness of instructional strategies.     

Language Learning Beliefs:A Survey of Chinese High School Students

1. Introduction To our knowledge, students come to the class with their own mini-theories about language learning. Those mini-theories are called language learning be- liefs (LLBs) by Horwitz (1987) and viewed as a com- ponent of metacognitive knowledge in cognitive psy- chology (e.g., Flavell, 1979). Studies show that LLBs exert either positive or negative effects on learning process. Therefore, it is quite necessary to take a com- prehensive investigation into the beliefs held by lan- gu…     

Grade Level Differences in High School Students’ Conceptions of and Motives for Learning Science

Research in Science Education - Students’ conceptions of learning science and their relations with motive for learning may vary as the education level increases. This study aimed to compare...     

Using Cogenerative Dialogs to Improve Science Teaching and Learning: Challenges and Solutions in High School Students’ Internships

Internships in science research settings have received increasing attention as a means of helping students construct appropriate understandings, practices, tools, and language in scientific activities. To advance student–scientist partnerships beyond the status quo, the study aimed to investigate how cogenerative dialogs (cogens) may help high school students and scientists identify and address challenges collectively. The analysis identified nine major challenges discussed during cogens: (1) the quality and progress of scientific practice in laboratories, (2) the quality of scientists’/assistants’ instructions in classrooms, (3) the quality of student participation in classrooms and homework, (4) students’ absences, including arriving late or leaving early, (5) the quality of administrative support, (6) preparation for scientific presentations, (7) the process of deciding project topics, (8) students’ peer interactions and communication, and (9) students’ physiological needs. The three most salient challenges were “the quality and progress of scientific practice in laboratories” (39%), “the quality of scientists’/assistants’ instructions in classrooms” (20%), and “the quality of student participation in classrooms and homework” (17%). The study shows that cogens allowed students and scientists to agree on teaching modifications that positively influenced teaching and learning processes during the internship, such that issues were reduced from the beginning to the closing stages. Importantly, the challenges and solutions identified by students and scientists in this study provide accounts of first-hand experience as well as insights to aid program directors or coordinators in designing a learning environment that can foster effective practice for internships by avoiding the issues identified in the study.     

Exploring Effectiveness of Classroom Assessments for Students’ Learning in High School Chemistry

Research in Science Education - New notions of science teaching and learning provide challenges for designing and using classroom assessment. Existing assessments are not effective in assessing and...     

Exploring the Relationship Between High School Students’ Physics-Related Personal Epistemologies and Self-regulated Learning in Turkey

This article reports on an empirical exploration of the relations and strengths among Turkish grades 9–11 students’ (n = 209) personal epistemologies (justification of knowledge, certainty of knowledge, source of knowledge, development of knowledge), self-regulated learning (extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, rehearsal, elaboration, organization, critical thinking, metacognitive self-regulation), and achievement in physics (course grades). Established instruments were used to collect data on these students’ beliefs about knowledge and components of self-regulated learning (SRL) such as goal orientations (extrinsic and intrinsic motivation) and learning strategies, critical thinking, and metacognitive regulation. Results from structural equation modeling revealed that students’ personal epistemologies directly influenced their motivation (extrinsic and intrinsic goal orientations), rehearsal and organization strategies, and metacognitive self-regulation to learn physics. Furthermore, students’ personal epistemologies indirectly (mediated through motivation beliefs) influenced rehearsal, elaboration and organization strategies, critical thinking, and metacognitive self-regulation to learn physics. Students’ ideas about knowledge and knowing about the source and development of knowledge significantly contributed to students’ self-regulatory skills and physics course grade. Implications and future directions are discussed.     

Chinese High School Students’ Plans in Studying Overseas: Who and Why

This study is among the first to use a large-scale dataset to better understand the driving forces behind the large outflow of Chinese international students. Based on data collected from 3,001 students at 18 high schools located in the three cities of Beijing, Shenzhen and Chengdu, this paper highlights the importance of students’ academic preparation and their families’ financial capability. It shows that sociocultural factors such as Experiencing Another Culture and Gaining Global Perspective play a significant role, but are often understudied in the case of Chinese students. In addition, the disadvantaged social strata tend to be influenced more by the pushing force of low- quality education in China, and deterred by the high cost of studying overseas, whereas the advantaged social strata tend to be influenced more by the pulling force of higher-quality education overseas and the pulling force within China such as relatively privileged lives.     

Inquiry-Based Laboratory Activities in Electrochemistry: High School Students’ Achievements and Attitudes

This study aimed to investigate the effects of inquiry-based laboratory activities on high school students’ understanding of electrochemistry and attitudes towards chemistry and laboratory work. The participants were 62 high school students (average age 17 years) in an urban public high school in Turkey. Students were assigned to experimental (N?=?30) and control groups (N?=?32). The experimental group was taught using inquiry-based laboratory activities developed by the researchers and the control group was instructed using traditional laboratory activities. The results of the study indicated that instruction based on inquiry-based laboratory activities caused a significantly better acquisition of scientific concepts related to electrochemistry, and produced significantly higher positive attitudes towards chemistry and laboratory. In the light of the findings, it is suggested that inquiry-based laboratory activities should be developed and applied to promote students’ understanding in chemistry subjects and to improve their positive attitudes.     

Students’ Forms of Dialogue When Engaged with Contemporary Biological Research: Insights from University and High School Students’ Group Discussions

Research in Science Education - Classroom dialogues have special educational value because they allow students to engage critically but constructively with each other’s ideas, solve...     

Urban High School Students’ IT/STEM Learning: Findings from a Collaborative Inquiry- and Design-Based Afterschool Program

This exploratory study examines the impact of a collaborative inquiry- and design-based afterschool program on urban high school students’ IT/STEM learning—using information technology (IT) within the context of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The study used a mixed methods design, involving 77 participants within two cohort groups, each participating in an eighteen-month intervention period. Data were collected from the pre- and post-surveys, analysis of the participants’ IT/STEM projects, external evaluation reports, and follow-up interviews. Findings indicate that the program had a significant impact on students’ technology and IT/STEM skills, frequency of technology use, and understanding of IT use in STEM-oriented fields. Some degree of impact on attitude changes toward IT/STEM and career aspirations in these fields was also in evidence. The study demonstrates that IT/STEM experiences supported through technology-enhanced, inquiry- and design-based collaborative learning strategies have significant impact on urban high school students’ IT/STEM learning. Effect of afterschool programs on attitude changes and IT/STEM-related career aspirations of urban high school students are recommended areas of further investigation.     

Teachers’ Role in Students’ Learning at a Project-Based STEM High School: Implications for Teacher Education

International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education - This study explored how teachers engage and support students at a project-based STEM high school to identify key elements defining...     

Iraqi Refugee High School Students’ Academic Adjustment

Many Iraqi refugee students in the United States suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as acculturation stresses. These stresses often create challenges for their integration into U.S. schools. The project explored risk factors such as the length of educational gaps in transit, PTSD, and separation and marginalization acculturation, as well as protective factors such as resilience, self-esteem, and integration and assimilation. We conducted bivariate correlations and multiple regression to examine the relationship between factors and predicting school adjustment using variables among 100 Iraqi refugee high school students in the Detroit area. The results showed that the educational gaps (negatively), and assimilation and resilience (positively), are the strongest predictors for school adjustment. PTSD incurred by Iraqis as a result of events experienced before and during their migration from Iraq are related to their self-esteem and separation acculturation, while educational gaps are related to their marginalization as well as to their integration.