Student explanations of their science teachers’ assessments,grading practices and how they learn science

The current paper draws on data generated through group interviews with students who were involved in a larger ethnographic research project performed in three science classrooms. The purpose of the study from which this data was generated, was to understand science teachers’ assessment practices in an upper-secondary school in Sweden. During group interviews students were asked about their conceptions of what were the assessment priority of teachers, why the students were silent during lecturing and their experiences regarding peer- and self-assessments. The research design and analysis of the findings derives from what students told us about their assessments and learning sciences experiences. Students related that besides the results of the written test, they do not know what else teachers assessed and used to determine their grades. It was also found that students did not participate in the discussion on science because of peer-pressure and a fear of disappointing their peers. Student silence is also linked with student conceptions of science learning and student experiences with methodologies of teaching and learning sciences.     

Achievements and attitudinal patterns of boys and girls in science

Data from the 1983–84 Israeli IEA (International Association for the Evaluation of Education Achievement) science study were used to explore gender-related differences (and their determinants) in the learning of science. The sample was composed of 1,934 ninth-grade students. The study involved several measures of science learning, ten attitudinal measures, and items and errors classification. Differences between boys and girls were observed in some measures of science performance–-particularly in the physical sciences, in items with lower estimates of “opportunity to learn,” and in specific kinds of errors. Gender-related differences were also observed in the predictive model of achievement, using science-specific affective measures. The discussion raises the cognitive and affective readiness of boys and girls for learning science.     

Reclaiming tutorials as learning spaces in the sciences

ABSTRACT

Tutorials/discussion classes¹ are seen as an essential part of the teaching mix in the natural sciences, because that is where problems can be solved and course content is applied. Learning support provided by teaching assistants may free up the lecturer to do research, but are these assistants sufficiently well trained and well informed? Do tutorials offer learning spaces or merely activities to engage the willing student? In this paper I report on a study conducted in a science faculty of a research intensive university in South Africa. I collected data using interviews and questionnaires which gave insight into the many variants of tutor/teaching assistant² support that exist in the faculty. Practices that seem to lead to better student learning were also foregrounded. It became evident that lecturers need to plan their tutorials as an integral part of the learning space and not as an add-on activity.     

Researching undergraduate social science research

The experience(s) of undergraduate research students in the social sciences is under-represented in the literature in comparison to the natural sciences or science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). The strength of STEM undergraduate research learning environments is understood to be related to an apprenticeship-mode of learning supported by more experienced (post-graduate) peers, often through ongoing research projects. Studies of undergraduate research reveal that this is not typical in the social sciences, and students report facing specific challenges to the development of their identities as researchers that include fear, intellectual confusion and emotional unsettlement. This paper examines how a social science learning environment, designed as a research study itself, fostered beginning researchers communities of practice, realised a distinct mode of apprenticing based on peers’ similarly peripheral community membership, and enabled students to reframe emotional unsettlement. It argues that, effectively mediated, talk can powerfully improve undergraduate social science research students’ experiences.     

Alltagssituationen und Experimente: Was sind geeignete naturwissenschaftliche Lerngelegenheiten für Kindergartenkinder?

Natural sciences are an educational topic in kindergartens. At the same time, little is known about how to promote and facilitate the learning of natural sciences for children in kindergarten. This contribution reports on a quasi-experimental study with 245 children, which compares the learning situations ‘experiments’ with ‘discussions on the relevance of the natural sciences in daily life’. Three experimental groups, in which the learning situations were varied, where compared with a control and a baseline group. Children in the last year of kindergarten took part in three 90-minute learning settings on the topics ‘melting and freezing water’, ‘evaporation and condensation of water’ and ‘solubility and insolubility in water’. Learning gains were measured using a pre-post-design with a Rasch-scaling. Cognitive performance and family background were controlled for. A significant benefit in comparison to the control and baseline groups could only be found for a combination of both learning situations.     

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and interpretive research in science education

Within the current methodological debate, notions successful in the natural sciences are rallied by social sciences researchers to support their own methodological approaches. However, problems of understanding the physical principles have often clouded the issue. One such notion under discussion is Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and the derivative notions of indeterminacy, uncertainty, precision, and observer–observed interaction. This article discusses these notions and their applications to social science research. Implications are drawn for research in science education.     

The Physics Laboratory – A Historical Overview and Future Perspectives

In the framework of teaching the natural sciences, ``laboratory' is a general name for activities based on observations, tests, and experiments done by students. It is hard to imagine learning to do science, or learning about science, without doing laboratory or fieldwork. In this paper, a historical overview of the place, purposes, and goals of the laboratory in physics teaching is presented, together with perspectives for its future related to the most recent results of research in physics education, mainly those concerning the constructivist and social constructivist learning approaches. Based on these approaches we try to validate the belief that microcomputer-based laboratories (MBLs) are one of the most promising perspectives in physics laboratory teaching, based on both theoretical and empirical grounds.     

Understanding natural sciences education in a Reggio Emilia‐inspired preschool

This ethnographic study explored aspects of how the natural sciences were represented in a Reggio Emilia‐inspired laboratory preschool. The natural sciences as a discipline—a latecomer to preschool curricula—and the internationally known approach, Reggio Emilia, interested educators and researchers, but there was little research about science in a Reggio Emilia classroom. The current research aimed to gain insight into natural science experiences in a Reggio Emilia‐inspired classroom. To gain in‐depth information, this inquiry‐based study adapted a research design with ethnographic data collection techniques (i.e., interview, observation, document/artifact collection, and field‐notes), namely Spradley's Developmental Research Sequence Method, which was a well‐known, pioneer ethnographic method. The data were analyzed from an interpretive perspective using multiple lenses. These lenses included Spradley's DRS for the classroom culture, Corsaro's peer culture theory, the Reggio Emilia approach, and Ohio's Early Learning Content Standards. The study involved 18 preschoolers, 10 teachers, and a program director. The results indicated that the Reggio Emilia‐inspired preschool offered a science‐rich context that triggered and supported preschoolers' inquiries, and effectively engaged preschoolers' hands, heads, and hearts with science. The natural sciences learning in this Reggio Emilia‐inspired preschool classroom met and exceeded some of Ohio's prekindergarten standards. The results suggested that the Reggio pedagogy, grounded in inquiry, is compatible with science education goals. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 1186–1208, 2010     

Interactive learning and technology in the US science and mathematics reform movement

This article presents an overview of the science/mathematics reform movement in the secondary/elementary schools and higher education institutions of the United States. It describes the research and views of educational practitioners regarding the need for change, as well as the particular changes which appear to be required. Emphasis is placed on the roles of interactive learning and technology in meeting reform goals.
Details of a recently completed curricular innovation project in science and mathematics are provided. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the project brought five faculty in the natural sciences together with a learning theorist at Florida Community College at Jacksonville, a large, multi-campus, public institution. The group developed and taught two basic integrated science/mathematics courses in which cooperative and discovery learning, supported by multimedia technology and distance learning, were major components. Details of results are provided as they relate to meeting the goals of the reform movement.     

Disciplinary Categories, Majors, and Undergraduate Academic Experiences: Rethinking Bok’s “Underachieving Colleges” Thesis

Using data from the 2008 University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey, we show that study time and academic conscientiousness were lower among students in humanities and social science majors than among students in science and engineering majors. Analytical and critical thinking experiences were no more evident among humanities and social sciences majors than among science and engineering majors. All three academically beneficial experiences were, however, strongly related to participation in class and interaction with instructors, and participation was more common among humanities and social sciences students than among science and engineering students. Bok’s (Our underachieving colleges: A candid look at how much students learn and why they should be learning more. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2006) influential discussion of “underachievement’ in undergraduate education focused on institutional performance. Our findings indicate that future discussions should take into account differences among disciplinary categories and majors as well.     

英国医学院校社会和行为学科教育的现状和未来

在英国,大多数医学院校均为医学生开设了社会和行为科学课程,但是,怎样限定核心内容,以及怎样同预期的学习成果联系起来,仍然是一个有待解决的问题。本文根据问卷调查和研讨会讨论,论述了英国医学院校社会和行为学科教育的现状、问题和未来方向,例如医学课程中社会和行为科学的程度和范围、内容、同一性等。     

简述作为基本概念的秩序与规则

如何认识纷繁复杂的自然和社会现象,将其用高度概括成抽象的原理或规律加以总结、归纳,并纳入到一个简单的模型中去是人类一直在探讨的问题的实质。从政治学的角度着手规范“秩序”,并辅之以“规则”,并对涉及到的若干问题,如概念、分类、规则的制定者、秩序与规则演变的逻辑顺序进行讨论是为了解决实际问题,并在实践中得到检验。需加以说明的是,这一对概念的讨论虽然起始于政治学,却并不局限于政治学或社会学,而是一个对于自然和社会普遍适用的概念,这种做法的惟一原因只是方便和直观。     

基于CAS理论的科技创新主体学习模式研究

为了研究科技创新系统,引入了复杂适应性系统（Complex Adaptive Systems,简称CAS）这一理论,探讨了科技创新主体的学习动力和学习模式,以及由此引发的管理启示.     

Building Bridges Between Criminal Justice and the Forensic Sciences to Create Forensic Studies Programs 1

The ever‐increasing role of the forensic sciences in the criminal justice system requires criminal justice educators to integrate the study of forensic science into a traditional social science curriculum. Yet, most professors in criminal justice lack forensic science expertise sufficient to meet the educational demands of the field, as it is intertwined with natural science disciplines, especially biology and chemistry. Accordingly, this paper advocates the formation of an interdisciplinary forensic studies program, including a discussion of need, curricular components, and overcoming potential obstacles.     

Teaching Science to Academically Underprepared Students

A major problem facing science education in the United States today is its failure to produce enough well-educated minority students in the natural sciences and engineering. In most cases, the early difficulties encountered by these students in middle schools persists for years and prevent majority of them from pursuing advanced degrees and careers in the sciences and engineering. Thus, the need for new teaching approaches that will motivate and channel these students, who represent the fastest growing segment of our society into science and engineering. A number of factors contribute to this underrepresentation, amongst which are perception, exclusion, and instructional strategies. Here, we report on some important factors and teaching strategies, which, when proper considered, would influence the success of minority students in the sciences. Transitional strategies are techniques that facilitators may use to help underprepared students to learn to bridge or relate different parts or situations to one common idea, fact, or skill. It is hoped that when this strategy is infused with content, along with study skills, learning styles, and sequence as well as students' personal inventories, minority performance in science and mathematics will improve.     

自然科学向社会科学研究的渗透——原因、模式与限度

自然科学、社会科学、人文科学三大知识部类之间互相影响、互相作用,其中的一种情形,是自然科学向社会科学研究的渗透。社会科学介于自然科学与人文科学之间,兼具＂科学＂与＂人文＂的双重性,前者为自然科学的渗透提供了条件,后者为自然科学的渗透设置了限度。渗透的模式包括主体、客体、工具的渗透,精神理念的渗透,概念术语的渗透,研究方法的渗透,通过横断学科进行的渗透,通过交叉学科进行的渗透等。     

Die professionelle Kompetenz angehender Physiklehrkräfte in verschiedenen Ausbildungsformen

A nation-wide measurement of competencies in teaching training programs was carried out in order to find suggestions for optimizing university study programs for students on teacher training programs in the subject of physical sciences. 430 physical science teacher training students were surveyed using a standardized test, which covered knowledge of physical sciences, didactic knowledge for physics, general pedagogic knowledge, beliefs and motivations. This contribution, firstly, compares the competencies of students of teacher training colleges with the competencies of students of teacher training in universities. Parallel investigations have already found that the students of different training programs also differ in their performance. The resulting differences are then analyzed using regression models in an attempt to find the determinants of subject-related competencies in teacher training programs. The findings point to the significance of individual personality characteristics and the amount of time spent on learning opportunities in the university. The article closes with a discussion of the implications for optimizing teacher training programs.     

Questions as indicators of ocean literacy: students’ online asynchronous discussion with a marine scientist

ABSTRACT

In this article, 61 high-school students learned about ocean acidification through a virtual laboratory followed by a virtual lecture and an asynchronous discussion with a marine scientist on an online platform: VoiceThread. This study focuses on the students’ development of ocean literacy when prompted to ask questions to the scientist. The students’ questions were thematically analysed to assess (1) the kind of reasoning that can be discerned as premises of the students’ questions and (2) what possibilities for enhancing ocean literacy emerge in this instructional activity. The results show how interacting with a scientist gives the students an entry point to the world of natural sciences with its complexity, uncertainty and choices that go beyond the idealised form in which natural sciences often are presented in school. This activity offers an affordable way of bringing marine science to school by providing extensive expertise from a marine scientist. Students get a chance to mobilise their pre-existing knowledge in the field of marine science. The holistic expertise of the marine scientist allows students to explore and reason around a very wide range of ideas and aspect of natural sciences that goes beyond the range offered by the school settings.     

社会科学的划界及其与人文科学的关系

社会科学的划界确为重要,学科分工并不否定学科之间的相互关系和相互作用,综合化是现代科学的特征,综合是分类基础上的综合,是新水平和新视野中的学科分类。     

Social Science Boot Camp: Development and Assessment of a Foundational Course on Academic Literacy in the Social Sciences

We developed a course, as part of our institution's core program, which provides students with a foundation in academic literacy in the social sciences: how to find, read, critically assess, and communicate about social science research. It is not a research methods course; rather, it is intended to introduce students to the social sciences and be better consumers of social science research. In this article, we describe the key learning objectives of this course, the basic content areas, and some of the innovative teaching and learning strategies used in the course. We also provide empirical evidence of the effectiveness of the course in meeting its learning objectives and of student responses to the course. Finally, we discuss some of the challenges in developing interdisciplinary core courses and offer suggestions for best practices for teaching social science literacy as part of the core curriculum.