Temperature in Science Textbooks: Changes and Trends in Cross-National Perspective (1950–2000)

This study explores the way the concept of temperature was presented in lower-secondary science textbooks in France, Poland and England at the end of the 1950s and in the 2000s. I draw on history of science, history of education and book history to analyze different treatments of an apparently-similar scientific concept with regard to national contexts and diachronic change. Thus I include a presentation of the contexts in which the textbooks I study are published, and I analyse textbooks content revealing different approaches to present the notion of temperature. I argue that these results show that textbooks are valuable sources to investigate public representations of science and their shift over time, and I conclude by stressing the parallel of this evolution with change in everyday relationship with science and scientific instruments.     

Science Teacher Education in Brazil: 1950–2000

This paper analyzes the most significant events occurring in Brazil’s educational, social and political areas over the last half century, viewed against a background of relevant worldwide events. The hypothesis presented here is that the relations between the country’s educational policies, the demands of the various segments of academia, and the public school system have always been strained. This strain has contributed positively to the evolution of academic knowledge and production, to the design of more modern curricular projects by institutional authorities, and to the initial recognition of the specific construction of school knowledge by the school system itself. However, the interaction of these major institutions lacks a crucial element—one that would lead to an effective change in the education of science teachers and produce a positive impact on Brazil’s schools—namely, the wholehearted participation of science teachers themselves. With this analysis, we intend to contribute by offering some perspectives and proposals for science teacher education in Brazil.     

Trends and issues in multimedia learning research in 1996–2016: A bibliometric analysis

Parallel to the recent advancements in information and communications technologies, research on multimedia learning has generated a number of theories and empirical findings. Numerous trends and issues have emerged, showing the complex and dynamic nature of multimedia learning and the associated scholarship. To provide a comprehensive knowledge map and an overview of recent research on multimedia learning, 411 peer-reviewed articles from 1996 to 2016 were analyzed to describe the empirical work in multimedia learning. A bibliometric approach was applied to reveal the most common keywords and terms and their interactions via co-word analysis. The results showed that cognitive load is the highest co-occurred keyword and that animation provided the highest number of co-occurrence relationships with other keywords in our sample. Five clusters of research trends were identified: theoretical foundations of multimedia learning, representations and principles, instructional design and individual differences, motivation and metacognition, and video and hypermedia. Despite the high co-occurrence of the terms “memory”, “working memory”, and “cognitive load”, only a few studies examined the role of individual differences in cognition such as working memory capacity in multimedia learning. The multimedia learning principles most commonly discussed in the last two decades of research are redundancy, contiguity, and coherence. Thus, more research should be conducted to empirically test the many other principles recently discussed in the Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning and address the issue of individual differences in attention and cognition during learning with multimedia.     

Concepts in Conflict: Students and Customers–An Australian Perspective

ABSTRACT

Increasingly, pressure is being brought to bear on Australian academics as service providers in the higher education ‘industry.’ Students are attracted to universities by marketing and promotion activities which inculcate the perception that the student is a customer. Furthermore, education is being treated by various governments as a commodity which may be purchased by customers in a free market system. The authors argue that students are not customers in the sense currently recognised by business. An alternative view of the customer base of an institution is put forward. This alternative more effectively accounts for the variety of interests that must be served by the higher education industry.     

Arrangements for co-ordination between university and college sectors in Canadian provinces: 1990–1996

A policy question that arises in any jurisdiction where there is some diversity of postsecondary institutional types is whether there should be formal arrangements for co-ordination among groupings of different type institutions, and if so, what form these arrangements should take. This paper examines questions related to co-ordination between postsecondary sectors in Canada. We conclude that the Canadian provinces, with one important exception, seem to be content to maintain the center of gravity for co-ordination at levels below the system, by either facilitating voluntary inter-sectoral arrangements and encouraging interaction between sectors, or leaving these matters largely at the discretion of institutions.     

Improving High School–College Alignment: A Sociological Reform and New Challenges

This paper analyzes teacher responses to a distinctive reform that sought to ­implement alignment between high schools and colleges. A survey of 225 teachers is used to examine teachers’ perceptions of the reform’s effectiveness, further resources needed, and how perceptions changed over time. The reform was perceived as effective for college-bound students, but not for non-college-bound students, magnifying the discrepant needs of these groups. Steps to improve the program are suggested.     

The Family–School Linkage in Addressing Bullying in Hong Kong: A Sociocultural Perspective

Abstract

The phenomenon that around ten percent of schoolchildren are bullied regularly in Hong Kong has attracted much scholarly attention in anti-bullying research. Current literature suggests taking into consideration the contextual features and socioeconomic factors in anti-bullying research, instead of applying identical intervention/prevention measures across cultures. Therefore, this article examines the role of school-family linkage as a mirror of the wide social-culture context, and analyzes the functions of such linkage in anti-bullying practice in Hong Kong. This study was conducted following a film approach in 2015. That is, a group of middle school teachers in Hong Kong were invited to watch small films showing typical bullying and anti-bullying episodes, followed by semi-structured interviews. The article demonstrates a list of good practices representing the functioning of a positive family-school linkage in bullying addressing. However, parental involvement does not always facilitate and can hinder bullying addressing on campuses. This study implies that efficient bullying addressing aligns with parental involvement in the intervention process, suggesting more parental involvement and more collaboration between family and school in anti-bullying. It also raises an urgent question in regards to balancing the various opinions between parents and teachers in child-raising and bullying addressing. This article suggests further and more investigations examining anti-bullying from a socioeconomic perspective.     

Valuing Science: A Turkish–American comparison

A problem that is still unexplored in the field of socioscientific issues (SSI) and that was explored in this study is how different students decide upon a SSI they are discussing, how their justifications change during the instruction and how they use (or not) the evidence from the learning environment to support their justifications. For the purposes of this study, two classes (12–13-year-old students) with diverse characteristics were selected from two different schools in the UK. Class A students, considered high achievers come from a white-British background. Class B students considered average achievers come from an Asian British background. The students engaged in discussions regarding a SSI (Should we kill the grey squirrel to save the red?), supported by an online learning environment. Students’ written arguments, classroom discussions, and classroom observations were collected and analysed. The findings suggest that even though the two classes engaged with the same learning environment, the decisions and justifications provided by the pairs in the two classes were quite distinct. The students used the evidence from the learning environment in ways which supported their decision, and tended to ignore evidence if these contradicted their decision. Furthermore, students’ justifications support the hypothesis that their decision was based on whether they identified with the actors of the issue. Implications for research include exploring how students identify with the actors of a SSI to enable us to support them overcoming their personal narratives and becoming critical evaluators of scientific knowledge.     

Science Centres： A Resource for School and Community

We present a science centre established in Genoa on an agreement between Municipality of Genoa and Department of Physics of University of Genoa. The aim is to offer children, young people and community an opportunity to approach science in a playful way. The centre staffs guide the visitors through the exhibits, attracting their interests towards the most amusing aspects of the phenomena. According to the principles of constructivism, kids and children are encouraged to handle objects, play with geometrical shapes, observe materials collected from natural and human environment and make ＂discoveries＂, and students can take advantage of the visit and from the exhibits to study in depth a specific topic afterwards in their class, thus preventing the aridity of a purely formal presentation of the discipline, while a general public can realize how much science affects people＇s lives, enjoy its fun aspects and meet scientists during special events.     

Science Achievement and Students’ Self‐confidence and Interest in Science: A Taiwanese representative sample study

The interrelationship between senior high school students’ science achievement (SA) and their self‐confidence and interest in science (SCIS) was explored with a representative sample of approximately 1,044 11th‐grade students from 30 classes attending four high schools throughout Taiwan. Statistical analyses indicated that a statistically significant correlation existed between students’ SA and their SCIS with a moderate effect size; the correlation is even higher with almost large effect sizes for a subsample of higher‐SCIS and lower‐SCIS students. Results of t‐test analysis also revealed that there were significant mean differences in students’ SA and their knowledge (including physics, chemistry, biology, and earth sciences subscales) and reasoning skill subtests scores between higher‐SCIS and lower‐SCIS students, with generally large effect sizes. Stepwise regression analyses on higher‐SCIS and lower‐SCIS students also suggested that both students’ SCIS subscales significantly explain the variance of their SA, knowledge, and reasoning ability with large effect sizes.     

A Plea for a Poor Man’s HCI Component in Software Engineering and Computer Science Curricula; After all: The Human-Computer Interface is the System

Most software development approaches and curricular guidelines seem to ignore the fact that in many software systems the user interface is a decisive factor for product quality. As a result, it is often designed rather independently of the system’s functionality. Chances are then that it does not get the attention it deserves. In the approach to software development we sketch, the design of the user interface and the design of the functionality go hand in hand. We give a number of examples of user interface problems, and illustrate how these can be caught early if a more integrated approach is taken. We conclude with an outline of a minimal course on humancomputer interaction that we feel should be part of everyone’s software engineering or computer science curriculum.     

Comprehensiveness and the Challenges of Harmonization of Study and Research Programs in the CSET within ODL Context: Chemists’ Perspective

Abstract

This article examines the comprehensiveness of the University of South Africa (UNISA) as an Open Distance Learning (ODL) institution and the challenges faced by experimental disciplines within ODL. Those challenges are brought about by the attempt to harmonize study and research programs in the College of Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) following the merger and harmonization of programs from the former distance learning UNISA and Technikon South Africa (TSA). The paper discusses the current realities with the aim to promote further debate on the place of ODL in science and technology programs in tertiary education such as UNISA in general and CSET in particular.     

The Australian Science Teacher: A Typology of Teacher–Student Interpersonal Behaviour in Australian Science Classes

This study reports the first development in Australia of science teacher typologies of teacher–student interpersonal behaviour. Students' perceptions of teacher–student interpersonal behaviour were measured using the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI). Earlier work with the QTI in The Netherlands has revealed eight different interpersonal styles, which were later confirmed with an American sample of secondary school teachers. The present study investigated the extent to which typologies found in earlier studies also apply to a sample of Australian secondary school science teachers. Data were first checked to examine whether the eight profiles found in The Netherlands and the USA were also present in the Australian data. A cluster analysis using various clustering methods and procedures was used to determine Australian typologies and compare these with earlier Dutch findings. Results of the cluster analyses were verified by analyses of variance, by plotting QTI scale scores graphically, and by presenting a set of sector graphics to two independent researchers and having them sort these into different profiles as found in the statistical analyses. The resultant typologies and implications for professional development and research are presented.     

Metaphor and Collocation： A Cognitive Perspective in EFL Teaching

It is of great importance to obtain good collocation knowledge for fluent and appropriate language use as many words are used in a limited set of collocations. Studies on cognitive linguistics show that cognitive factors play an important role in collocation study as most collocations are metaphorically motivated, and that collocational behavior is influenced by a number of factors, including the semantics of the individual items themselves, the influence of other well-established meanings, the influence of metaphor, the influence of semantic prosody, etc.. Therefore, it is significant to explain and teach certain types of collocations in language teaching by considering the underlying factors which influence the collocational process. Chinese English as a foreign language （EFL） learners have some special collocation problems in their English learning, which not only result from grammatical incompetence, but also from their lack of conceptual fluency and metaphor competence. The disclosure of similarities and differences between the conceptual systems of English and Chinese will help to illuminate the nature of negative transfer of their first language in collocation acquisition of Chinese EFL learners. The author of the paper, by disclosing the interaction between collocation and metaphor from cognitive, linguistic, and social perspectives, proposes semantic-oriented principle, pragmatics-oriented principle, and culture-oriented principle to incorporate cognitive factors to collocation teaching. It is suggested that stress should be given to the teaching of conceptual metaphor and its mechanisms in collocation teaching before students can finally improve collocation competence with a focus on metaphor awareness.     

Workshop on Friction: Understanding and Addressing Students’ Difficulties in Learning Science Through a Hermeneutical Perspective

Hermeneutics is useful in science and science education by emphasizing the process of understanding. The purpose of this study was to construct a workshop based upon hermeneutical principles and to interpret students’ learning in the workshop through a hermeneutical perspective. When considering the history of Newtonian mechanics, it could be considered that there are two methods of approaching Newtonian mechanics. One method is called the ‘prediction approach’, and the other is called the ‘explanation approach’. The ‘prediction approach’ refers to the application of the principles of Newtonian mechanics. We commonly use the prediction approach because its logical process is natural to us. However, its use is correct only when a force, such as gravitation, is exactly known. On the other hand, the ‘explanation approach’ could be used when the nature of a force is not exactly known. In the workshop, students read a short text offering contradicting ideas about whether to analyze a friction situation using the explanation approach or the prediction approach. Twenty-two college students taking an upper-level mechanics course wrote their ideas about the text. The participants then discussed their ideas within six groups, each composed of three or four students. Through the group discussion, students were able to clarify their preconceptions about friction, and they responded to the group discussion positively. Students started to think about their learning from a holistic perspective. As students thought and discussed the friction problems in the manner of hermeneutical circles, they moved toward a better understanding of friction.     

Turkish College Students’ Subjective Wellbeing in Regard to Psychological Strengths and Demographic Variables: Implications for College Counseling

This study investigated Turkish college students’ subjective wellbeing in regard to psychological strength and demographic variables. A sample of Turkish college students (N?=?1,052) aged 17–32 (mean age = 21, SD = 1.79) was administered various psychological strength instruments—the Gratitude Scale, the Rosenberg Self Esteem Inventory, the Generalized Self Efficacy Scale, the Life Orientation Test, the Positive/Negative Affect Scale and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Participants also responded to a demographic data sheet. Non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis and Mann–Whitney U tests, Pearson correlation coefficients and Spearman row coefficients were used in data analysis. Results revealed that there was a strong association between psychological strengths and subjective wellbeing, with gratitude, satisfaction with life, self-esteem and positive affectivity having the most significant correlations, respectively. Demographic variables of gender, academic achievement, social involvement, type of residence, academic major, and financial and health status were also found to be associated with college students’ subjective wellbeing. Implications for college counseling are discussed.     

The Single Sex Debate for Girls in Science: a Comparison Between Two Informal Science Programs on Middle School Students’ STEM Identity Formation

Currently, there are policy debates regarding the efficacy and legality of single sex formal and informal education programs. This issue is particularly poignant in science education due to the historical marginalization of women in these fields. This marginalization has resulted in women being positioned as a stigmatized group within many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) related fields. Research points to adolescence as the age where this sense of marginalization begins to develop. As a result, policy responses have utilized various frameworks such as: increased access for women, changing pedagogy to address women’s learning styles, changing the language and culture of science to prevent marginalization of stigmatized groups, and finally exploring the role that individual identity plays in the marginalization of women. This study adds to the policy debate as it applies to single sex education by comparing middle school participants’ STEM identity formation during two informal science learning environments (an all girls’ STEM camp and a co-educational STEM camp). Additionally, this study focuses on the influence of camp activities within two informal science education programs: particularly the provision of role models and authentic STEM research activities, as means to improve STEM identity and make these fields relevant to the lives of middle school students. The results indicate that both camps improved girls’ STEM identities. These findings suggest that the single sex environment is not as important to STEM identity as the pedagogy used within the program.     

An Integrationist Perspective: A Response to “Bias: Thinking about College Student Psychotherapy versus Drug Treatment and Disability”

This article is written as a response to Dr. Leighton Whitaker's article: “Bias: Thinking about College Student Psychotherapy versus Drug Treatment and Disability.” The author attempts to summarize the main arguments made by Dr. Whitaker and to highlight areas of agreement as well as differences. Although the current psychiatric diagnostic nomenclature has its weaknesses, this author makes a case for using the DSM as a starting point of understanding psychopathology, but not an end point. Also, although research data on psychopharmacology trials have concerning funding and design biases, a case is made for seeing medications as a helpful adjunctive treatment for some college-aged patients, but never superseding the need for an empathic therapist–patient relationship.