How novice physics students deal with explanations

An extensive study was conducted of students’ explanations written in response to ‘what if...?’ questions in elementary mechanics. The study showed that the structure of students’ explanations yields roughly the same ranking of students as do problem‐solving tests, but in addition provides a wealth of insights into (1) context dependence and categorization in students’ use of concepts, (2) the effect of misconceptions on context dependence, and (3) the types of explanations that students tend to produce. A follow‐up study, in which students were presented with pairs of pre‐written explanations to ‘what if...?’ questions and asked to indicate a preference, showed that students do not necessarily prefer the types of explanations they write, and have greater difficulty assessing the correctness of explanations that are counter to preference type. Evidence is presented that, for many students, the links between physics thinking and real‐world thinking are all too tenuous.     

Some assembly required: How scientific explanations are constructed during clinical interviews

This article is concerned with commonsense science knowledge, the informally gained knowledge of the natural world that students possess prior to formal instruction in a scientific discipline. Although commonsense science has been the focus of substantial study for more than two decades, there are still profound disagreements about its nature and origin, and its role in science learning. What is the reason that it has been so difficult to reach consensus? We believe that the problems run deep; there are difficulties both with how the field has framed questions and the way that it has gone about seeking answers. In order to make progress, we believe it will be helpful to focus on one type of research instrument—the clinical interview—that is employed in the study of commonsense science. More specifically, we argue that we should seek to understand and model, on a moment‐by‐moment basis, student reasoning as it occurs in the interviews employed to study commonsense science. To illustrate and support this claim, we draw on a corpus of interviews with middle school students in which the students were asked questions pertaining to the seasons and climate phenomena. Our analysis of this corpus is based on what we call the mode‐node framework. In this framework, student reasoning is seen as drawing on a set of knowledge elements we call nodes, and this set produces temporary explanatory structures we call dynamic mental constructs. Furthermore, the analysis of our corpus seeks to highlight certain patterns of student reasoning that occur during interviews, patterns in what we call conceptual dynamics. These include patterns in which students can be seen to search through available knowledge (nodes), in which they assemble nodes into an explanation, and in which they converge on and shift among alternative explanations. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 166–198, 2012     

道德的底线

上个月,我的一个朋友外出办事,因为天气太热,加上他血压不稳,在马路边上突然昏厥了过去,脸都摔破了。那个地方是我所在城市的一个繁华路段,很热闹,可谁能想到人来人往,居然没有一个人伸出援手搀扶他或者打个电话给120。最后,幸亏他自己慢慢苏醒过来。     

Games children play: How they increase the intellect?

This paper contends that games are powerful promoters of intellectual ability and are too little used in educational curricula. It offers nine propositions in support of this thesis. It explores the possibilities of classifying games in categories which relate to their uses and suggests a digital code for indicating both category and status within a category. Finally, the findings of some preliminary and rudimentary research are presented to suggest that the systematic use of games may be as influential as systematic instruction in altering scores on IQ tests.     

Thinking about principals: How they cope with external pressures and internal redefinition of their role

Looking at recent changes in the educational policy context, it is difficult to underestimate the central role of the principal. Principals must simultaneously perform different roles and implement activities of a varied nature. As an ‘instructional leader’, he or she must be able to create supportive links between the school and the classroom level. Individual learning and teachers’ professional development must be linked to, and supported by, an appropriate organizational development. As a ‘project manager’, the principal is expected to develop and implement a specific plan in order to solve particular problems indicated by the inspectorate. Both tasks — instructional leader and project manager — are illustrated in this chapter.     

A dialogue on employability skills: How can they be taught?

Robert Bhaerman is a Research and Development Specialist at the National Center for Research in Vocational Education at The Ohio State University. Rick Spill is an employment and training consultant working primarily with the United States Department of Labor, state JTPA divisions, Private Industry Councils, and local education agencies.     

信息通信技术与教育:如何实现完美结合

本文讨论了在21世纪信息通信技术如何在教育领域发挥作用这个具有现实指导意义的课题。作者在总结几十位世界各地学者研究成果的基础上,提出尽管信息通信技术有潜力促进教育的发展,但是如何在实践中充分发挥这些潜力,使潜力变成现实,则涉及诸多因素;我们必须确立切实可行的目标、处理好相关的因素并采取行之有效、切合实际的步骤,才能使信息通信技术真正促进教育发展、提高学习效率。作者认为,只有当信息通信技术的各种令人赞叹不已的功能切实服务于教与学,我们才可以说它们在教育领域发挥了应有的作用。     

Explaining Constraint Interaction: How to Interpret Estimated Model Parameters Under Alternative Scaling Methods

In this paper, we explain the reasons behind constraint interaction, which is the phenomenon that the results of testing equality constraints may depend heavily on the scaling method used. We find that the scaling methods interfere with the testing procedures because scaling methods determine which transformations of population quantities model parameters actually estimate. We therefore also develop rules on how to correctly interpret estimates of model parameters under alternative scaling methods.     

How children learn to read and why they fail

The present article considers the contrast between conceptions of reading as a natural and as an unnatural act, relying on the simple view of reading as a theoretical framework (Gough and Tunmer 1986). According to the simple view, reading comprehension is a product of both listening comprehension and decoding. Here it is argued that the comprehension aspect of reading depends on those same—natural—forces that govern acquisition of spoken language, whereas decoding depends on explicit tutelage, with little evidence that children will induce the cipher from simple exposure to written words and their pronunciations (sight-word instruction). Rejecting both sight-word and phonics instruction as inadequate in and of themselves, evidence is reviewed suggesting that successful readers require explicit awareness of the phonological structure of spoken words, which can and should be taught in kindergarten, prior to formal reading instruction. Beyond this point, reading success depends on a modicum of phonics instruction together with extensive practice with reading itself.     

Piaget's theory and instruction: How compatible are they?

Three views of the compatibility of Piaget's theory and educational practice are considered: (a) it is a useful framework to guide instruction; (b) it is antithetical or unrelated to the goals of instruction; and (c) there are some instructional features of the theory that can be operationalized and studied empirically. The findings of such studies are briefly discussed, and in general, more research is deemed needed to establish the validity of Piaget's most educationally relevant constructs. Some general features of Piaget's theory that have attracted teachers are described, and the implications of Piaget's more recent theoretical emphasis on social factors such as conflict are considered.     

How the structure and focus of teachers' collaborative activities facilitate and constrain teacher learning

What kinds of teacher collaboration are most likely to improve what teachers—and, ultimately, students—learn during their time in school? This study looks within and across different collaborative activities that occurred among one teacher team. Observational data analyzed through a sociocultural theoretical framework suggest how the structure and intended focus of collaborative activity can influence (1) how often and how concretely teachers discuss their teaching with colleagues; (2) which aspects of schooling collaboration will address; and (3) what opportunities for teacher learning are afforded and constrained. Intentionally focusing and structuring teachers' collaborative activity can improve its impact on schooling.     

How they got it and how they wanted it: marginalised young people's perspective on their experiences of sexual health education

Young people in Australia are at greatest risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections, and priority actions are necessary for this population group. This study of marginalised and at-risk young people in out-of-school environments was conducted in Western Australia with the aim of obtaining young people's perceptions about their experience of sexual health education and preferred means of gaining sexual health knowledge and skills. A participatory research methodology was implemented through a series of workshops with 88 young people recruited through community youth agencies. The results of the study support what is already known about sexual health promotion for young people and the importance of a holistic approach to promoting positive relationships and sexual health. However, the findings emphasise that this should include the need for demonstrated trust, confidence and safe environments, and the complementary role of community youth agencies and peer-based programmes which may play an important role in reaching young people who may disengage with, or not be reached by school-based sexual health education.     

Microaggressions in graduate students’ lives: How they are encountered and their consequences

This article explores the experiences of teaching assistants from nonmainstream backgrounds in a predominantly white institution (PWI) of U.S. education. We focus on how such teaching assistants experience and respond to “microaggressions” or subtle challenges to their teaching based on race and ethnicity. We also explore the consequences of microaggressions for teaching assistants’ future career plans. Analyses of life history interviews show how processes of microaggressions permeated teaching assistants’ relationships with white prospective and cooperating teachers. The authors suggest ways to interrupt these in teacher education programs.     

Explaining Variation in How Classroom Communities Adapt the Practice of Scientific Argumentation

Research and practice has placed an increasing emphasis on aligning classroom practices with scientific practices such as scientific argumentation. In this paper, I explore 1 challenge associated with this goal by examining how existing classroom practices influence students' engagement in the practice of scientific argumentation. To do so, I present discourse data from 2 middle school classes engaged in argumentation activities. For each class, I compare existing classroom practices to a discussion designed to facilitate argumentation. My analysis reveals that the existing classroom practices influenced the way in which students responded to the disparate ideas being discussed and that the immediate learning environment influenced the frequency with which students justified their ideas and directly responded to one another. This study suggests that the goal structures that aligned with the existing classroom practices carried over to students' argumentative interactions, influencing how they responded to the disparate ideas. However, the immediate learning environment—including activity structure, software tools, and teaching strategies—seemed to foster student-to-student interactions and justification of ideas.     

Teacher perceptions and individual differences: How they influence rural teachers’ motivating strategies

This study examined the influence of high school teachers’ perceptions and individual difference characteristics on teachers’ use of motivating strategies in their classrooms. Participants were 75 teachers in 19 rural, public high schools. A mixed method approach was used. Quantitative measures included demographics, individual differences, perceptions, and motivating strategies, analyzed as correlations and regressions. Qualitative measures included generative self-report of motivating a student, and semi-structured interviews, which were open coded and then axial coded to identify themes and issues. Peer-related environment stood out among teacher perceptions predicting student motivation. Teacher support and efficacy predicted motivating strategies, but teacher perceptions of student goals and causes of lack of motivation did not. Teachers admit that they lack knowledge and efficacy for motivating students. Findings can inform teacher education, professional development, and administrative support for teaching effectiveness.     

浅谈说课的"六项注意"

说课是教师以教学实践为基础,以教育理论为指导,精心备课,然后面对同行专家,主要用口头形式和有关辅助手段,说明某一教学设计活动及其理论依据,并与听者一起就教学目标的达成、教学内容的把握、教学方法的选用、教学流程的安排等进行预测或反思,共同探讨进一步改进和优化教学设计的教学研究过程.那么,如何说好课?教师在说课中应该注意什么问题呢?笔者以为,说课有"六项注意".     

Student differences and environment perceptions: How they contribute to student motivation in rural high schools

This research investigated relationships among characteristics of students and learning environments influencing variables related to motivation for learning and achievement in rural high schools. Participants were 625 students in all four grades, in 19 rural, public high schools. Questionnaires assessed two environmental factors, three self-perceptual characteristics, two motivational outcomes and three achievement-related outcomes. Regression analyses were utilized to identify differential predictive relationships. Overall, teacher characteristics appeared to more strongly predict students' positive self-perceptions and motivation than did peer characteristics. Perceived ability and valuing most strongly predicted learning and future goals, which, in turn, most strongly predicted motivation. Motivational outcomes strongly predicted grade in class, but not intention to complete high school or postsecondary aspirations. Important differences emerged by subject area. Implications for research and classroom practice are discussed.     

Adolescent twins and emotional distress: the interrelated influence of nonshared environment and social structure

This study examined the power of nonshared environment to differentiate the development of adolescent monozygotic twins, and the extent to which this power varied across social structural contexts (e.g., ethnicity, socioeconomic status). Estimation of difference score models on 289 same-sex monozygotic twin pairs from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health revealed that differences in maternal closeness, teacher bonding, and religious participation differentiated monozygotic twins on emotional distress, with the more distressed twin typically lower on all three. Family income was the strongest structural moderator of these relations, with parental autonomy granting more important in higher income families and religious participation more important in lower income families. Finally, in some groups, one monozygotic twin's emotional distress was also associated with the other twin's familial and extrafamilial relationships. The results of this study demonstrate that interpersonal contexts can shape monozygotic twins' individual experiences within the structure of the larger society.     

Mutual influence of marital conflict and children's behavior problems: shared and nonshared family risks

This within-family, longitudinal study including biological and stepfamilies investigated mutual influences between marital conflict and children's behavior problems. Children (4 to 17 years; N=296) residing in 127 families drawn from a general population study were investigated at Time 1 and again 2 years later. These nested data were analyzed using multilevel modeling, controlling for previous child behavior or marital conflict. Marital conflict about children predicted change in children's behavior. Children's behavior also predicted an increase in marital conflict, particularly in stepfamilies. Differences between siblings in exposure to conflict and the extent to which siblings were a source of argument increased more in stepfamilies than in biological families. Boys were exposed to more conflict over time than were girls.