Examining Reasoning Practices and Epistemic Actions to Explore Students’ Understanding of Genetics and Evolution

Science & Education - This article focuses on students’ discursive moves and reasoning practices while engaged in a task that requires making explanatory links between sickle cell disease...     

Multimodal Interaction Analysis: a Powerful Tool for Examining Plurilingual Students’ Engagement in Science Practices

Research in Science Education - Science teaching and learning are discursive practices, yet analysis of these practices has frequently been grounded in theorizations that place language at the...     

Examining Elementary Students’ Development of Oral and Written Argumentation Practices Through Argument-Based Inquiry

Argumentation, and the production of scientific arguments are critical elements of inquiry that are necessary for helping students become scientifically literate through engaging them in constructing and critiquing ideas. This case study employed a mixed methods research design to examine the development in 5th grade students’ practices of oral and written argumentation from one unit to another over 16 weeks utilizing the science writing heuristic approach. Data sources included five rounds of whole-class discussion focused on group presentations of arguments that occurred over eleven class periods; students’ group writings; interviews with six target students and the teacher; and the researcher’s field notes. The results revealed five salient trends in students’ development of oral and written argumentative practices over time: (1) Students came to use more critique components as they participated in more rounds of whole-class discussion focused on group presentations of arguments; (2) by challenging each other’s arguments, students came to focus on the coherence of the argument and the quality of evidence; (3) students came to use evidence to defend, support, and reject arguments; (4) the quality of students’ writing continuously improved over time; and (5) students connected oral argument skills to written argument skills as they had opportunities to revise their writing after debating and developed awareness of the usefulness of critique from peers. Given the development in oral argumentative practices and the quality of written arguments over time, this study indicates that students’ development of oral and written argumentative practices is positively related to each other. This study suggests that argumentative practices should be framed through both a social and epistemic understanding of argument-utilizing talk and writing as vehicles to create norms of these complex practices.     

Dialectical Features of Students’ Argumentation: A Critical Review of Argumentation Studies in Science Education

This paper explores the challenges of using the Toulmin model to analyze students’ dialogical argumentation. The paper presents a theoretical exposition of what is involved in an empirical study of real dialogic argumentation. Dialogic argumentation embodies dialectical features — i.e. the features that are operative when students collaboratively manage disagreement by providing arguments and engaging critically with the arguments provided by others. The paper argues that while dialectical features cannot readily be understood from a Toulminian perspective, it appears that an investigation of them is a prerequisite for conducting Toulminian analysis. This claim is substantiated by a detailed review of five of the ten most significant papers on students’ argumentation in science education. This leads to the surprising notion that empirical studies in the argumentation strand — even those studies that have employed non-dialectical frameworks such as the Toulmin model — have implicitly struggled to come to terms with the dialectical features of students’ discourse. The paper finally explores how some scholars have worked to attend directly to these dialectical features; and it presents five key issues that need to be addressed in a continued scholarly discussion.     

Vietnamese Students’ Learning Motivations for Master’s Programmes: Implications for Curriculum Development and Pedagogical Practice

Abstract

The number of students who enrol in Master’s programmes has significantly increased in recent years; however, their learning motivations have not been adequately investigated, especially those from developing countries. This article reports a two-phased study that investigated Vietnamese students’ learning motivations for attending Master’s programmes. Qualitative content analysis of 10 open-ended questionnaires as well as exploratory factor analysis of 202 survey responses showed that students were inspired by 14 learning motivations related to employment, knowledge and skills, new adventure and some miscellaneous motivations. Independent samples T-tests results indicated significant differences in the learning motivations between student groups with different age ranges, work experience, nature of their work, targeted Master’s programme (local or international) and sources of funding of their studies. The study also found that their learning motivations were closely related to the Confucian educational and cultural values. This article discusses implications for curriculum development and pedagogical practice for effective Master’s programmes.     

Modeling and Measuring High School Students’ Computational Thinking Practices in Science

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Despite STEM education communities recognizing the importance of integrating computational thinking (CT) into high school curricula, computation still...     

MSW Students’ Perceptions of Relevance and Application of Statistics: Implications for Field Education

Many social work students feel anxious when taking a statistics course. Their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors after learning statistics are less known. However, such information could help instructors support students’ ongoing development of statistical knowledge. With a sample of MSW students (N = 101) in one program, this study examined students’ feelings of anxiety and confidence, beliefs about the relevance of statistics to their education and practice, and the relationship of these attitudes and beliefs to their actual statistical competence. The findings indicate that repeated exposure to statistics supports the development of statistical competence, particularly in relevant applied contexts like field education.     

An Investigation of Lebanese G7-12 Students’ Misconceptions and Difficulties in Genetics and Their Genetics Literacy

Lebanese educators claim that middle and secondary school students exhibit poor understanding of genetics due to misconceptions and difficulties that hinder progression in conceptual understanding of major genetics concepts and phenomena across different grade levels. They attributed these problems to Lebanon’s ill-structured genetics curriculum which needs a thorough revision in light of curricular reform models that take into account student misconceptions, cognitive abilities, and past experiences. Despite these claims, no empirical tests were done. Consequently, this study aimed to investigate G7-12 Lebanese students’ misconceptions and difficulties in genetics in an attempt to design a curriculum that would enhance student understanding of genetics. Using quantitative and qualitative data collection methods, we obtained an in-depth understanding of the nature of the misconceptions and difficulties encountered by students in grades 7–12, determined the level of students’ genetics literacy, and explored the progression of their level of conceptual understanding of major genetics concepts across grade levels. A questionnaire was administered to 729 students (G7-12) in 6 schools and was followed by semi-structured interviews with 62 students to validate the questionnaire results, gain further understanding of students’ misconceptions, and assess their level of genetics literacy. Findings showed that patterns of inheritance, the deterministic nature of genes, and the nature of genetic information were found to be among the most difficult concepts learned. Students also showed inadequate understanding of many basic genetics concepts which persist across grade levels. Furthermore, results indicated that students across all grade levels exhibited a low level of genetics literacy. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

Students’ Views Regarding their Participation in University Governance: Implications for Distributed Leadership in Higher Education

The paper examines the views of students regarding the extent of their participation in the management of their university and their satisfaction with the degree of this participation. After an examination of the literature on student participation in university governance, the author presents the results of a survey based on data collected from 135 students of the University of Cyprus in 2002. According to the findings, respondents believed that their involvement in the management of their institution was very limited. This applied to both high and low levels of decision making, even though respondents recognised that their input was greater in less important decisions. The perceived limited involvement resulted in feelings of frustration and dissatisfaction among students, with the majority of respondents demanding a higher level of participation for all three decision making situations considered in the study. The paper discusses the implications of the findings for the practice of distributed leadership at contemporary universities, with emphasis on the need to abandon outdated leadership models. Specifically, it proposes measures for increasing student participation in university governance in the framework of a distributed leadership approach designed to empower the key stakeholders of higher education.     

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.     

Teachers’ Roles,Students’ Personalities,Inquiry Learning Outcomes,and Practices of Science and Engineering:The Development and Validation of the McGill Attainment Value for Inquiry Engagement Survey in STEM Disciplines

Inquiry engagement is a newly defined construct that represents the participation in carrying out practices of science and engineering to achieve learning outcomes and is influenced by learners’ personalities and teachers’ roles. Expectancy value theory posits that attainment values are important components of task values that, in turn, directly influence students’ achievement-related choices and performance. The current paper developed and validated the McGill Attainment Value for Inquiry Engagement Survey (MAVIES) with undergraduate students in STEM disciplines. The MAVIES is a 67-item, learner-focused survey that addresses four components that are theoretically important for engaging in scientific inquiry: (a) teachers’ roles, (b) students’ personalities, (c) inquiry learning outcomes, and (d) practices of science and engineering. Evidence for internal consistency and construct, content, and criterion validity was obtained from 85 undergraduates who had experience with scientific inquiry in diverse STEM fields. Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed factors that were consistent with role theory, Big Five personality traits, revised Bloom’s learning outcomes, and the Next Generation Science Standards. The MAVIES instrument is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring undergraduate students’ attainment values for scientific inquiry engagement in STEM disciplines.     

On the Epistemic Value of Students’ Conceptions in Science Education

Science & Education - In this article, I present an analysis of the epistemic value of the students' conceptions, as employed in the current constructivist research. I focus on the...     

Science and Language Teachers’ Assessment of Upper Secondary Students’ Socioscientific Argumentation

Researchers and policy-makers have recognized the importance of including and promoting socioscientific argumentation in science education worldwide. The Swedish curriculum focuses more than ever on socioscientific issues (SSI) as well. However, teaching socioscientific argumentation is not an easy task for science teachers and one of the more distinguished difficulties is the assessment of students’ performance. In this study, we investigate and compare how science and Swedish language teachers, participating in an SSI-driven project, assessed students’ written argumentation about global warming. Swedish language teachers have a long history of teaching and assessing argumentation and therefore it was of interest to identify possible gaps between the two groups of teachers’ assessment practices. The results showed that the science teachers focused on students’ content knowledge within their subjects, whereas the Swedish language teachers included students’ abilities to select and use content knowledge from reliable reference resources, the structure of the argumentation and the form of language used. Since the Swedish language teachers’ assessment correlated more with previous research about quality in socioscientific argumentation, we suggest that a closer co-operation between the two groups could be beneficial in terms of enhancing the quality of assessment. Moreover, SSI teaching and learning as well as assessment of socioscientific argumentation ought to be included in teacher training programs for both pre- and in-service science teachers.     

Students’ Choice: Recommendations for Environmental and Instructional Changes in School

This study investigated 134 middle school students’ suggestions concerning environmental and instructional changes based on their individual learning-style Inventories. The results of the study determined that students could suggest environmental and instructional changes that differed from the accustomed traditional environments and instruction encountered on a daily basis.