Inquiry‐based science in the middle grades: Assessment of learning in urban systemic reform

Science education standards established by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the National Research Council (NRC) urge less emphasis on memorizing scientific facts and more emphasis on students investigating the everyday world and developing deep understanding from their inquiries. These approaches to instruction challenge teachers and students, particularly urban students who often have additional challenges related to poverty. We report data on student learning spanning 3 years from a science education reform collaboration with the Detroit Public Schools. Data were collected from nearly 8,000 students who participated in inquiry‐based and technology‐infused curriculum units that were collaboratively developed by district personnel and staff from the University of Michigan as part of a larger, district‐wide systemic reform effort in science education. The results show statistically significant increases on curriculum‐based test scores for each year of participation. Moreover, the strength of the effects grew over the years, as evidenced by increasing effect size estimates across the years. The findings indicate that students who historically are low achievers in science can succeed in standards‐based, inquiry science when curriculum is carefully developed and aligned with professional development and district policies. Additional longitudinal research on the development of student understanding over multiple inquiry projects, the progress of teacher enactment over time, and the effect of changes in the policy and administrative environment would further contribute to the intellectual and practical tools necessary to implement meaningful standards‐based systemic reform in science. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 41: 1063–1080, 2004     

The Intellectual Demands of the Intended Primary Science Curriculum in Korea and Singapore: An analysis based on revised Bloom's taxonomy

While there has been a remarkable worldwide convergence in the emphases of primary science curricula over the last four decades, the cognitive and knowledge demands that they make on learners have not been well-researched. Without knowing what these intellectual or epistemic requirements are when learning science in school, issues concerning curricular alignment and access to abstract disciplinary knowledge are also likely to occur. To highlight the value of such forms of analyses, we examine the intended primary science curricula from Korea and Singapore using revised Bloom's taxonomy, as well as describe some of their general features for teaching. The results contribute insights into the complexities of the science curriculum among two similar yet different educational systems that have performed well in international science achievement tests at primary levels.     

当代美国教师教育课程思想的三种价值取向分析

学术取向、专业取向、社会(公正)取向共同构成了20世纪80年代以来美国教师教育课程思想的三大价值取向。专业取向教师教育课程思想以教育学科为中心,相信教育科学研究和教学知识基础的作用,在教育研究和专业评判的基础上,致力于建立专业教师队伍。学术取向教师教育课程思想以通识教育、任教科目为中心,通过教师掌握其知识结构,并把其注入教师教育课程中,完善教师的知识体系,促使教师形成良好的教育判断力。社会取向教师教育课程思想是在美国面对日益多元化的教学环境下,把教师当做转化型知识分子,赋权增能,以社会重建、改造为中心,实现教育和社会公平。三大价值取向的思想体现出了融合与多元模式的思想特征和发展趋势,构成了当代美国教师教育课程思想的基本图景。     

东部发达地区科学课教师教育观念的调查研究——基于上海和杭州科学课教师的调查比较

观念是行动的灵魂,教育观念对教学起着指导和统率的作用。综合科学课程的设置与实施是一项复杂的课程改革,该课程的有效实施要求教师的观念与行为方式发生转变。主要采用问卷调查的方法,通过对东部发达地区两种综合科学课程设置模式下,两地(上海和杭州)科学课教师教育教学观念的比较研究,探寻影响综合科学课程实施的因素,提出促进该课程有效实施的建议,以期为中、西部地区综合科学课程的实施与推广提供借鉴与启示。     

Science Teachers' Inspiration for Teaching Socio‐scientific Issues: Disconnection with reform efforts

The need for the inclusion of socio‐scientific issues (SSI) into science curricula has been generally accepted, but relatively few science teachers have incorporated SSI into their courses. Most science teachers feel that their most important task by far is to teach the principles of science, and any substantive pedagogical changes represent a burden. Reformers and researchers often point out science teachers' lukewarm reactions to the reforms as a major barrier for educational changes but pay little attention to teachers' deeper values and inspirations. However, there are some teachers who address SSI out of their own personal initiative. Detailed case studies of four such teachers showed that although the teachers were aware of Science, Technology, Society or other reform efforts, they developed their own thrust and materials for SSI based on their own values, ideals, philosophies and personal concerns. This suggests that the current curriculum reforms (Science, Technology, Society, SSI, and Nature of Science) tend to suggest theoretical ideals, but do not effectively connect with teachers' deeper values and ideals.     

The romance and reality of policy‐making and implementation: a case study of the target‐oriented curriculum in Hong Kong

One of the major innovations in the recent wave of education reform in Hong Kong is the target‐oriented curriculum. An interesting feature of this new curriculum initiative was its amoebic characteristics – changing shape and focus in its course of development. It was reshaped from an assessment system for accountability purposes to a centrally developed curriculum initiative for improving teaching and learning, and finally to a school‐based curriculum development. In this paper, this course of development and the reasons behind it will be described and analysed. The study suggests that the two‐tier educational policy and implementation system in Hong Kong is a major cause leading to such a phenomenon. If this system were not improved, the possibility of achieving real changes at the school and classroom level would be low.     

培智学校科学教育情况的调查研究

随着新课改的进行,科学教育在我国基础教育中的地位已越来越重要,为了解培智学校在科学教育方面的情况,本研究对南京地区培智学校教师进行了关于培智学校科学教育情况的凋查。结果表明:科学教育的内容存在于培智学校的多门课程中,绝大部分内容是弱智学生感兴趣和需要的,而教师们在教学方法的运用上还存在着问题;同时弱智学生的学习特点亦说明了普通学校科学教育课程的可借鉴性。因此,在培智学校课程改革中应重视科学教育的作用和有关理念的借鉴运用。     

科学课程与学生生活世界之关系

传统科学课程忽视了与学生生活世界的联系。科学课程的改革应以学生的生活世界为起点。生活世界是学习科学课程的价值基础,也是其动力源泉。回归生活世界是学习科学课程的目的,联系生活世界和科学课程的基本方式是研究性学习。     

初等教育专业(专科)课程体系构建的研究与实践

根据社会和教育发展的需要,结合当今小学教育课程改革和实施素质教育的要求,初等教育专业的培养目标应确定为:培养能主动适应现代社会和初等教育改革发展需要的德、智、体、美等方面全面发展的复合型小学骨干教师;以此为基础,构建以科学文化基础知识、学科专业知识、教育专业知识、教育技能和教育态度为主要内容、以必修课和选修课为基本类型的课程体系;同时要重视课程的实施与评价。     

Between naturalism and religion: philosophical essays

Taking the increasing implementation and practice of ‘quality‐oriented education’ as the background to the current reform, the paper outlines moral education in the Chinese junior high school over the last 25 years. It offers a brief review of a few theoretical and empirical research projects which have had some influence on the 2003 reform of the course of Ideology and Morality. It describes: three basic principles behind this new curriculum, focusing on the developing lives of students; curriculum characteristics with ideological, humanistic, practical and integrative dimensions; and the objectives of developing feelings, attitudes and value orientations, competencies and knowledge. The curriculum is illustrated by four textbook and class‐based examples of respect for parents, self‐esteem, environmental awareness and being a responsible citizen, which offer some insights into contemporary moral education with distinctive Chinese characteristics. Finally, the paper gives an overview of the significance of the moral education curriculum reform and of its ongoing challenges.     

Why ‘science for all’ is only an aspiration: staff views of science for learners with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

Teacher and support staff perceptions of science learning, and specifically engagement with science outreach, by pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) were ascertained through questionnaires. The responses indicated that science is seen as serving distinctive learning purposes when undertaken by learners with SEND. Staff who accompanied SEND pupils to science outreach events expressed more positive views about separate outreach events for SEND pupils than other respondents, in line with current policy expectations of differentiated classroom practice. The desire for different provision for SEND learners also appeared to be associated with the staffs’ pastoral concerns about their pupils and their reluctance to let their pupils ‘fail’. The data suggests that, despite policy and legislative reform in the UK, curriculum science is still viewed primarily as a means to career progression for an able minority, rather than as an educational and cultural entitlement for all.     

Book reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Inside science education reform: a history of curricular and policy change J. Myron Atkin & P. Black Meaning making in secondary science classrooms E. F. Mortimer & P. H. Scott The intellectual S. Fuller Political learning and citizenship in Europe C. Roland‐Levy & A. Ross Fabricating Europe: the formation of an educational space A. Nóvoa & M. Lawn Science education for citizenship: teaching socio‐scientific issues M. Ratcliffe & M. Grace How to develop children as researchers M. Kellett The Continuum guide to successful teaching in higher education Martinez‐PonsM.     

Disaggregating the Creationist Challenge to Liberal Neutrality

In the US and elsewhere, creationist groups have challenged the mandatory science curriculum because it introduces the theory of evolution as the true story of biodiversity. This paper disaggregates this challenge in two distinctive levels. On the substantive level, creationists claim that Darwinian evolution is not value-neutral, as most scientists portray it, but it works as a philosophically-loaded theory that amounts to naturalism, which is a comprehensive doctrine that undermines traditional theism. Creationists then contend that its exclusive teaching violates the liberal promise of religious neutrality. To restore metaphysical fairness, they propose to include non-naturalistic theories into the official curriculum as a way of balance. On the epistemic level, creationists criticise liberal institutions—from courts of justice to educational boards and executive officials—that demarcate science in a way in which supernatural hypotheses can never compete for the best factual explanation. Under the guise of a purely methodological naturalism, they argue, liberals are opting for a cognitive filter that is biased against the belief that God intervenes in cosmic history. To restore epistemological fairness, they propose that theories that suggest supernatural agency should be rehabilitated and eventually included in the science curriculum. In these two distinct levels, the creationist claim is advanced as a logical implication of political liberalism's purported commitment to religious impartiality.     

The science-technology-society movement in science education: A critique of the reform process

Changes in society and in science and technology have forced a rethinking of what is “basic” in science education. A perceived disjuncture between school science and the realities of a scientifically and technologically oriented society has resulted in proposals for new directions in science teaching. It appears that science education is about to undergo another paradigm shift. One particularly visible movement, the “Science-Technology-Society” (STS) movement, exemplifies how such directional shifts tend to occur within the field of science education. This article critically examines the program and professional development process that has characterized past and current science curriculum reform effort in an attempt to illustrate fundamental educational reform problems. The need for new directions in science education is uncontested here. The issue is the problematic nature of the reform process itself. The article contends that new methods of reform must be researched— methods that directly involve practitioners in critical reflection, participatory research, and science curriculum development.     

Some sources for the history of teacher‐training in England and Wales

Abstract:

Though his best‐selling novel of school life Eric, or, Little by Little: A Tale of Roslyn School has over the years been the subject of much attention, the wider educational thought and practice of Frederic William Farrar, teacher, novelist, scientist, classicist, theologian, and Dean of Canterbury, has for the most part been neglected by scholars. This paper discusses certain aspects of Farrar the educationist, including his distinctive evangelical attitude toward children; his fervent criticism of the prevailing Classical public school curriculum; his advocacy that much more science be taught; his strong antipathy to corporal and other punishment; his distaste for the increasing athleticism in the public schools; his view of the main purpose of education, namely the inculcation of morality, religious conviction, and intellectual rigor.     

美国科学教材FOSS、STC、INSIGHTS比较分析

FOSS、STC、INSIGHTS是在20世纪80年代末美国新一轮科学课程改革的背景下,在＂2061计划＂的推动下启动的三项科学课程研究项目,也是当下美国较为流行的三套小学科学课程教材。本文对三套教材的出台背景作简要介绍,并通过对三套教材的课程内容、教学资源、特点等进行对比,透视美国科学教育的特点及整体发展趋势。     

Different Educational Purposes: Different Sport Values

This paper outlines which values attributed to sport would be more compatible with differing educational purposes. The basic criterion used for determining which values deserve priority is that those values that are most compatible with a particular purpose deserve priority. Jewett and Bain's five curriculum value orientations are used to establish five different educational purposes. Sport values particularly relevant to each of these purposes are identified, and some emphases in the organization of sport to enhance those values are identified.     

高校思想政治理论课实践教学改革探究

实践教学是思想政治理论课的重要组成部分,但当前,由于学校层面及教学组织部门的重视程度不够,组织管理难度大以及缺乏资金和后勤保障等原因,高校思想政治理论课实践教学的开展并不理想。由此,应切实确立思想政治理论课教学在全校教学体系中的战略地位．挖掘教育资源,合理安排实践教学内容,创新形式和载体,增强实践教学的吸引力和实效性,并建立起统一高效、组织完善的实践教学管理和运行机制。     

Some Antecedents of Educational Philosophy in Britain with Particular Reference to Social Science

It would be convenient to pretend that the histories of educational philosophy in Britain and, by extension, the USA and Australia, were responses to a common social and intellectual history but convenience in this case could only be accomplished at the expense of explanatory power. The history of educational philosophy in these three places is parallel but not in common. Philosophy of education in Britain is more closely related to philosophy than is philosophy of education in the USA. Philosophy of education in the USA appropriated the lead of the American Social Science Association and initially retained closer connections with social science than did its English counterpart. Nevertheless, it is argued here that educational philosophy's reference to social science—Victorian and modern—is the missing explanatory element in modem histories of the discipline. The appropriation of education by social science—a common feature of the intellectual history of education in Britain, Australasia, and the USA—leavened the research agenda of educational philosophy in Britain. Peters’ educational work can be best understood as an attempt to reunite education with moral philosophy such that the study of education would resume a profile similar to its nineteenth‐century counterpart, when it was moral philosophy that provided the most interesting discussions of human nature, primitive customs, and social institutions—education among them.