Social Work and Criminal Justice: Are We Meeting in the Field?

Social workers are needed but infrequently involved with criminal justice systems. One way to increase the number of social workers in the criminal justice system is by exposing students to work in these settings. This study examined the number, types, and utilization of criminal justice field placements in MSW programs by surveying field education directors. On average, 7.73% of field placements were in criminal justice settings. When asked about barriers to criminal justice placements, the most frequently identified challenge was a lack of MSW supervisors. Implications for future research and education are discussed.     

Is Inquiry-Based Science Teaching Worth the Effort?

Inquiry-based science teaching has been advocated by many science educational standards and reports from around the world. Disagreements about and concerns with this teaching approach, however, are often ignored. Opposing ideas and conflicting results have been bouncing around in the field. It seems that the field carries on with a hope that someday they can reconcile. Unfortunately, over half a century, the opposing views have never been reconciled. Rather, they have become clearly divided, as shown in a recent debate. As such, this article intends to serve as a bridge between people holding different views and to identify key disagreements that have been sustaining the tension. The purpose is to improve science education. Suggestions for future research are also provided for a discussion.     

Are We Banishing Self-starters from Teaching?

This is an opinion piece that discusses problems created for self-starting teachers by growing external direction of teaching. The article points to the importance of self-starters in the classroom and suggests lessons to be learned from them.     

Promoting Compulsory Education in Rural China: What Are the NPOs Doing?

Due to imbalanced social and economic development, education in poverty-stricken rural areas in China is lagging behind that of urban areas. The current study explores the role of the nonprofit organizations (NPOs) involved in rural compulsory education promotion. Results show that the NPOs are providing a variety of programs to promote rural compulsory education, and the types of programs, as well as their implementation strategies and impact, are influenced by their registration statuses and background characteristics. Due to lack of coordination and skills, there still remain service gaps, and the quality of the existing programs is questionable. The article proposes strategies to strengthen the nonprofit sector’s work in rural compulsory education.     

Elementary Science Methods Courses and the National Science Education Standards: Are We Adequately Preparing Teachers?

Despite the apparent lack of universally accepted goals or objectives for elementary science methods courses, teacher educators nationally are autonomously designing these classes to prepare prospective teachers to teach science. It is unclear, however, whether science methods courses are preparing teachers to teach science effectively or to implement the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996). Using the Science Teaching Standards as a framework for analysis, this research proceeded in two phases. During the first phase, the elementary science methods courses, perspectives, and practices of six science teacher educators were examined to determine similarities and differences in the course goals and objectives, overall emphases, and their efforts to prepare their students to implement the Science Teaching Standards. The second phase of the study investigated the elementary science methods courses of a national sample of science teacher educators as reflected in their course syllabi. It was found that universal inclusion of content related to the Science Teaching Standards does not exist, nor are there clear linkages between course goals, activities, and assignments.     

Does Learning-Centered Teaching Promote Grade Improvement?

When the grade distribution within a course shifts towards higher grades, it may be due to grade inflation or grade improvement. If the positive shift is accompanied by an increase in achievement or learning, it should be considered grade improvement, not grade inflation. Effective learning-centered teaching is designed to promote student learning due to increased responsibility for learning, engagement with course material, and opportunity for formative assessments prior to summative assessments of course learning outcomes, which leads to improved grades. We suggest ways that faculty members practicing learning-centered teaching can collect and analyze data to support increased learning and grade improvement.     

Inquiry-Based Laboratory Activities in Electrochemistry: High School Students’ Achievements and Attitudes

This study aimed to investigate the effects of inquiry-based laboratory activities on high school students’ understanding of electrochemistry and attitudes towards chemistry and laboratory work. The participants were 62 high school students (average age 17 years) in an urban public high school in Turkey. Students were assigned to experimental (N?=?30) and control groups (N?=?32). The experimental group was taught using inquiry-based laboratory activities developed by the researchers and the control group was instructed using traditional laboratory activities. The results of the study indicated that instruction based on inquiry-based laboratory activities caused a significantly better acquisition of scientific concepts related to electrochemistry, and produced significantly higher positive attitudes towards chemistry and laboratory. In the light of the findings, it is suggested that inquiry-based laboratory activities should be developed and applied to promote students’ understanding in chemistry subjects and to improve their positive attitudes.     

Students’ Progression in Monitoring Anomalous Results Obtained in Inquiry-Based Laboratory Tasks

Research in Science Education - This paper examines students’ engagement in monitoring anomalous results across a 2-year longitudinal study with 9th and 10th graders (14–15 and...     

Tensions in the Biology Laboratory: What are they?

The purpose of this paper is to identify tensions in teacher–student interaction in a high school biology laboratory. Using micro‐analytic analysis of classroom talk, the interaction between the students and a teacher working in the biology laboratory session on Reproduction in Plants is studied. The two tensions highlighted here are tension with textbooks as authority and tension with the teacher as authority. Tension with textbooks as authority originates from an over‐reliance on generalizations expressed in textbooks resulting in the inability of learners to appreciate alternatives and exceptions. Tension with the teacher as authority stems from the task design and varying levels of control that a teacher has over the learner and the learning process. The genesis of the two forms of tensions in the laboratory is different and they are tackled differently by the participants to yield different outcomes. While science educators have conducted intensive research over the past two decades on the effects of school science laboratory work on students’ learning of science, more can be done in the specific area of teacher–student interaction. This paper offers some insights into the interaction between a teacher and her students in a laboratory as they learn biology. An increased understanding of the impact of the tensions in a science laboratory might help to bring about realization of the true spirit and intent of school science laboratory experiences.     

Meeting of the Minds: Online Matching Program for Teaching and Learning Styles?

Although there are many disagreements on the major causes of problems in the educational system in the United States, few would disagree that the importance of ensuring the success of our students is not only a moral obligation to our youth, but imperative to our national resilience. And, as a nation, we are responding to this urgent need. The College Completion Agenda mandates that 55% of the nation’s 25-to-35-year olds will be degree holders by the year 2025 (Lee & Rawls, 2010). But how do we accomplish the ambitious challenge and a necessary aspiration to elevate America’s status as a world leader in educational attainment among its citizenry? Innovative ideas and technologies that can counterbalance the barriers that threaten student success must be identified and advanced. The purpose of this article is to discuss the opportunity to leverage the marvel of online phenomena and technology in innovative ways to help students reach their full potential. Specifically, we introduce a new conceptual tool that replicates the power of social networking online matching services to link student learning preference with faculty instructional style.     

Exploring the Development of Preservice Science Teachers’ Views on the Nature of Science in Inquiry-Based Laboratory Instruction

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of the inquiry-based and explicit–reflective laboratory instruction on preservice science teachers’ (PSTs) conceptions of the nature of science (NOS) aspects. This study was carried out during the Laboratory Application in Science II course. All 52 preservice elementary science teachers enrolled in the course consented to participate in the study; 37 were female and 15 were male, with a mean age of 22.8 years. All had the same science major background, and all of them were juniors. The course provided meaningful and practical inquiry-based experiences, as well as explicit and reflective instruction about NOS. Each week, a specific NOS aspect was targeted related to the inquiry-based laboratory investigation. The design of the study was qualitative and exploratory in nature. At the beginning of the study, the Views of Nature of Science Questionnaire Version B open-ended questionnaire was applied to explore PSTs’ NOS views. At the end of the semester, the same questionnaire was conducted to determine the impact of the explicit–reflective and inquiry-based laboratory instruction. The results showed that many PSTs improved their views of NOS in each element, although to different degrees.     

“We Are Left in Limbo!”: Chinese EFL Student Teachers’ Teaching Practicum Experience

Tensions between vision and reality in the teaching practicum is a significant issue in research and practice globally, but scanty attention has been awarded to research into areas of tension in teaching practice itself. This paper reports on a study that examines a cohort of Chinese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) student teachers’ perceptions of the tensions arising in their teaching practicum in secondary schools. Triangulated research methods were employed for data collection. Reflective papers were employed as the main instrument of data collection, with classroom observation and field-notes used as supplementary sources of evidence for the occurrence of various unexpected difficulties. The overriding cause of this situation appeared to be the foundationalism paradigm that the teacher education program followed. The study highlights the need for teacher education programs to deal with emergent issues by way of critical postmodernist ideologies and make concerted efforts with schools to help student teachers continually adjust their visions in their practice.