Filipino Pre‐service Education Students' Preconceptions of Teacher Roles Viewed through a Metaphorical Lens

Premised on the belief that students who enter teacher education programs bring with them a schema of teaching which serves as reference points for understanding new experiences, this study explored Filipino pre‐service teachers' preconceptions on teacher roles through a metaphorical lens, with 125 sophomore and junior students from a comprehensive university in the Philippines as its subjects. Data came from actual drawings and written explanations, which were done by the subjects to represent their ideas on what a teacher is. Each subject was allowed time to show his/her work to a group and to discuss it orally. The metaphoric images were listed, tallied, analysed and categorised to show meaningful patterns and themes. Results showed that preconceptions converged into five clusters: knowledge source, direction‐setter, character formatter, change agent and learner. Metaphors used were predominantly instructivist or teacher‐centered, with some emerging constructivist or learner‐centered leanings. The study offered possible explanations for these preconceptions, and their implications on teacher education programs.     

Particulate representation of a chemical reaction mechanism

A growing area of interest in chemical education has been the research associated with conceptual understanding at the particulate level. This study investigated the views of 10 university chemistry lecturers, 85 pre-service chemistry teachers and 23 Secondary 3 (equivalent to Year 9) chemistry students about the particulate level of a chemical reaction, namely the heating of copper (II) carbonate. Four characteristic views were identified on the basis of their diagrammatic representations of particles. These were: (a) formation of intermediates; (b) formation of free particles (e. g., atoms or ions); (c) combination of a and b: formation of free particles (e. g., atoms or ions) first, and then intermediates; (d) no mechanism. Both the majority of the lecturers and the pre-service teachers held an identical view about the reaction mechanism, namely that the decomposition of copper (II) carbonate goes through a transition stage by forming intermediates. In contrast, even though the students were familiar with this reaction, about half of them naïvely believed that copper (II) carbonate broke up on heating and the particles recombined directly to form copper (II) oxide and carbon dioxide, the two observed products. About one-third of the students had neither any notion of how the atoms in the copper (II) carbonate lattice interacted and were rearranged in the reaction nor any concept of bond-breaking and reformation in a chemical reaction.     

Analyzing the role of metacognitive awareness in preservice chemistry teachers' understanding of gas behavior in a multirepresentational instruction setting

This mixed-method study examined the influence of metacognitive awareness on the change in preservice chemistry teachers' understandings of gas behavior in the context of multirepresentational (MR) instruction. The goal was to describe the types of understanding of gas behavior held by a group of participants with high metacognitive awareness (MA) and a group with low MA before and after the MR instruction. A total of 34 preservice chemistry teachers participated in the study. Data sources included the metacognitive awareness inventory and the two-tier nature of gases diagnostic questionnaire. Data from these sources were coded and analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods. A statistically significant difference was observed for the understanding of gas behavior before the MR instruction between the participants with high MA and those with low MA. Both groups of participants exhibited substantial progress toward a scientific understanding from pre- to post-instruction. However, the participants with high MA outperformed those with low MA in terms of developing a more scientific understanding of gas behavior after the MR instruction. In addition, following the MR instruction, while the participants with high MA eliminated 85% of their alternative conceptions, the participants with low MA eliminated only about 60% of their alternative conceptions.     

Gases as Idealized Lattices: A Rational Reconstruction of Students' Understanding of the Behavior of Gases

The main objective of this study is to establish a relationship between students' understanding of gases and its parallels in the history of science (rational reconstruction). Fifty-nine freshman students were asked to respond to a gas problem that did not require any calculations but rather conceptual understanding (due to molecular collisions, gases occupy all the available space). Before responding to the problem students were exposed to an elementary version of the kinetic theory of gases. Results obtained showed that a large proportion of the students gave explanations that approximate quite closely to an idealized form of the Lattice Theory of Gases. This theory considered molecules in gases to be arranged in the form of regular lattices, rather as if gases were highly expanded solids, and was held by most chemists until about 1860. It is concluded that some of the students' alternative conceptions about gas behavior (attractive forces between gas molecules increase as the temperature decreases) are resistant to change and recapitulate theories scientists held in the past.     

Using Story to Help Student Understanding of Gas Behavior

Students tend to have a poor understanding of the concept of gas pressure. Usually, gas pressure is taught in terms of the various formulaic gas laws. The development of the concept of gas pressure according to the early Greeks did not include the concept of a vacuum. It was not for another 2000 years that Torricelli proposed that a vacuum can exist and that he was able to produce a vacuum above a column of mercury. However, the existence of a vacuum continued to be a contentious issue for at least another 100 years. During this time the behavior of gases was studied by Boyle, Amontons, Gay-Lussac, Daniel Bernouli, Charles, and Dalton. In the 19^th century gas behavior was revisited and studied from the molecular level through the work of Graham, Maxwell, Boltzmann, and van der Waal. The stories of conflicting theories and the development of the concept of gas pressure gives students an increased appreciation for the nature of science and helps them with conceptual understanding of the concept of gas pressure.     

高校体育专业学生术科课学习态度的调查研究

运用问卷调查法对华侨大学、福建师范大学、龙岩学院等高校体育专业学生术科课学习态度进行了相关研究,结果发现:(1)高校体育专业学生术科课学习态度处于中等偏上水平,在生源地和专业上不存在显著差异;(2)女生的术科课学习态度总分和认知得分好于男生,大一学生的情感得分显著高于大二学生;(3)术科课学习态度总分、情感因子和行为倾向因子和学习氛围、教学水平和重视程度之间存在显著的正相关;(4)教学水平、性别联合解释术科课学习态度总分的量为4.8%,性别对认知的解释量为2.4%,教学水平和重视程度对情感的联合解释量为9.3%,学习氛围对行为倾向的解释量为3.6%。最后,从认知、情感和行为倾向三个角度提出改进术科课学习态度的具体建议。     

社会风气与当代大学生价值观的相关性研究

当代大学生价值观的形成和变化受多种因素的影响,其中社会风气是一个重要的因素。对贵州在校大学生的抽样调查和实证分析表明,社会风气与当代大学生价值观的形成和变化之间具有很强的相关性。必须营造良好的社会风气,教育和引导当代大学生形成健康向上的价值观。     

对本科生化学创新实验室的思考

大学本科生化学创新实验室是一个相对独立、开放、多功能的综合性化学实验室,它的设立适应了高校素质教育和创新人才培养的需求,促进了高校化学实验创新教育理念的形成,营造了大学本科生化学创新学习的氛围。     

Students’ Preconceptions and Perceptions of Science-Oriented Studies

Do non-science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students’ views about STEM studies correspond with how STEM students actually perceive these studies? This paper deals with this issue by comparing higher education students’ attitudes towards STEM studies between those who actually did a STEM study and those who did not. The attitudes of the first category of students have been referred to as perceptions and the attitudes of the second category as preconceptions. The study included 1,935 students in higher education. The results confirm both small and large differences between the preconceptions and perceptions, and show significant differences between suitably qualified students (i.e. eligible for STEM studies) and other students. At the end of this paper, we will discuss the implications of this study for future research and offer some suggestions for practice.     

Sixth-Grade Students’ Views of the Nature of Engineering and Images of Engineers

This study investigated the views of the nature of engineering held by 6th-grade students to provide a baseline upon which activities or curriculum materials might be developed to introduce middle-school students to the work of engineers and the process of engineering design. A phenomenographic framework was used to guide the analysis of data collected from: (1) a series of 20 semi-structured interviews with 6th-grade students, (2) drawings created by these students of “an engineer or engineers at work” that were discussed during the interviews, and (3) field notes collected by the researchers during the interviews. The 6th-grade students tended to believe that engineers were individuals who make or build products, although some students understood the role of engineers in the design or planning of products, and, to a lesser extent in testing products to ensure that they “work” and/or are safe to use. The combination of drawings of “engineers or engineering at work” and individual interviews provided more insight into the students’ views of the nature of engineering than either source of data would have offered on its own. Analysis of the data suggested that the students’ concepts of engineers and engineering were fragile, or unstable, and likely to change within the time frame of the interview.     

Envisioning preferred environmental futures: exploring relationships between future-related views and environmental attitudes

The purpose of the study was to explore undergraduate students’ views about environmental futures that are preferred or desirable for them, and to further examine relationships between specific future-related views and general environmental attitudes. 96 students from one reputable public university in Taiwan participated in a survey that included a draw-and-explain task and a questionnaire. The analysis of students’ drawings and annotations revealed a number of topics that characterised their preferred environmental futures; green technology and elements of natural environment were the most prominent topics. Correlations revealed that (1) students who believe that their preferred environmental futures will happen tend to hold a positive view about techno-science as an influencing factor; (2) students who are more positive about techno-science tend to be less concerned about the environment. These findings re-emphasise the need for environmental and science teaching to integrate a critical futures perspective that aims to help students move away from technological fatalism and simply adjusting to the future towards a deeper understanding of sustainable futures and a sense of empowerment.     

Strategies and Activities for Initiating and Maintaining Pressure on Students' Naive Views Concerning the Nature of Science

Many science teachers devote a portion of their course to improving students' understanding of the nature of science. However, despite a one- or two-week effort, students often cling to their misconceptions. This tenacity is not surprising in light of conceptual change theory. How then are teachers to facilitate more contemporary portrayals of the nature of science? The key is to maintain in students a sense of dissatisfaction with their archaic notions of the nature of science. Drawing from my recent six year experience teaching high school biology and chemistry, this paper provides examples of how science teachers might initiate and maintain pressure on students' misconceptions regarding the nature of science, and facilitate student consideration of more contemporary views.     

Conceptual difficulties experienced by senior high school students of electrochemistry: Electric circuits and oxidation-reduction equations

The purpose of this research was to investigate students' understanding of electrochemistry following a course of instruction. A list of conceptual and propositional knowledge statements was formulated to identify the knowledge base necessary for students to understand electric circuits and oxidation-reduction equations. The conceptual and propositional knowledge statements provided the framework for the development of a semistructured interview protocol which was administered to 32 students in their final year of high school chemistry. The interview questions about electric circuits revealed that several students in the sample were confused about the nature of electric current both in metallic conductors and in electrolytes. Students studying both physics and chemistry were more confused about current flow in metallic conductors than students who were only studying chemistry. In the section of the interview which focused on oxidation and reduction, many students experienced problems in identifying oxidation-reduction equations. Several misconceptions relating to the inappropriate use of definitions of oxidation and reduction were identified. The data illustrate how students attempted to make sense of the concepts of electrochemistry with the knowledge they had already developed or constructed. The implications of the research are that teachers, curriculum developers, and textbook writers, if they are to minimize potential misconceptions, need to be cognizant of the relationship between physics and chemistry teaching, of the need to test for erroneous preconceptions about current before teaching about electrochemical (galvanic) and electrolytic cells, and of the difficulties experienced by students when using more than one model to explain scientific phenomena.     

Responsiveness-to-Intervention and School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports: Integration of Multi-Tiered System Approaches

Scientific reasoning of elementary age students with mild mental retardation was investigated using structured interviews during tasks involving properties of air and electricity. Discourse analysis was employed to describe preconceptions students with mild mental retardation reported about the natural world and how those preconceptions might be influenced by empirical evidence. Students in this investi- gation expressed prior understandings of air and electricity, but these understand- ings were incomplete and often at variance with generally accepted scientific fact. When faced with empirical evidence, students provided some responses that appeared to be more accommodating of this evidence. Characteristics such as outerdirectedness may have interacted with student responding. Implications for further research and practice are discussed.     

Dramatizing the Authentic Research of a Local Scientist to Urban Elementary Students Through Professional Theater

This article focuses on the impact of a professional play that we developed in order to introduce elementary learners of an urban school to the research of a scientist working at a local university. The play was written in a way that might increase student understandings of the nature of science, scientific inquiry, the identity of scientists, and the work that scientists do. We collected pre-and post-play questionnaire responses and drawings of scientists from third and fourth grade students who attended the play. We also interviewed five of the ten teachers whose students attended the play. Findings indicated that most of these teachers felt strongly that their students had learned about scientific inquiry, the identity of scientists, and the work that scientists do as a result of attending the play. However, less than half of the student questionnaires and drawings of scientists indicated such growth as a result of the play. That being said, numerous students were able to tell us what they learned from the play and many questionnaire responses and drawings indicated such learning. Implications for partnerships between schools and university faculty from various disciplines in order to develop potentially impactful plays that portray authentic scientific research are discussed.     

Misconceptions About Sound Among Engineering Students

Our first objective was to detect misconceptions about the microscopic nature of sound among senior university students enrolled in different engineering programmes (from chemistry to telecommunications). We sought to determine how these misconceptions are expressed (qualitative aspect) and, only very secondarily, to gain a general idea of the extent to which they are held (quantitative aspect). Our second objective was to explore other misconceptions about wave aspects of sound. We have also considered the degree of consistency in the model of sound used by each student. Forty students answered a questionnaire including open-ended questions. Based on their free, spontaneous answers, the main results were as follows: a large majority of students answered most of the questions regarding the microscopic model of sound according to the scientifically accepted model; however, only a small number answered consistently. The main model misconception found was the notion that sound is propagated through the travelling of air particles, even in solids. Misconceptions and mental-model inconsistencies tended to depend on the engineering programme in which the student was enrolled. However, students in general were inconsistent also in applying their model of sound to individual sound properties. The main conclusion is that our students have not truly internalised the scientifically accepted model that they have allegedly learnt. This implies a need to design learning activities that take these findings into account in order to be truly efficient.     

Describing Changes in Undergraduate Students’ Preconceptions of Research Activities

Research has shown that students bring na?ve scientific conceptions to learning situations which are often incongruous with accepted scientific explanations. These preconceptions are frequently determined to be misconceptions; consequentially instructors spend time to remedy these beliefs and bring students' understanding of scientific concepts to acceptable levels. It is reasonable to assume that students also maintain preconceptions about the processes of authentic scientific research and its associated activities. This study describes the most commonly held preconceptions of authentic research activities among students with little or no previous research experience. Seventeen undergraduate science majors who participated in a ten week research program discussed, at various times during the program, their preconceptions of research and how these ideas changed as a result of direct participation in authentic research activities. The preconceptions included the belief that authentic research is a solitary activity which most closely resembles the type of activity associated with laboratory courses in the undergraduate curriculum. Participants' views showed slight maturation over the research program; they came to understand that authentic research is a detail-oriented activity which is rarely successfully completed alone. These findings and their implications for the teaching and research communities are discussed in the article.     

Visualization and Representation of Physical Systems: Wavemaker as an Aid to Conceptualizing Wave Phenomena

An understanding of wave mechanics is essential to making the leap from classical to quantum systems. Wavemaker is a simulation environment developed to reveal graphically the behavior of periodic systems using a series of increasingly sophisticated visualization tools. Individual particles in a many-particle system can be instrumented for study of kinematic behavior. Parametric representations reveal time-independent behaviors. Problems dealing with propagation, reflection, and Fourier synthesis are easily studied. Use with students has revealed that many students have preconceptions about the behavior of waves and that use of this software is helpful in connecting real to simulated systems, separating holistic behaviors from those of individual elements, identifying critical parameters, and making connections between variables that are used to describe and measure periodic systems.     

Comparison of learning in two context-based university chemistry classes

ABSTRACT

Context-based learning (CBL) is advocated as beneficial to learners, but more needs to be understood about how different contexts used in courses influence student outcomes. Gilbert defined several models of context that appear to be used in chemistry. In one model that achieves many criteria of student meaning-making, the context is provided by ‘personal mental activity’, meaning that students engage in a role to solve a problem. The model’s predicted outcomes are that students develop and use the specialised language of chemistry, translate what they learn in the immediate context to other contexts, and empathise with the community of practice that is created. The first two of these outcomes were investigated in two large-enrolment university chemistry courses, both organised as this CBL model, in which students were introduced to kinetic molecular theory (KMT). Sample 1 students (N₁?=?105) learned KMT through whole-class kinaesthetic activity as a human model of a gas while focusing on a problem identifying substances in balloons filled with different gases. Sample 2 students (N₂?=?110) manipulated molecular dynamics simulations while focusing on the problem of reducing atmospheric CO₂. Exam answers and pre-/post-test responses, involving a new KMT context, were analysed. Students in Sample 1 demonstrated a stronger understanding of particle trajectories, while Sample 2 students developed more sophisticated mechanistic reasoning and greater fluidity of translation between contexts through increased use of chemists’ specialised language. The relationships of these outcomes to the contexts were examined in consideration of the different curriculum emphases inherent in the contexts.     

大学生课外体育锻炼坚持行为的影响因素研究

运用结构方程模型方法对230名普通大学生课外体育锻炼的主要影响因素进行了实证分析。结果显示:研究采用的结构方程模型与研究假设和构想概念拟合度较好;锻炼条件、锻炼氛围和锻炼承诺三变量对大学生课外体育锻炼坚持行为有较好地预测和解释。其中,影响大学生课外体育锻炼坚持机制中起主导作用的是内因——参与体育锻炼的行为意图(锻炼承诺)。锻炼氛围对锻炼坚持行为的直接作用路径在有无锻炼承诺群体中均具有显著性意义,即能使个体从无锻炼承诺向有锻炼承诺转变,促进有锻炼承诺的群体更长久地坚持体育锻炼。