Competency beliefs,positive affect,and gender stereotypes of elementary students and their parents about science versus other school subjects

Iowa students and parents completed related attitude and belief questionnaires about school subjects. Grade K–3 students received simpler questionnaires than did Grade 4–6 students or parents. Among Grade 4–6 children, girls perceived higher competence in reading than did boys, but boys perceived higher competence in physical science. All children perceived physical science competence lower than reading or math competence. Parents perceived boys as more competent in science. Girls like reading more than boys did; boys and girls did not differ in liking of science. Grade 4–6 children also expected lower grades in and attached lower importance to physical science than to reading. Parents perceived science as more important for boys and expected higher performance of boys. Jobs related to math or science were seen as more male dominated. These results provided a more comprehensive picture of attitudes and beliefs about science in the elementary school than had existed and suggested that attitudinal gender differences related to physical science begin to develop by the earliest elementary school years. Policy implications are that intervention programs designed to promote gender equity should be extended to the early elementary school years and also should address parental attitudes. Additional implications for policy and research are discussed. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 36: 719–747, 1999     

Learning nanotechnology with texts and comics: the impacts on students of different achievement levels

Comics are popular with adolescents because of their features of humor, narrative, and visual imagery. The purposes of this study were to examine the learning outcomes and emotional perceptions of reading a science comic book and a science text booklet for students of different levels of achievement, and to explore the main factors of the two media which attract high-school students to learn science. A mixed-method quasi-experimental design was adopted. The participants were 697 grade ten students from eight schools with different levels of academic achievement. Two similar classes in each of the eight schools were assigned as the comic group or the text group. The results indicated that the science comic book benefited medium achievers more than the science text booklet did, but the contrary result was found for the high achievers. In comparison, the two media benefited the low achievers equally, but both had only a limited effect due to the students’ lack of prior knowledge. We conclude four kinds of evidence, including perceived difficulty of comprehension, reasons for interest/disinterest, emotional perceptions of learning science, and learning time, to support the phenomenon of the learning benefit of media specific to certain achievers’ science learning.     

Can Providing Rubrics for Writing Tasks Improve Developing Writers' Calibration Accuracy?

Rubric-referenced calibration and the interaction between writing achievement and calibration, a measure of the relationship between one's performance and the accuracy of one's judgments, were investigated. Undergraduate students (N = 596) were assigned to one of three calibration conditions: (a) global, (b) global and general criteria, or (c) global and detailed criteria. Students in all three conditions provided global predictions and postdictions of essay exam scores. Although calibration judgments by condition did not affect calibration accuracy overall, statistically significant main effects were found between calibration accuracy by criteria and prior achievement. High achievers made more-accurate predictions and postdictions by criteria than low achievers. Regardless of achievement level, those students in the detailed rubric condition had higher postdictive accuracy for the organization criteria than did students in the general rubric condition.     

理工科新生大学适应性调查及其教育

对274名大学新生进行适应性特点调查发现,理工科新生在学习适应、环境总体认同以及身心症状上得分显著高于常模;男女生、不同生源地在适应性上表现出显著差异;独生、非独生子女以及不同家庭经济水平在适应性维度上也表现出显著差异。文章对此提出适应性教育的有效方法。     

Three studies of factors affecting the attitudes of blacks and females toward the pursuit of science and science-related careers

This study involved the development of an instrument, the Science Career Predictor Scale (SCPS), which assesses seven factors thought to be involved with science career choices: teacher/counselor encouragement, participation in science-related hobbies and activities, academic self-image, science-related career interest, parental encouragement and support, the perceived relevance of mathematics and science, and mathematics and science ability. This instrument was administered to a sample of 522 middle and high school students, and a sample of 185 students from an historically black university, and the effects of such factors as sex, race, personal acquaintance with a scientist, and type of community (rural or urban) on the above-mentioned variables were ascertained using a multivariate analysis of covariance with age as the covariate. A separate study on a sample of 81 high school students looked at race and gender differences in critical thinking abilities as measured by the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking appraisal, and how these abilities correlated with scores on the Science Career Predictor Scale. These studies produced several significant findings. Female subjects did produce significantly lower scores on the career interest factor. Black students actually had significantly higher science-career preference scores than their white counterparts. However, blacks scored significantly lower on the measure of critical thinking ability. Across both races and both sexes, however, the major factor affecting science-related career decisions appears to be personal contact with a scientist. The implications of these findings are discussed, along with possible strategies for increasing the participation of these groups in science.     

The Principal who Cared

The authors surveyed student teachers in a yearlong internship and their peers in a traditional semester-long internship to compare perceptions across different practice teaching experiences. All participants were enrolled in the same university and were similar across gender, age, ethnicity, and undergraduate educational experiences. The students in the yearlong internship reported a better relationship with their supervising teacher, greater knowledge of school policies and procedures, and higher scores for the perceived adequacy of time spent in school than did the students in the semester internship. The two groups did not differ in perceptions of their teaching ability, which were generally favorable. The authors discuss the outcomes regarding continuing challenges professional development programs face when building and sustaining effective clinical experiences.     

Investigating the relation of perceived teacher unfairness to science achievement by hierarchical linear modeling in 52 countries and economies

Abstract

This study used the data from the 2015 OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to examine the relationship between perceived teacher unfairness and science achievement with a three-level hierarchical linear model (HLM) as the analytic approach. Data of 188,104 students from 4895 schools in 52 countries and economies were used for analysis. After accounting for student gender, student-, school-, and country-level economic, social, and cultural status, and students’ non-cognitive outcomes, the results of HLM analysis showed that perceived teacher unfairness negatively predicted science achievement with a modest effect size. The possible explanations of the results and the practical implication of the findings were discussed.     

An Investigation of Students’ Personality Traits and Attitudes toward Science

The purposes of this study were to validate an instrument of attitudes toward science and to investigate grade level, type of school, and gender differences in Taiwan’s students’ personality traits and attitudes toward science as well as predictors of attitudes toward science. Nine hundred and twenty‐two elementary students and 1,954 secondary students completed the School Student Questionnaire in 2008. Factor analyses, correlation analyses, ANOVAs, and regressions were used to compare the similarities and differences among male and female students in different grade levels. The findings were as follows: female students had higher interest in science and made more contributions in teams than their male counterparts across all grade levels. As students advanced through school, student scores on the personality trait scales of Conscientiousness and Openness sharply declined; students’ scores on Neuroticism dramatically increased. Elementary school and academic high school students had significantly higher total scores on interest in science than those of vocational high and junior high school students. Scores on the scales measuring the traits of Agreeableness, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness were the most significant predictors of students’ attitudes toward science. Implications of these findings for classroom instruction are discussed.     

Using the Repertory Grid as a Complementary Probe in Eliciting Student Understanding and Attitudes towards Science

Abstract

In previous research, participation in science studies in senior secondary school has been related to both background characteristics of students and to earlier achievements and interests. This paper reports an investigation of participation in combinations of subjects in senior secondary schools in Australia which embody different science orientations. It shows that different combinations of factors shape participation in physical science’ and ‘biological and other science’ types of course. Both are favoured by investigative interest but participation in a physical science course type is strongly associated with high levels of earlier school achievement in numeracy and gender whereas participation in a biological and other science course type is more strongly associated with social background and curriculum influences. In addition the paper suggests that the low participation by females in physical science courses should be interpreted in terms of an interactive influence of gender, earlier achievement and socio‐economic background.     

Student perceptions of the classroom environment: Relations to motivation and achievement in mathematics

This study examined the relationship of 979 middle school students’ perceptions of their mathematics classroom environment to their motivation and achievement. Structural equation modeling indicated that motivational variables (utility, personal achievement goals, efficacy) mediated the influence of perceived teacher expectations, teacher support and use of reform practices on mathematics standardised test scores. Our study provides empirical evidence that students’ perceptions that their teachers believe that they are capable of learning and understanding mathematics positively relate to their Mastery and Performance Goal orientations and mathematics Utility. Further, we found an interaction between students’ perceptions of the frequency of reform practice use in their mathematics classroom and mathematics efficacy. For students with lower mathematics efficacy, their perceptions of more frequent use of reform practices in their mathematics class related to higher standardised test performance. For students with higher mathematics efficacy, perceived use of reform practices did not significantly relate to standardised test performance. These data suggest that frequent exposure to reform practices is especially critical for students who judge themselves as being less capable in mathematics and who are lower performers. This finding differs from prior research that has suggested that reform practice use benefits higher achievers but not lower achievers. An important implication of our study is the need for coordinated, ongoing professional development that highlights reform pedagogy and beliefs while also focusing on student motivation theories and strategies.     

Alternative Assessment Portfolios for Students with Intellectual Disabilities: A Case Study

Abstract

Twenty‐eight classroom teachers identified students in their rooms who were low achievers, at‐risk learners; low achievers, not at risk; average achievers; and special education students. We videotaped these students during reading lessons conducted by their teachers. Using a stimulated recall procedure, we interviewed teachers and asked them to report their thought processes during instruction, especially those that pertained to the target children. We found that teachers reported significantly more negative thoughts about at‐risk learners' than about average achievers' attending behavior and ability‐performance. Furthermore, at‐risk learners received a greater number of comments focused on the need to monitor their performance. Special education students received significantly more positive and negative comments about attending than did average achievers. In addition, they received more miscellaneous positive comments than did low, not at‐risk, and average achievers. Finally, teachers reported making more classroom modifications for this group than for average students. Implications for prereferral classroom interventions are discussed.     

The effects of cooperative learning and learner control on students' achievement, option selections, and attitudes

We investigated the effects of studying alone or in cooperative-learning groups on the performance of high and low achievers, using either learner- or program-controlled computer-based instruction. A total of 92 sixth-grade students were classified by Stanford Achievement Test scores and randomly assigned to group or individual treatments, stratified by achievement scores. Both high and low achievers in the cooperative treatment performed better and had more positive attitudes toward grouping than did students working individually, on both program-controlled and learner-controlled computer lessons. In addition, the cooperative-learning group exhibited significantly greater improvement from immediate to delayed post-test than did the individual-learning group. For low achievers, the greatest improvement was in the program-controlled condition, and for the high achievers, in the learner-controlled condition. The learner-controlled cooperative-learning group, compared to the learner-controlled individual-learning group, chose to check its concept learning more often and spent more time interacting with the computer-based tutorial. These results suggest that cooperative learning provides beneficial effects, and imply a need for software designers to adapt computer-based instruction for cooperative learning to the different learning styles of high-and low-achieving students.     

The development and evaluation of physical science curriculum materials designed to improve student attitudes

Physical science curriculum materials designed to improve the attitudes of below-average students were developed from guidelines which reflected the strengths and weaknesses of these students. The materials were administered to ninth and tenth grade students in three average-low ability physical science classes. Students in these classes had I.Q. scores of less than 100, reading achievement below grade placement, and eighth grade science averages of C or below. A control group of three physical science classes was employed. A form of the Semantic Differential was administered as a pretest and posttest. The student who received the materials demonstrated significant improvement in attitudes toward science class and science laboratory.     

Teacher communication behavior and its association with students' cognitive and attitudinal outcomes in science in Taiwan

In the study described in this article a questionnaire was employed that can be used to assess students' and teachers' perceptions of science teachers' interpersonal communication behaviors in their classroom learning environments. The Teacher Communication Behavior Questionnaire (TCBQ) has five scales: Challenging, Encouragement and Praise, Non‐Verbal Support, Understanding and Friendly, and Controlling. The TCBQ was used with a large sample of secondary science students in Taiwan, which provided additional validation data for the TCBQ for use in Taiwan and cross‐validation data for its use in English‐speaking countries. Girls perceived their teachers as more understanding and friendly than did boys, and teachers in biological science classrooms exhibited more favorable behavior toward their students than did those in physical science classrooms. Differences were also noted between the perceptions of the students and their teachers. Positive relationships were found between students' perceptions of their teachers' communication behaviors and their attitudes toward science. Students' cognitive achievement scores were higher when students perceived their teacher as using more challenging questions, as giving more nonverbal support, and as being more understanding and friendly. The development of both teacher and student versions of the TCBQ enhances the possibility of the use of the instrument by teachers. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 63–78, 2002     

EQUITY IN MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE OUTCOMES: CHARACTERISTICS ASSOCIATED WITH HIGH AND LOW ACHIEVEMENT ON PISA 2006 IN IRELAND

Equity in education is a key concern internationally; however, it is rare that this issue is examined separately for low- and high-achieving students and concurrently across different subject domains. This study examines student and school background characteristics associated with low and high achievement in mathematics and science on the Programme for International Student Assessment. Based on the results of a multilevel multinomial model of achievement for each domain, findings indicate that a greater number of the variables examined are associated with low rather than high achievement. At student level, home language, intention to leave school early, socioeconomic status, grade level, cultural capital, and books in the home are significantly associated with achievement in mathematics and science. At school level, only school average socioeconomic status is statistically significant in the models. Significant gender differences are found in the distribution of high and low achievers, which vary across the domains. In mathematics, females are more likely to be low achievers while males are more likely to be high achievers. In science, gender interacts with early school-leaving intent whereas males intending to leave school early are more likely to be in the low-achieving group than females intending to leave early. Conclusions emphasise the need for targeting resources aimed at promoting equity in outcomes at student level as well as at school level. Future work may extend the current analyses by incorporating domain-specific variables or examining cross-country differences.     

Do teachers differ in the level of expectations or in the extent to which they differentiate in expectations? Relations between teacher-level expectations,teacher background and beliefs,and subsequent student performance

ABSTRACT

Previous studies have indicated that, although some teachers have substantial expectation effects on student outcomes, the effects for most teachers are only small. Furthermore, teacher expectations are associated with key pedagogical differences related to teacher beliefs about providing instruction and support for learning. The aim of this study was to explore (a) teacher-level differences in the level and differentiation of expectations, (b) associations between teacher differences in expectations and teacher background and beliefs, and (c) relationships with subsequent student performance. Secondary analyses were performed on data for 42 teachers and their students in New Zealand. The results were supportive of the notion that some teachers were differentiating more between students in their expectations than others. Teachers who differentiated more perceived students generally as more competent, but felt less related to the school team, and perceived more classroom stress. Differentiation in expectations was negatively related to end-of-year mathematics scores.     

The effectiveness of orienting students to the physical features of a science museum prior to visitation

This paper reports on a study in the area of informal science education in the contexts of science museums. The research focused upon two areas: first, perceived novelty and its effect on cognitive learning in year eight students visiting an interactive science museum; second, the links between exhibits which were most frequently recalled and exhibits which students later recalled as being interesting and puzzling. Results on a post-test of cognitive learning of concepts and principles associated with the exhibits suggested that students who underwent novelty reducing pre-orientation to the physical environment and had prior visitation experience learned more than their counterparts. Gender did not influence learning when perceived novelty level and prior exposure were considered. Furthermore, the most frequently recalled exhibits shared a combination of characteristics such as large physical size, prominence in the exhibit galleries, and the diversity of sensory modes that they employed. Finally, it appears that cognitive learning is likely to occur for exhibits which are most memorable.     

Toy-playing behavior,sex-role orientation,spatial ability,and science achievement

The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the possible relationships among children's extracurricular toy-playing habits, sex-role orientations, spatial abilities, and science achievement. Data were gathered from 282 midwestern, suburban, fifth-grade students. It was found that boys had significantly higher spatial skills than girls. No significant differences in spatial ability were found among students with different sex-role orientations. No significant differences in science achievement were found between girls and boys, or among students with the four different sex-role orientations. Students who had high spatial ability also had significantly higher science achievement scores than students with low spatial ability. Femininely oriented boys who reported low playing in the two-dimensional, gross-body-movement, and proportional-arrangement toy categories scored significantly higher on the test of science achievement than girls with the same sex-role and toy-playing behavior.     

Interaction between examination type,anxiety state,and academic achievement in college science; an action-oriented research

The trait anxiety profile of future science teachers, as well as their preferences concerning types of examinations in science and mathematics, have been surveyed prior to the administration—within the various science courses—of several traditional and nontraditional types of examinations and the assessment of students' state anxieties as well as their respective performance, i.e., their academic achievements. Our major findings are that

• (a) Our students prefer by far examinations in which the emphasis is on understanding and analyzing rather than on knowing and “remembering,” that the use of any relevant material during the examinations be permitted, and that the time duration be practically unlimited (e.g., “take-home”–type examinations).
• (b) Students' state anxiety correlates with the type of the examination, with a tendency towards somewhat higher anxiety for females. The preferred types of examinations reduce test anxiety significantly, and result in higher grades accordingly.
• (c) The reduction of anxiety and the improvement in achievements as a function of the examination type are far more significant for low achievers compared with medium and high achievers.
• (d) Although teachers are aware of the student preferences, they persist in giving their students their own “pet”-type examinations.

These results are discussed in terms of the implications for upgrading both science education and college student testing and assessment mechanisms.