Does it matter how Molly does it? Person-presentation of strategies and transfer in mathematics

Educational materials often present general concepts or strategies via specific people. Although this practice may enhance interest, it may also have costs for learning and transfer. Linking a strategy to a person (e.g., “Molly’s strategy”) could result in narrower transfer because students infer that the strategy is specific to the person, rather than a general strategy they should adopt. The present study tested this hypothesis among middle school students (N = 191) who learned a novel strategy for solving a mathematics story problem. For some students, the strategy example was presented via a specific person, and for others it was not. Students then solved posttest problems and rated the generality of the strategy. Students who saw the example without the person were more likely to transfer the strategy to new problems, and this effect was mediated by students’ perceptions of the strategy’s generality. Thus, associating information with a person substantially limits the extent to which students transfer their knowledge.     

How to foster student�Cstudent learning of science? The student, the teacher and the subject matter

In this response to Konstantinos Alexakos, Jayson K. Jones, and Victor H. Rodriguez’s study, I discuss ways attending to student membership in groups can both inform research on equity and diversity in science education and improve the teaching of science to all students. My comments are organized into three sections: how underrepresented students’ experiences in science classrooms are shaped by their peers; how science teachers can help students listen to and learn from one another; and how the subject matter can invite or discourage student participation in science. More specifically, I underscore the need for teachers and students to listen to one another to promote student learning of science. I also highlight the importance of science education researchers and science teachers viewing students both as individuals and as members of multiple groups; women of color, for example, should be understood as similar to and different from each other, from European American women and from ethnic minorities in general.     

Intergenerational educational and occupational mobility in Spain: does gender matter?

This paper explores the changes in intergenerational mobility seen in Spain during the last century. It examines educational and occupational mobility, paying particular attention to the existence of a differentiated gender effect. The magnitude of the historical changes that have taken place in Spain during the twentieth century and the scarcity of studies in this field increase the value of this paper. More specifically, the paper seeks to describe how the situation has changed with the social–economic and education policy developments in democratic Spain, especially with regards to women. The main results show that while educational mobility has improved, there has been no such significant change in occupational mobility.     

Conceptual knowledge in talk and text: What does it take to understand a science question?

What is referred to as conceptual knowledge is one of the mostimportant deliverables of modern schooling. Following the dominance of cognitive paradigmsin psychological research, conceptual knowledge is generally construed assomething that lies behind or under performance in concrete social activities. In the presentstudy, students' responses to questions, supposedly tapping conceptual knowledge,have been studied as parts of concrete communicative practices. Our focus has been onthe differences between talk and text. The most frequent approach for generatinginsight into conceptual knowledge is by means of written tests. However, the very mannerin which people handle the demands of this particular form of mediation is seldomattended to. This problem has been studied by means of two items taken from theinternational comparison of knowledge and achievement in mathematics and science, TIMSS.The results reveal that it is highly doubtful if the items test knowledge of scienceconcepts to any significant extent. In both instances, the difficulties students have, asrevealed in the interview setting, seem to be grounded in problems in understanding somedetails in the written questions. These difficulties are generally easily resolved in aninteractive setting. It is argued that the low performance on these items can to a largeextent be accounted for by the abstract and highly demanding form of communication that iswritten language.     

Teachers’ scaffolding science reading comprehension in low-income schools: how to improve achievement in science

ABSTRACT

Reading is a tool that promotes the learning of science across schooling. Scientific texts are conceptually and linguistically complex, especially for students from low-income contexts because they have neither the experience with the language nor the literacy skills to face the challenges of scientific knowledge. This study used a mix method approach to compare the cognitive scaffolding practiced by teachers during science reading activities in high- and low-performing schools. Three teachers and 141 fourth grade students from low socioeconomic background schools participated in 48 class sessions. Classes were video-recorded and transcribed. The data were analyzed using Sanchez’ Pedagogic Practice Analysis System. The results show that teachers from both types of schools continuously use reading as a tool for learning. The effective teacher uses reading with non-invasive scaffolding and varied verbal participation to elaborate knowledge, promoting literal and inferential comprehension and more opportunities for the students to construct knowledge. By contrast, less effective teachers use reading with invasive scaffolding and little verbal participation of the students to consolidate knowledge, promoting mainly literal comprehension. This study shed light on different approaches teachers use to foster reading comprehension for science learning.     

Hopes and challenges in using action research: the outcome of attempting to help in‐service teachers learn how to design,evaluate and use reading comprehension questions collaboratively

The research was conducted at Haramaya University with a group of in‐service teacher trainees in the Department of English with the aim of helping the trainees learn about the construction of reading comprehension questions. The data for the study were collected from the trainees’ reading comprehension exercises and their analyses of the cognitive categories of the questions collaboratively designed in the classroom. A reflective diary was kept to record events and to reflect on them. The study resulted in three major findings. The first is that trainees develop better understanding of the pedagogical values of reading comprehension questions when they have the chance to design, evaluate and use hierarchically ordered questions themselves. The second major finding is related to the use of small‐group learning as a strategy to promote collaborative learning. The study found that a community of learning does not happen just by putting trainees together into a group. Thirdly, the study demonstrated that action research should not be conducted with a predetermined problem in mind, but flexibly, to address issues that arise through the action research itself. The experience recounted here suggests that action research is much more than the technical things we do in classrooms; it also helps generate new knowledge.     

Reconstructing educational theory from the authority of personal experience: how can I best help people learn to teach?

This paper reports data from a three‐year self‐study of teaching two types of students: science method students in theBEd program at Queen's University (Canada), and grade 12 physics students in a secondary school. By returning to the secondary school classroom after many years, I had the opportunity to revisit personally some of the challenges and dilemmas awaiting those beginning their careers as physics teachers. By listening closely to my students, I studied their experiences of learning as I experienced my own ‘re‐learning. One goal of my return to the secondary classroom was to explore ways in which I could model in my own teaching the processes of learning from experience that I wanted to convey to those learning to teach.

From this self‐study has emerged the construct of'authority of experience’ (Munby and Russell, 1994) as a term that can inform reflective practice by suggesting to teachers that they give attention to their own voices and to those of their students, and generally consider the ways in which experience has authority in relation to other sources of authority about teaching and learning to teach. The paper provides data to illustrate this construct and its potential value to those learning to teach. It also considers ways in which this stance toward teacher education represents a reconstruction of educational theory.     

Pedagogical transitions among science teachers: how does context intersect with teacher beliefs?

This paper examines attitudes to pedagogical change, among teachers within a second level science department in Ireland. It explores the beliefs and contextual constraints that mediate diversification from a primarily didactic pedagogical approach towards more student-led pedagogies. Using a multi-method approach incorporating observations of teaching, focus group interviews, one to one interviews and open-ended questionnaires, findings were analysed inductively to generate a number of themes. The findings suggest that a teacher’s sense of identity and beliefs are significant influences on their predisposition towards pedagogical change. Interestingly, the middle class, academic context of the school and the terminal Leaving Certificate state examination, were both identified as latent contextual barriers to pedagogical change. The implementation of curricular reform at Junior Cycle level in Ireland is ongoing, with a new science specification in place since September 2016. This specification has a significant student-led and skill-based emphasis and varied pedagogical approaches are necessary to effectively deliver this new curriculum. Professional development is available to assist teachers with the curricular reform. However, findings in this paper suggest that intrinsic beliefs and contextual constraints may limit access to, or meaningful engagement with such training, negating pedagogical change for some teachers and their students.     

Responsible research and innovation indicators for science education assessment: how to measure the impact?

ABSTRACT

The emerging paradigm of responsible research and innovation (RRI) in the European Commission policy discourse identifies science education as a key agenda for better equipping students with skills and knowledge to tackle complex societal challenges and foster active citizenship in democratic societies. The operationalisation of this broad approach in science education demands, however, the identification of assessment frameworks able to grasp the complexity of RRI process requirements and learning outcomes within science education practice. This article aims to shed light over the application of the RRI approach in science education by proposing a RRI-based analytical framework for science education assessment. We use such framework to review a sample of empirical studies of science education assessments and critically analyse it under the lenses of RRI criteria. As a result, we identify a set of 86 key RRI assessment indicators in science education related to RRI values, transversal competences and experiential and cognitive aspects of learning. We argue that looking at science education through the lenses of RRI can potentially contribute to the integration of metacognitive skills, emotional aspects and procedural dimensions within impact assessments so as to address the complexity of learning.     

Transformation of text in the English classroom: does ‘context’ really matter?

This paper investigates the language demands of creating texts in the English classroom, which involve transformations in context. In particular, it focuses on the tensions inherent in tasks which require more traditional textual analysis to be presented in ways other than traditional ‘essay’ format. These tasks are interpreted differently by students and can result in texts which vary in terms of their choice of ‘written‐like’ or ‘spoken‐like’ styles. This paper uses data from year nine English students presenting speeches to an imagined jury arguing for Shakespeare's Macbeth's guilt or innocence and explores the implications of shifts along the mode continuum evident in the students' language. It raises the question of the relative importance of transformations of language and context and the extent to which control of mode is valued. Language analysis of student responses focusing on genre, periodicity, use of vocatives and endophoric reference suggests the imagined context required by the task is less important than the literary context in assessing student responses and can act as a distraction. Findings have implications for alignment of teaching and assessment practices in English classrooms.     

Students' engagement in a science classroom: Does knowledge diversity matter?

Knowledge diversity describes group members' differences in terms of prior knowledge in a domain. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether knowledge diversity would impact students' engagement in small-group learning in a science classroom. A total of 45 seventh-grade students were recruited to participate in the study in which two experimental conditions were compared: low-prior-knowledge groups (all low-prior-knowledge students) versus mixed knowledge groups (low-prior-knowledge students with one knowledgeable student). Participates were randomly assigned into six low-prior-knowledge groups (24 individuals in total) and five mixed knowledge groups (21 individuals in total). Engagement, as well as group performance, was measured. The results of a series of independent-samples t test demonstrated that the mixed knowledge groups had significantly higher behavioral, emotional, and social engagement and better group performance than did the low-prior-knowledge groups. This implies that even having one knowledgeable student could enhance students' engagement in a science classroom.     

From academic achievement to career development: does self-regulated learning matter?

International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance - While previous research emphasized the effects of self-regulated learning on academic achievement, this study expands the scope of...     

Inquiry-Based Professional Development: What does it take to support teachers in learning about inquiry and nature of science?

This study examined the geologic and evolutionary subject matter and views of inquiry and nature of science (NOS) of a group of 5th–9th grade teachers, and a comparison group, before and after participating in an inquiry-based professional development (PD) experience. Project teachers participated in an intensive, week-long, resident institute where they learned about geology, evolutionary concepts, NOS, and inquiry while engaging in an authentic scientific investigation. They were also given support in how to teach these topics using an inquiry-based approach. Analyses of data indicate that project teachers showed greater gains in subject matter than comparison teachers and the relative change was significantly different statistically. Furthermore, most project teachers demonstrated a shift from less informed to more informed views of inquiry and NOS and the relative change between participant and comparison teachers was significantly different statistically. These gains are promising because they suggest that short-term and intensive PD can support teachers in enhancing their knowledge and views. Moreover, analysis of post-programme questionnaires and interviews indicated that supporting teachers in reflecting on the relationship between their former classroom teaching practice, and new knowledge acquired during PD, may be an important link in enhancing teacher knowledge and supporting change in practice. This suggests that enhanced knowledge and views may not be the only factor contributing to changing one's practice. The study points to the importance of reflection in promoting teacher change. Results from this study add insights to supporting teachers in enacting inquiry-based instruction and teaching about NOS in their classrooms.     

Motivational climates: assessing and testing how science classroom environments contribute to undergraduates’ self-determined and achievement-based science goals

The current research examined the psychometric properties and utility of a measure of college classroom environment in predicting goal-related outcomes rooted in goal contents and achievement goal theories. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses in Studies 1 and 2, respectively, yielded support for two distinct and gender-invariant classroom environment constructs—professorial concern and affiliation. Results of multilevel regression analyses in Study 3 indicated that both constructs were positive predictors of intrinsic and self-approach goals. Additionally, professorial concern was a significant positive predictor of extrinsic goal adoption. Contrary to expectation, perceptions of affiliation in the science classroom were unrelated to task-approach goals. These findings illustrate the important role that socially dynamic classroom contexts play in fostering motivation and satisfying basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness.     

‘We live and learn’: English and ambivalence in a new capitalist state

This article reports on data drawn from a larger critical ethnographic study of English language use and instruction in Slovakia at the moment of capitalist integration. Slovaks who sought to learn English at the turn of the millenium were driven by the brand new anxiety of job insecurity. English lessons at this time sold themselves as the pathway to upward mobility, teaching Slovaks not only phrases of speech, but also the rudiments of capitalism: how to shop, how to drive, and especially, how to learn ever more English to keep your job. Although domestically produced textbooks taught these lessons with subtle notes of ambivalence, those textbooks imported from Anglophone countries modeled an unabashed embrace of capitalism. It was most often ambivalence that was echoed by the Slovaks interviewed for this study, however, who were mindful that their pursuit of English thrust them into a race against peers both at home and abroad. These years reveal this paradox of English in the new capitalist world: offering the path to betterment it had become the idiom for the anxiety of falling behind.     

A swing and a child: how scientific phenomena can come to matter for preschool children’s emergent science identities

Cultural Studies of Science Education - The focus of this study is the co-actings of a 5-year-old girl, a swing, and physical phenomena. The study explores how the swing and physical phenomena...     

Determining the subject balance in higher education: how should this be done?

It is the U.K. Government's policy to achieve the right number and balance of graduates in the 1990s. According to the Government, this will require more attention being paid to the needs of the economy when decisions concerning the allocation of resources between subject areas are being made. In particular, the Government believes that higher education should be more vocationally-oriented and aims to influence the subject balance in this direction. The purpose of this paper is to examine the possibility of constructing a set of indicators for deciding which subjects have produced the most marketable and the most satisfied graduates. Two sets of indicators are constructed. The first is based on labour market indicators such as the earnings and unemployment rates of graduates. The second set of indicators is based upon information about the value which the graduates themselves place upon their degree qualifications. When these two sets of indicators were combined, substantial differences were found in the relative worth of graduates in different subjects (for male and female graduates separately). Graduates in some subjects achieved far higher scores than graduates in other subjects on either one or both sets of indicators.The author is grateful to the ESRC for supporting the research reported in this paper, which is part of a larger project on the construction and evaluation of performance indicators in higher education.     

Implicit beliefs of ability and maladaptive learning: does self-efficacy matter?

This study investigated the interaction between self-efficacy and implicit beliefs of ability in their association with maladaptive learning in mathematics. The analysis was based on a large sample of 2538 Singapore Secondary 2 students (M_age = 13.75), who took measures of entity beliefs of ability, self-efficacy, and three maladaptive learning variables in mathematics: novelty avoidance, cheating, and anxiety. We conducted latent interaction analysis with gender and previous mathematics achievement controlled and found that higher self-efficacy did not buffer, but enhanced the positive association between entity beliefs of ability and the three maladaptive learning variables. When entity beliefs of ability were higher, the increase in the three maladaptive learning was larger for those with higher self-efficacy than those with lower self-efficacy. Findings suggest a revision of the moderation hypothesis in the literature: higher self-efficacy is more helpful in preventing maladaptive learning for incremental theorists than for entity theorists.     

Direction of regard and the still-face effect in the first year: does intention matter?

In the first study, 3-, 6-, and 9- month-olds' behavior was assessed as a stranger broke contact to stare at the infant, to look at a wall, or to look at another person. Regardless of age and the reason contact was broken, the still-face reaction did not depend on the experimenter's intention. In the second study, 3-, 6-, and 9-month-olds interacted with their mother who broke contact to look away for no apparent reason or in the direction of a sound. Infants at all ages responded to the still-face episode, but not as a function of the underlying reason contact was broken. The findings suggest a primacy of interpersonal communication in the first year.     

Can weekly discussions in a sensory science course influence student's perception and confidence in their professional success skills?

The Institute of Food Technologists’ (IFT) success skills highlight the importance of developing professional skills in the food science curriculum. On the other hand, many students in higher education report that the public school system feels disconnected and unrelated to their future. In this context, this study aimed to evaluate student's perceived importance of professional skills, as well as to enhance their awareness and confidence in them. Students in a sensory science class at the University of Illinois completed a questionnaire at the beginning, middle, and end of the semester to assess their opinion of and self‐assurance in professional skills, such as writing technical reports, providing leadership, making formal presentations, and applying critical thinking. During the semester, students received basic training and guidelines on each skill and were given assignments and activities to practice them as part of their coursework. Results showed increased knowledge about the existence of IFT core competencies, as well as an increased motivation to practice success skills regularly. They also showed an increased perceived importance of presentation skills, leadership, dealing with group conflict, researching scientific information, and library resources. Confidence in 80% of the skills increased significantly by the end of the semester, after students had been presented with opportunities to practice and discuss the skills in groups. Students were also able to relate their learning of specific success skills to different course assignments. This study concluded that a general exposure to the importance of practicing professional skills in a college setting enhanced student's experiences and awareness by connecting them to their future professional careers.