Perspectives on the Origins of Life in Science Textbooks from a Christian Publisher: Implications for Teaching Science

This study analyzes six seventh grade Israeli mathematics textbooks, examining (1) the extent to which students are required to justify and explain their mathematical work, and (2) whether students are asked to justify a mathematical claim that is stated by the textbook or a mathematical claim that they themselves generated when solving a problem. Two different units of analysis were used to analyze two central topics in the seventh grade curriculum as follows: (1) equation solving in algebra and (2) triangle properties in geometry. The findings indicate that all six textbooks had considerably larger percentages of geometric tasks than algebraic tasks, which required students to justify or explain their mathematical work. Moreover, considerable differences were found among the six textbooks regarding the percentages of tasks that required students to justify and explain in both topics, but more so with the algebraic topic. Analysis of whether the textbook tasks required students to justify a mathematical claim that is stated by the textbook or a mathematical claim that the students themselves generated also revealed substantial differences among the textbooks. These findings are discussed, as well as the research methods used, in light of relevant literature.     

The Nature of Science and Its Implications for Physics Textbooks

This study aims to analyse, based on common characteristics of the Nature of Science, how first year university Physics textbooks present the introduction of the concept and theories of magnetic field. It shows that despite the increasing number of studies into the Nature of Science in Science Education, Physics textbooks fail to adopt the results of this research. It is proposed that it would be plausible for textbooks to illustrate the characteristics of the Nature of Science by focusing on problems and changes in the development of the theory of magnetic field.     

Interactions of Economics of Science and Science Education: Investigating the Implications for Science Teaching and Learning

In recent years, there has been upsurge of interest in the applications of interdisciplinary perspectives on science in science education. Within this framework, the implications of the so-called “economics of science” is virtually an uncharted territory. In this paper, we trace a set of arguments that provide a dialectic engagement with two conflicting agendas: (a) the broadening of science education to include the contextual positioning of science including economical dimensions of science, and (b) the guarding of the proliferation and reinforcement of those aspects of economics of science such as commodification of scientific knowledge that embraces inequity and restricted access to the products of the scientific enterprise. Our aim is broadly to engage, as science education researchers, in the debates in economics of science so as to investigate the reciprocal interactions that might exist with science education. In so doing, we draw out some recommendations whereby the goals of science education might provide as much input into the intellectual debates within philosophy of science on issues related to the commercialisation and commodification of scientific knowledge. We explore some implications of commodification of science in the context of modelling and argumentation in science education.     

给科学教学注入生命活力——多媒体介入科学探究初探

“以提高学生科学素养为宗旨”的科学新课程,大力提倡探究性学习,以培养学生的多种能力为抓手,仅靠传统教学手段,有时很难完成科学新课程提出的教学目标,多媒体技术开辟了科学教学的新天地。借助多媒体能发展学生观察现象和提出问题的能力、简单实验的设计能力、手脑并用的能力、收集信息和处理信息的能力、科学评价的能力以及表达和交流的能力。     

How to Help Teachers Develop Inquiry Teaching: Perspectives from Experienced Science Teachers

This study has two purposes: the first is to explore experienced science teachers’ perspectives on inquiry teaching, and the second is to categorize these perspectives into patterns. Fifteen junior high school science teachers experienced at inquiry teaching were selected, and a semi-structured interview was conducted to collect the teachers’ perspectives on inquiry and inquiry teaching. The findings indicate that these experienced science teachers hold multiple perspectives on inquiry and inquiry teaching. The two patterns generated from these teachers’ perspectives of inquiry and inquiry teaching were systematic-based inquiry instruction and learning-based inquiry instructions. Suggestions for science teacher educators are discussed in this paper.     

History of Science in Science Education: Development and Validation of a Checklist for Analysing the Historical Content of Science Textbooks

One of the aspects science education should focus on is learning about science.Achieving a good understanding of this aspect requires, among others, the useof the history of science. There is some evidence that teachers rely heavily ontextbooks to select the historical content they include in their physical sciencelessons. On the other hand, Portuguese physical science syllabuses are not veryexplicit about the teaching of the science. Therefore, textbook writers may notfeel compelled to give enough importance to the history of science in their textbooksand consequently little history of science will pervade the science lessons. This paperaims to present a theoretically grounded checklist developed for analysing the historical content of science textbooks. Five physics textbooks that are different with regard to historical content were analysed. Inter-ratter agreement was used in order to validate the checklist. The results of the analysis show that the checklist is able to reveal differences among textbooks and that the historical content included in the textbooks is hardly able to give students an adequate image of science and scientists' work.     

生命科学教学中的美育研究

生命科学教学的美育是一种教育思想、教学方法和教学模式,其核心内容是将生命科学的教学内容转化成审美的对象和内容,在生命科学的教学中始终渗透着美育教育,因此美育教育既是素质教育的需要,也是生命科学教学的需要。在生命科学的教学中要善于找到、挖掘和发现美育的各种构成要素,并将其融入教学之中,达到最佳的教学效果,满足日益增长的教学需求和需要。     

Recontextualization of Science from Lab to School: Implications for Science Literacy

Scientists’ science differs remarkably from school science. In order to be taught to students, science is recontextualized from scientific research communities to science classrooms. This paper examines scientific discourse in scientific research communities, and discusses its transformation from an internally-persuasive and authoritative discourse to a purely authoritative discourse under recontextualization. It presents the challenges that recontextualization of science poses for achievement of science literacy goals, and discusses remedial steps that science education community can take to meet them.     

Educational Challenges of Molecular Life Science: Characteristics and Implications for Education and Research

Molecular life science is one of the fastest-growing fields of scientific and technical innovation, and biotechnology has profound effects on many aspects of daily life—often with deep, ethical dimensions. At the same time, the content is inherently complex, highly abstract, and deeply rooted in diverse disciplines ranging from “pure sciences,” such as math, chemistry, and physics, through “applied sciences,” such as medicine and agriculture, to subjects that are traditionally within the remit of humanities, notably philosophy and ethics. Together, these features pose diverse, important, and exciting challenges for tomorrow''s teachers and educational establishments. With backgrounds in molecular life science research and secondary life science teaching, we (Tibell and Rundgren, respectively) bring different experiences, perspectives, concerns, and awareness of these issues. Taking the nature of the discipline as a starting point, we highlight important facets of molecular life science that are both characteristic of the domain and challenging for learning and education. Of these challenges, we focus most detail on content, reasoning difficulties, and communication issues. We also discuss implications for education research and teaching in the molecular life sciences.     

从国际初中科学教材比较研究谈国际科学教育测评

科学教育的实施日益朝着以学习者为中心、以科学素养为目标、以综合科学为主流、以多元媒介为形式、以学生发展为导向的方向发展。本研究在初中科学教材难度国际比较研究的基础上,进行了PISA、TIMSS、NAEP等国际科学教育测评项目与科学教材在目标、内容、评价导向等方面的一致性分析,例析科学教材编排特点与国际科学教育测评的契合程度,探讨如何从当前科学教育与测评现状出发,进一步推动科学教育课程发展。     

生命科学概论课程教学的改革与探索

生命科学概论是面向全校学生开设的一门通识选修课,目的是提高现代大学生的生物学素养,加深大学生对学科交叉、渗透、融合的理解,培养大学生的创新精神。目前在教学过程中发现学生主要存在生物学基础薄弱、传统教学模式单调乏味、教学内容过于陈旧等问题。针对这些问题,现对生命科学概论教学改革进行了探索与实践,从教学模式改进、教学内容引入、更新及应用等方面进行了阐述,以科研促教学,旨在提高生命科学概论课程教学效果。     

生命科学实验室安全教学和管理的探索

实验室安全是高校实验室工作的首要任务,实验室安全工作永远在路上。通过将安全教育课程列入教学计划,精心设计安全教育内容,编写安全教材,制定实施方案,建立起科学的安全教育体系;通过严把“准入关”“准做关”“落实关”,筑牢实验室安全管理防线。从而把实验室安全工作贯穿实验室建设和实践教学始终,有效地提高了师生的安全防范意识、安全技能与安全素养、安全责任感与使命感。     

A Reconstruction of Structure of the Atom and Its Implications for General Physics Textbooks: A History and Philosophy of Science Perspective

Recent research in science education has recognized the importance of history and philosophy of science. The objective of this study is to evaluate the presentation of the Thomson, Rutherford, and Bohr models of the atom in general physics textbooks based on criteria derived from history and philosophy of science. Forty-one general physics textbooks (all published in the United States) were evaluated on two criteria based on Thomson's work, three on Rutherford's work, and three on Bohr's work. Results obtained show that general physics textbooks do not systematically include a history and philosophy of science perspective. Most textbooks present an inductivist perspective in which experimental details are considered to be paramount. On the contrary, a historical reconstruction of the experimental details inevitably includes: the context in which an experiment is conducted, the theoretical framework that guides the scientist, and alternative interpretations of data that lead to conflicts and controversies. Examples are provided to show how historical reconstructions of atomic models can provide students an opportunity to appreciate how scientists work and science progresses. It is plausible to suggest that textbook presentations based on a history and philosophy of science perspective can perhaps arouse students' interest in the subject and hence lead to greater conceptual understanding.