If Multicultural Science Education Standards’ Existed, What Would They Look Like?

The intersection between science teacher education and multiculturalism has produced a considerable amount of research in the science education community. This paper suggests, according to current science teacher preparation literature, an initial set of multicultural science education standards for science methods course instructors of preservice teachers: dialogic conversation, authentic activities, reflexivity, ability, committed practice, and knowing. Included in the discussion of each standard is an activity or lesson that a science methods course instructor can implement.     

False Friends: What Makes a Story Inadequate for Science Teaching?

Recently, there has been an increasing emphasis in discussions on science education on the potential and advantages of stories and narratives in teaching situations. From this, one might conclude that simply starting to use stories in science classrooms is a good thing, per se. Yet, as I will argue in my paper, things do not appear to be that easy. From my understanding, it is necessary to select the stories to be told in teaching situations with care – and also to reject those stories which are not to be told. With respect to such a selection, different criteria can be employed, depending on the aims of the instructional unit. In doing so, my criteria for selection will be based on an education which does not focus solely on the communication of scientific knowledge but which emphasizes relevant topics from the nature of science for structuring the teaching. With this intention, one can identify constructions of narratives that are misleading with respect to the nature of science and which may lead to an inappropriate understanding of science and scientific practice.     

What’s Wrong With This Picture?

从本期开始,我们将为您陆续指出中国考生在雅思口语考试中最常见的口语错误,小到粗心所致的小错误,大到复杂语法结构导致的大错误,愿借此让读者学习到大量实用地道的英语表达,敬请关注。     

What If Life…?

What护l诉onlx loted ad叮，Do”u think勿e’d即preei曲it beuer尸What护l诉、。liko hell，DO you thinkwe叨ould dreanz尸About al诉like weh创e now尸What护l诉、。hnd。。丫hi赐Do you‘hink it叨ould岁t boring尸平勺、ant~therl诉夕Yourl诉15 Pe价et alre吐吟.What If L     

What Draws Tourists to India?

N E W D ELH I, India (A P)——India is fast becom ing a topdestination for tourists thanks to an forceful cam paign to push thecountry s H im alayan spas(矿泉名胜)and beaches,officials say.Tourism officials have been crisscrossing the globe as part of thegovernm ents “Incredible India” cam paign launched lastyear. A nd theresults are beginning to show.Tourists traveling to India have jum ped by nearly 26percent fromlast year and the num ber is expected to cross 3m illion this year, sai…     

What is ‘Agency’? Perspectives in Science Education Research

The contemporary interest in researching student agency in science education reflects concerns about the relevance of schooling and a shift in science education towards understanding learning in science as a complex social activity. The purpose of this article is to identify problems confronting the science education community in the development of this new research agenda and to argue that there is a need for research in science education that attends to agency as a social practice. Despite increasing interest in student agency in educational research, the term ‘agency’ has lacked explicit operationalisation and, across the varied approaches, such as critical ethnography, ethnographies of communication, discourse analysis and symbolic interactionism, there has been a lack of coherence in its research usage. There has also been argument concerning the validity of the use of the term ‘agency’ in science education research. This article attempts to structure the variety of definitions of ‘student agency’ in science education research, identifies problems in the research related to assigning intentionality to research participants and argues that agency is a kind of discursive practice. The article also draws attention to the need for researchers to be explicit in the assumptions they rely upon in their interpretations of social worlds. Drawing upon the discursive turn in the social sciences, a definition of agency is provided, that accommodates the discursive practices of both individuals and the various functional social groups from whose activities classroom practice is constituted. The article contributes to building a focused research agenda concerned with understanding and promoting student agency in science.     

Is Christian Education Compatible With Science Education?

Science education and Christian education are not compatible if byChristian education one means teaching someone to be a Christian. Onegoal of science education is to give students factual knowledge. Even whenthere is no actual conflict of this knowledge with the dogmas ofChristianity, there exists the potential for conflict. Another goal ofscience education is to teach students to have the propensity to be sensitiveto evidence: to hold beliefs tentatively in light of evidence and to rejectthese beliefs in the light of new evidence if rejection is warranted by thisevidence. This propensity conflicts with one way in which beliefs are oftentaught in Christian education: namely as fundamental dogmas, rather than assubject to revision in the light of the evidence.     

Demystifying Creativity: What Creativity Isn’t and Is?

To understand creativity is to recognize and develop the creative potential within oneself and others. This article examines what creativity is not and then what creativity is. First, the six leading misconceptions about creativity are discussed: Creativity belongs solely to the arts; creativity is quickly recognizable; innovators always work alone; mental illness enhances creativity; creativity is a divine flash of inspiration; and newness is a prerequisite to creativity. Then, using the research-based CATs model, what creativity is and how creativity develops into innovation are discussed: (a) cultivate creative climates; (b) nurture creative attitudes; and (c) develop creative thinking skills. Creativity does not come from nature but from nurture, and developing gifted children’s creativity should be the goal of parenting and education.     

Science Teachers’ Professional Development and Changes in Science Practical Assessment Practices: What are the Issues?

This paper considers the circumstances under which science teachers can respond positively and productively to educational policy reforms in the area of science practical assessment. To understand what might be involved in linking science teachers’ assessment capacities and their professional development, we present illustrative data from recent research studies conducted in Singapore and Hong Kong showing contrasting approaches taken in the implementation of reforms in science practical assessment. In Singapore, teachers worked together to select, discuss, clarify and refine their practices as they made decisions about what to teach and assess. In Hong Kong, teachers took a critical stance towards the new policy and learnt from their own experiences in order to build their confidence. With the same policy initiative, one group of teachers focused more on the technicalities of complying with requirements imposed on them while in the other group had their professional consciousness of what they thought was best for their students provoked so that their practices would be transformed. In an attempt to draw lessons for other contexts in supporting the implementation of assessment policy reforms through professional development work, we identify and discuss a range of factors in science teachers’ professional development that arise once in situ professional development work has started. Overall, our intent in this article is to recast assessment reform as a driver or pivot in teachers’ professional development and learning. To do this it is necessary, we argue, to afford teachers’ experiences and the processes involved in learning from them greater emphasis in order to ensure the continuance of innovation in the assessment of laboratory-based work.     

Personal and Contextual Factors Associated With Students’ Cheating in Science

The authors conducted a correlational study to investigate the relations among seventh-grade Turkish students’ cheating behavior, academic self-efficacy beliefs, usage of self-handicapping strategies, personal goal orientations, and classroom goal structures specific to the science domain. The Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales was administered to 1,950 seventh-grade students enrolled in 12 public schools. The authors conducted hierarchical linear modeling analyses to measure to what extent personal and contextual factors can be used to predict students’ cheating behavior. Analyses revealed that although students’ cheating behavior was positively predicted by performance-approach goals, it was negatively predicted by mastery goals. Students who used more self-handicapping strategies and who were less self-efficacious were also more likely to demonstrate cheating behavior. The authors found that the mastery goal–structured science-learning environment, in which understanding the material and self-improvement was emphasized, discouraged cheating.     

What If? The Educational Possibilities of the Earth Charter

Evoking a concern for intergenerational equity and claiming that the bounty and beauty of Earth have become diminishing prospects, I introduce the Earth Charter as an expression of the hopes of diverse communities around the globe. I argue that the Charter deserves educators' attention as an integrated vision of social justice, peace, and ecological sustainability. I believe the Earth Charter can help transform our conception of what is foundational to include solutions to the deepening anthropogenic ecological crisis. Attention is given to the rationale and methodology for teaching with the Earth Charter. I argue that those in educational studies must deeply engage the problems of our time and that the Earth Charter offers hopeful possibilities for examining and addressing our mutual interconnections.     

What’s Cool?

旨在提高英语写作水平,互相交流,取长补短,我们开辟了"学生习作名师点评"栏目。如果你想看看自己的写作水平如何,请将习作邮寄给我们,我们会将其转交给省内各校名师点评;老师们如果想推荐自己学生的优秀习作,请按栏目要求邮寄给我们。     

What’s Different?

D irections:H ow m any things can you find differences betw een the top and bottompictures?答案:旗;公主的王冠;公主口袋里的手;公主丢失的球;海龟手上的球;城堡墙上的窗户;小鸟腿上的棒子;兔子的太阳镜;泳池里的波浪;海狸腰上的铁锤;鸭子头上的帽子;海滩上的球;国王的游泳衣;帐篷项上和条纹;帐篷的门;水中呼吸器。开心乐园What’s Different?@李虔~~