Clark’s “learning from media”: A critique

In the Winter 1983 issue ofReview of Educational Research, Richard Clark published the article “Reconsidering Research on Learning From Media.” This article presented a particular point of view on media research that is of interest to educational technologists and has aroused some debate. In their critique of Clark’s article, Petkovich and Tennyson take issue with some of Clark’s points. Clark’s reply to this critique follows immediately after it.     

Knowledge engineering: An alternative approach to curriculum design for science education at a distance

Most of the curriculum design models within the technical-scientific approach utilise the rational and sequential process of designing and inter-relating the various elements of the design process. While this procedure may be efficient and adequate for conventional education in which the designers are professional science educators, there is doubt if it satisfies the particular needs of distance education. The experience accumulated through a multi-disciplinary team approach to distance learning courseware development for higher education at the University of Southern Queensland Distance Education Centre motivated this study which primarily focused on a search for an alternative approach to curriculum development with a more satisfactory functional value. Using selected units in Engineering as a focus, an experiment was designed in which a variant of the classical Wheeler model was used. This paper reports the results of this experiment. The implications for contemporary curriculum development initiatives in science especially within distance education settings are pointed out. Specializations: science education, learning strategies, curriculum development, instructional design, research and development in distance education. Specializations: Cognitive Science, curriculum development, instructional design, expert systems, research and development in distance education. Specializations: science education, learning strategies, curriculum development, instructional design, research and development in distance education.     

Effect of context and gender on application of Science Investigation Skills

Two parallel versions of a Test of Science Investigation Skills were developed to assess students' application of science investigation skills in biology and physics contexts. Repeated pilot testing and critical appraisal were used to ensure the validity of the tests and their equivalence. Both versions of the test were administered to 112 Year 10 science students. The results indicated a satisfactory level of test reliability, the test set in a physics context proved to be significantly more difficult than the test set in a biology context, and mean scores for male and female students were not significantly different. Specializations: science teacher education, development of problem-solving expertise, concept development and conceptual change, assessment of laboratory work. Specializations: Chemistry education, concept development and conceptual change, effective laboratory teaching.     

First-year tertiary students' understandings of iron filing patterns around a magnet

This paper describes responses from 28 first-year university physics students to one question of a written test which was followed up by an interview. The study has two main research aims. Firstly, it characterises the conceptual structures of students regarding the phenomenon in question. As well as being interesting in their own right, these student understandings cast light on some broader issues regarding understanding of field representations. While students' understandings of circuit electricity are well described in the existing science education literature, their understandings of field phenomena are not. Secondly, it throws light on theoretical questions about the SOLO Taxonomy, which is the framework used to study the students' conceptual structures. Of particular interest is the nature of student thinking that marks transition from the Concrete Symbolic to the Formal SOLO mode in this area. Specializations: physics education, electricity and magnetism, conceptual structures, SOLO Taxonomy. Specializations: SOLO Taxonomy, conceptual structures, mathematics education.     

Aboriginal studies and the science curriculum: Affective outcomes from a curriculum intervention

The study of Aboriginal culture in schools is supported by an increasing number of educators and government committees. However, in the absence of substantial research evidence, it has been difficult to propose justifiable curricular recommendations. The results of this exploratory study suggest that student attitudes towards Aborigines and Aboriginal culture can be improved by a science program which features an Aboriginal Studies component. Further, it is suggested that there is scope for the development of up-to-date curriculum materials and more comprehensive studies. Specializations: science education, teaching thinking. Specializations: science education, curriculum theory and design, teacher development.     

Year 12 students’ attainment of scientific investigation skills

One of the main goals of science education is the development of scientific investigation skills (Bryce & Robertson, 1985; Woolnough & Allsop, 1985). This paper describes a practical test instrument developed to assess students’ attainment of skills associated with problem analysis and planning experiments, collecting information, organizing and interpreting information, and concluding. During administration of the test, students verbalized their thoughts as they worked on the task and their performance was videotaped for analysis. Preliminary results reveal important areas of student weakness and lead to recommendations for curriculum reform. Specializations: Science teacher education, development of problem-solving expertise, concept development and conceptual change, assessment of laboratory work. Specializations: Chemistry education, concept development and conceptual change, role of laboratory work.     

The technology-science relationship: Some curriculum implications

Technology encompasses the goods and services which people make and provide to meet human needs, and the processes and systems used for their development and delivery. Although technology and science are related, a distinction can be made between their purposes and outcomes. This paper considers four possible approaches to teaching students about the relationship between technology and science. Atechnology-as-illustration approach treats technology as if it were applied science; artefacts are presented to illustrate scientific principles. Acognitive-motivational approach also treats technology as applied science, but presents technology early in the instructional sequence in order to promote student interest and understanding. In anartefact approach, learners study artefacts as systems in order to understand the scientific principles which explain their workings. Finally, atechnology-as-process approach emphasises the role of technological capability; in this approach, scientific concepts do not have privileged status as a basis for selecting curriculum content. Specializations: science and technology education, educational evaluation, measurement of attitudes and interests.     

Developing networks of grass-roots science curriculum action

This paper describes an ongoing process of participatory curriculum development. It outlines some of the tensions which need to be explored in science curriculum development: debates about the nature of science, of society, of school science content and of learning theories. The process whereby action can arise from this debate is also explored. An example will be outlined of a network of science curriculum action which has developed from the work of a range of science education projects in Natal, South Africa. Specializations: science curriculum development from primary to tertiary level. Specializations: inservice primary science teacher development. Specializations: inservice teacher development, biology education. Specializations: environmental education, teacher development. Specializations: environmental education, teacher development.     

Validation of a learning hierarchy for the mole concept

Three psychometric methods for validating learning hierarchies are applied to one data set derived from responses of grade 10 chemistry students to items representing the skills in a hypothesized hierarchy for the mole concept. Two methods which considered skills in pairs, namely the “test of inclusion” by White and Clark and the “ordering-theoretic method” by Airaisian and Bart produced generally similar results. The third method, by Dayton and Mac-ready, considered the hierarchy as a whole and produced clearer distinctions between alternative hierarchies than the first two methods. The hierarchy derived from this analysis was supported by a test for transfer of learning from subordinate to superordinate skills.     

Introducing technology education to young children: A design,make and appraise approach

The National Statement on Technology Education will soon be released in Australia. The statement advocates adesign,make andappraise approach to technology education. The document includes Year One children and provides exemplars of curriculum activities for early childhood children. Although much curriculum development in technology education for primary and early childhood has taken place in the UK, little research has been conducted within the early childhood area in Australia. This paper describes a study which sought to investigate how thedesign,make andappraise approach could be implemented within early childhood using existing materials, procedures and teaching programmes. In particular, the pre-school programme was considered to see if the approach was suitable for young children, and if girls could be encouraged into this newly defined area of study. Specializations: early childhood science education, early childhood technology education.     

Combining issues of “girl-suited” science teaching,STS and constructivism in a physics textbook

This paper outlines the design of a physics textbook that addresses issues of gender-inclusive physics teaching, STS and constructivism. Difficulties of addressing these issues in a textbook for normal classes, which has to compete with other textbooks on the market will be discussed. Specializations: constructivist approaches in science education research and practice. Specializations: gender issues in science instruction. Specializations: primary education, integrated science. Specializations: STS, phenomenological oriented physics instruction. Specializations: peace education within science education.     

What has happened to intuition in science education?

Intuition was one of the four key themes for science education that emerged from the Woods Hole Conference in 1957. Despite the considerable influence of this conference on a generation of curriculum projects the intuition theme was almost completely ignored. Recent studies of intuition, including an analysis of Nobel laureates' views of scientific intuition, are considered. This enables several conceptions of the nature and role of intuition in science to be defined, and its importance to be assessed. The assumption that it is also important in science education is examined by considering conditions in science teaching and learning that may encourage intuitive thinking in the light of current research developments that could lead to a new agenda for school science. Specializations: science and technology curriculum, environmental education, educational disadvantage. Specializations: phenomenography, ways of knowing, higher education—teaching and learning.     

Erratum

On page 12 of Chinese Education, XI:2-3 (Summer-Fall 1978), it is incorrectly stated that the University of Chicago lends its Renmin jiaoyu holdings. While it will not do that, the Far Eastern Library of the University of Chicago will furnish photocopies or microfilms of the JMJY holdings on request.     

Primary science and technology: How confident are teachers?

Science and Technology is a new Key Learning Area in NSW Primary Schools. Survey results are used to compare preservice teachers (on entry and in the third year of their degree) with practising teachers, on their confidence in their knowledge about the topics in the syllabus, as well as their confidence to teach these topics. Reasons for stated confidence (or lack of it) are reported together with preservice and practising teachers' views about what needs to be done to improve their confidence. Preservice and practising teachers' opinions of the major sources of their knowledge about the topics in the new syllabus are contrasted. Results are discussed in the light of severalDiscipline Review recommendations. Specializations: primary science teacher education; environmental education; curriculum development.     

COMMENT ON "FLUENCY AS A PERVASIVE ELEMENT IN THE MEASUREMENT OF CREATIVITY"

Clark and Mirels reported a "correction procedure" for fluency in scoring figural divergent thinking measures, which resulted in a reduction from .40 to .20 in the average inter-correlation of scores excluding fluency. Since their correction involved shortening the test, at least part of the reduction of the inter-correlations can be explained by the reduced reliability of the test. Estimates of the magnitude of this effect were provided. It was concluded that the "correction" reported is at best a partial correction, and that the potential merit of other procedures should be considered.     

Primary and secondary school students' attainment of science investigation skills

A practical test instrument was developed to assess students' attainment of skills associated with problem analysis and planning experiments, collecting information, organising and interpreting information, and concluding. Students verbalised their thoughts as they worked on the task and their performance was videotaped for analysis. Data collected from Year 7, 10 and 12 science students illustrate the development of investigation skills and reveal important areas of student weakness. Specialisations: Science teacher education, development of problem-solving expertise, concept development and conceptual change, assessment of laboratory work. Specialisations: Chemistry education, concept development and conceptual change, role of laboratory work.     

Science education,cognitive developmental research and theory in the U.K.

Conclusion In the papers presented one can detect a number of major areas of concern. The theorists like Shayer are largely concerned with the development and refinement of frameworks for studying cognitive development. Their ultimate purposes varied from reconstructing the entire field of science education, to accelerating cognitive development, to changing the ‘alternative frameworks’ of children. In essence, they seek totailor the teaching-learning process in accordance with a theoretical blue print. Those who see the problems as more content and context specific would prefer to chip away at particular topics which create teaching difficulties, thereby contributing to the improvement of practice in a more direct, piecemeal fashion. They could perhaps be described astinkers. So we havetinkers andtailors. Thesoldiers amongst us would equip teachers with the weapons needed to attack their own problems directly. They are working away at developing techniques Oh yes, thespies are the moles like me who are concerned with uncovering the secrets of classroom life, with identifying the structures, patterns and processes which characterise classroom interaction, and with the describing and monitoring the ‘theories in action’ and strategies which skilled practitioners have evolved to cope with the problems of promoting cognitive development in classroom settings. The ultimate question then, is what contribution can the tinkers, tailors, soldiers and spies make to science education?     

Higher Education Policy Formation in the Federal Republic of Germany: A Closer Look at Neglected Aspects

This article does not attempt to deal in comprehensive terms with educational policy formation in the Federal Republic of Germany. Nor is it a venture into institutional history. It is an effort to state some preliminary findings about relatively ignored aspects of educational policy formation, largely refracted through the recent experience of one institution, the University of Duisburg — planned over 400 years ago, established in 1655, closed "on many grounds, particularly the problem of unfavorable political circumstances in 1818," reincarnated the same day and year as a Pädagogische Hochschule (1), and most recently reformed as a comprehensive university (Gesamthochschule) comprising "die Abteilung Duisburg der Pädagogischen Hochschule Ruhr und die Fachhochschule in Duisburg."(2) Some materials will be drawn from recent forays of German social science into related fields, and from journal and daily press accounts of educational politics.     

Post-primary science teachers' perceptions of primary science education

Post-primary science teachers in Victoria were asked to express views about primary science curriculum design and implementation. They were also asked about the value of continuity between primary and post-primary science education. The post-primary teachers generally had favourable attitudes to primary science education and considered that cooperation would be useful-though it is not common at the moment. However, the data revealed a considerable range of opinion. Post-primary science teachers' views about primary science curriculum are similar to those of primary teachers themselves, but many post-primary teachers would place more emphasis on formal or textbook knowledge. Post-primary teachers see a number of systemic problems in implementing primary science education but their positive perceptions suggest the value of encouraging more structured links. The notion of continuity across the two sectors was well supported. Specializations: science education policy and practice, teacher education, school effectiveness. Specializations: science education, teacher education in science.