The missing dimension in developmental biology education

Note from the Editor     

Exploring students' learning challenges in environmental education

There is growing recognition of the significance of learning within debates about sustainable development. Within the field of environmental education research, however, there has been insufficient attention given to questions of learners and learning. In the light of this situation, this paper reports findings from two studies (one in England, the other in Sweden) that focused specifically on learners' experiences of and responses to environmental curricula in secondary school and higher education. Three kinds of learning challenges that can be experienced by students on environmental education courses are outlined and discussed. The main purpose of the paper is to highlight the complexity of the learning experience within environmental education and to draw attention to the need for improved research‐based understandings of environmental learning processes.     

Like a swallow,moving forward in circles: on the future dimension of environmental care and education

After the moral framework of sustainable development, the focus on climate change appears to take a lead in the practice and theory of environmental education. Inherent in this perspective is an apocalyptic message: if we do not rapidly change our use of energy resources, we will severely harm the life conditions of our children and grandchildren. In this article we argue that environmental educators should liberate us from this highly instrumental dictate by taking their cue from our daily care for our environment as revealed in child’s play in nature. Inherent in the interaction of the Homo ludens with nature is a spiral time experience. This time condition elicits a particular responsibility: rather than calculating which means are necessary to prevent future disasters, we should respond with care to the concentric circles of an open and indefinite future. Therefore, environmental education should not aim to prevent future disasters, but foster anticipating care for nature.     

‘Let's Save Energy!’: incorporating an environmental education dimension in the teaching of energy

A curricular unit called ‘Let's Save Energy!.’ was developed and tested as part of a project of Science Materials for Secondary Education. The project is focused on human needs, and how Science relates to them. This paper discusses how E.E. is built into a ‘traditional’ science topic (Energy), and some of the activities used to develop an awareness about the need and ways to ‘save’ Energy. A simulation game is presented with a focus on international co‐operation and environmental protection. The process of the development of the materials, and some results of its use in the classroom with 15/16‐year‐old pupils are discussed.     

Learning at eco-attractions: Exploring the bifurcation of nature and culture through experiential environmental education

ABSTRACT

This article explores informal environmental education (EE) experiences at eco-attractions. A consortium of three UK-based environmental charities designed an eco-attraction-based EE program aiming to inspire responses to environmental change. Over six months, educators at six eco-attractions delivered this two-day program to 430 young people. This article conveys qualitative insights into learning experiences at three participating eco-attractions. The study illustrates that experiential learning at eco-attractions provided unique opportunities to explore nature-culture connections. The program also appeared to enable novel confrontations of current ecological crises, including climate change. Furthermore, the experience influenced some young people's perceptions of how such crises might affect their futures.     

Exploring the teacher-student relationship in graduate education: a constructivist grounded theory

Despite its significance, the teacher-student relationship in higher education remains an under-researched field. The current study used constructivist grounded theory, in order to enrich the relevant discussion. More specifically, it aimed at exploring how the teacher-student relationship in graduate education develops (and gradually evolves) based on the perceptions and experiences of the parties involved. Data was collected through intensive interviewing with twenty teacher educators and by five focus groups with twenty-five graduate students in Educational Sciences. Based on the combined constant comparative analysis of the teachers’ and students’ perceptions and experiences, the teacher-student relationship in higher education surfaced as a complex dynamic process. Despite the teachers’ hierarchical superiority, it is characterised by reciprocating in all its manifestations: mutually wanting to relate, developing characteristics of a meaningful relationship, overcoming obstacles, maintaining boundaries and experiencing the positive outcomes.     

Exploring the temporal dimension of forum participation in MOOCs

Discussion forums are increasingly central to massive open online courses (MOOCs), and it is vital for learners to participate in associated forum activities. Active forum participation positively relates to learner achievement in that more posts yield better learner performance. However, this numerically aggregated measure overlooks the fact that longitudinal trajectories of forum participation temporally vary among learners with different motivations in taking MOOCs. To provide timely support for learners to stay engaged, it is important to understand the temporal variation of longitudinal forum participation and how different motivations account for the variance. Using educational data mining techniques, this research identified three clusters with different longitudinal participation trajectories and also indicated that intrinsically motivated learners outperformed others in their longitudinal forum engagement. Also, examining longitudinal forum participation more accurately differentiated learner performance than the numerically aggregated measure. Last, learners persistently engaging in forums were more likely to perform better in MOOCs.     

International dimension in engineering education

Engineers of the 21st century will spend appreciable portions of their careers in environments rich with global connections. Therefore, engineering colleges and universities must develop strategies that provide the global perspectives and international experiences that will help their graduates excel in this new world order. The current paper presents some European and American approaches to creating multi-organizational, international partnerships of academic and industrial organizations that emphasize collaborative educational programmes and research efforts that meet the globalization needs of faculty members, students, and industry.     

Teachers' perspectives on environmental education in multicultural contexts: Towards culturally-responsive environmental education

This inquiry explores teachers' perspectives on enacting environmental education in a Québec urban locale with high student diversity. Participating in focus groups and interviews, teachers from three schools discussed their experiences incorporating environmental education into their multiculturally-diverse classrooms. Challenges included value clashes, a lack of common lived experiences, and reconciling contradictory educational perspectives and political policies, which often placed teachers in paradoxical positions. Findings suggest moving toward practices of culturally-responsive environmental education that demand more than awareness but include interactive dialogue. Teachers need support from beyond the classroom and the capacity to develop curriculum facilitating the inclusion of students' culture.     

体验：教再生命维度的诠释

理性主义教育哲学观指导下的教育实践处于自然逻辑与生活逻辑的双重背离之中，受教育者处在生活世界中机械盲目地占有大量的知识，却遗忘了对生命的生动体验。这实质上是教育人文向度的遮蔽和生命关怀的缺失。教育与人的“第二生命”互生互动，生命的完整与和谐始终是教育不变的情结。体验是生命最真实、最生动的表达，因此，唯有体验才是教育生命维度的最好诠释。     

Exploring youth development through an environmental education program for rural indigenous women

Youth development (YD) is receiving increased attention in environmental education (EE), yet faces critiques including lack of attention to cultural competency and structural barriers. We explore YD outcomes of the EE program “Women, Agroecology, and Leadership for Conservation,” which engages young Q’eqchi’ Maya women in Guatemala in learning about sustainable agroecology practices, women’s rights to make reproductive and educational choices, and environmental stewardship. Results show participants gain assets, including knowledge related to agriculture and stewardship, agency to pursue their schooling, and the ability to contribute to their communities. These results are examined through the lens of programs occurring in a rural, indigenous context. We explore challenges and opportunities related to the setting, including gender roles, cultural traditions, and land pressure.     

Laboratory learning: Addressing a neglected dimension of science teacher education

Conclusions Almost all teachers recognize the value of hands-on science instruction in the laboratory setting. Many will even recommend that instruction should be not only hands-on, but also cognitively challenging. Moving from recognition of the need for enhanced laboratory instruction to implementation, however, is more effective with guidance. Formal schemes such as Laboratory Learning: An Inservice Institute provide this guidance by employing the most powerful teaching strategy available—modelling. In the workshop, participating teachers and their peers demonstrated effective practices, then analyzed and discussed the behaviors making those practices useful. If participant attitudes measure a workshop’s success, then peer modelling is clearly a powerful approach to instruction. Modelling, small-group work, cooperative learning activities, and theoretical and research-based suggestions for enhancement all targeting a single element of science teaching were blended together to produce Laboratory Learning: An Inservice Institute. This material is based upon work supported in part by a grant from the Eisenhower Mathematics and Science Education Act (Grant No. S164B 10015-12) through the Iowa State Board of Regents. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Eisenhower Mathematics and Science Education Act or the Regents.     

The missing voices: students as a catalyst for promoting inclusive education

ABSTRACT

Despite the progress that has been made over the 25 years since the Salamanca Statement, there is still room for improvements in order that schools can be developed that include all students. Drawing on a programme of research carried out over a period of 20 years in various European countries, this paper argues that children and young people themselves should have a central role in informing thinking, policies and practices in education. Although this is in line with the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, their views continue to be largely absent from important discussions that directly affect them. Using examples from two interconnected studies, this paper illustrates how students can be a catalyst for inclusive development, provided their views are heard and acted upon. In so doing, it describes the evolution of the author’s thinking, as the research moved beyond an initial focus on students’ voices as relating to conversations with students, towards a much more radical approach that seeks to promote dialogue about learning and teaching amongst students and teachers. This move is seen to involve a cultural change which, in itself, is a manifestation of a commitment to inclusion as a principled approach to education.     

Internationalisation as a key dimension to teacher education

The European Union has recognized the need for promoting social and political change through education. Special emphasis has been placed on the role of schools in personal and human development, along with the need for greater understanding of the diversity which makes up the European Union and throughout the world. This means that teachers are now expected to involve learners in the process of acquiring knowledge of their own culture(s) as well as other cultures. This article discusses a pilot project carried out in six European countries and designed to promote intercultural awareness of future teachers. The nexus of the training programme included empirical knowledge drawn from the teacher trainees international experiences, combined with intercultural communicative theory. How the pilot project was set up, some outcomes and conclusions derived from qualitative and quantitative research about the project are discussed.

L'union européenne a identifié le besoin de favoriser le changement social et politique par le biais de l'éducation. Une attention particulière a été portée sur le rôle des écoles quant à l'épanouissement personnel et humain et le besoin d'une meilleure compréhension de la diversité de l'Union Européenne et hors de ses frontières. Ceci implique que les enseignants sont maintenant amenés à faire acquérir aux étudiants la connaissance de leur propre culture tout autant que d'autres cultures. Cet article présente un projet pilote mené dans six pays européens conçu pour favoriser la sensibilisation interculturelle de futurs professeurs. Le programme de formation repose sur la connaissance empirique tirée des expériences internationales de professeurs stagiaires, combinée avec la théorie communicative interculturelle. La présentation fera part du déroulement du projet pilote, de quelques résultats fondés sur des analyses quantitative et qualitative.

Die Europäische Union hat die Notwendigkeit erkannt, sozialen und politischen Wandel durch Ausbildung zu fördern. Besonderer Wert wurde auf die Rolle gelegt, die Schulen für die persönliche und menschliche Entwicklung spielen, zusammen mit der Notwendigkeit, die Vielfalt, die die Europäische Union und die Welt an sich ausmachen, besser zu verstehen. Das heißt, dass von Lehrer/innen jetzt erwartet wird, Lernende in den Prozess des Wissenserwerbs in Bezug auf die eigene Kultur(en) sowie andere Kulturen einzubeziehen. Dieser Beitrag stellt ein Pilotprojekt vor, dass in sechs europäischen Ländern durchgeführt wurde und dass entworfen worden ist, um interkulturelles Bewusstsein zukünftiger Lehrer/innen zu fördern. Der Kern des Trainingsprogramms schließt empirisches Wissen ein, das aus den internationalen Erfahrungen der auszubildenden Lehrer/innen stammt, und das mit Theorien zur interkulturellen Kommunikation verbunden wurde. Die Entwicklung des Pilotprojekts sowie einige Ergebnisse aus der qualitativen und quantitativen Forschung des Projekts werden vorgestellt.

La unión europea ha reconocido la necesidad de promover el cambio social y político a traves de la educación. El énfasis especial se ha puesto en el papel de las escuelas para el desarrollo personal y humano, junto con la necesidad de la mayor comprensión de la diversidad que se encuentra en la unión europea y el resto del mundo. Esto significa que ahora se espera que los profesores impliquen a sus alumnos en el proceso de adquirir conocimientos de su propia cultura(s) como de otras culturas. Este artículo plantea un proyecto experimental realizado en seis países europeos y diseñado para promover el conocimiento intercultural de futuros profesores. El nexo del programa incluyó el conocimiento empírico recogidos de las experiencias internacionales de los alumnos de educación, combinadas con teoría comunicativa intercultural. Se discute cómo el proyecto fue diseñado y implementado, algunos resultados y conclusiones derivadas de la investigación cualitativa y cuantitativa sobre el proyecto.