Conceptual continuity and the science of baseball: using informal science literacy to promote students’ science learning

This project explores conceptual continuity as a framework for understanding students’ native ways of understanding and describing. Conceptual continuity suggests that the relationship between the use of words in one genre and the scientific genre can exist at varying levels of association. This perspective can reveal the varied relationships between ideas explained in everyday or vernacular genres and their association to scientific explanations. We conducted a 2-year study involving 15 high school baseball players’ understanding of the physics involved in baseball. First, we conducted a quantitative assessment of their science understanding by administering a test prior to season one (2006) and season two (2007). Second, we examined the types of linguistic resources students used to explain their understanding. Third, we revisited our data by using conceptual continuity to identify similarities between students’ conceptual understanding in the informal contexts and their similarities to canonical scientific ideas. The results indicated students’ performance on the multiple-choice questions suggested no significant improvement. The qualitative analyses revealed that students were able to accurately explain different components of the idea by using a diversity of scientific and non-scientific genres. These results call attention to the need to reconstruct our vision of science learning to include a more language sensitive approach to teaching and learning.     

Authentic science experiences as a vehicle to change students’ orientations toward science and scientific career choices: Learning from the path followed by Brad

Bringing a greater number of students into science is one of, if not the most fundamental goals of science education for all, especially for heretofore-neglected groups of society such as women and Aboriginal students. Providing students with opportunities to experience how science really is enacted—i.e., authentic science—has been advocated as an important means to allow students to know and learn about science. The purpose of this paper is to problematize how “authentic” science experiences may mediate students’ orientations towards science and scientific career choices. Based on a larger ethnographic study, we present the case of an Aboriginal student who engaged in a scientific internship program. We draw on cultural–historical activity theory to understand the intersection between science as practice and the mundane practices in which students participate as part of their daily lives. Following Brad, we articulate our understanding of the ways in which he hybridized the various mundane and scientific practices that intersected in and through his participation and by which he realized his cultural identity as an Aboriginal. Mediated by this hybridization, we observe changes in his orientation towards science and his career choices. We use this case study to revisit methodological implications for understanding the role of “authentic science experiences” in science education.

International students and the neoliberal marketplace of higher education: the lived experiences of graduate students from sub-Saharan countries in Africa of a U.S. university’s internationalization policy

Higher Education - Prior to the pandemic, approxiately 42,000 students from countries in sub-Saharan countries in Africa enrolled in U.S. universities (IIE 2021). Despite this strong and growing...     

‘My family’s goals are also my goals’: the relationship between collectivism,distal utility value,and learning and career goals of international university students in Germany

International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance - The utility value of an academic task can affect university students’ learning behavior and career choices. For...     

Correction to: Saudi science teachers’ perceptions of the cultural factors influencing elementary students’ science learning

Cultural Studies of Science Education - In the Original Publication of the article, second author’s name was misspelt.     

Pathways from parental stimulation of children’s curiosity to high school science course accomplishments and science career interest and skill

Curiosity is fundamental to scientific inquiry and pursuance. Parents are important in encouraging children’s involvement in science. This longitudinal study examined pathways from parental stimulation of children’s curiosity per se to their science acquisition (SA). A latent variable of SA was indicated by the inter-related variables of high school science course accomplishments, career interest, and skill. A conceptual model investigated parental stimulation of children’s curiosity as related to SA via science intrinsic motivation and science achievement. The Fullerton Longitudinal Study provided data spanning school entry through high school (N?=?118). Parental stimulation of curiosity at age 8 years comprised exposing children to new experiences, promoting curiosity, encouraging asking questions, and taking children to a museum. Intrinsic motivation was measured at ages 9, 10, and 13 years, and achievement at ages 9, 10, and 11 years. Structural equation modelling was used for analyses. Controlling for socio-economic status, parental stimulation of curiosity bore positive and significant relations to science intrinsic motivation and achievement, which in turn related to SA. Gender neither related to stimulation of curiosity nor contributed to the model. Findings highlight the importance of parental stimulation of children’s curiosity in facilitating trajectories into science, and relevance to science education is discussed.     

Using word clouds to support students’ knowledge integration from online inquiry: an investigation of the process and outcome

This study reports the effects of using word clouds to support students’ knowledge integration from online inquiry as demonstrated by blog posts, tags and concept maps. Fifty-four undergraduate students from a medium-sized university in the northwestern United States were randomly assigned into two groups and blogged for five weeks. To support students’ online searching activity, the treatment group was provided a list of concepts in the format of a word cloud. The control group received the same list of concepts in an alphabetic order. Data analyses included comparing participant-attached tags and individual concept maps to the instructor’s keyword list. Results revealed that the word clouds facilitated the construction of schema in a top-down deductive approach, which could be a meaningful and efficient way of learning.     

Correction to: Exploring students’ science motivation across grade levels and the role of inductive reasoning in science motivation

European Journal of Psychology of Education - The purpose of this study is to explore students’ motivation towards science learning at different grade levels and to investigate whether...     

"What’s your science teacher like?": Using students to appraise teaching and teachers

The evaluations of teacher performance as carried out in most schools are brief, superficial affairs involving a few moments of classroom observation, followed by the completion of an evaluation report form which is read and signed by all interested parties, filed away and never referred to again. Such cursory processes do very little to promote the professional development of teachers, and yet the use of alternative schemes for appraising teaching or providing feedback to teachers is still not widespread in Australian schools. Students can play a role in providing feedback to teachers, yet whether this feedback is valid and welcomed is still a contested issue. Some published research shows that it can be a valid and valuable exercise. This paper reports some work-in-progress in which students in secondary science classes in Tasmania were interviewed, with some very insightful responses being provided. Broader issues associated with "Teacher Appraisal" are also discussed. Specializations: Science teacher education, teacher appraisal, classroom practice, environmental education.     

U.S.Navy＇s Development and Changes from 1880 to the Prosecution of Theodore Roosevelt

美国海军的崛起主要是在1880年后和西奥多.罗斯福总统执政时期,美国海军实现了由旧式海军向现代化海军的转变,成为世界上一支强大的海上力量。美国海军崛起迅速的影响因素是复杂的,研究这一时期的美国海军无疑有助于更好的了解美国海军发展的历史过程。     

Physical education and sport science undergraduate students as multimedia and web developers: Moving from the user’s to the creator’s perspective

The increasing importance that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have been gaining for Physical Education (PE) and sports pedagogy has generated the need to prepare ICT-proficient prospective PE teachers within PE and sport science university departments. This study was aimed at: (a) the design and implementation of two project-based elective courses on ICT in education (entitled ‘Informatics in Education’ and ‘Computers in Physical Education Teaching’) for the undergraduate students of a PE and sport science department, and (b) the investigation of students’ responses to the courses and instructor’s experiences from organizing and imparting the courses. The courses were focused on educational multimedia and web development for PE. Twenty-three students that had attended ‘Informatics in Education’ and 13 students that had attended ‘Computers in Physical Education Teaching’ participated in the study. Research data were collected through student questionnaires and instructor’s notes. It was found that students were helped to acquire basic multimedia and web development skills for educational purposes, and that their responses to the courses were positive overall. The courses fulfilled students’ expectations and were successful in equipping students with self-confidence in their ability to make use of ICT in PE courses and to construct multimedia and web-based learning materials. Furthermore, students were provided with opportunities to express their creativity and improve their future instructional practices. However, the study also brought to light the various difficulties and challenges of training prospective PE teachers in the didactical utilization of ICT at undergraduate level.     

Exploring students’ epistemological knowledge of models and modelling in science: results from a teaching/learning experience on climate change

The scientific community has been debating climate change for over two decades. In the light of certain arguments put forward by the aforesaid community, the EU has recommended a set of innovative reforms to science teaching such as incorporating environmental issues into the scientific curriculum, thereby helping to make schools a place of civic education. However, despite these European recommendations, relatively little emphasis is still given to climate change within science curricula. Climate change, although potentially engaging for students, is a complex topic that poses conceptual difficulties and emotional barriers, as well as epistemological challenges. Whilst the conceptual and emotional barriers have already been the object of several studies, students’ reactions to the epistemological issues raised by climate changes have so far been rarely explored in science education research and thus are the main focus of this paper. This paper describes a study concerning the implementation of teaching materials designed to focus on the epistemological role of ‘models and the game of modelling’ in science and particularly when dealing with climate change. The materials were implemented in a course of 15 hours (five 3-hour lessons) for a class of Italian secondary-school students (grade 11; 16–17 years old). The purpose of the study is to investigate students’ reactions to the epistemological dimension of the materials, and to explore if and how the material enabled them to develop their epistemological knowledge on models.     

Parental involvement and Chinese elementary students’ achievement goals: the moderating role of parenting style

Past research has revealed direct effects of parental involvement and parenting style on children’s achievement goals separately, however, it is necessary to investigate the interactive mechanism in an integrated way. This study examined the relations between children’s perception of different dimensions of parental involvement (i.e. home-based involvement, school-based involvement and academic socialisation) and their achievement goals, and the moderating role of parenting style (i.e. parental autonomy support vs. psychological control). Participants were 614 Chinese fourth and fifth grades students. Results showed that home-based involvement was positively associated with performance-approach goals, school-based involvement was positively associated with mastery goals, and academic socialisation was positively associated with both mastery and performance-approach goals. Parental psychological control moderated the relationships between performance-approach goals and two types of parental involvement: Academic socialisation and home-based involvement. These findings underscored the need of taking a multidimensional approach in conceptualising parental involvement, and that parental involvement should be expressed in an appropriate context of parenting style.     

Using an epistemic game to facilitate students’ problem-solving: the case of hospitality management

Hospitality students are required to be able to address challenging cases or problems in the work environment. However, traditional lecture- or exam-based instruction leaves a gap between theory and practice. On the other hand, modern youth live and socialise in an increasingly digital environment, and one of their biggest pastimes is playing games. This study employs a game environment to improve students’ problem-solving abilities; the purpose of this article is therefore to determine if the game is effective in this regard. This study selected two classes of hospitality management students as subjects, and randomly assigned them as the control group and the experiment group. The entire process of the study consisted of the pre-test, game training and the post-test. Only the experiment group participants were trained with the game. The quantitative and qualitative results indicate that the use of the game is beneficial in improving students’ problem-solving performance.     

Turning the focus from ‘Other’ to science education: exploring the invisibility of Whiteness

This paper provides another way to gaze upon Brad’s story as presented by van Eijck and Roth (2010). It raises questions about infrastructural racism in contemporary science education by exploring its association with Whiteness and White privilege. To explore the racial positioning inherent in Western science education specific attention is given to the positions of power that accompany Western ways of knowing the world (i.e., science education) in comparison to Other ways of knowing the world (i.e., First Nations Ways of Knowing). The paper suggests the power relationships inherent within this dualism are asymmetrical due to the implications of Whiteness within colonial societies. Even though power relations were not discussed in Brad’s story, the paper suggests the implications were visible. The paper concludes by advocating for a re-imagining in science education where the traditional ontological and epistemological foundations are deconstructed and spaces are created for enacting practical ways of resisting oppression.

Residing in silence and wonder: career counselling from the perspective of ‘being’

We are approaching career counselling from the perspective of “Being”, which we recognize to be a daunting task. Nevertheless we find it extremely important that the counsellor become aware of and try to think, talk and act from his or her embeddedness in being, and by that help the client to do the same. This process involves an ontological and spiritual approach, and builds upon the Socratic ability to wonder, the meditative way of “undoing” and the artful act of creation.     

A journey of negotiation and belonging: understanding students’ transitions to science and engineering in higher education

The paper presents results from a longitudinal study of students’ decisions to enrol on a higher education science programme and their experiences of it. The aim is to give insights into students’ transition process and negotiation of identity. This is done by following a cohort of 38 students in a series of qualitative interviews during a 3-year period starting as they were about to finish upper secondary school. We find that the students’ choice of study is an ongoing process of meaning-making, which continues when the students enter higher education and continuously work on their identities to gain a sense of belonging to their science or engineering programme. The use of a narrative methodology provides understanding of choice of study as involving changes in future perspectives and in the interpretation of past experiences. Further, we gain access into how this meaning-making process over time reflects the students’ negotiations in terms of belonging to higher education and their coping strategies when their expectations of their new programme interact with their first-year experiences.