Improving students' understanding of carbohydrate metabolism in first-year biochemistry at tertiary level

Many introductory biochemistry students have problems understanding metabolism and acquiring the skills necessary to study metabolic pathways. In this paper we suggest that this may be largely due to the use of a traditional teaching approach which emphasises memorisation rather than understanding. We present an alternative approach to teaching carbohydrate metabolism which is designed to promote understanding of pathways. The approach also enables regular monitoring of, and reflection on, student progress and the identification of student reasoning and conceptual difficulties through the use of specially designed problems. Preliminary results are presented giving examples of specific student difficulties and the extent to which they were addressed by the alternative instructional approach. A qualitative evaluation of the approach is also presented. Specializations: metal accumulating plants biochemical education. Specializations: physics education, conceptual development, instructional design, improvement of tertiary science education.     

学生行为问题现状调查研究

为了了解学生问题行为状况,采用青少年品行问题行为倾向问卷(CPTI-A)对520名初中生进行评定。结果显示:不同性别的学生行为问题在违规倾向、成瘾倾向、攻击倾向和总分上都存在显著差异(p<0.01);独生子女与非独生子女的学生行为问题在违规倾向、成瘾倾向、攻击倾向和总分上都存在显著差异(p<0.01);初一年级与初二年级的学生行为问题在违规倾向、成瘾倾向、攻击倾向和总分上都不存在显著差异(p>0.05),但初二年级学生在违规倾向、成瘾倾向、攻击倾向和总分上都高于初一年级;不同学校的学生行为问题在违规倾向、成瘾倾向和攻击倾向上都具有显著差异。因而应该关注学生的行为问题,了解社会对其的影响,进行早期干预,从而促进他们的身心健康。     

Economic aspects of citizenship education: an investigation of students' understanding

In 2002 education for citizenship will become a statutory requirement in English secondary schools for the first time. Broad guidelines which have been issued to schools include some elements of economic understanding, although this aspect of citizenship has attracted little attention in public debate. Moreover, relatively little is known about students' current thinking on these aspects of citizenship. Our article addresses this gap in current knowledge through reporting results from a large-scale (over 1000 responses) survey of 15- and 17-year-old students. A draft survey was trialled in May 2000 and revised in the light of students' responses and discussion at a research seminar in July 2000. The questionnaire focuses on students' understanding of, and attitude towards, aspects of taxation, government spending, employment and inflation. These results may usefully inform planning for programmes of citizenship education and they can also provide a point of reference for subsequent evaluation of those programmes.     

Building middle school students' understanding of proportional reasoning through mathematical investigation

This article describes and shares an innovative pedagogical practice that holds promise in contributing to the teaching and learning of proportions in middle school. The teaching and learning of mathematics with understanding framework was used as a vehicle to help 21 seventh grade students reason proportionally. The findings of this unit suggest that the classroom culture, which encouraged the students to make connections between their existing and new ideas and reflecting and communicating their thinking, contributed to their emerging understanding of proportions. The use of an authentic and non-routine task involving liquid measurements also heightened their interest, curiosity and enthusiasm, thereby contributing to their excitement about the mathematics they were learning.     

A comparison of year 1 and year 6 students' conceptions of evaporation and condensation: dimensions of conceptual progression

A range of challenging activities centred on evaporation and condensation were explored with year 1 and year 6 children. Their explanations in group discussion, written responses and interview were analysed, using NUD*IST qualitative analysis software, to explore the nature and coherence of their conceptions. The data was used to critically evaluate previous claims in the literature concerning the characteristics of progression in understanding of evaporation, and to identify the main dimensions that characterize the differences in children's explanations. The older children displayed a surer sense of ontological categories, greater epistemological sophistication including their ability to link explanations and evidence, greater precision in the use of conceptual language, and a greater range of associations they could make.     

An in-depth study of two individual students' understanding of electric and magnetic fields

This paper describes and compares individual students' understanding of a range of concepts associated with electric and magnetic fields. Data are drawn from written tests and detailed interviews of students from a first-year university physics class. The case study approach makes it possible to examine in depth the interaction between conceptions of various related topics in the students' minds. The theoretical framework of the SOLO (Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome) Taxonomy, as elaborated in a previous paper on this topic area by the author, is further advanced here. Using this framework, the paper provides insight into a more detailed view of students' understanding of fields, which in turn casts light on possible teaching strategies for fields and related topics.     

Textbook treatments and students' understanding of acceleration

This paper has been accepted for publication in theJournal of Research in Science Teaching. Copies are available from Gloria Dall'Alba, ERADU, RMIT, GPO Box 2476V, Melbourne. Vic. 3001.     

Textbook treatments and students' understanding of acceleration

A single science textbook often provides the syllabus for courses at upper secondary and tertiary levels, and may be used as a principal source of information or explanation. The research reported in this article challenges such practices. The ways in which the concept, acceleration, is treated in physics textbooks is compared with understandings of the concept demonstrated by final-year secondary (Year 12) and first-year university students. Some students' understandings are shown to be incomplete in ways that parallel misleading or inaccurate textbook treatments of the concept. In addition to misleading or inaccurate statements, the limitations of some textbook treatments of acceleration were found to include: lack of attempts to make explicit relationships with other concepts, failure to point out when it is appropriate to use particular definitions or that an alternative definition might be more appropriate in specific situations, inclusion of operational definitions without conceptual explanations, and a focus on quantitative treatments while overlooking the development of qualitative understanding. Two principal aspects that distinguished the ways in which the students understood acceleration were identified: (a) the relation between acceleration and velocity; and (b) the relation between acceleration and force(s). The results of the study have implications for teaching and, in particular, for the use of textbooks in teaching. These implications are discussed in the article.     

甘肃省大学生体育消费现状的研究

采用问卷调查及理统计等方法,对甘肃省8所高校276名在校大学生的体育消费现状进行了分析研究,了解到甘肃省大学生体育消费以实物消费为主,性别、体育消费品价格、经济条件、运动兴趣、运动场所成为影响甘肃省大学生体育消费的主要因素,初步探讨了影响甘肃省大学生体育消费的主客观因素,为我国体育产业的全面发展提供一定的参考依据.     

An investigation into excellent tertiary teaching: Emphasising reflective practice

This study is an attempt to understand betterthe complex nature of tertiary teaching byidentifying and investigating the attributes ofa group of excellent teachers in sciencedepartments of the University. In working withthis group of teachers we examined what theysay about their teaching and what theydo in their teaching practice. Ourfindings, as well as confirming much of theexisting literature at primary, secondary andtertiary levels, emphasise the strong linkbetween the teaching practice and researchcommitment of our excellent science teachers;as well as the key roles played byinterpersonal relationships and the `person' ofthe teacher. We propose that purposefulreflective practice integrates the manydimensions of teaching for this group ofexcellent science teachers. We present atheoretical model that can be used to assistnovice or less experienced university academicsin their development and understanding ofteaching excellence at the tertiary level.     

An investigation of the approach to learning of Nepalese tertiary students

This investigation with 342 Nepalese tertiary students indicates that current conceptions of approaches to learning are relevant to these students. Factor analysis of the Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ) also suggests that the structure of learning processes is similar for Nepalese, Australian, and Filipino students. Internal locus of control also seems to be a factor in the adoption of deep and achieving approaches to learning in each of these cultures. Evidence of differences in secondary and tertiary student approaches to learning within Nepal and comparisons between Nepalese and Australian tertiary students' approaches to learning are also presented.     

Characterizing undergraduate engineering students' understanding of sustainability

Engineering professionals in Australia and internationally are coming under increased pressure to practise engineering more sustainably. In response to this pressure, the Institution of Engineers, Australia, has updated the procedure for accreditation of the engineering baccalaureate to ensure inclusion of sustainability learning. In order to graduate, Australian engineering students must now 'understand sustainability'. This paper reports on a theoretical synthesis of the literature on sustainability and understanding, and an empirical investigation into sustainability conceptions held by a group of chemical engineering undergraduate students at the University of Sydney. During the theoretical synthesis we examined what it might mean for a student to understand sustainability by deriving a suite of sustainability principles and describing the component parts of an expert-like understanding of sustainability. In the empirical investigation, students' written responses to the question 'In your own words, what is sustainability?' were analysed using a modified version of the Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy. The SOLO analysis revealed broad structural variation in the way our students understood sustainability.     

Russian students' understanding of and willingness to achieve 'success'

This study investigates the concept of 'success' and the various ways contemporary Russian students are endeavouring to achieve and value success. The findings are set in the context of changes in the understanding and achievement of success among students in Russia over the past 30 years.     

Facial micro-expression states as an indicator for conceptual change in students' understanding of air pressure and boiling points

Utilizing facial recognition technology, the current study has attempted to predict the likelihood of student conceptual change with decision tree models based on the facial micro-expression states (FMES) students exhibited when they experience conceptual conflict. While conceptual change through conceptual conflicts in science education is a well-studied field, there is little research done on conceptual change through conceptual conflict in terms of students' facial expressions. As facial expressions are one of the most direct and immediate responses one can get during instruction and that facial expressions are often representations student's emotions, a link between students' FMES and learning was explored. Facial data was collected from 90 tenth graders. Only data from the 72 students who made incorrect predictions were analyzed in this study. The concept taught was the relationship between boiling point and air pressure. Through facial recognition software analysis and decision tree models, the current study found Surprised, Sad and Disgusted to be key FMES that could be used to predict student conceptual change in a conceptual conflict-based scenario.