Teachers' conceptions of the contemporary goals of science education

This study was initiated to examine what middle and high school science teachers believe should be the goals of science education for the remainder of the 1980s. Participants were given a questionnaire that had at one extreme statements reflecting 1960s goals, and at the other extreme statements corresponding to modern science education goals. Additional information such as year of degree, grade level taught, and attendance at workshops was compiled. The results of this survey indicated a lack of commitment to modern goals from the majority of respondents. However, when only those responses indicating a preferred goals orientation were considered, teachers expressed predilection towards 1980s goals. Furthermore, those teachers who favor 1980s goals felt stronger in their conviction than teachers expressing a 1960s goals preference. A discriminant analysis was employed to study whether or not differences in definitive 1960s or 1980s views were associated with one or more items on the personal data questionnaire. It was found that a combination of teaching middle school grades (6–8) and attending more in-service workshops is moderately associated with an 80s orientation to the goals of science education. The results of the study lead the authors to recommend that a concerted effort be made by professional organizations to convey the importance of contemporary goals to teachers at the high school level. Additionally, an effort should be made to disseminate these goals through local seminars and workshops.     

School science education for citizenship: Strategies for teaching about the epistemology of science

One consequence of the advancing globalization and technological dependence of society is that people outside professional science are finding that issues of concern to them have a science dimension. I consider how school science education can support engagement with scientific information. I contend that teaching about the epistemology of science is central to achieving this educational goal. I identify epistemic learning aims appropriate to school science education. These are derived from a survey of case studies of how individuals interact with science outside formal education. I consider different ways in which these learning aims might be achieved in schools. Teaching approaches based on modifications of existing practice are identified. Addressing the full range of epistemic learning aims is likely to require teaching approaches rarely used in current science teaching.     

从环境科学看人文教育与科学教育的融合

很高兴参加这次人文教育与科学教育的融合高级研讨会.从环境保护科学研究的角度看,我认为在自然科学教育中,人文教育的重要意义怎么评价都不过分,其原因是:第一,一个好的科学家,一个好的工程师,必须首先是一个好人,必须首先是一个道德品质优秀,有为人民服务的奉献精神的高尚的人;第二,每一项科学和技术,都具很深厚的文化内涵;第三,科学技术将因为人文科学的融合而生动美丽.     

Reconstructing science teacher education within communities of learners

This article is based on a paper which received the “Innovation in Teaching Science Teachers” Award at the 1993 annual meeting of the Association for the Education of Teachers in Science.     

为当代科技辨护：兼评法兰克福学派的科技观

本针对现当代一些中外思想家、哲学家、学和社会学家把当代科技运用过程中带来的种种负面效应归罪于科技本身,将科学技术当作是当代“世界危机”的思潮进行分析和评述,并认为“科技无罪”,倡导确立用正义之念、善良之心、感激之情去把握科技之剑的科技理念,从而营造一个理想的“家园”。     

School collaborations within the contemporary English education system: possibilities and constraints

This paper’s focus is on an alliance of schools in England that came together as part of the National Teaching Schools initiative. Drawing on interviews from Head Teachers within the alliance, the paper explores issues of school collaboration from a premise that such collaboration is paramount to school improvement within the current climate of increased school autonomy and increasingly rigid accountabilities. The Head Teachers highlight key factors that supported effective school-to-school collaborations associated with sharing their expertise and fostering active and cooperative connections. They also, however, highlight factors that undermined genuine collaboration associated with a prioritising of the performative demands and economic imperatives of the audit culture. The impact of this prioritising should, it is argued, be considered in any analysis of school collectives within the current English education system – particularly given their proliferation and the responsibility placed on them in terms of school improvement.     

生命科学实验能力培养涉及的两个问题

本文从高校实验中心主任的工作职责和实验中心设备配置这两个方面入手,分析了国内本科和研究生实验能力培养体系中实验中心主任职责存在的几种模式,并对通过改善设备条件的途径来提高本科和研究生实验能力的情况进行了探讨。     

论当代理工科大学生思想政治教育工作的创新

社会的转型,使当代思想政治工作面临一些机遇和挑战,高校应该根据理工科大学生的特点,通过多种途径方式对其进行培养,注重课堂教学的主导,拓展思想教育的有效途径,建设好学校政工干部队伍,充分利用网络在思想政治教育中的作用。     

Creativity: a challenge for contemporary education

ABSTRACT

In this essay, I comment on the objective of cultivating creativity in general and in schools in particular. I start by tracing the historical origin of this objective, then discuss a select set of relevant issues, including what can be considered the best practices for achieving this. I conclude by contemplating the potential for globalisation of this objective, and the portability of general pedagogies and specific approaches to cultivating creativity between different educational systems.     

近代科学的诞生与意大利大学

近代科学的诞生往往以哥白尼的《天体运行论》、维萨留斯的《人体的构造》、哈维的《心血运动论》以及伽利略新物理学的问世为开端 ,以牛顿力学的建立 ,以及机械自然观和实验数学方法论的形成为其标志。从哥白尼革命到伽利略新物理学的诞生 ,从维萨留斯《人体的构造》到哈维《心血运动论》 ,均与意大利大学密切相关。     

Engaged environmental science for underserved youth

Abstract

The National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences has called for targeted efforts to engage underserved youth in environmental education programs that support environmental literacy and contribute to the development of a diverse workforce pipeline for environmental science-related occupations. Evidence suggests that career knowledge among low income and minority youth is more likely to be incompatible with post-secondary educational opportunities than other racial and ethnic groups. One approach to attenuating discordant college and career expectations among underserved youth is building networks for information sharing between secondary and post-secondary students. The purpose of this commentary is to describe the development and implementation of a high school curriculum on environmental science and environmental justice by Texas A&M University in collaboration with community engagement partners, students, and teachers at Furr High School, an innovative XQ Super School in Houston, Texas.     

Integrating science,mathematics, and environmental education: Resources and guidelines

Summary The integration of mathematics, science, and environmental education permits the students to gain from all three areas simultaneously. Science encompasses the art of questioning, investigating, hypothesizing, and discovering. Mathematics is the language that provides clarity, objectivity, and understanding. Many of the major contemporary issues involve societal issues stemming from advancements in science (Wiebe, Ecklund, & Hillen, 1986). Problem solving, creative mathematics and science thinking, core knowledge, decision making, and environmental training are all available in one time period in a properly conceived and directed activity. Teachers, too, are more interested when using methods and concepts more familiar to them. By increasing awareness and making a more effective use of classroom time we may get closer to producing the informed citizen needed for today’s world.