Science educators' perceptions of problems facing science education: A report of five surveys

Five groups of science educators representing faculty at graduate institutions, graduate students, teachers, supervisors, and leadership conferees were surveyed concerning their perceptions of current problems facing science education. A total of 144 participants provided an average of 4.7 responses. The responses were tabulated using an emergent set of categories that resulted in six major groupings, i.e. conceptual, organizational, teacher; related, student-related, university, and societal. The category with the most problems identified was in the area of conceptual problems. University related problems and organizational problems were the next two most frequently mentioned categories for problems. Specific problems in all categories most often cited include the following:

• 1 confusion and uncertainty in goals and objectives;
• 2 lack of vision and leadership in schools and universities;
• 3 absence of a theoretical base for science education;
• 4 poor quality teacher education programs;
• 5 inappropriate avenues for continuing education of teachers;
• 6 limited dialogue between researchers and practitioners;
• 7 declining enrollments;
• 8 poor quality teaching and counseling;
• 9 insufficient programs in science for the wide spectrum of students; and
• 10 public and parental apathy towards science.

     

Characteristics of personnel at graduate science education centers: Implications for the future of the profession

Biographical and professional information for all 168 faculty members employed at the 35 largest graduate centers for science education was collected and analyzed. This is a report of the analysis and a discussion of the implication for the profession. The graduate faculty at major U.S. centers is homogeneous as to age, sex, rank, academic preparation, previous experience, research productivity, and professional involvement. The stability (or slight decline) in number of new personnel employed at research centers, and the multipurpose features of most centers are viewed as major problems. There are few examples of cooperative efforts among the 168 and few examples of clearly defined research efforts over an extended period of time.     

From evaluations to an equitable selection of merit-pay recipients and increments

In the absence of a viable salary-growth model, reasonable people generate arbitrary criteria with nebulous weighting factors for the decisions concerning initial salaries and subsequent increments. Generally, the resulting decisions yield lock-step, salary-growth patterns which include inequities, lack appropriate incentives, and are unsynchronized with cost-of-living increases. A model is described herein which includes the nature of the salary dependence on experience for various levels of performance of faculty members in a subset having the same level of education and the same marketability of their specialties. Application of the model to one subset provides objective procedures which yield, via successive approximations, initial salaries and subsequent increments with optimal equity. Similar application of the model to the several faculty subsets of an institution provides order and equitable order of magnitude in the decisions concerning all initial salaries and all subsequent increments. Consequences of such decision making include incentives to accept the risks of more comprehensive evaluations; rectification of lock-step, salary-growth patterns; and, optimally equitable rewards in consonance with the institution's mission and goals.     

Media utilization by faculty at the university of Qatar

Conclusions The findings of this study revealed that the science and education faculties of are more apt to use audiovisual media than the other faculty members. Transparencies, 16 mm films, and video programs are the most frequently used media. In general, the faculty believed that audiovisual media made significant contributions in the teaching/learning process. They also indicated some obstacles to the utilization of audiovisual media such as: lack of time to select and preview materials; the language of materials; and insufficient variety of materials to correlate with the curriculum. The majority of faculty members indicated that educational technology services are very adequate, while one third of the faculty did have problems particularly in the production of audiovisual materials. Almost half of the faculty members cannot operate one or more categories of audiovisual equipment.     

Scholarship Reconsidered for the Professoriate of 2010

The main thesis in this paper argues that the predominant system of defining, conducting, and rewarding scholarship today is mismatched with the shifting mission of higher education. Success in the current monolithic system is based on one's record of publication in adjudicated journals, not on the generation and dissemination of knowledge that benefits academic disciplines, students, and other constituent groups. Three metaphors are used to partially capture the growing crisis in higher education, a crisis fostered by a widening gulf between how faculty members prioritize their time and how the public, students, and state funding agencies perceive faculty members should be doing so. Several alternative models of scholarship are mentioned, with one based on Ernest Boyer's (1990) Scholarship Reconsidered discussed at length for its implications for the amalgamated subdisciplines of physical education and the sport sciences.     

创业型大学视角下创业教育体系的构建

创业型大学视角下的创业教育具有人才培养目标的针对性和实用性强,教育模式呈多元化、开放式,课程体系完善、实践性突出,创业文化氛围较为浓厚等特征。我国高校现行的创业教育体系还存在着未能与学科专业教育有机融合,开放性不够、实践性不强,教师缺乏创业素养、教学模式与授课方式单一,创业教育顶层设计不足、缺乏强有力的组织运行机制等问题,必须从树立创业型人才培养理念,构建与创业型人才相适应的创业教育课程体系,提高师资队伍的创业素养,搭建开放式、多元化的创业实践平台,建立网络型创业教育与研究组织机制,塑造创新创业校园文化等方面完成创业型大学创业教育体系的构建。     

Why are Older Faculty Members More Accepting of Students with Attention‐deficit Hyperactivity Disorder? A Life‐course Interpretation

The presence of university students in the United States with disabilities is not a new phenomenon. However, little is known about the attitudes of university faculty concerning less visible disabilities such as attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Using a sample of faculty at a university in the United States (n = 136), the impact of age on faculty’s acceptance of ADHD was examined. Results indicated a higher percentage of older faculty members, compared with middle‐aged and younger faculty, selected ADHD as a condition worthy of special instructional accommodations. Irrespective of age of the respondents, ADHD had the lowest acceptance as a condition deserving special accommodations. Finally, fewer middle‐aged and older faculty attributed difficulties experienced by a student with ADHD symptoms to “bad” character, a lack of discipline or a lack of motivation. These findings suggest more emphasis should be placed on disability‐related education and training for faculty members during early stages of their careers.     

Perceptions of coordinators of college freshman chemistry regarding selected goals and outcomes of high school chemistry

Several studies have shown that high school science teachers base their teaching on what professors of college freshman science expect, and that, in some instances, advanced high school courses are needlessly similar to college freshman courses. In order to gain insight of college science professors' expectations and perceptions on selected goals and outcomes of science education, a survey instrument was developed and mailed to 123 heads/coordinators of freshman chemistry in U.S. state and land grant colleges and universities that offer a graduate degree program in chemistry. The results demonstrated that although the coordinators were positive about many science education goals and outcomes they did not value aspects related to societal issues, and no differences among them existed when the results were analyzed according to demographic subgroups such as age and teaching experience. They perceived high school graduates as possessing inadequate skills and perceived measures to improve precollege science education requiring collaboration of precollege and college faculty positively. The implications for science education were that college chemistry professors place values different from those of science educators on some pertinent goals and outcomes of science teaching, a situation that is not helpful to reforming precollege science education.     

Faculty orientations toward institutional goals: A broken front with implications for planned change

The formulation of institutional goals in higher education often involves input from various campus constituencies including faculty. The faculty's viewpoint is typically treated as though it were a uniform perception. The research reported here tested the uniform nature of the faculty's goal orientations. Statistical comparisons were conducted on mean ratings of five discipline groups of 207 faculty from a major public university on the scales of the Institutional Goals Inventory. Although discipline groups shared common viewpoints on the importance of academic instruction, intellectual pursuits, and research, major differences among groups were found for goals involving university service, off-campus instruction, accountability, intercollegiate athletics, and humanistic values. Institutional planners desiring a change in one of these latter areas should expect different levels of faculty support and resistance from different discipline groups.     

Teaching the process of science: faculty perceptions and an effective methodology

Most scientific endeavors require science process skills such as data interpretation, problem solving, experimental design, scientific writing, oral communication, collaborative work, and critical analysis of primary literature. These are the fundamental skills upon which the conceptual framework of scientific expertise is built. Unfortunately, most college science departments lack a formalized curriculum for teaching undergraduates science process skills. However, evidence strongly suggests that explicitly teaching undergraduates skills early in their education may enhance their understanding of science content. Our research reveals that faculty overwhelming support teaching undergraduates science process skills but typically do not spend enough time teaching skills due to the perceived need to cover content. To encourage faculty to address this issue, we provide our pedagogical philosophies, methods, and materials for teaching science process skills to freshman pursuing life science majors. We build upon previous work, showing student learning gains in both reading primary literature and scientific writing, and share student perspectives about a course where teaching the process of science, not content, was the focus. We recommend a wider implementation of courses that teach undergraduates science process skills early in their studies with the goals of improving student success and retention in the sciences and enhancing general science literacy.     

科学实践活动课程的实施策略

针对我国科学教育师资的现状,阐述开设科学实践活动课程是提高高师学生科学素质,培养科学教育合格师资的有效途径,着重探讨科学实践活动课程体现综合性、突出实践性、加强探究性、培养合作性和落实发展性评价等五项实施策略。     

幼儿园集体科学教学活动设计中存在的问题与对策

幼儿科学活动教育越来越受到人们的重视,然而在现实的科学活动设计中,却存在着诸多问题。文章主要围绕幼儿园集体教学中,科学活动设计存在的问题进行分析,主要有科学活动设计中存在的目标把握不准确,问题提出缺少情境性,材料投放缺乏目的性,教师提问偏离主题,缺少对活动结束后的总结等问题,并针对这些问题提出相应的解决策略。     

Administrative support in initiating transformations: A perspective of an African American female

African American females need to develop alliances with White administrators to transform policies and practices to assist these female faculty members in becoming successful and productive professors at predominantly White research universities. Strategies for White administrators and other powerful White faculty members, and African American females are delineated in this article. In addition, illustrations of courses, activities, and programmatic changes in one college are included.Mary M. Atwater is an associate professor in the Department of Science Education at the University of Georgia. She holds a B.S. in chemistry from Methodist College in Fayetteville, North Carolina; an M.A. (M.S.) in organic chemistry from the University of North Carolina; and, a Ph.D. in science education from North Carolina State University, Raleigh. Her research interests include African American learning and involvement in the sciences, multicultural science teacher education, and urban education. Her teaching experiences include science education, multicultural education, and chemistry.     

Faculty work in a regional public university: An empirical assessment of goal consensus and congruency of actions and intentions

This analysis is concerned with the horizontal and vertical consensus of definitions of work appropriate to accomplish the goals of university administrators and faculty, as well as the congruency of ideal (intent) and actual (action/behavior) work of faculty. Data-gathering techniques include the following: historical analysis of the university; interviews with the provost, 5 college deans, and 32 chairpersons; and a survey of 503 faculty (69% return rate). Faculty work perceived to achieve departmental goals lacked horizontal consensus, especially among chairpersons in the same college and among faculty in the same department. Vertical consensus was weak, especially between chairpersons and their faculty, and in most colleges between deans and chairpersons. Greatest incongruencies were between faculty intentions and reported actions. There was declining support for administrative goals as one moved down the hierarchical structure within the university. Perspectives were explored that account for the lack of goal consensus and the incongruency between intentions and reported actions.     

Investigation of science faculty with education specialties within the largest university system in the United States

Efforts to improve science education include university science departments hiring Science Faculty with Education Specialties (SFES), scientists who take on specialized roles in science education within their discipline. Although these positions have existed for decades and may be growing more common, few reports have investigated the SFES approach to improving science education. We present comprehensive data on the SFES in the California State University (CSU) system, the largest university system in the United States. We found that CSU SFES were engaged in three key arenas including K-12 science education, undergraduate science education, and discipline-based science education research. As such, CSU SFES appeared to be well-positioned to have an impact on science education from within science departments. However, there appeared to be a lack of clarity and agreement about the purpose of these SFES positions. In addition, formal training in science education among CSU SFES was limited. Although over 75% of CSU SFES were fulfilled by their teaching, scholarship, and service, our results revealed that almost 40% of CSU SFES were seriously considering leaving their positions. Our data suggest that science departments would likely benefit from explicit discussions about the role of SFES and strategies for supporting their professional activities.     

Content-driven Faculty Development in Community College Early Childhood Education Programs

Community colleges are key providers of early childhood teacher and paraprofessional education, and their programs include content knowledge that helps future educators work effectively with young children with and without disabilities in inclusive environments. In this article, we describe the Advancing Community College Efforts in Paraprofessional Training (ACCEPT) Project, a multi-year collaboration to infuse special education content into four North Carolina early childhood workforce education associate degree programs. The goals of the project included creating a climate that fostered and encouraged ongoing community college and university faculty collaboration around the planning, delivery, and assessment of special education content infused within multiple early childhood program courses. Project objectives are presented within the framework employed by Murray (1995, 1998, 1999, 2000) that includes climate, structure, connections with rewards, faculty ownership, colleague support, and perceived value by administrators. Implications for practice include the importance of content, project standards, and faculty ownership.     

A Participative/Bureaucratic Model of Administration as Perceived by Directors of Occupational Education

Abstract

This study was designed and undertaken to ascertain the administrative models (participative versus bureaucratic) operating within the nation's public community colleges, as perceived by those charged with occupational education. The research design viewed the community college as a dichotomy of administration and faculty. Questions concerning the perceived degree of administration and faculty involvement in major educational issues were solicited from directors of occupational education.

Data for the research were obtained via a questionnaire that gathered biographical and attitudinal information. The usable sample consisted of 282 colleges selected at random from a population of nearly 1,000 public community colleges. Various influence patterns of key functions (curriculum, budget, facilities, and governance) were assessed to determine the role and involvement of faculty and administration. An argument was made to suggest a participative model of administration as a viable mode of administering the public community college. The findings of the research suggested, however, that faculty and administration had different and varying roles of responsibility. The faculty were more involved in departmental and nonbudgetary matters, whereas monetary, governance, and planning issues were functions of the college administration.     

理工类研究生心理健康教育工作机制和心理危机干预机制的建构

与文史等专业的研究生相比,理工科研究生的心理健康问题突出表现为精神抑郁、社交心理障碍、学习倦怠、性别心理障碍。目前研究生心理健康教育工作总体上表现为计划性、系统性欠缺,方法单薄,专业人员配备不足,预防能力薄弱,应急处理的理论和经验缺乏等。本文基于上述这些因素,提出构建能从多层次、多方位促进研究生心理健康的三大保障体系;构建高校、院系、学生三级贯彻并落实研究生心理健康教育的工作体制;建立研究生心理问题筛查、干预、控制、跟踪一体化的工作机制,以应对心理危机。     

新时期加强高校教师人力资源开发的思考

高校间的竞争，其实就是教师人才的竞争。高校要提高自身的整体竞争力，就必须加大教师人力资源开发力度。要从战略高度出发，统一思想认识，做好高校教师人力资源开发规划；要根据高校实际情况，制定一整套包括选人、用人、育人和留人等政策和措施；要突出重点，围绕学校学科建设的需要，增强人才引进的针对性和有效性；要与时俱进建立与教师人力资源开发配套的机制。     

Afro-Caribbean Immigrant Faculty Experiences in the American Academy: Voices of an Invisible Black Population

Afro-Caribbean immigrants have been an integral part of the history and shaping of the United States since the early 1900s. This current study explores the experiences of five Afro-Caribbean faculty members at traditionally White institutions of higher education. Despite the historical presence and influence of Afro-Caribbean communities and the efforts within education systems to address the needs of Afro-Caribbean constituents, Afro-Caribbean faculty members continue to be rendered indiscernible in higher education and to be frequently and erroneously perceived as African–Americans. The study examines the lived experiences of these individuals in the hegemonic White spaces they occupy at their institutions with both White and Black populations. Through their narratives, issues of stereotyping, microaggression, and isolation are addressed. The participants also offer solutions to address these issues by university administrators, department heads, faculty development professionals, diversity officers, policy makers, and other stakeholders. The voices in this study shed light on an overlooked, misunderstood, and under-researched population within our faculty ranks in the American Academy.