EFFECT OF CORROSION ON BOND BEHAVIOR AND BENDING STRENGTH OF REINFORCED CONCRETE BEAMS

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THE EFFECT OF INTERVENTION ON ACCURACY OF STUDENTS’ RESPONSES AND REACTION TIMES TO GEOMETRY PROBLEMS

This study investigates the effect on student performance in drawing their attention to relevant task variables, focusing on accuracy of responses and reaction times. We chose this methodology in order to better understand how such interventions affect the reasoning process. The study employs a geometry task in which the irrelevant salient variable (area) interferes with the reasoning process related to perimeter comparison. We compared eighth graders’ performances in a pretest and a posttest, with or without intervention. The posttest results showed that raising students’ awareness of the relevant task variable activates effortful and time-consuming control mechanisms which help them overcome the interference of the irrelevant variable. The paper discusses the educational importance of helping students to attend selectively to relevant information in order to overcome interference, thus promoting logical reasoning.     

AN INTERVENTION TO REDUCE FEAR OF FALLING AND ENHANCE ACTIVITY: WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO BENEFIT?

The reasons for sources of inactivity among older adults can be both physical and psychological. Fear of falling is a common psychological source of restricted activity. The efficacy of a group intervention to reduce fear of falling and associated activity restriction was established in a randomized controlled trial by the authors and their colleagues. The objective of this analysis was to investigate who was most likely to benefit from this intervention. Data from baseline and 12-month follow-up were used to identify predictors in change of two targeted attitudes - fear of falling and ability to manage falls - that were considered to precede change in activity level. The predictors of the two outcomes were similar. Subjects who reported less physical and social dysfunction, more concerns about falling, and greater self-efficacy in doing something about their concerns were most likely to benefit from the intervention. Men were more likely than women to achieve greater ability to manage falls. These findings can be used to target the intervention to persons in greatest need or to modify the intervention to better meet the needs of others.     

HOW MUCH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IS NEEDED TO EFFECT POSITIVE GAINS IN K–6 STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT ON HIGH STAKES SCIENCE TESTS?

This paper is a report of a study that examines the relationship between teacher participation in a multi-year, K–6 professional development effort and the “high stakes” science test scores of different student groups in 33 rural mid-west school districts in the USA. The professional development program involved 1,269 elementary school teachers and utilized regional summer workshops and distance delivery technologies to help the teachers learn science concepts, inquiry teaching strategies, and how to adapt science inquiry lessons to teach and reinforce skills in the language arts. Regression analyses revealed a significant positive relationship between the professional development hours experienced by teachers and student gains on high stakes test scores. But the analyses also suggest that primary grade teachers need less professional development than upper grade teachers on instructional strategies where the focus is on the integration of language arts and science inquiry. The implications for funding and implementing professional development projects are discussed.     

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LEARNING SCIENCE? AN ANALYSIS OF POLICY AND PRACTICE IN THE PRIMARY SCHOOL

ABSTRACT:  The paper explores the current rationale for primary science in England with a focus on how competing perspectives arising from perceptions of educational ideology and policy discourse have helped to shape current practice. The aim will be to provide a conceptual understanding of this by focusing specifically on how policy has influenced practice. In particular it will consider the way in which discourse and policy text have contributed to the emergent rationale for primary science which in many ways reflects conflicting influences, views and policies. Data were collected over a year from a regional survey and from four case-study primary schools. The findings suggest that teachers in primary schools face tensions between promoting both an educational and a political rationale for learning primary science. The paper will conclude by suggesting that the justification for primary science should be based on what we already know about how children learn science as well as helping them to develop an understanding of science and how it influences and is intrinsically linked to the needs of society.     

FIRST CYCLE OF PISA (2000–2006)—INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES: RESEARCH AND POLICY DIRECTIONS

This special edition of IJMSE focuses on the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) project now that it has completed a full cycle of administration—reading, mathematics, and science—to look at ways in which PISA has been used in participating countries and with what consequences, and to identify potential research and policy directions emanating from this initiative. Articles were invited to (a) reflect international perspectives on the uses and consequences of PISA to date and (b) speculate on future directions for research, curriculum, and policy using the PISA datasets. The introductory article provides a brief overview of common aspects of PISA: Evolving definitions of reading literacy, mathematics literacy, and science literacy; technical design of the instruments and data analysis procedures; the changing emphasis of administrations; and recent research using the datasets. PISA, unlike other international assessments in reading, mathematics, and science, has provided a fresh perspective on ‘what might be’ by decoupling the assessment from mandated curricula to focus on literacies needed for a 21st century economy. This unique feature of PISA brings with it possibilities and cautions for policy makers.     

SCIENTISTS’ PARTICIPATION IN TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: THE IMPACT ON FOURTH TO EIGHTH GRADE TEACHERS’ UNDERSTANDING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF INQUIRY SCIENCE

The impact of a professional development experience involving scientists and fourth to eighth grade teachers of science was explored. Teachers attended a summer program at a research facility where they had various experiences such as job shadowing and interviewing scientists. They also participated in authentic inquiry investigations and planned inquiry units for their classrooms. Data on teachers’ understanding and implementation of inquiry were collected through surveys, questionnaires, and classroom observations. Findings show that the teachers’ understanding of inquiry improved and most participants were able to successfully implement inquiry science in their classrooms. Barriers to the implementation of inquiry practices and the impact of specific experiences with the scientists were explored.     

COLLEGE ENROLLMENT TRENDS AMONG THE POPULATION THIRTY‐FIVE AND OLDER: 1972‐1982 AND PROJECTIONS TO 2000

This paper investigates college enrollment of the population 35 years of age and older from 1972 to 1982 using data collected in the Current Population Survey. Trends in enrollment and enrollment rates by sex are analyzed. It is clear that major increases in college enrollment have been taking place among the mature population. This is due to increased enrollment among females; males have experienced no trend in the likelihood of being enrolled in college after age 35. The characteristics of older college students, including attendance status, marital status, and labor force status are also investigated.

Female college enrollment rates are related to trends in GNP, labor force participation, divorce rates, age structure, and past educational attainment using regression analysis. The significant results are then applied to recent projections of the size of the older population in order to project the number of enrollees 35 years of age and over until the year 2000. Dramatic increases in enrollment among mature students can be expected in the last decade of this century.     

A PROBABILISTIC MODEL FOR STUDENTS’ ERRORS AND MISCONCEPTIONS ON THE STRUCTURE OF MATTER IN RELATION TO THREE COGNITIVE VARIABLES

In this study, the effect of 3 cognitive variables such as logical thinking, field dependence/field independence, and convergent/divergent thinking on some specific students’ answers related to the particulate nature of matter was investigated by means of probabilistic models. Besides recording and tabulating the students’ responses, a combination of binomial and multinomial logistic regression techniques was used to analyze the data. Thus, students’ misconceptions as well as the compatible-with-the-scientific-view student’s answers were explored one by one in relation to the above 3 cognitive variables. The study took place with the participation of 329 ninth-grade junior high school pupils (aged 14–15). The results showed that mostly logical thinking and sporadically the other 2 cognitive variables were significantly associated with students’ answers. Interpretation of the results and implications for science education are discussed.     

FULL‐TIME FACULTY ON FACULTY DEVELOPMENT: THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF WHAT IS AND WHAT SHOULD BE

This article focuses on faculty views toward programs for their own professional development. Significant contributions to existing research on the topic are (1) an attempt to have faculty respond to the broad range of ideas, both old and new, that have been suggested over the past several years of greatly increased dialogue, and (2) an attempt to map some of the systematic variation in faculty development interests among faculty members, based on selected individual characteristics. The article is based on a study conducted during spring and summer 1978. The study disclosed a preference for goals relating to the ongoing teaching performance of faculty and markedly less enthusiasm for goals relating to overall institutional concerns. Activities that could be pursued individually or independently were preferred over those conducted in groups and those involving evaluation of performance, attempts to serve personal needs, or attempts to facilitate interaction among individuals and departments. A comparison between faculty perceptions of “what should be” and “what is” revealed a number of marked discrepancies on goal and activity items.     

PRESERVICE MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE TEACHERS IN AN INTEGRATED TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAM FOR GRADES 7–12: A 3-YEAR STUDY OF ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS RELATED TO INTEGRATION

The purpose of this article is twofold: (a) to describe a unique teacher licensure program for grades 7–12 that integrates mathematics, science, and technology education and (b) to explore the attitudes and perceptions related to the integration of mathematics, science, and technology education of three cohorts of preservice teachers enrolled in the first 3 years of the program. Eighty-one preservice teachers responded to a semantic differential to measure attitudes and perceptions related to “mathematics, science, and technology education integration.” Principal components and internal consistency reliability analyses were computed to provide validity and reliability evidence. Preservice teachers also responded to one open-ended, free-response written question, “What does the integration of mathematics, science, and technology education mean to you?” Multivariate and univariate analyses of variance with repeated measures and Pearson cross-tabulation chi-square analyses were computed to identify pretest–posttest differences for the value and difficulty scales, identified by the principal components analysis. Analytic inductive methods were used to identify emergent themes in student written responses to the open-ended question. Results indicated no change in preservice teacher attitudes and perceptions related to the value of integration—they clearly valued integration at the onset and completion of the program, often citing student benefits. However, a significant change in preservice teacher attitudes and perceptions related to difficulty was noted. Upon completion of the program, preservice teachers perceived integration to be more difficult and identified barriers and challenges—demonstrating a more realistic, practical, and cautious approach to the integration of mathematics, science, and technology education.     

DEVELOPMENT OF DRAMATIC PLAY IN YOUNG CHILDREN AND ITS EFFECTS ON SELF‐REGULATION: THE VYGOTSKIAN APPROACH

The necessity for parents and teachers to work together collaboratively to optimize children’s learning and development in early childhood education is well recognized. Yet, ways in which initial teacher education programs might prepare teachers for professional relationships with parents are rare in the literature. This paper reports on the use of field experience in family homes that occurred in the 1^st year of a teacher education program. A case study of two student teachers is discussed to illustrate the potential of such an approach to this aspect of teacher preparation. These student teachers experienced the realities of the daily lives of families with young children. Six months later, their experiences appeared likely to have had a positive influence on their understanding of parenting and their attitudes towards establishing and maintaining effective partnerships with parents in their future professional role.     

INDIAN SECONDARY STUDENTS�� VIEWS ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING: BELIEFS ABOUT THE USEFULNESS OF ACTIONS AND WILLINGNESS TO ACT

A 44-item survey instrument was designed to determine secondary students?? views about how useful various specific actions related to reducing global warming might be, their willingness to undertake these various actions and the extent to which these 2 might be linked. The instrument was administered to students in grades 6??C?10 (n?=?768) from 4 large schools in metropolitan Delhi, India in which the teaching language was English. The findings indicated that this cohort of Indian students exhibited high levels of concern about climate change and strong willingness to act against global warming and in favour of the environment. The findings are tentatively compared with those from 2 similar survey studies conducted in Western contexts (Spain and Australia).     

INQUIRING INTO MY SCIENCE TEACHING THROUGH ACTION RESEARCH: A CASE STUDY ON ONE PRE-SERVICE TEACHER’S INQUIRY-BASED SCIENCE TEACHING AND SELF-EFFICACY

This case study reports the effects of a cooperative learning field experience on a pre-service teacher’s views of inquiry-based science and her science teaching self-efficacy. Framed by an action research model, this study examined (a) the pre-service teacher’s developing understanding of inquiry-based science teaching and learning throughout the planning and implementation phases of the field experience and (b) the pre-service teacher’s inquiry-based science teaching self-efficacy beliefs prior to and after the field experience. The pre-service teacher’s self-reflections before and after the field experience, video reflections, and results from the Personal Science Teaching Efficacy, a subscale on the Science Teaching Expectancy Belief Instrument-form B, were analyzed in this study. The findings revealed that (a) the pre-service teacher’s understanding of inquiry-based science teaching and learning was developed and enhanced through the planning and teaching phases of the field experience and (b) the pre-service teacher’s science teaching self-efficacy beliefs were improved as a result of a stronger appreciation and understanding of inquiry-based science teaching and learning. Further, the significance of this study suggests the use of cooperative inquiry-based field experiences and pre-service teacher action research by teacher education programs as means to deepening understanding of inquiry-based science instruction and increasing self-efficacy for such teaching.