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.     

FIRST- AND SECOND-GENERATION IMMIGRANT ADOLESCENTS’ MULTIDIMENSIONAL MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE SELF-CONCEPTS AND THEIR ACHIEVEMENT IN MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE

This study, drawing on data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2007, examined the predictive effects of multiple dimensions of mathematics and science self-concept??positive affect toward mathematics and science and self-perceived competence in mathematics and science??on mathematics and science achievement among 1,752 first- and second-generation immigrant adolescent students in Canada. First- and second-generation immigrant adolescent students?? self-perceived competence in mathematics had positive predictive effects on their mathematics and science achievement. In contrast, first- and second-generation immigrant adolescent students?? positive affect toward mathematics had negative predictive effects on their mathematics and science achievement. While first- and second-generation immigrant adolescent students?? self-perceived competence in science had no significant predictive effect on their mathematics achievement, it had a positive predictive effect on their science achievement. Positive affect toward science had positive predictive effects on second-generation immigrant adolescent students?? mathematics and science achievement, whereas it had no significant predictive effects on first-generation immigrant adolescent students?? mathematics and science achievement. Implications of the findings for policy and practice are discussed.     

CONTENT ANALYSIS OF 1998–2012 EMPIRICAL STUDIES IN SCIENCE READING USING A SELF-REGULATED LEARNING LENS

In this study, we investigated the impact of teaming school-based instructional coaches with science or mathematics middle school teachers to build a community of practice around inquiry instruction. This professional development model began with a 2-week summer institute and continued with four follow-up sessions during the academic school year for the teacher and instructional coach participants. The teachers’ participation in this professional development program with (1) content instruction through inquiry lessons, (2) practice teaching to middle school students, and (3) coach-led reflection improved their understanding of inquiry-based practices and the quality of their classroom inquiry implementation. Professional development experiences that prepare teachers and coaches simultaneously in inquiry and content may help build a shared language for reform and accelerate inquiry instructional changes.     

SCIENCE AND NON-SCIENCE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS’ CRITICAL THINKING AND ARGUMENTATION PERFORMANCE IN READING A SCIENCE NEWS REPORT

A scientifically literate person should be able to engage and critique science news reports about socioscientific issues from a variety of information sources. Such engagement involves critical thinking and argumentation skills to determine if claims made are justified by evidence and explained by reasonable explanations. This study explored university students’ critical thinking performance when they read science news reports. Undergraduate science/applied science (n??=??52) and non-science (n??=??52) majors were asked to select a science news report from Internet sources and then to read, critique, and make comments about its contents. The science and non-science majors’ comments and their quality were identified and assessed in terms of analyzing the argument elements—claims and warrants, counterclaims and warrants, rebuttals, qualifiers, and evidence. The results indicated there is significant difference in identifying and formulating evidence favoring science/applied science over non-science majors (p??p??相似文献   

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.     

THE EFFECT OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES ON ELEMENTARY STUDENTS’ SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENT AND SOCIAL SKILLS IN KUWAIT

This study compares the effects of two methods of teaching—teacher-centered and cooperative learning—on students’ science achievement and use of social skills. The sample consists of 163 female elementary science students in 8 intact grade 5 classes who were assigned to 2 instructional methods and were taught an identical science unit by 4 classroom teachers. The students’ science achievement was measured by a researcher-designed achievement test given to students as a pretest and a posttest. Students’ social skills were determined by a researcher-designed survey administered as a pretest and posttest. Analysis of the achievement test scores and the social skills survey responses revealed that cooperative learning strategies have significantly (p > 0.05) more positive effects on both students’ achievement and social skills than teacher-centered strategies. These results provide an evidential base to inform policy decisions and encourage and persuade teachers to implement cooperative learning methods in Kuwaiti classrooms.     

USING SCIENCE CAMPS TO DEVELOP UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY—TAIWANESE STUDENTS IN A U.S. SUMMER SCIENCE CAMP

Recent years have witnessed a dramatic rise in the number of middle and high school students from Asian countries participating in U.S.-based summer experiences (Perlez &; Gao, 2013). Although summer science camps have been shown to improve students’ attitudes and interests related to science and science learning (Bhattacharyya, Mead &; Nathaniel, School Science and Mathematics 111:345–353, 2011; Fields, International Journal of Science Education 31:151–171, 2009; Gibson &; Chase, Science Education 86:693–705, 2002; Luehmann, International Journal of Science Education 31:1831–1855, 2009), whether there are cognitive gains for visiting students in these short-term experiences is not well understood (Liu &; Lederman, School Science and Mathematics 102:114–123, 2002; Williams, Ma, Prejean, Ford &; Lai, Journal of Research on Technology in Education 40:201–216, 2007). This study explored the efficacy of a U.S. summer science camp to engender improved understandings about scientific inquiry (SI) among a group of gifted Taiwanese students (n = 19) in grades 8 and 9. Participants were completing an 80-h summer science camp at a Midwestern U.S. university. The Views About Scientific Inquiry (VASI) questionnaire (Lederman, Lederman, Bartos, Bartels, Antink Meyer &; Schwartz, Journal of Research in Science Teaching 51:65–83, 2014) was used to capture students’ views before and after camp participation, with modest gains evident for five of the eight aspects of scientific inquiry assessed. These gains were related to scientific investigations beginning with a question, the multiple methods of science, the role of the question in guiding procedures, the distinction between data and evidence, and the combination of data and what is already known in the development of explanations. Implications for the structure of science camps for supporting the development of SI understandings among students from Asian classrooms, and in general, are discussed.

     

LONGITUDINAL PREDICTION OF 1ST AND 2ND GRADE ENGLISH ORAL READING FLUENCY IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS: WHICH EARLY READING AND LANGUAGE SKILLS ARE BETTER PREDICTORS?

This study investigates the relation between Spanish and English early literacy skills in kindergarten and first grade, and English oral reading fluency at the end of first and second grade in a sample of 150 Spanish‐speaking English language learners. Students were assessed in kindergarten, first, and second grades on a broad bilingual academic battery that included phonological awareness, letter knowledge, vocabulary, word reading, and oral reading fluency. These measures were analyzed using hierarchal multiple regression to determine which early reading skills predicted English oral reading fluency scores at the end of first and second grade. Predictive relationships were different between English and Spanish measures of early literacy and end of year first grade and second grade English oral reading fluency. This study has important implications for early identification of risk for Spanish‐speaking English language learners as it addresses the input of both Spanish and English early reading skills and the relation between those skills and English oral reading fluency.     

TRAINING MATH AND SCIENCE TEACHER–RESEARCHERS IN A COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT: IMPLICATIONS FOR MATH AND SCIENCE EDUCATION

In this mixed-methods study, the effect of training teacher–researchers in a collaborative research environment is examined for a cohort of teachers enrolled in a Math and Science Partnership (MSP) master’s degree program. The teachers describe changes in their research views and in their application of research in practice, and detail the challenges they faced during the process. The findings of the study suggest training teachers as researchers is likely to encourage teacher interest in conducting and applying theory in math and science classrooms. The results of this study have implications for bridging the gap between theory and practice in math and science education in general.     

THE EFFECTS OF EPISTEMIC BELIEFS IN SCIENCE AND GENDER DIFFERENCE ON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ SCIENCE-TEXT READING: AN EYE-TRACKING STUDY

The primary purpose of this study was to explore not only the effects of epistemic beliefs in science on science-text reading but also the gender differences in epistemic beliefs and the reading process. The interactions between gender and epistemic beliefs during reading were also explored. A total of 25 university students, 13 male and 12 female, were paid to participate in the study. The scientific epistemological beliefs (SEBs) questionnaire was used to probe the subjects’ epistemic beliefs in science, while the eye-tracking method was employed to record their science-text reading process. It was demonstrated that the participants in the study had developed sophisticated SEBs. Complicated SEBs were associated with higher cognitive attention to the reading of data-related information but less mental effort to fact, scientific explanations, and the microview photos. As for the gender difference, female students displayed less mental effort in comprehending scientific explanations, but attended more to data and the microview graphic. It is argued that female learners are better at processing textual information. Interactions between SEBs and gender were found and 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.     

A DEAN'S AND DEPARTMENT CHAIR'S GUIDE TO DOCUMENTING COMPETENCY‐BASED PROGRAM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN IN THE 2‐YEAR COLLEGE

Changes in the new Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1990 have added to existing state and regional accrediting agency pressures for competency‐based instruction. Because of these increasing pressures, deans, department chairs, and administrators of federal vocational funds administered under the act are, and will continue to be, required to provide evidence that their programs are competency based. A three‐step model to competency‐based programs as well as administrator guidelines for needed documentation are presented.