Students’ Knowledge of Nuclear Science and Its Connection with Civic Scientific Literacy in Two European Contexts: The Case of Newspaper Articles

Nuclear science has uses and applications that are relevant and crucial for world peace and sustainable development, so knowledge of its basic concepts and topics should constitute an integral part of civic scientific literacy. We have used two newspaper articles that deal with uses of nuclear science that are directly relevant to life, society, economy, and international politics. One article discusses a new thermonuclear reactor, and the second one is about depleted uranium and its danger for health. 189 first-year undergraduate physics and primary education Greek students were given one of the two articles each, and asked to answer a number of accompanying questions dealing with knowledge that is part of the Greek high school curriculum. The study was repeated with 272 first-year undergraduate physics, physics education, science education, and primary education Turkish students. Acceptable or partially acceptable answers were provided on average by around 20 % of Greek and 11 % of Turkish students, while a large proportion (on the average, around 50 % of Greek and 27 % of Turkish students) abstained from answering the questions. These findings are disappointing, but should be seen in the light of the limited or no coverage of the relevant learning material in the Greek and the Turkish high-school programs. Student conceptual difficulties, misconceptions and implications for research and high school curricula are discussed.     

Relationship Among Students’ Problem-Solving Attitude,Perceived Value,Behavioral Attitude,and Intention to Participate in a Science and Technology Contest

The strong humanistic and ethics-oriented philosophy of Confucianism tends to lead people influenced by these principles to undervalue the importance of hands-on practice and creativity in education. GreenMech, a science and technology contest, was implemented to encourage real-world, hands-on problem solving in an attempt to mitigate this effect. The self-reported attitudes, values, and intentions of 684 GreenMech participants from elementary, junior high, and senior high schools in Taiwan were subjected to confirmatory analysis with structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized model. The research findings revealed that the students’ problem-solving attitude is positively correlated to their perception of their own knowledge enrichment and thinking-skill enhancement as a result of participating in GreenMech. The findings also suggest that these perceived advantages positively influenced the intention to participate in future contests. This indicates that a highly competitive contest can be used to promote awareness of opportunities, which may enhance thinking skills and enrich knowledge.     

Emotional Issues in Teaching Science: A Case Study of a Teacher’s Views

Science teaching environments are social environments, and teachers emotions interact with their science teaching in powerful ways. To value the teacher is to value the whole person, not just the intellect. In this paper, a theorization of teacher emotion in science teaching is developed which illustrates the role of emotion in establishing and maintaining self-esteem in science teaching situations. From the standpoint of social-constructionist theory of emotion, it is argued that emotion is a social construction within social relationships. Arising from this view, are the emotions of intellectual excitement, frustration and shame that play a key role in the development of self-esteem. The dynamics of these emotions, in the context of experiences of success and failure, may dispose teachers to act positively or negatively towards science teaching. The theorisation developed is illustrated in the emotional experiences of an elementary school teacher in an early childhood science classroom. These experiences indicate that emotion is constitutive of teaching, and merits greater consideration in science teaching.     

The Use of LDOCE4 on CD-ROM in EFL Students’ Writing: a Case Study

This case study examines the use of LDOCE4 on CD-ROM in EFL students’writing.Four participants at different proficiency levels were invited to write a composition on a given title.They were then asked to revise their compositions twice,first using the paper dictionary,and secondly using the CD-ROM.Based on a comparison of the two versions,the following conclusions were drawn:1 The CD-ROM is generally more beneficial to EFL students’writing than the paper dictionary.2 Al though the CD-ROM is helpful,it is not a panacea.3 The CD-ROM can provide little help to lower intermediate learners.     

Teachers’ Experience of Working with Socio-scientific Issues: A Large Scale and in Depth Study

The research is an investigation of teachers’ experience of working with socio-scientific issues (SSI). A large group of teachers (55) chose one of six cases with the characteristics of SSI and were free to organize the work as they found appropriate. The research focuses on how teachers chose content, organized their work and experienced the students’ interest and learning. The teachers answered a questionnaire after working with the cases and seven of them were interviewed to provide in-depth understanding of issues raised in the questionnaire. The teachers found the SSI to be current topics with interesting content and relevant tasks and they felt confident about the work. They were quite content with the students’ learning of scientific facts, how to apply scientific knowledge and to search for information. However, they found that the students did not easily formulate questions, critically examine arguments or use media to obtain information about the task. The interviewed teachers did not find this work new, but they organized it as ‘a special event’. They understood SSI work as ‘free’ work and group work was frequent, but only a few of the teachers developed explicit strategies for teaching SSI. They had different ideas about learning but they all talked about knowledge as a set of facts to be taken in by the students. They all included elements of SSI but mostly to introduce the regular science content. However the teachers started to reflect upon the potential of using SSI to cover more goals in the curriculum.     

The Relationship of Discipline Background to Upper Secondary Students’ Argumentation on Socioscientific Issues

In the present STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)-driven society, socioscientific issues (SSI) have become a focus globally and SSI research has grown into an important area of study in science education. Since students attending the social and science programs have a different focus in their studies and research has shown that students attending a science program are less familiar with argumentation practice, we make a comparison of the supporting reasons social science and science majors use in arguing different SSI with the goal to provide important information for pedagogical decisions about curriculum and instruction. As an analytical framework, a model termed SEE-SEP covering three aspects (of knowledge, value, and experiences) and six subject areas (of sociology/culture, economy, environment/ecology, science, ethics/morality, and policy) was adopted to analyze students’ justifications. A total of 208 upper secondary students (105 social science majors and 103 science majors) from Sweden were invited to justify and expound their arguments on four SSI including global warming, genetically modified organisms (GMO), nuclear power, and consumer consumption. The results showed that the social science majors generated more justifications than the science majors, the aspect of value was used most in students’ argumentation regardless of students’ discipline background, and justifications from the subject area of science were most often presented in nuclear power and GMO issues. We conclude by arguing that engaging teachers from different subjects to cooperate when teaching argumentation on SSI could be of great value and provide students from both social science and science programs the best possible conditions in which to develop argumentation skills.     

Indigenous Elementary Students’ Science Instruction in Taiwan: Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science

This preliminary ethnographic investigation focused on how Indigenous traditional wisdom can be incorporated into school science and what students learned as a result. Participants included community elders and knowledge keepers, as well as 4th grade (10-year-old) students, all of Amis ancestry, an Indigenous tribe in Taiwan. The students?? non-Indigenous teacher played a central role in developing a science module ??Measuring Time?? that combined Amis knowledge and Western science knowledge. The study identified two cultural worldview perspectives on time; for example, the place-based cyclical time held by the Amis, and the universal rectilinear time presupposed by scientists. Students?? pre-instructional fragmented concepts from both knowledge systems became more informed and refined through their engagement in ??Measuring Time??. Students?? increased interest and pride in their Amis culture were noted.     

When Scientific Knowledge,Daily Life Experience,Epistemological and Social Considerations Intersect: Students’ Argumentation in Group Discussions on a Socio-scientific Issue

Socio-scientific issues in class have been proposed in an effort to democratise science in society. A micro-ethnographic approach has been used to explore how students elaborate arguments on a socio-scientific controversy in the context of small group discussions. Several processes of group argumentation have been identified. Students’ arguments were elaborated from scientific data, common ideas and epistemological and strategic considerations. Students’ social interactions influenced the patterns of argumentation elaborated within the group discussions. Implications of this study for the teaching of socio-scientific issues in class are discussed.     

Impact of Secondary Students’ Content Knowledge on Their Communication Skills in Science

The expert blind spot (EBS) hypothesis implies that even some experts with a high content knowledge might have problems in science communication because they are using the structure of the content rather than their addressee’s prerequisites as an orientation. But is that also true for students? Explaining science to peers is a crucial part of cooperative learning methods such as the “jigsaw method”. Our study examined the relationship between science communication competence (SCC) and content knowledge (CK) of 10th-grade students (N = 213). Using latent class analysis, we identified two types of students with a different relationship between CK and SCC. Using path analysis, we found that the first type of 109 students primarily used their science CK as the “resource” for addressee-oriented science communication and both their SCC and their CK were correlated with each other. For the second type of 104 students (who used other resources), their CK even had a small negative effect on their SCC. Using t tests, we found that those students primarily using their CK as the resource for communication performed significantly worse in the communication test than did those students who used other resources. Using the EBS hypothesis, we suggest that students’ CK might have ambiguous effects in communication if the content structure—rather than their addressee’s prior knowledge—is used as the primary orientation for communication. We suggest that an effective use of cooperative learning techniques in classroom requires a special prior training for their science communication skills.     

An Exploratory Case Study of Olympiad Students’ Attitudes towards and Passion for Science

Much is known about high school students’ attitudes towards science but there is almost no research on what passion for science might look like and how it might be manifested. This exploratory case study took advantage of a unique group of highly gifted science students participating in the Australian Science Olympiad (N = 69) to explore their attitudes towards school science and science as presented in the Olympiad summer camp. In particular the role the summer camp might play in igniting the students’ passion for science was a focus of the research. Data were collected through a two-tiered survey of students’ attitudes towards school science, an evaluative survey of the Olympiad summer camp and in-depth interviews with six participants. Findings indicated that Olympiad students generally had positive attitudes towards school science with most selecting science as one of their favourite subjects. However, an underlying ambivalence about school science was noted in the data. In contrast, the Olympiad summer camp transformed students’ positive attitudes into passion for science. Seven themes emerged from the data providing a foundation for a model of what academic passion for science looks like.     

Genetics Literacy: Insights From Science Teachers’ Knowledge,Attitude, and Teaching Perceptions

Teachers have a crucial role to play in raising future generations of citizens who are aware of issues in genetics literacy such as gene therapy, cloning, and stem cell research. Teachers’ teaching practices are influenced by their knowledge in genetics literacy and their attitudes towards different issues. Accordingly, this study explored the relationships among middle school science teachers’ background characteristics (gender, teaching experience, self-perceived interest in and self-perceived knowledge of genetics), their genetics literacy levels, their attitudes towards various issues in genetics literacy, and their perceptions of teaching issues in genetics literacy. Data were collected from 435 Turkish middle school science teachers by completing the Genetics Literacy Assessment Inventory, the scale for attitudes towards issues in genetics literacy and perceptions of teaching issues in genetics literacy. The results of canonical correlation analysis suggested that being female, having a high level of interest in genetics, and perceiving oneself as knowledgeable in genetics were associated with higher levels of knowledge in genetics literacy and holding favorable general attitudes. These teachers believed in the necessity of introducing genetics literacy and held higher self-efficacy teaching beliefs regarding the teaching of issues in genetics literacy in their classes. However, they tended to emphasize more impeding factors as well as hold unfavorable attitudes towards gene therapy and gene therapy applications, implying that their attitudes were context dependent.     

Embedded Mathematics in Chemistry: A Case Study of Students’ Attitudes and Mastery

There are many factors that shape students’ attitudes toward science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This exploratory study of high school students examined the effect of enriching chemistry with math on chemistry students’ attitudes toward math and careers involving math. To measure student attitudes, a survey was administered before and after the 18-week chemistry class; results from the chemistry class were compared to survey results from students in an elective science class that did not emphasize mathematics. At the end of the 18-week period, only the chemistry students exhibited more positive views toward their abilities in mathematics and careers that involve mathematics, as compared to their views at the outset of the course. To ensure that chemistry mastery was not hindered by the additional emphasis on math, and that mastery on state end-of-course examinations reflected knowledge acquired during the math-intensive chemistry class, a chemistry progress test was administered at the start and end of the term. This exploratory study suggests that emphasizing mathematical approaches in chemistry may positively influence attitudes toward math in general, as well as foster mastery of chemistry content.     

The Effects of Motion Math: Bounce on Students’ Fraction Knowledge

National assessments suggest that many students do not display proficiency with fractions. Considering that time and materials are precious resources, many educators are looking to use technology to provide supplemental instruction with low demand on the instructor. The current study utilized a multiple-baseline design to examine the effects of the Motion Math: Bounce application on the fraction quantity comparison and number line placement skills of three fifth-grade students. Results indicate that Motion Math: Bounce improved the quantity comparison skills of all three participants and the number line skills of one participant. Additionally, all three participants made improvements from pre- to posttest on a measure of general fraction knowledge. Implications for future research and intervention implementation are discussed.     

High-School Students’ Epistemic Knowledge of Science and Its Relation to Learner Factors in Science Learning

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an online contextualized test for assessing students’ understanding of epistemic knowledge of science. In addition, how students’ understanding of epistemic knowledge of science interacts with learner factors, including time spent on science learning, interest, self-efficacy, and gender, was also explored. The participants were 489 senior high school students (244 males and 245 females) from eight different schools in Taiwan. Based on the result of an extensive literature review, we first identified six factors of epistemic knowledge of science, such as status of scientific knowledge, the nature of scientific enterprise, measurement in science, and so on. An online test was then created for assessing students’ understanding of the epistemic knowledge of science. Also, a learner-factor survey was developed by adopting previous PISA survey items to measure the abovementioned learner factors. The results of this study show that; (1) by factor analysis, the six factors of epistemic knowledge of science could be grouped into two dimensions which reflect the nature of scientific knowledge and knowing in science, respectively; (2) there was a gender difference in the participants’ understanding of the epistemic knowledge of science; and (3) students’ interest in science learning and the time spent on science learning were positively correlated to their understanding of the epistemic knowledge of science.     

Experiences in Sense Making: Health Science Students’ I-Positioning in an Online Philosophy of Science Course

This article reports on a qualitative study on the dialogical approach to learning in the context of higher education. The aim was to shed light on the I-Position and multivoicedness in students’ identity building and to provide empirical substantiation for these theoretical constructs, focusing especially on the connection between personal knowledge and theoretical knowledge. The study explored how health science students’ reflections on their work and discipline-related experiences provided resources for making personal sense of and understanding the subject studied. The students took an online course on the philosophy of science. To study students’ internal and external dialogue in terms of multivoicedness in their sense-making processes I combined a discourse analysis with a dialogical approach. The results showed that in reflecting on their experiences in light of different scientific approaches, the students became engaged in dialogues with different voices, thereby experiencing tensions in their professional positioning. The reasoning tasks gave rise to internal dialogue, involving negotiation between different I-Positions of the self or heterodialogue with the texts. These identity negotiations were manifested in refining, strengthening, and reconstructing professional and scientific I-Positions and in sharing and constructing a We-Position.     

The Effects of Prior Knowledge and Audience on High School Students’ Writing

Abstract

To investigate the likelihood that explicit instruction in text summarization is being provided in classrooms, an "ideal lesson" method was used. Twelve experienced K-12 teachers were asked to devise summarization lessons appropriate to their learners and course content, to deliver the lessons, and to audiotape them. Lessons were transcribed, and instances of mentioning of summarization rules were coded. Only two teachers in the sample group discussed more than one of the five summarization rules assessed. The other teachers provided instruction that emphasized words and facts, despite their having been prompted to "assist students in improving text summaries." Staff development possibilities are discussed.     

A Longitudinal Study of Children’s Developing Knowledge and Reasoning in Science

The growth in science understanding and reasoning of 12 children is being traced through their primary school years. The paper reports findings concerning children’s growing understandings of evaporation, and their changing responses to exploration activities, that show the complexity and coherence of learning pathways. Children’s responses to identical explorations of flight, separated by two years, are used to explore the interactions between conceptual knowledge and scientific reasoning, and the manner in which they change over this time. The paper discusses the particular insights afforded by a longitudinal study design, and some attendant methodological issues.     

The Relationship Between Students’ Casual Interest in Science and Their Perceptions of the Undergraduate Laboratory Environment

Research in Science Education - Science instructors assume that they have created their laboratory curriculum in such a way as to reflect an ideal science instructional laboratory, but students may...     

Enhancing Elementary Science Teachers’ Knowledge of Teaching: The Case of Designing and Implementing an Instructional Unit

This article provides a model for the professional development of elementary science teachers. The model focused on integrating different domains of knowledge into science teaching, including the knowledge of the science curriculum, especially scientific inquiry, teachers knowledge, and students knowledge. The two case studies in this article revealed that the teachers construct their knowledge in a social context. The constant reflections on the experiences helped them to generate alternative teaching approaches. The findings suggest that the model of the project had two functions. First, it provides a useful strategy to help science teachers to bridge the gap between theories of teaching and their own teaching practices. Second, it provides a social learning environment for learning how to teach science.     

The Impact of Teachers and Their Science Teaching on Students’ ‘Science Interest’: A four-year study

There is a crisis in school science in Australia and this may be related to insufficient students developing an interest in science. This extended study looked at changes in 14 students’ interest in science as they moved through junior secondary school into Year 10. Although the majority of these students still had an interest in science in Year 10, it had fluctuated for most students from year to year. The presence or absence of simple, but effective, teaching practices, identified by these students, seems to suggest one way to retain or improve situational and, it would appear, in several cases, personal interest.