美国中小学教师ICAN探究教学培训项目的实证调查

美国ICAN探究教学培训项目旨在加强中小学教师关于科学探究和科学本质教学的专业化发展,本文对该项目培训前后的教师的观念和教学行为进行了实证调查,以此评价该项目的实施效果,并反思了我国中小学教师探究教学培训的相关问题。     

Engineering design skills coverage in K-12 engineering program curriculum materials in the USA

ABSTRACT

The current K-12 Science Education framework and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in the United States emphasise the integration of engineering design in science instruction to promote scientific literacy and engineering design skills among students. As such, many engineering education programmes have developed curriculum materials that are being used in K-12 settings. However, little is known about the nature and extent to which engineering design skills outlined in NGSS are addressed in these K-12 engineering education programme curriculum materials. We analysed nine K-12 engineering education programmes for the nature and extent of engineering design skills coverage. Results show that developing possible solutions and actual designing of prototypes were the highly covered engineering design skills; specification of clear goals, criteria, and constraints received medium coverage; defining and identifying an engineering problem; optimising the design solution; and demonstrating how a prototype works, and making iterations to improve designs were lowly covered. These trends were similar across grade levels and across discipline-specific curriculum materials. These results have implications on engineering design-integrated science teaching and learning in K-12 settings.     

美国科学教育改革的前沿图景——透视美国K-12科学教育的新框架

美国新近发布的课程文件报告《K-12科学教育的框架:实践,跨学科概念与核心概念》为美国未来的科学教育勾勒了总体蓝图,是美国制定新科学教育标准的基础和依据。新框架汲取了近年来科学教育、脑科学、学习科学等多方面研究成果,提炼出六条指导原则贯穿其中,并构建三维框架结构来概括所有学生在高中毕业前应完成的知识和实践内容。新框架提出的新思路值得我们关注和借鉴。     

对美国新一代《科学教育标准》的前瞻性分析——基于2011年美国《科学教育的框架》和1996年《国家科学教育标准》的对比

美国于2011年7月颁布的《k-12年级科学教育的框架:实践、交叉概念、以及核心观念》(以下简称《框架》)是其新一代科学教育标准开发的基础文件,本文介绍了其研制背景。并通过将《框架》的主体内容与美国1996年的《国家科学教育标准》的"科学内容标准"(以下简称《前标准》)进行对比,抽提出《框架》的特点。最后根据上述分析得出该文件对我国研制课程标准的启示。     

美国《新一代科学教育标准》述评

长期以来,美国都受到其基础教育质量不高,中小学学生科学素养不足的困扰。近年来美国出台了一系列关于科学教育的国家标准。1996年美国推出了《国家科学教育标准》（以下简称《标准》）。2010年,美国又颁布了《K-12科学教育框架》（以下简称《框架》）。在此基础上,2013年4月美国又颁布了《新一代科学教育标准》（以下简称《新标准》）。本文在介绍《新标准》提出的背景的基础上,着重介绍《新标准》提出的一些新的观念,并在正视中美客观差异基础上,针对我国国情,提出提高我国科学教育水平的一些建议。     

Expanding computer science education in schools: understanding teacher experiences and challenges

The increased push for teaching computer science (CS) in schools in the United States requires training a large number of new K-12 teachers. The current efforts to increase the number of CS teachers have predominantly focused on training teachers from other content areas. In order to support these beginning CS teachers, we need to better understand their experiences and challenges encountered in the classroom. This study investigated U.S. CS teachers’ perspectives on the demands of teaching computer science and support needed to ensure quality teaching. Results suggested that teachers face a number of challenges, including isolation, lack of adequate computer science background, and limited professional development resources.     

Exploring shifts in the characteristics of US government-funded science curriculum materials and their (unintended) consequences

Grant-funded curriculum development efforts can substantially impact practice and research in science education. Therefore, understanding the sometimes-unintended consequences of changes in grant priorities is crucial. Using the case of two large funding agencies in the United States, the current portfolio review provides insight into these consequences by examining shifts in the characteristics of K-12 science curriculum materials funded during two time periods with differing funding priorities. Findings revealed a move away from comprehensive curricula, increased reliance on technology-based materials, a growing trend towards open access, but also a decrease in teacher supports. While these shifts may enhance teachers’ flexibility to shape curriculum, they also increase the challenge of ensuring curricular coherence. Recommendations are outlined for policymakers, science education researchers, and curriculum developers.     

List of Reviewers

While there has been a remarkable interest to make computer science a core K-12 academic subject in the United States, there is a shortage of K-12 computer science teachers to successfully implement computer sciences courses in schools. In order to enhance computer science teacher capacity, training programs have been offered through teacher professional development. In this study, the main goal was to systematically review the studies regarding computer science professional development to understand the scope, context, and effectiveness of these programs in the past decade (2004–2014). Based on 21 journal articles and conference proceedings, this study explored: (1) Type of professional development organization and source of funding, (2) professional development structure and participants, (3) goal of professional development and type of evaluation used, (4) specific computer science concepts and training tools used, (5) and their effectiveness to improve teacher practice and student learning.     

美国科学教育新动向——美国国家科学委员会和总统科学与技术顾问委员会关于发展科学教育的建议

美国国家科学委员会和总统科学与技术顾问委员会在2010年相继发表关于科学教育的重要报告。两份报告出台的根本动因来自于美国对世界、对未来深刻的危机意识,直接动因来自于当前美国科学教育存在的主要问题。国家科学委员会报告的重点是为有才能的学生提供机会并激励其在科学领域达到卓越,总统科技顾问委员会的建议则是通过联邦政府更好地推进普通中小学的科学教育。两份报告发布后不到一年的时间里,奥巴马政府出台了一系列科学教育方面的政策措施,为美国科学教育在未来的腾飞做好了充足的准备。     

Personalized learning in high technology charter schools

In recent years, there has been an increase in the popularity of personalized learning (PL) and educational technology in American K-12 schools. In particular, school models that use technology to deliver personalized learning experiences for students have proliferated. Still, few studies have investigated these phenomena in K-12 contexts, with no studies to date examining the implementation and evolution of PL models over time. Toward closing this gap in the current literature on PL models, this qualitative case study uses Activity Theory to understand how and why a PL school in the United States evolved from its inaugural year through its third year of implementation. Findings indicate that the school exhibited substantive changes in organizational practice rooted in: (1) a disconnect between vision and practice; (2) the implementation of a “No Excuses” model and the school-level prioritization of accountability; and (3) the reprioritization of PL. Implications for educators and organizations interested in developing and implementing PL are discussed.     

Negotiating science and engineering: an exploratory case study of a reform-minded science teacher

Engineering has been slowly integrated into K-12 science classrooms in the United States as the result of recent science education reforms. Such changes in science teaching require that a science teacher is confident with and committed to content, practices, language, and cultures related to both science and engineering. However, from the perspective of the science teacher, this would require not only the development of knowledge and pedagogies associated with engineering, but also the construction of new identities operating within the reforms and within the context of their school. In this study, a middle school science teacher was observed and interviewed over a period of nine months to explore his experiences as he adopted new values, discourses, and practices and constructed his identity as a reform-minded science teacher. Our findings revealed that, as the teacher attempted to become a reform-minded science teacher, he constantly negotiated his professional identities – a dynamic process that created conflicts in his classroom practices. Several differences were observed between the teacher’s science and engineering instruction: hands-on activities, depth and detail of content, language use, and the way the teacher positioned himself and his students with respect to science and engineering. Implications for science teacher professional development are discussed.     

Elementary School Teachers' Beliefs about the Role of Technology in 21st-Century Teaching and Learning

Technological advancements have led to changes in the expectations placed on K-12 teachers. Teachers are now expected to better equip students with 21st-century skills, making it important to understand teachers' beliefs about the role of technology in teaching and learning and the skills their students need to be successful. Using a qualitative approach, the current study explores these beliefs among a group of urban elementary school teachers in the southeastern United States. Results suggest that, although teachers see the value of technology for teaching and learning, they require more guidance on what constitutes 21st-century skills and how to effectively integrate technology.     

Political clarity and the limitations of humanistic violence in the U.S. K-12 classroom

I examine the development of my political clarity and its relation to the exercise of humanistic violence as a K-12 teacher in the United States. Reflecting upon my experiences as a classroom and community educator, I conclude that the mission of forging a new humanity is currently not possible from within the U.S. classroom. Presenting a series of testimonios with reflections regarding political clarity and humanistic violence, I make the case that K-12 institutions constrain our ability to truly explore and commit to more humanizing ways of knowing and being. I recommend that we be wary of the multicultural trap: utilizing the ways of knowing and being of diverse peoples in order to better teach them how to know and be Western.     

Chinese perceptions of the interface between school and museum education

The current political and social backdrop in China that is characterized by rapid educational reforms to the K-12 education system, rapid growth in the number of science museum institutions, and Central Government policy which encourages collaboration between museums and school has the potential to be fertile ground for meaningful engagement between museums and schools. Notwithstanding, the Chinese K-12 education system generally does not utilize museum resources to support the curriculum, as is common in Western countries. This hermeneutic phenomenographic study elucidates the current Chinese views and perceptions among three stakeholders—school teachers, museum staffs and science educators—around this collaborative concept. The outcomes demonstrate that strongly entrenched cultural views and long-standing practices among stakeholder groups are obstacles to meaningful collaboration despite Central Government policy which encourages such engagement. The cultural values and perceptual views of stakeholder groups were discerned with the purpose of promoting mutual understandings and ultimately enabling meaningful collaboration in support of K-12 education in China.     

An analysis of conditions and trends in student teaching in the United States

Arguably, the student teaching experience is the single most powerful learning experience in preservice teacher education in the United States. Although influenced by the current and past policy context, it is perhaps the oldest as well as the most common partnership between K-12 schools and teacher preparation programs. Despite the centrality of this experience to learning to teach, limited research has been conducted on the nature or characteristics of student teaching in our institutions of higher education or how it has changed over the years. This analysis examines two national samples assessing the status of student teaching experiences in the United States, taken 40 years apart. Its purpose was to analyze conditions and trends in student teaching partnerships. Results indicate that although the experience is now more uniform and intense, fewer supervisor visits are required. Based on the comparison of themes, additional recommendations for narrowing the research-to-practice gap in student teaching practices are proposed.     

美国非法移民子女教育研究

美国非法移民子女的教育分为从小学到高中教育和高等教育两个阶段。经过社会力量的博弈和各种利益的权衡,美国向非法移民子女开放了从小学到高中的公共教育。目前,非法移民子女的高等教育是社会各界争论的焦点。尽管州内学费的开放促使更多的非法移民子女上大学,但是州内学费待遇不能完全解决非法移民子女高等教育存在的问题。呼之欲出的梦想法案被看作是解决美国非法移民子女高等教育问题和改变非法移民子女命运的理想方式。     

How research informs educational technology decision-making in higher education: the role of external research versus internal research

Educational technology research and development - Research use in educational decision-making has been encouraged and well documented at the K-12 education level in the United States but not in...     

美国《共同核心数学课程标准》的背景、内容、特色与启示

为了提高基础教育质量和国际竞争力,为学生上大学和工作做好充分准备,美国研制了首部各州统一的数学课程标准,即《共同核心数学课程标准》,规定了美国K—12年级学生需要掌握的数学知识与技能。该标准目标明确、重点突出、系统性强、内容简洁,对我国基础教育数学课程改革有启发意义。