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.     

TEACHING SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN SCIENCE STUDIES: DOES IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

This study explores the impact of ‘Scientific Communication’ (SC) skills instruction on students’ performances in scientific literacy assessment tasks. We present a general model for skills instruction, characterized by explicit and spiral instruction, integration into content learning, practice in several scientific topics, and application of performance tasks. The model was applied through an instructional program that focuses on the following learning skills: information retrieval, scientific reading and writing, listening and observing, data representation, and knowledge presentation. Throughout the 7th–8th grades, 160 students learned the whole program or one of its components: structured instruction (SI) of SC skills, or performance tasks (PT). A comparison group of 42 students did not receive instruction of SC skills. Students’ performances were assessed through a questionnaire and a complex task that measured students’ scientific content knowledge, SC skills, and the quality of the final products. Results indicated that students who learned the whole program or one of its components achieved higher scores in all categories than the comparison group students. High achievers can benefit from just one component of the program: either structured instruction (SI) or learning from practice (PT). However, they can hardly acquire SC skills spontaneously. Low and average achievers require both components of the SC program to improve their performances. Results show that without planned intervention, the spontaneous attainment of SC skills occurs only to a limited extent. Systematic teaching of skills can make a significant difference. The explicit instruction of skills integrated into scientific topics, the opportunities to implement the skills in different contexts, the role of performance tasks as ‘assessment for learning’—all these features are important and necessary for improving students’ scientific literacy. Our general model of skills instruction can be applied to the instruction of other high-order skills. Its application can lead to the realization of the central goal of science education: literate students possessing scientific knowledge.     

STUDENTS’ SOURCES OF MOTIVATION FOR PARTICIPATING IN SCIENCE FAIRS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY WITHIN THE CANADA-WIDE SCIENCE FAIR 2008

Science fairs have been for many years a popular school activity in North America. They are a venue for the popularization of science and consequently an important encouragement for the pursuit of careers in science or engineering. However, little is known about students?? perceived motives for participating in local or national science fairs and about the way in which their involvement mediates their interest in science learning and scientific careers. The present study investigates the motivational factors associated with the high school students?? decision to participate in the 2008 Canada-Wide Science Fair, a thoroughly selected and highly motivated group. Our study examines 5 sources of motivation: (1) interest in science content, (2) sense of self-efficacy, (3) assurance of achievement through rewards or gratifications, (4) the social aspect of participating and (5) working strategies to gain scientific knowledge and methods. The understanding of the anticipated benefits participants seek through their involvement in science fairs may have the potential to help science teachers adapt instruction to appeal to a broader range of students in schools, thus nourishing the emergence of more interest in science.     

USING ACTIVITY THEORY TO MODEL THE TAIWAN ATAYAL STUDENTS’ CLASSROOM MATHEMATICAL ACTIVITY

International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education - From the sociocultural perspective, this research utilized activity theory as the theoretical framework to analyze the influences of...     

ENHANCING MATHEMATICS TEACHERS’ KNOWLEDGE OF STUDENTS’ THINKING FROM ASSESSING AND ANALYZING MISCONCEPTIONS IN HOMEWORK

This study focuses on teacher learning of student thinking through grading homework, assessing and analyzing misconceptions. The data were collected from 10 teachers at fifth?Ceighth grade levels in the USA. The results show that assessing and analyzing misconceptions from grading homework is an important approach to acquiring knowledge of students?? thinking. By engaging in the inquiry process of the 4 steps of identifying errors, analyzing reasons for the errors, designing approaches for correction, and taking action for correction, the teachers made obvious progress in their knowledge of students?? thinking, understood the difficulties and challenges their students had in learning mathematics, and enhanced their pedagogical content knowledge.     

CURRICULUM RESEARCH IN SWEDEN II‐‐MATHEMATICS AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

In Study 1, eight‐ and 11‐year‐old children's participation in playground activities was examined by means of direct observations. At both ages, the two most common categories of behaviour engaged in were sociable activities and rule games. The older children spent significantly more time in rule games and significantly less time alone than the younger children. Girls spent significantly more time in sociable activities and significantly less time alone than boys. The proportion of time spent in these and other categories of behaviour was not found to differ from the beginning to the end of playtime. A more detailed analysis revealed the proportion of time spent in some more specific games and activities, as well as other age and sex differences. Many activities were found to be typically single sex and/or single age affairs, although others were more often played in mixed sex and/or mixed age groups. Some of the reasons for why this was the case were explored in Study 2, along with the children's feelings at being excluded by other groups. It appeared that the older boys were largely responsible for the lack of mixed age and mixed sex play on the playground.     

INDIGENOUS STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES OF THE HIDDEN CURRICULUM IN SCIENCE EDUCATION: A CROSS-NATIONAL STUDY IN NEW ZEALAND AND TAIWAN

The tacit messages transmitted to indigenous learners in the science classroom provide a lens through which indigenous disengagement with school science can be better understood. In this paper, the findings of a cross-national comparative study conducted with indigenous Maori students in New Zealand and Seediq/Atayal students in Taiwan are discussed from a sociological perspective. The purposes of the present study were to explore the ways in which indigenous elementary school students in two industrialized nations experience the science curriculum and to identify the socialization processes through which patterns of indigenous under-achievement in science are maintained and reproduced. The findings suggest that the peripheral positioning of indigenous culture and knowledge within the science curriculum in developed nations underpins a series of tacit pedagogical codes that contribute to indigenous student disengagement with the subject.     

USING RASCH MEASUREMENT TO VALIDATE THE INSTRUMENT OF STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF MODELS IN SCIENCE (SUMS)

Scientific models and modeling play an important role in science, and students’ understanding of scientific models is essential for their understanding of scientific concepts. The measurement instrument of Students’ Understanding of Models in Science (SUMS), developed by Treagust, Chittleborough & Mamiala (International Journal of Science Education, 24(4):357–368, 2002), has commonly been used to measure SUMS. SUMS was developed using the Classical Test Theory (CTT). Considering the limitations of CTT, in this study we applied a Rasch model to validate SUMS further. SUMS was given to 629 students in 18 classes of grades 9 and 10 from six high schools in China. The results present both additional evidence for the validity and reliability of SUMS and specific aspects for further improvement. This approach of validation of a published instrument by Rasch measurement can be applied to other measurement instruments developed using CTT.     

LISTEN TO THE SILENCE: THE LEFT-BEHIND PHENOMENON AS SEEN THROUGH CLASSROOM VIDEOS AND TEACHERS’ REFLECTIONS

This study uses classroom videotapes to examine the phenomenon of students who are left behind during whole-class teaching. Zooming in via these videos enabled us to analyze these classroom situations by means of a compact, multi-perspective set of theories – van Hiele theory, conceptualization, and visual perception. The analysis provided a picture of the classroom interaction in which the sound of silence of those students who might not share understanding during the class discourse is ignored. Based on a sample of Taiwanese junior high school geometry classes, the study demonstrated how investigating situations of silence uncovered the possibility of teachers’ unawareness of student difficulties or their unsuccessful efforts to cope with them. Teachers’ post-lesson interviews and questionnaires shed additional light on the perspective of left-behind students. Implications of this method for pre- and in-service teachers’ programs are briefly discussed, and some recommendations for change are proposed. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

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   

SAUDI ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHERS’ BELIEFS: TEACHING SCIENCE IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM

This study explored Saudi elementary school science teachers’ beliefs about the process of teaching and learning science. This involved the exploration of their views about the new Saudi science curriculum, which emphasizes critical thinking and problem solving. Comprehensive interviews were held in 8 schools with 4 male and 6 female—2 of whom were from private schools—science teachers. The interviews were analyzed to identify and assess common themes among their beliefs as well as associations between their beliefs and self-reported classroom practices. The findings revealed perceptual differences between teaching the old and the new science curricula and also that these science teachers were challenged by available class time, the student–teacher ratio, and the lack of laboratory space, equipment, and administrative support. It appears that the more interactive and group-oriented activities that formed the instructional foundation of the new curriculum have increased enjoyment for teaching science and led students to better comprehension of scientific concepts.     

EPISTEMOLOGICAL BELIEFS IN SCIENCE: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF LEBANESE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ EPISTEMOLOGIES

Beliefs about the nature of knowledge and knowing have been investigated extensively in educational and developmental psychology research. Hofer??s framework on personal epistemology is adopted in the present study for assessing Lebanese university students?? epistemologies of science. Participants were 213 students in their first year of science-related studies at a private university in Beirut. Two instruments were used for data collection: The science-focused epistemological beliefs questionnaire (Hofer, 2000) and an 8-item instrument adapted from the modified version of the ??Views on Science?CTechnology?CSociety?? (Dogan & Abd-El-Khalick, 2008), and an additional item developed by the authors. Thirty students were purposively selected for completing the second instrument followed by a semi-structured interview. Data analysis yielded the following assertions regarding students?? epistemologies of science: (1) Scientific knowledge is liable to change; (2) the source of scientists?? knowledge is inherent to human??s construction, whereas the source of personal knowledge is independent from human subjectivity and based on external authority; (3) scientific knowledge is proven and validated through the concerted effort of scientists; and (4) absolute truth cannot be attained because of the lack of means to access knowledge. Findings highlighted the need to foster an academic culture that promotes students?? epistemologies and explicitly addresses the nature and processes of science in curricula and instruction.     

UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ VIEWS OF THE ROLE OF MATHEMATICS IN THEIR FUTURE

We report on an international study about mathematics students’ ideas of how they will use mathematics in their future study and careers. This builds on our previous research into students’ conceptions of mathematics. In this paper, we use data from two groups of students studying mathematics: those who participated in an in-depth interview and those who completed an open-ended questionnaire. We found that their responses could be grouped into four categories: don’t know; procedural skills; conceptual skills; and professional skills. Although some students held clear ideas about the role of mathematics, many were not able to articulate how it would be used in their future. This has implications for their approach to learning and our approach to teaching.     

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.     

DIFFICULTIES OF USING PIAGETIAN TESTS IN THE CLASSROOM‐‐I

The author has compared groups of educationally sub‐normal adolescents in special schools with others in special classes in ordinary schools, with regard to their choices of jobs and actual later employment. Among other related findings, it transpired that many ESN pupils made realistic choices of occupation as well as did the normal pupils, and were more stable in their jobs than the normal pupils.     

SELF-PERCEIVED GAINS IN CRITICAL THINKING AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS: ARE THERE DISCIPLINARY DIFFERENCES?

The influence of disciplinary differences onself-perceived gains in critical thinking andcommunication skills were examined in terms of studentbackground characteristics, experiences in the major,and college experience variables. Academicdisciplines were categorized according to Biglan's(1973a) classification of single- and multiple-paradigmdisciplines. Although multigroup structural equationmodeling showed no differences between self-perceivedgains for single- and multiple-paradigm disciplines, theproposed theoretical model accounted for 13.5% and 25.3%of the variance in self-perceived gains in critical thinking and communication skills,respectively. The variable most highly associated withself-perceived gains was the quality of lower-divisioncourses in the major.     

ENHANCING CLASSROOM COURSES WITH INTERNET TECHNOLOGY: ARE COURSE WEB SITES WORTH THE TROUBLE?

This article reports the findings of a survey of faculty who publish course Web sites associated with their classroom courses. The communication goals and educational objectives of the sites were identified and evaluated, along with the investment of time and resources required to create and maintain the sites. Most instructors indicated that their goals for the Web sites have been entirely or largely achieved, and most consider the sites to be essential to successful course design. Some of the sites have accomplished administration and communication objectives not readily achievable through traditional, nonelectronic classroom procedures. In contrast to Web usage in distance learning courses, however, few of the sites made use of the Web as an instructional medium to deliver partial or complete learning modules online. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the study for present and future classroom faculty.