Reductive thinking in computer science

This paper discusses the role of reduction in computer science and describes a study on undergraduate students' perception of the concept of reduction. Specifically, based on an analysis of students' answers to questions addressing different computer science topics, we present several findings regarding the ways in which undergraduate students conceive of and apply reduction. These findings can be interpreted within the framework of the tension that exists between the following two factors: The need to think in terms of high levels of abstraction, on one hand, and the fact that reduction introduces a new approach to be used in problem-solving situations, on the other. In addition the paper suggests several teaching applications.     

Measuring adolescent science motivation

To monitor science motivation, 232 tenth graders of the college preparatory level (‘Gymnasium’) completed the Science Motivation Questionnaire II (SMQ-II). Additionally, personality data were collected using a 10-item version of the Big Five Inventory. A subsequent exploratory factor analysis based on the eigenvalue-greater-than-one criterion, extracted a loading pattern, which in principle, followed the SMQ-II frame. Two items were dropped due to inappropriate loadings. The remaining SMQ-II seems to provide a consistent scale matching the findings in literature. Nevertheless, also possible shortcomings of the scale are discussed. Data showed a higher perceived self-determination in girls which seems compensated by their lower self-efficacy beliefs leading to equality of females and males in overall science motivation scores. Additionally, the Big Five personality traits and science motivation components show little relationship.     

Measuring ambivalence to science

Ambivalence is a psychological state in which a person holds mixed feelings (positive and negative) towards some psychological object. Standard methods of attitude measurement, such as Likert and semantic differential scales, ignore the possibility of ambivalence; ambivalent responses cannot be distinguished from neutral ones. This neglect arises out of an assumption that positive and negative affects towards a particular psychological object are bipolar, i.e., unidimensional in opposite directions. This assumption is frequently untenable. Conventional item statistics and measures of test internal consistency are ineffective as checks on this assumption; it is possible for a scale to be multidimensional and still display apparent internal consistency. Factor analysis is a more effective procedure. Methods of measuring ambivalence are suggested, and implications for research are discussed.     

Passage independence within standardized reading comprehension tests

In tests used to measure reading comprehension, validity is important in obtaining accurate results. Unfortunately, studies have shown that people can correctly answer some questions of these tests without reading the related passage. These findings bring forth the need to address whether this phenomenon is observed in multiple-choice only tests or in those that employ open-ended questions. Three common standardized reading comprehension tests were examined: the WIAT-III, the CAAT, and the Nelson–Denny. The WIAT-III is composed of open-ended questions, while the other two tests utilize multiple-choice questions. All participants were instructed to answer the questions to the best of their ability, without access to the related passage. The results revealed that participants correctly answered the questions at a significantly higher rate than by chance for the multiple-choice, which supports the independency issue. For the open-ended questions, participants still answered with 18% accuracy, without the passages.     

关于大学哲学社会科学实验室的思考

随着计算机与互联网的普及,大学哲学社会科学实验室已延伸到哲学社会科学各学科领域。我们有必要寻思大学实验室的历史沿革和作用,广泛了解国内外大学哲学社会科学实验室建设的现状,把握大学哲学社会科学实验室的特点和意义,明确哲学社会科学实验室建设的定位、主要内容和学科范围。     

Investigation of preservice elementary teachers' thinking about science

It is not uncommon to find media reports on the failures of science education, nor uncommon to hear prestigious scientists publicly lament the rise of antiscience attitudes. Given the position elementary teachers have in influencing children, antiscience sentiment among them would be a significant concern. Hence, this article reports on an investigation in which preservice elementary teachers responded to the Thinking about Science survey instrument. This newly developed instrument addresses the broadrelationship of science to nine important areas of society and culture and is intended to reveal the extent of views being consistent with or disagreeing with a commonly held worldview of science portrayed in the media and in popular science and science education literature. Results indicate that elementary teachers discriminate with respect to different aspects of culture and science but they are not antiscience. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 1016–1031, 2002     

激活叛逆思维能力 提高科学创新水平

本文从激活叛逆思维的基本途径着手，阐述了在教学中如何激活叛逆思维，旨在唤起教育者在教学过程中突破常规模式，超越传统理论，培养学生具有批判能力和创新能力，使学生不满足于现状，敢于发表独特见解，开拓未来。     

Gender differences in leaving questions blank on high-stakes standardized tests

Around the world, multiple-choice tests are widely used as part of high-stakes examinations. To counteract lucky guessing, many of them have instituted a penalty for wrong answers. In this paper, we use administrative data from Turkish college admissions test to study the heterogeneity in gender differences in tendency to leave questions blank across subjects, difficulty levels, and stakes. Exploiting the tracking system and using the resulting variation in the effective guessing penalty across different test sections, we find that female test-takers skip significantly more questions than male test-takers in the quantitative track while we do not find a significant difference in other tracks. Among quantitative track students, the gender gap is larger in Math and when questions are more difficult while it reverses in Literature. We also find that self-assessment is related to skipping behavior and explains part of the gender gap. Male test-takers are more likely than female test-takers to report that they are good at Math, Science, and Social Science after conditioning on their number of correct answers in the corresponding test sections. This gender gap, consistently with the one in skipping behavior, reverses when it comes to Literature. Differently from previous literature, our findings suggest that the magnitude and the sign of the gender gap in answering questions under uncertainty is context dependent.     

Curriculum biasing effects in standardized and criterion-referenced reading achievement tests

The extent of curriculum bias was analyzed using seven standardized and criterionreferenced reading achievement tests. This bias was examined relative to five widely used commercial reading programs at the third-grade level. Results from the analysis indicated that the degree of bias varied widely depending on the specific test and program used for reading instruction. The practical and ethical implications of this bias effect are described in relation to the placement of children into reading programs and identification of students as exceptional.     

Teaching thinking — A focus for science teaching?

Conclusion The studies briefly reported in this paper reveal the enormous potential in the direct teaching of thinking for improving the thinking skills of students. Science education could be a powerful vehicle for such an approach. In the short term this could be achieved by incorporating an existing program such as CoRT as a core science curriculum element. The detailed study and reporting of such implementation efforts is important in suggesting ways forward. In the longer term, the design of new science curricula which have as a major focus the direct development of thinking skills should be a priority.     

科学规律教学中思维能力的培养

培养学生的思维能力是科学规律教学的主要任务之一 ,具体措施为 :获得足够的感性认识、掌握建立规律的思维方法、排除学习规律的思维障碍、理解应用、形成结构。