The Intellectual Structure of Research on Educational Technology in Science Education (ETiSE): A Co-citation Network Analysis of Publications in Selected Journals (2008–2013)

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the intellectual structure of the research on educational technology in science education (ETiSE) within the most recent years (2008–2013). Based on the criteria for educational technology research and the citation threshold for educational co-citation analysis, a total of 137 relevant ETiSE papers were identified from the International Journal of Science Education, the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Science Education, and the Journal of Science Education and Technology. Then, a series of methodologies were performed to analyze all 137 source documents, including document co-citation analysis, social network analysis, and exploratory factor analysis. As a result, 454 co-citation ties were obtained and then graphically visualized with an undirected network, presenting a global structure of the current ETiSE research network. In addition, four major underlying intellectual subfields within the main component of the ETiSE network were extracted and named as: (1) technology-enhanced science inquiry, (2) simulation and visualization for understanding, (3) technology-enhanced chemistry learning, and (4) game-based science learning. The most influential co-citation pairs and cross-boundary phenomena were then analyzed and visualized in a co-citation network. This is the very first attempt to illuminate the core ideas underlying ETiSE research by integrating the co-citation method, factor analysis, and the networking visualization technique. The findings of this study provide a platform for scholarly discussion of the dissemination and research trends within the current ETiSE literature.     

Contradictions,dialectical oppositions and shifts in teaching mathematics

The study reported in this paper concerns the tensions and conflicts that teachers experience while they enact a new set of reform-oriented curricular materials into their classrooms. Our focus is οn the interactions developed in two groups of teachers in two schools for a period of a school year. We use Activity Theory to study emerging contradictions and we elaborate on the construct of dialectical opposition to understand the nature of these contradictions and their potential for teacher learning. We provide evidence that discussions about contradictions and their dialectical character in the two groups support teachers to engage differently in mathematics teaching and learning and carry potentials for shifts in the practices that evolve in their classrooms. Our study addresses empirically in the context of mathematics teaching the philosophical claim about the role of contradictions as a driving force for any dynamic system.     

Returns on vocational education over the life cycle: Between immediate labour market preparation and lifelong employability

An important issue in the design of secondary-level education is the balance between conveying general and occupation-specific (vocational) skills. On the one hand, vocationally oriented programmes, providing occupation-specific skills with immediate labour market relevance, have repeatedly been shown to secure safe pathways into employment. On the other hand, these programmes tend to put less emphasis on developing general knowledge, skills and competencies, including numeracy and literacy, which are foundational to lifelong learning. Hence, when the needs of the labour market change, employees who opted for a vocational track when they were at secondary school risk being less flexible in adapting to such changes later in their career. The authors of this article examine whether this results in a trade-off between short-term gains and long-term losses by considering differences in the labour market careers of vocationally and generally educated respondents in the 2012 Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). Their results suggest that early labour market benefits of vocational specialisation decrease over time; the authors relate this to its lower ability to equip secondary school students – future employees – with skills for lifelong learning.     

Chemistry for whom? Gender awareness in teaching and learning chemistry

Marie Ståhl and Anita Hussénius have defined what discourses dominate national tests in chemistry for Grade 9 in Sweden by using feminist, critical didactic perspectives. This response seeks to expand the results in Ståhl and Hussénius’s article Chemistry inside an epistemological community box!—Discursive exclusions and inclusions in the Swedish national tests in chemistry, by using different facets of gender awareness. The first facet—Gender awareness in relations to the test designers’ own conceptions—highlighted how the gender order where women are subordinated men becomes visible in the national tests as a consequence of the test designers internalized conceptions. The second facet—Gender awareness in relation to chemistry—discussed the hierarchy between discourses within chemistry. The third facet—Gender awareness in relation to students—problematized chemistry in relation to the students’ identity formation. In summary, I suggest that the different discourses can open up new ways to interpret chemistry and perhaps dismantle the hegemonic chemistry discourse.     

Heisenberg’s invention of matrices

Richard Feynman once said: “nobody understands quantum mechanics”. Still, those who devised it are perhaps the ones closest to understanding their creation. It suggests that whenever the weirdness of quantum mechanics haunts you, it is better to go back to its creators in terms of their original publications. In the present article, the author has tried to seek help from Heisenberg’s 1925 paper, in order to reduce the weirdness of going from classical observables to quantum operators.     

Channel adaptive rate control for energy optimization

Low energy consumption is one of the main challenges for wireless video transmission on battery limited devices. The energy invested at the lower layers of the protocol stack involved in data communication, such as link and physical layer, represent an important part of the total energy consumption. This communication energy highly depends on the channel conditions and on the transmission data rate. Traditionally, video coding is unaware of varying channel conditions. In this paper, we propose a cross-layer approach in which the rate control mechanism of the video codec becomes channel-aware and steers the instantaneous output rate according to the channel conditions to reduce the communication energy. Our results show that energy savings of up to 30% can be obtained with a reduction of barely 0.1 dB on the average video quality. The impact of feedback delays is shown to be small. In addition, this adaptive mechanism has low complexity, which makes it suitable for real-time applications.     

A Novel Whiteheadean Science Program for 14-16 Year Olds in England and Wales

A novel “Whiteheadean” science program was initiated in England and Wales in September 2006. Following a critical House of Commons report in 2002, the government altered the National Curriculum targets and thus forced the Examination Boards to alter their specifications in order to come in line. Assessment at GCSE level (i.e., the 14-16 year cohort) was criticised for: a) failing to inspire students to continue with science, b) discouraging students from thinking for themselves, c) neglecting contemporary science, d) lacking flexibility, and e) making practical work into a tedious and dull activity. The British government has insisted that all pupils in state funded schools must know the names of some modern scientists and their work. They must discuss some current scientific problems. History and philosophy of science is included under the topic heading “How Science Works.” In Chemistry these objectives have destroyed the traditional linear top-down sequential approach of teaching into an approach based more closely on Whiteheadean lines (cf., the ideas expressed in The Aims of Education, 1926, Chapters 1-3).     

Field-study science classrooms as positive and enjoyable learning environments

We investigated differences between field-study classrooms and traditional science classrooms in terms of the learning environment and students’ attitudes to science, as well as the differential effectiveness of field-study classrooms for students differing in sex and English proficiency. A modified version of selected scales from the What Is Happening In this Class? questionnaire was used to assess the learning environment, whereas students’ attitudes were assessed with a shortened version of a scale from the Test of Science Related Attitudes. A sample of 765 grade 5 students from 17 schools responded to the learning environment and attitude scales in terms of both their traditional science classrooms and classrooms at a field-study centre in Florida. Large effect sizes supported the effectiveness of the field-studies classroom in terms of both the learning environment and student attitudes. Relative to the home school science class, the field-study class was considerably more effective for students with limited English proficiency than for native English speakers.     

Random vibration analysis of switching apparatus based on Monte Carlo method

The performance in vibration environment of switching apparatus containing mechanical contact is an important element when judging the apparatus’s reliability. A piecewise linear two-degrees-of-freedom mathematical model considering contact loss was built in this work, and the vibration performance of the model under random external Gaussian white noise excitation was investigated by using Monte Carlo simulation in Matlab/Simulink. Simulation showed that the spectral content and statistical characters of the contact force coincided strongly with reality. The random vibration character of the contact system was solved using time (numerical) domain simulation in this paper. Conclusions reached here are of great importance for reliability design of switching apparatus.     

Should Science be Taught in Early Childhood?

This essay considers the question of why we should teach science to K-2. After initial consideration of two traditional reasons for studying science, six assertions supporting the idea that even small children should be exposed to science are given. These are, in order: (1) Children naturally enjoy observing and thinking about nature. (2) Exposing students to science develops positive attitudes towards science. (3) Early exposure to scientific phenomena leads to better understanding of the scientific concepts studied later in a formal way. (4) The use of scientifically informed language at an early age influences the eventual development of scientific concepts. (5) Children can understand scientific concepts and reason scientifically. (6) Science is an efficient means for developing scientific thinking. Concrete illustrations of some of the ideas discussed in this essay, particularly, how language and prior knowledge may influence the development of scientific concepts, are then provided. The essay concludes by emphasizing that there is a window of opportunity that educators should exploit by presenting science as part of the curriculum in both kindergarten and the first years of primary school.