The role of facial microexpression state (FMES) change in the process of conceptual conflict

This paper explores whether facial microexpression state (FMES) changes can be used to identify moments of conceptual conflict, one of the pathways to conceptual change. It is known that when the preconditions of conceptual conflicts are met and conceptual conflicts are detected in students, it is then possible for conceptual change to take place. There were 102 university and high school students who were involved in this research, and about 80% of the participants held erroneous preconceptions on the scientific topic chosen. The results showed that FMES changes were detected in the majority of the students who made erroneous predictions as they underwent conceptual conflict. Furthermore, the lack of FMES change was shown to indicate a lowered likelihood of conceptual change, while the presence of FMES change doubled the likelihood of conceptual change. The results confirm that FMES can be useful in determining learners’ awareness of conflicting concepts and their progress towards scientific understanding. Educational implications are discussed.     

Parental Co‐Construction of 5‐ to 13‐Year‐Olds' Global Self‐Esteem Through Reminiscing About Past Events

The current study explored parental processes associated with children's global self‐esteem development. Eighty 5‐ to 13‐year‐olds and one of their parents provided qualitative and quantitative data through questionnaires, open‐ended questions, and a laboratory‐based reminiscing task. Parents who included more explanations of emotions when writing about the lowest points in their lives were more likely to discuss explanations of emotions experienced in negative past events with their child, which was associated with child attachment security. Attachment was associated with concurrent self‐esteem, which predicted relative increases in self‐esteem 16 months later, on average. Finally, parent support also predicted residual increases in self‐esteem. Findings extend prior research by including younger ages and uncovering a process by which two theoretically relevant parenting behaviors impact self‐esteem development.     

Water Quality Statistics

Water quality experiments, especially the use of macroinvertebrates as indicators of water quality, offer an ideal context for connecting statistics and science. In the STAR program for secondary students and teachers, water quality experiments were also used as a context for teaching statistics. In this article, we trace one activity that uses virtual streams and repeated sampling to develop the notion of a hypothesis test for one proportion.     

Formative peer assessment in a CSCL environment: a case study

In this case study our aim was to gain more insight in the possibilities of qualitative formative peer assessment in a computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment. An approach was chosen in which peer assessment was operationalized in assessment assignments and assessment tools that were embedded in the course material. The course concerned a higher education case‐based virtual seminar, in which students were asked to conduct research and write a report in small multidisciplinary teams. The assessment assignments contained the discussion of assessment criteria, the assessment of a group report of a fellow group and writing an assessment report. A list of feedback rules was one of the assessment tools. A qualitative oriented study was conducted, focusing on the attitude of students towards peer assessment and practical use of peer assessment assignments and tools. Results showed that students’ attitude towards peer assessment was positive and that assessment assignments had added value. However, not all students fulfilled all assessment assignments. Recommendations for implementation of peer assessment in CSCL environments as well as suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Negotiating meanings and scaffolding learning: writing support for non‐English speaking background postgraduate students

Language and learning advisers and non‐English speaking background (NESB) postgraduate students negotiate complex territory when working together to improve students’ texts. However, the individual writing consultation is sometimes conceptualised one‐dimensionally by faculty as a form of editing. The writing consultation with NESB postgraduate students has also received only sporadic attention in the higher education literature. This paper provides a contextual, discourse analytical account of one writing consultation between a faculty‐based language adviser and a Master of Public Health NESB student. The findings show that the consultation was a dynamic exchange druing which a range of meanings were negotiated. The findings also show that the adviser scaffolded the student’s academic writing and learning in a number of ways. More research is needed in different teaching contexts and at various stages of students’ writing in order to provide a greater understanding of the writing support consultation to inform guidelines for providing individual language support to NESB postgraduate students.     

The use of touch devices for enhancing academic achievement: A meta‐analysis

Touch devices such as tablets and smartphones are widely adopted in educational settings and have many desirable features. However, research supporting the use of touch devices to improve academic achievement is emergent and has not been evaluated through a meta‐analysis. We conducted a meta‐analysis of 65 group and single case design research studies, published 2010–2018, to evaluate the effects of touch device implementation on academic achievement. The overall mean effect sizes were moderate for group design and single case design studies. Participant, intervention, and study attributes were also evaluated to describe the research and how these attributes may moderate the results. Overall, results suggest that touch devices may be an effective tool for enhancing academic achievement. The need to conduct additional, rigorous research on the use of touch devices as well as implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

Design‐based science and student learning

Design‐Based Science (DBS) is a pedagogy in which the goal of designing an artifact contextualizes all curricular activities. Design is viewed as a vehicle through which scientific knowledge and real‐world problem‐solving skills can be constructed. Following Anderson and Hogan's (1999) call to document the design of new science pedagogies, this goal of this article is twofold: (a) to describe DBS, and (b) to evaluate whether significant science knowledge was constructed during consecutive enactments of three DBS units. In this study, 92 students participated in the consecutive enactments of three different DBS units. The development of their scientific knowledge was assessed through posters and models constructed during the curricular enactments and by identical pre‐ and post‐instruction written tests. The posttests showed considerable gains compared with the pretests, while the models and posters show application of this newly constructed knowledge in solving a design problem. These positive results support efforts being made to restructure school science around inquiry‐based curricula in general and design‐based curricula in particular. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 41: 1081–1110, 2004     

Text genre as a factor in the formation of scientific literacy

Learning using primary literature may be a way of developing a capacity for scientific ways of thinking among students. Since reading research articles is a difficult task for novices, we examined the possible benefits of learning using primary literature versus secondary literature, particularly with respect to their influence on the creation and formation of scientific literacy. We report on a comparison between four groups of high school students, each with differing degrees of prior knowledge in biology, who read a domain‐related text written in either the scientific research article genre (adapted primary literature) or the popular‐scientific genre (secondary literature). Although there was no significant difference in the students' ability to summarize the main ideas of each text, indicating that there was no eminent distinction in their content, we found that students who read adapted primary literature demonstrated better inquiry skills, whereas secondary literature readers comprehended the text better and demonstrated less negative attitudes toward the reading task. Since the scientific content of the two texts was essentially identical, we suggest that the differences in students' performances stem from the structure of the text, dictated by its genre. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 42: 403–428, 2005