Textbook Questions in Context-Based and Traditional Chemistry Curricula Analysed from a Content Perspective and a Learning Activities Perspective

In this study, questions in context-based and traditional chemistry textbooks were analysed from two perspectives that are at the heart of chemistry curricula reforms: a content perspective and a learning activities perspective. To analyse these textbook questions, we developed an instrument for each perspective. In total, 971 textbook questions were analysed. Textbook questions in context-based and traditional curricula appeared to differ significantly in their orientation on content and in the activation to engage students in certain learning activities. Although traditional curricula included more questions that stress traditional chemistry content and included more reproductive chemistry questions than context-based curricula, they were not always as traditional as we had expected. Context-based chemistry curricula focused more on chemistry content relating to societal/technological issues and chemistry theory development and also more questions were included that activate students to regulate their own learning. However, context-based chemistry curricula still included a considerable amount of traditional chemistry content and did not focus as much on higher order learning as we had expected. The developed instruments might be helpful in chemistry curricula design to gain insights into the content which is stressed and how students are activated by textbook questions to engage in learning.     

Evaluation of a Design Principle for Fostering Students’ Epistemological Views on Models and Modelling Using Authentic Practices as Contexts for Learning in Chemistry Education

Science education should foster students’ epistemological view on models and modelling consistent with formal epistemology in science and technology practices. This paper reports the application of a curriculum unit in the classroom using an authentic chemical practice, ‘Modelling drinking water treatment’, as the context for learning. An authentic practice is defined as professionals working on an issue guided by common motives and purposes, according to a similar type of procedure and applying relevant knowledge. The epistemology on models and modelling in the practice was analysed and anchored in the curriculum unit. The knowledge involved was captured in a design principle ‘content modelling’. A design principle provides heuristic guidelines to reach the intended pedagogic effects in the classroom. Throughout the field tests, research data were collected by means of classroom observations, interviews, audio‐taped discussions, completed worksheets, and written questionnaires. Students were able to evaluate the advanced model features of goodness of fit and reliability, and, to a lesser extent, validity. However, reflection on the modelling approach applied can be improved. The findings were used to reconsider the current completion of the design principle ‘content modelling’. This study contributes to the acquisition of a knowledge base concerning the use of authentic practices as contexts for learning in chemistry education as well as in science education in a broader sense.     

Our Practice, Their Readiness: Teacher Educators Collaborate to Explore and Improve Preservice Teacher Readiness for Science and Math Instruction

Since many preservice teachers (PTs) display anxiety over teaching math and science, four PT educators collaborated to better understand the PTs’ background experiences and attitudes toward those subjects. The research project provided two avenues for professional learning: the data collected from the PTs and the opportunity for collaborative action research. The mixed method study focused on: the relationship between gender and undergraduate major (science versus non-science) with respect to previous and current engagement in science and math, understanding the processes of inquiry, and learning outside the classroom. A field trip to a science center provided the setting for the data collection. From a sample of 132 PTs, a multivariate analysis showed that the science major of PTs explained most of the gender differences with respect to the PTs’ attitudes toward science and mathematics. The process of inquiry is generally poorly interpreted by PTs, and non-science majors prefer a more social approach in their learning to teach science and math. The four educators/collaborators reflect on the impacts of the research on their individual practices, for example, the need to: include place-based learning, attend to the different learning strategies taken by non-science majors, emphasize social and environmental contexts for learning science and math, be more explicit regarding the processes of science inquiry, and provide out-of-classroom experiences for PTs. They conclude that the collaboration, though difficult at times, provided powerful opportunities for examining individual praxis.     

Inklusion im Sportunterricht

This review article provides an overview of the state of research in the English and German languages on inclusive physical education lessons. Studies published in journals and collected works between 2005 and 2014 were included. A systematic literature search was carried out and articles were selected according to predetermined criteria. A total of 74 articles were included in this review and categorized into the 3 superordinate topics attitude, lessons and qualifications. The compact presentation of the results revealed a tendency towards a positive attitude on inclusive physical education lessons of all participants questioned; however, teaching staff were critical of the concrete implementation of inclusive lessons and admitted that they had been insufficiently prepared for this during training. Pupils also expressed positive as well as negative experiences for participation in inclusive physical education lessons; however, some study results indicated that the acceptance of children with disabilities as well as their effectiveness of learning and physical activity can be improved by special interventional approaches. A core topic of inclusive lessons is a cooperation between the various participants. In this way problems are revealed, which can partly be attributed to the sometimes less clearly defined task profile and to discipline-specific training deficits of some participants. Finally, based on a critically constructive discussion, recommendations on further research approaches on inclusive physical education lessons in German-speaking regions are presented.     

Moving into and out of high-performance sport: the cultural learning of an artistic gymnast

Background: High-performance sport has been described as a formative environment through which athletes learn sporting skills but also develop athletic selves. Within this process, career movements related to selection for and de-selection from representative teams constitute critical moments. Further, retirement from sport can be problematic as the athletic self becomes ‘obsolete’. This dilemma is acute in sports that demand an early entry, extreme time investments and a high risk of retirement before adulthood. Women's artistic gymnastics (WAG) is such a sport.

Purpose and scope: This article considers an artistic gymnast's (Marie) experiences of movement into and out of this sport. Marie's construction and reconstruction of her athletic self when she entered gymnastics at the age of six, relocated to a different city in order to train with the national team at the age of 15, and retired from the sport one year later receives particular attention.

Method and theoretical perspective: An in-depth biographical interview was conducted with Marie. Further, the first author's personal knowledge of this gymnast's career experiences was used for contextualisation. The analysis of data involved the identification of learning outcomes during her time in high-performance WAG and post-retirement. Storied accounts surrounding the key learning experiences were compiled. In order to understand Marie's learning, cultural perspective of learning developed by education scholars and the respective metaphors of ‘learning as becoming’ and ‘horizons for action’ and ‘horizons of learning’ are employed.

Findings: Marie's choice of relocating to train with the national team involved her assuming a temporary orientation towards the requirements of the high-performance WAG context she entered. To achieve this, Marie suppressed the dispositions she had brought to this setting and adjusted her training philosophy, relationship with her coach, diet and socialising. Further, despite Marie intending to only momentarily adjust to the practices of the high-performance context, her learning was deep. Upon retiring from gymnastics, she could not leave the high-performance gymnastics self behind. The subsequent process to adjust to life without gymnastics was difficult and testing, and could only be realised with professional treatment.

Conclusion: Learning in sport is not limited to athletic skills. Athletes’ selves are formed in interaction with sporting contexts and actors. This embodiment can become durable and cause significant conflict when moving out of sport. To handle life without sport, adjustment may be challenging and lengthy.

Recommendations: Sporting cultures should allow for more interactive learning and athlete diversity. Coaching practices that allow athletes to voice difficulties should be provided. Athletes should be encouraged to reflect upon their sporting experiences and upon leaving high-performance sport, should be (professionally) supported.     

Students’ experience of team assessment with immediate feedback in a large accounting class

Team assessment has been suggested as a competency-based collaborative learning technique. Critical to the success of an assessment for learning, in competency-based education, is the use of formative feedback. This study reports on the development of, and the students’ experience of, a Team Assessment with Immediate Feedback (TAIF), in which immediate formative feedback is provided to the students by their peers and the assessment instrument (the IF-AT^® form). Results of the quantitative and qualitative data, collected in a survey, suggest that the majority of the students experienced the TAIF positively. Many students highlighted that they had constructed new knowledge and understanding of the content and practiced numerous skills during the team assessment. The learning benefits of the immediate feedback component of the team assessment were widely acknowledged by the students. The study also provided some initial evidence that team assessment in a culturally diverse student cohort may enhance intercultural collaboration. Team assessment may also contribute towards re-establishing the link between professional accounting education and practice.     

Can Dynamic Visualizations with Variable Control Enhance the Acquisition of Intuitive Knowledge?

Journal of Science Education and Technology - An important feature of inquiry learning is to take part in science practices including exploring variables and testing hypotheses. Computer-based...     

Migration und Pädagogik — Migration und Gedächtnis

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