Is ‘Learning' Science Enough? – A Cultural Model of Religious Students of Science in an Australian Government School

This paper investigates the cognitive experiences of four religious students studying evolutionary biology in an inner city government secondary school in Melbourne, Australia. The participants in the study were identified using the Religious Background and Behaviours questionnaire (Connors, Tonigan, & Miller, 1996 Connors, G. J., Tonigan, J. S., & Miller, W. R. (1996). A measure of religious background and behaviour for use in behaviour change research. Psychology of Addictive Behaviours, 10, 90–96. doi:10.1037/0893-164X.10.2.90[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Participants were interviewed and asked to respond to questions about their cognitive experiences of studying evolutionary biology. Students' responses were analysed using cultural analysis of discourse to construct a cultural model of religious students of science. This cultural model suggests that these students employ a human schema and a non-human schema, which assert that humans are fundamentally different from non-humans in terms of origins and that humans have a transcendental purpose in life. For these students, these maxims seem to be challenged by their belief that evolutionary biology is dictated by metaphysical naturalism. The model suggests that because the existential foundation of these students is challenged, they employ a believing schema to classify their religious explanations and a learning schema to classify evolutionary biology. These schemas are then hierarchically arranged with the learning schema being made subordinate to the believing schema. Importantly, these students are thus able to maintain their existential foundation while fulfilling the requirements of school science. However, the quality of this “learning” is questionable.     

Use of First‐hand and Second‐hand Data in Science: Does data type influence classroom conversations?

In this paper, we examine how students discuss and interpret data and whether these actions vary depending on the type of data they analyse. More specifically, we are interested in whether students perform differently when analysing first‐hand data, which they collect themselves, compared with second‐hand data provided to them. Our data analysis focused on two classrooms using two different curriculum units, chemistry in Grade 7 and biology in Grade 8, collected during the 2002/03 school year from a Mid‐western urban middle school in the USA. We analysed classroom videotape associated with lessons in which students discussed first‐hand and second‐hand data both in small group settings and full class discussions. We found the two types of data offer different benefits and limitations, suggesting that both types of data are important for students to work with as they develop skills in scientific inquiry practices. We discuss the characteristics of classroom discussions around different data sources as well as implications for the design of curriculum materials, instructional environments, and student learning in science.     

Inuit Legends, Oral Histories, Art, and Science in the Collaborative Development of Lessons that Foster Two-Way Learning: The Return of the Sun in Nunavut

This paper reports on the development of a science unit for Nunavut students and my collaboration with Louise Uyarak, an early years teacher and a graduate of Arctic College’s teacher education program. The unit addresses light outcomes in the Canadian Common Framework of Science Learning Outcomes, K–12. More importantly, it incorporates aspirations of the local community, the District Education Authority, and the Nunavut government for bi-cultural education in science: an education that develops knowledge in and about science and knowledge passed on to the Inuit by their ancestors. Components of lessons are presented and discussed in the context of how Louise and I worked together to develop a resource that would embody the fundamental nature of culturally responsive teaching and “two-way” science learning.     

Implicit and Explicit Use of the Strengths Perspective in Social Work Education

Most of the literature on the strengths perspective has addressed issues of practice; far less has been written about the role of the strengths perspective in social work education. Empirical studies have tended to focus on content analysis of texts and syllabi rather than data obtained directly from social work faculty. To address this gap, the author conducted a study of faculty teaching Master of Social Work foundation courses. Findings indicate that instructors vary in how implicitly or explicitly they use the strengths perspective, using a range of concepts to capture the notion of strengths. They consider the strengths perspective most useful as a mediator between theory and topic, serving a different function in different courses.     

The Teacher's other Role

Given that many high school students come to school unmotivated to learn, the purpose of this article is to examine various motivational constructs and to determine if educators are incorporating the most effective motivational strategies. In fact, adolescents vary from adults physically, cognitively, emotionally, and physiologically and, therefore, they generally differ in their perceptions on the effectiveness of a variety of motivational practices. Students are more likely to attribute their own motivation to their intrinsic desire to learn or as a result of the goals they adopt. Teachers, on the other hand, believe students are more likely to be motivated as a result of the teachers’ actions. Teachers do not always recognize which motivational constructs are the most effective, demonstrating the value of pre-service and in-service programs that stress student motivation. If educators wish to maximize student academic achievement, they must understand how to motivate students successfully.     

The Negativism of Corporal Punishment

Educators and policymakers often believe that immigrant children perform better in school if they and their families culturally assimilate and assume the characteristics prevalent in the dominant mainstream society. Therefore, ethnic retention (i.e., immigrant families and people of color embracing their own ethnic values, artifacts, and practices) is frequently thought to be a major factor leading to academic underachievement. However, based on empirical evidence, ethnic retention is actually predictive of higher academic achievement among children from immigrant families. For blacks, although the academic benefits of cultural retention seems credible, the matter is more complex given the longer history of social oppression collectively experienced in the community. In this article, the author discusses the classroom and policy implications of these empirical findings.     

Social work with indigenous communities

The current research starts from the observation that low-qualified employees hold a vulnerable position on the labour market. It has been argued that learning and development can decrease this vulnerability; unfortunately research has shown that low-qualified employees participate considerably less in learning activities in comparison with high-qualified employees. According to the Theory of Reasoned Action, intention steers the actual behaviour of individuals. Therefore, this research will investigate which factors contribute to the learning intention of low-qualified employees. A cross-sectional mixed-method study was executed. In total 652 low-qualified employees completed a survey and 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted. The results show that prior participation in learning activities, self-directedness, undertaking time management activities and perceived organisational support are positively related to an employee's learning intention. Furthermore, it is important that the content of the training offered is perceived useful and closely related to the job low-qualified employees execute.     

A beginner's beginning

Seventeenth‐Century Lyrics. By Alexander Corbin Judson (Indiana University). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1927. Pp. xx + 413. Price, $2.50.

The Golden Trumpets. By Blanche Jennings Thompson. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1927. Pp. x + 163.

Essentials of Electrical Work. By George A. Willoughby. Peoria, Ill.: The Manual Arts Press, 1927. Pp. 242. Price, $1.60.

With the Circus. By Courtney Ryley Cooper. Boston: Little, Brown &; Co., 1927. Pp. vi + 212. Price, 75 cents.

Old Testament Stories. By Eulalie Osgood Grover. Boston: Little, Brown &; Co., 1927. Pp. x + 309. Price, 85 cents.

History of Socialist Thought. By Harry W. Laidler. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1927. Pp. xxii + 713. Price, $3.50.

The Organisation and Administration of Playgrounds and Recreation. By Jay B. Nash. New York: A. S. Barnes &; Co., 1927. Pp. xii + 547. Price, $4.

Historical Foundations of Modern Education. By Edward H. Reisner. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1927. Pp. xvi + 513. Price, $2.60.

Algebra, Book II. By William Raymond Longley and Harry Brooks Marsh. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1927. Pp. xii + 457.

Swimming Simplified. By Lyba and Nita Sheffield (Universities of California and Columbia). New York: A. S. Barnes &; Co., 1927. Pp. xiii + 297. Price, $2.

The Reorganization of Mathematics in Secondary Education (Part I). By John Wesley Young. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1927. Pp. xiv + 181. Price, $1.20.

Principles of Secondary Education. By L. A. Williams and G. A. Rice (University of California). Boston: Ginn &; Co., 1927. Pp. xi + 339. Price, $2.

Outlines of Historical Study. By George W. Robinson (Harvard University). Boston: Ginn &; Co., 1927. Pp. vii + 375. Price, $2.40.

Human Thinking. By Arthur Cary Fleshman (Converse College). Spartanburg, S. C: Piedmont Publishing Co., 1927. Pp. 58.

The Philosophy of Education. By Herman H. Horne (New York University), Revised Edition. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1927. Pp. xvi + 329.

A First Course in the New Mathematics. By Edward I. Edgerton and Perry A. Carpenter. Boston: Allyn &; Bacon, 1927. Pp. viii + 348.

Preventive Medicine. By Mark F. Boyd. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Co., 1925. Pp. 429.

Football Conditioning. By Holger Christian Langmack. New York: A. S. Barnes &; Co., 1926. Pp. xi + 48. Price, $1.50.

Prehistoric Man—Life in the Old and New Stone Ages, By Mary E. Boyle. Boston: Little, Brown &; Co., 1924.

Creative Education. By Henry Fairfield Osborn (President, American Museum of Natural History). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1927. Pp. xiv + 360. Price, $2.50.

Children's Stories That Never Grow Old. Adapted by Mary Stone. Chicago: The Reilly &; Lee Co. Pp. 248. Price, $1.50.

Skeezix at the Circus. By Frank King. Chicago: The Eeilly &; Lee Co., 1926. Pp. iii + 106. Price, $1.

Children's Poems That Never Grow Old. Compiled by Clement F. Benoit. Chicago: The Reilly &; Lee Co., 1922. Pp. xxii + 298.

Recitations for Younger Children. Compiled and edited by Grace Gaige. New York: D. Appleton &; Co., 1927. Pp. xviii + 215. Price, $2.

Nature Study and Health Education. By Alice Jean Patterson. Normal, Ill.: McKnight &; McKnight. Fourth Year, xii + 131 pp.; Fifth Year, 192 pp.; Sixth Year, 224 pp.     

Meaning‐making,adult learning and development: a model with implications for practice

Where the meaning of life can be found, and how people make meaning in their lives are age‐old questions pursued by philosophers, clergy, psychologists and educators. More recently, there has been a focus on the role of meaning‐making in learning and development in adulthood. Several writers have proposed that meaning‐making is what adult learning is all about, and a few have explicitly linked meaning‐making activity to development. First reviewed in this article are some of the basic understandings of meaning‐making advanced by classical and contemporary writers. Next, models of cognitive and ego development that directly link with meaning‐making are examined. Finally, a model of the relationship of meaning‐making to learning and development is presented and implications drawn for applying the model to adult education practice.