Developing Scientific Literacy in a Primary School

The science education literature demonstrates that scientific literacy is generally valued and acknowledged among educators as a desirable student learning outcome. However, what scientific literacy really means in terms of classroom practice and student learning is debatable due to the inherent complexity of the term and varying expectations of what it means for learning outcomes. To date the teacher voice has been noticeably absent from this debate even though the very nature of teacher expertise lies at the heart of the processes which shape students' scientific literacy. The research reported in this paper taps into the expertise of (participating) primary teachers by analyzing the insights and thinking that emerged as they attempted to unravel some of the pedagogical complexities associated with constructing an understanding of scientific literacy in their own classrooms. The research examines the processes and structures within one primary school that were created to provide conditions to allow teachers to explore and build on the range of ideas that presently inform the scientific literacy debate. The research reports these teachers' views and practices that shaped their actions in teaching for scientific literacy.     

English secondary students’ thinking about the status of scientific theories: consistent,comprehensive, coherent and extensively evidenced explanations of aspects of the natural world – or just ‘an idea someone has’

Teaching about the nature of science (NOS) is seen as a priority for science education in many national contexts. The present paper focuses on one central issue in learning about NOS: understanding the nature and status of scientific theories. A key challenge in teaching about NOS is to persuade students that scientific knowledge is generally robust and reliable, yet also in principle always open to challenge and modification. Theories play a central role, as they are a form of conjectural knowledge that over time may be abandoned, replaced, modified, yet sometimes become well established as current best scientific understanding. The present paper reports on findings from interviews with 13–14 year olds in England where target knowledge presents theories as ‘consistent, comprehensive, coherent and extensively evidenced explanations of aspects of the natural world’. Student thinking reflected a two-tier typology of scientific knowledge in which largely unsupported imaginative ideas (‘theories’) became transformed into fairly definitive knowledge (such as laws) through relatively straightforward testing. These results are considered in relation to research into intellectual development which indicates that effective teaching in this area requires careful scaffolding of student learning, but has potential to contribute to supporting intellectual development across the curriculum.     

A venture in industrial education

Early Conceptions and Tests of Intelligence. By Joseph Peterson, Professor of Psychology at George Peabody College for Teachers. Yonkers‐on‐the‐Hudson, N. Y.: World Book Co., 1925. Price, $2.16.

Creative Youth. By Hughes Mearns. Garden City: Doubleday, Page &; Co., 1925. Pp. xv + 234. Price, $2.50.

James K. Polk, A Political Biography. By Eugene Irving McCormac (University of California). Berkeley: University of California Press, 1922. Pp. x + 746. Price, $6.

Scientific Method in Education. By William Clark Trow (University of Cincinnati). Cambridge: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1925. Pp. xii + 159. Price, $1.20.

America's Need for Education. By Calvin Coolidge. Boston: Houghton Miffiin Co., 1925. (Riverside Educational Monographs.) Pp. vii + 87. Price, $0.80.

History of America. By Carl Russell Fish (University of Wisconsin). Cincinnati: American Book Co., 1925. Pp. 570 + lix. Price, $1.92.

Roads to Social Peace. By Edward Alsworth Ross (University of Wisconsin). Chapel Hill, N. C: University of North Carolina Press, 1924. Pp. 133.

A School History of Tennessee. By S. E. Scates (West Tennessee State Normal School). Yonkers: World Book Co., 1925. Pp. xii + 395.

Frontier Law. By William J. McConnell and Howard R. Driggs (New York University). Yonkers, N. Y.: World Book Co., 1924. Pp. xii+ 233. Price, $1.20.

The Constitution of Our Country. By Frank A. Rexford and Clara L. Carson. Cincinnati: American Book Co., 1924. Pp. xx + 186. Price, $0.76.

Fiber and Finish. By E. E. Dodd. Boston: Ginn &; Co., 1925. Pp. x + 196.

Modern Mathematics. By Raleigh Schorling and John R. Clark. Yonkers: World Book Co., 1924. For seventh grade, pp. xv + 256; for eighth grade, xvii + 254.

History of Economic Progress in the United States. By Walter W. Jennings (University of Kentucky). New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1926. Pp. xvi + 819. Price, $4.50.

Out in the Kitchen. By James Woodward Sherman. Boston: Little, Brown &; Co., 1925. Pp. x + 133. Price, $0.70.

A History of Minnesota. By William Watts Folwell (University of Minnesota). St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1921. Pp. xvii + 533.

The Junior‐College Movement. By Leonard V. Koos (University of Minnesota). Boston: Ginn &; Co., 1925. Pp. xii + 436. Price, $2.40.

Principles and Practices of Secondary Education. By John Addison Clement (University of Illinois). New York: The Century Co., 1925. Pp. xxi + 503. Price, $2.50.     

La matemática escolar y los estadios de desarrollo

RESUMEN

En este artículo se plantea la relación entre la teoría piagetiana del desarrollo cognitivo con las matemáticas escolares. En el aprendizaje de las matemáticas se deben tener en cuenta las limitaciones en las capacidades cognitivas del niño en los diferentes estadios del desarrollo. Es necesario haber logrado un cierto automatismo en las operaciones típicas de un nivel de desarrollo para poder avanzar al siguiente nivel. Parece que el modelo del procesamiento de la información constituye un marco fructífero de estudio y de investigación en este campo. Se analiza el desarrollo cognitivo en relación con algunos conceptos matemáticos, la capacidad del niño para manejar estos conceptos y las implicaciones en la enseñanza de las matemáticas.     

Relationship between an editor in chief's commentary publications and the impact factor of cardiovascular medicine journals

Journal impact factor (IF) inflation is suggested as a problem resulting from commentaries published by the editors in chief (EiCs) of their respective journals. However, it is unclear whether this is a systemic problem across the top thirty cardiovascular medicine journals. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationship between the number of commentaries written by an EiC and their journal''s IF and Eigenfactor (Ef). Utilizing Spearman rank partial correlations controlling for length of service as the EiC, significant moderate correlations were found between the number of commentaries and the number of first-author commentaries by the EiC and the IF of their journal (r=0.568, p=0.001 and r=0.504, p=0.005; respectively). A weak but still significant correlation was found between the number of commentaries by the EiC and the Ef of their journal (r=0.431, p=0.020). The reason for these correlations is unclear, and whether the methodology used to compute the IF and Ef should be modified needs further research.     

Teaching Statistics through Resampling

This paper describes experiences of teaching statistics without mathematical theory but using computer-intensive re-sampling methods. The method is relevant to statistics teaching at all levels.     

Using initial,derived, and terminal credibility to help students understand how they are perceived by others

Courses: Public Speaking, Interpersonal Communication, Organizational Communication, Introduction to Communication Studies, Business Communication

Objectives: The goal for this activity is not only to provide students with an understanding of their initial, derived, and terminal credibility when relating a personal, edifying story but also to understand how they are initially perceived by their fellow students.     

The effectiveness of an expanded interrogative training technique for young deaf children

This study investigates the development of language interrogatives in deaf children through a program using expanded question structures. Ten young deaf children, (age range 6 to 8 years) were assigned to matched groups on the basis of chronological age and results of Raven's Progressive Matrices. One group was given six traditional question structures and the other was given six expanded question structures, on each of four consecutive days. On the fifth day, the traditional question structures were asked of all the subjects. The analysis of responses showed that even with a small sample the expanded question structures affected the number of accurate responses for the conceptual type of “wh” questions.