The Nature of Scientific Explanation: Examining the perceptions of the nature,quality, and “goodness” of explanation among college students,science teachers,and scientists

Issues regarding scientific explanation have been of interest to philosophers from Pre-Socratic times. The notion of scientific explanation is of interest not only to philosophers, but also to science educators as is clearly evident in the emphasis given to K-12 students' construction of explanations in current national science education reform efforts. Nonetheless, there is a dearth of research on conceptualizing explanation in science education. Using a philosophically guided framework—the Nature of Scientific Explanation (NOSE) framework—the study aims to elucidate and compare college freshmen science students', secondary science teachers', and practicing scientists' scientific explanations and their views of scientific explanations. In particular, this study aims to: (1) analyze students', teachers', and scientists' scientific explanations; (2) explore the nuances about how freshman students, science teachers, and practicing scientists construct explanations; and (3) elucidate the criteria that participants use in analyzing scientific explanations. In two separate interviews, participants first constructed explanations of everyday scientific phenomena and then provided feedback on the explanations constructed by other participants. Major findings showed that, when analyzed using NOSE framework, participant scientists did significantly “better” than teachers and students. Our analysis revealed that scientists, teachers, and students share a lot of similarities in how they construct their explanations in science. However, they differ in some key dimensions. The present study highlighted the need articulated by many researchers in science education to understand additional aspects specific to scientific explanation. The present findings provide an initial analytical framework for examining students' and science teachers' scientific explanations.     

The importance of reflection in experiential learning with community and youth workers for the learning age

The New Labour government, in its Green Paper on the Learning Age, published in February 1998, put lifelong learning at the heart of its programme. In this article we aim to demonstrate that there is a direct parallel between the processes outlined in the Green Paper and the processes of experiential learning and community development by focusing on the Diploma in Community and Youth Work Studies run by the Community Work Unit (CWU) based in the Centre for the Development of Continuing Education at the University of Manchester.

Community action provides a setting for informal education. Community workers are in a unique position in relation to developing the potential for learning in the groups and individuals with whom they work. Their education and training should enable them to articulate and value their experience and reflect upon it in order to establish a meaningful basis for further self- and/or community development. We will explore how the CWU uses participative learning methods which recognize, value and use the experience and understanding of the participants as a basis for their own and others’ learning, and the relevance of these learning methods to the work practice of the participants.     

Jedidiah morse and the bavarian illuminati: An essay in the rhetoric of conspiracy

This study examines the role of the the jeremiad in shaping public attitudes toward political dissent during the Franco‐American Crisis of 1798‐99. Attention is focused on three widely publicized sermons in which the Reverend Jedidiah Morse disclosed details of a dark conspiracy involving both domestic critics of the Adams administration and a mysterious order of European anarchists known as the Bavarian Illuminati. By framing his suspicions in the form of a jeremiad, Morse evoked a rhetorical context which portrayed the conspiracy as a divine test of American civic piety. As a result, the conspiracy provided a rhetorical justification for the condemnation of domestic political dissent on moral grounds.     

SCHOOL RACIAL CLIMATE AND THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT

This investigation utilized an integrative model of development for ethnic minority children and a process model of engagement to explore whether three dimensions of school engagement (behavioral, emotional, and cognitive) mediated relationships between school racial climate, academic performance, and educational aspirations. A total of 139 African American students were recruited from a high school in the southeastern United States. Findings revealed an indirect association between perceptions of racial fairness and academic achievement indicators through behavioral and cognitive engagement. Behavioral and cognitive engagement also mediated relationships between youths’ perceived peer discrimination and academic achievement indicators. No significant indirect associations between teacher discrimination and academic achievement through school engagement dimensions were found. Study limitations, future directions, and implications are discussed.     

RESOLV: Development of a telephone-based program designed to increase socialization in older veterans

We describe the development of a telephone-based program, Recreation, Education, and Socialization for Older Learning Veterans (RESOLV) that aims to connect Veterans with one another by phone and thereby reduce loneliness. The program was developed through a collaboration between VA and a community-based organization, Episcopal Senior Communities Senior Center Without Walls (SCWW). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 rural and non-rural dwelling older Veterans to identify leisure interests and potential barriers to participating in leisure activities. Program feasibility was examined with questions about telephone use and interest in and perceived benefits of a telephone community. We conducted content analysis to quantify Veterans’ leisure interests and thematic analysis to characterize barriers to participation. Veterans expressed interest most frequently in groups focused on conversation, support, gratitude, and technology. Rural and non-rural participants did not differ significantly in interests. Barriers to current activity participation included limited access to activities, limitations due to physical conditions, and transportation difficulties, which were consistent themes for both rural and non-rural participants. Themes related to perceived benefits of socialization that emerged include connectedness, learning from others, being active despite limitations, and distraction from limitations. Our findings demonstrate how a telephone-based socialization program could be developed and tailored for older Veterans. It seems that such a program is feasible and may be of benefit for older Veterans in rural and non-rural areas. Further evaluation is needed to ascertain the direct benefit of such a program to older Veterans.     

Language use and racial redirect in the educational landscape of ‘just good teaching’

At colleges and universities across the United States, teacher preparation programs are increasingly required to prepare teachers for culturally and linguistically diverse student populations. Teacher education programs have responded by incorporating fieldwork experiences and curricular requirements that include a social justice and multicultural education focus. One key individual is uniquely positioned to reinforce and connect coursework with classroom practice during the teacher candidate’s practicum experience: the university supervisor. Our research team focused on the supervisors and their understandings of culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) in order to better support them as they worked with teacher candidates to reinforce CRP in the classroom. Through interviews, field notes, and classroom observations, we examined language (words, phrases) that the supervisors used to talk about race and culture in relation to CRP. Our findings indicate a tendency to redirect conversations about race and culture to topics that they were more versed on such as teaching to the whole child or addressing the needs of the individual student. We termed this linguistic move the racial redirect, which emerged in language that (1) simplified the meaning of CRP and (2) made CRP seem like an unexpected or chance event in teaching.     

Pivotal teaching moments in technology-intensive secondary geometry classrooms

This study investigates three teachers’ uses of a dynamic geometry program (The Geometer’s Sketchpad) in their high school geometry classes over a 2-year period. The researchers examine teachers’ actions and questions during pivotal teaching moments to characterize mathematics instruction that utilizes technology. Findings support an association between teacher–tool relationships, predominant teacher actions, and questioning.