Leveraging exploratory search with personality traits and interactional context

Exploratory search is a type of information seeking used by searchers who are either unfamiliar with the domain of their goal, are unsure about the ways to achieve their goals or uncertain about their goals in the first place. We present a method that utilizes interactional context and personality information in order to proactively prompt users to undertake actions for improving exploratory search and its outcome. Our approach is based on inferring exploration patterns based on the logged past behavior of users in order to produce models of behavior, which in turn are used to predict the next action in the current context. The user is classified into specific groups of users that share personality traits for which we have analyzed their search behaviors. At the same time, we assume that the users who belong within the same group show similar exploration tactics to reach their goal such as the sequence of actions performed. Having the models, we show how we can predict the next interaction of the user given a specific sequence of actions of the current session. In this way, we assist users in their exploration process and act proactively by providing meaningful recommendations and prompts towards possibly undiscovered facets of the topic under investigation.     

Deductive and inductive modes of preservice physics teacher education

The idea that chemical knowledge can be represented in three main ways: macro, submicro, and symbolic (chemistry triplet) has become paradigmatic in chemistry and science education. It has served both as the base of theoretical frameworks that guide research in chemical education and as a central idea in various curriculum projects. However, this triplet relationship has been the subject of different adaptations and reinterpretations that sometimes lead to confusion and misunderstanding, which complicates the analysis of the triplet’s nature and scope. Thus, the central goal of this paper is to describe some of the existing views of the triplet relationship in chemistry and science education and critically analyse their underlying assumptions. We also propose a general structure of our chemistry knowledge intended to better situate the chemistry triplet in relationship with the different types, scales, dimensions, and approaches that seem to characterise such knowledge. Our proposed model may be useful in the analysis, evaluation, and reflection of educational research results and teaching practices centred on the triplet relationship.     

Conceptual Changes in Religious Concepts of Elementary Schoolchildren: The case of the house where God lives

The present paper was part of a larger project, which investigated the process of knowledge acquisition in Christian religion. The concept of God in particular is a core construct in any religion and it has been involved in a number of changes in the history of religions. Some of those changes were observed in the children's constructions of the house that God lives in. Among children's drawings we found changes which imply, in terms of Thagard (1992) not only belief revision, but also a conceptual change. However, hierarchy reinterpretation, in which the concept of God changes from the part of the cosmos to the creator (ontologically different from the creatures) we did not observe among the primary school children. The development of the different hierarchies we constructed on the basis of children's drawings seems to follow the developmental changes, which took place in the history of Greek religions. Finally, there were some implications for Religious Education.     

Special Education at the Crossroad: An Identity Crisis and the Need for a Scientific Reconstruction

Special education is losing its identity—its visibility, distinctiveness, budget, and basic functions are all at risk. Special education functions include (a) sorting, categorizing, and labeling students who need it; (b) making the right comparisons; (c) honoring diversity but changing particular differences; (d) managing stigma; (e) making subjective judgments and risking errors; (f) dealing with students’ failures; and (g) adequate financing in addition to maintaining visibility and status and having its own budget and personnel. It cannot exist without these functions, all of which are criticized or on the decline. Special education must also be reconstructed on the basis of sound science, not alternative narratives or nonscientific ways of knowing that do not help students with disabilities learn all they can. The need for a scientific reconstruction and implications for special education’s future are discussed.     

Sources of teacher job satisfaction and dissatisfaction in Cyprus

This paper aims to contribute to the limited literature on teacher job satisfaction in developing countries, especially in Cyprus. Drawing on interviews with 52 teachers and administrators in 17 schools, the paper describes the sources of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction of Cypriot teachers and the impact on how teachers feel. Teachers emphasised their satisfaction with interactions with students, relationships held with colleagues and opportunities to contribute to the growth of individuals and the development of society. Sources of dissatisfaction were social problems and their impact on teachers' work, students' lack of interest and bad behaviour, the centralised educational system and the lack of professional autonomy in schools, and teacher evaluation and promotion prospects. Some of the factors are predictable but others are less so, having to do with the particular historical and social context in Cyprus. The context of a developing country is especially considered in an effort to explore how education officials may address issues of teacher satisfaction and dissatisfaction.     

Teaching the Nature of Science Through the Millikan-Ehrenhaft Dispute

This article presents the results of a research project that investigated the extent to which the use of the historical episode of the Millikan-Ehrenhaft dispute over the existence of the elementary electric charge can improve students’ conceptions of specific aspects of the Nature of Science (NOS). A teaching programme containing seven hourly teaching units was designed and implemented. The teaching intervention was designed on the basis of an explicit form of teaching that was integrated into the scientific content and through the use of short stories. Students’ conceptions of specific aspects of NOS were documented in a questionnaire distributed before and after the class. The results showed that there was a significant statistical improvement in students’ conceptions of the aspects of NOS that had been selected for teaching.     

Philosophical skepticism not relativism is the problem with the Strong Programme in Science Studies and with Educational Constructivism

The structure of David’s Bloor argument for the Strong Programme (SP) in Science Studies is criticized from the philosophical perspective of anti-skeptical, scientific realism. The paper transforms the common criticism of SP—that the symmetry principle of SP implies an untenable form of cognitive relativism—into the␣clear philosophical issue of naturalism versus Platonism. It is also argued that the concrete patterns of SP’s interest-explanations and its sociological definition of knowledge involve philosophical skepticism. It is claimed, then, that the most problematic elements of SP reside primarily in philosophical skepticism. It is also claimed that this sort of criticism can be directed against other more radical, versions of constructivism in science and science education studies.     

Anthropomorphism and Animism in Early Years Science: Why Teachers Use Them,how They Conceptualise Them and What Are Their Views on Their Use

There is considerable evidence that use of anthropomorphism and animism in science teaching is a common practice in all grades of education. However, not much is known about teachers' own views on the real reasons why they have been using animistic and anthropomorphic formulations or on the issue of whether animism and anthropomorphism should or should not be used in science. The present work, which was carried out in Greece, investigates early years teachers' views on the use of animism and anthropomorphism and on the reasons behind their use of these formulations. The study was designed as a small-scale exploration study. Research data were obtained from recorded group interviews and from written tasks. Results indicate that early years teachers seem to adopt the view that animism and anthropomorphism in early years science can cause cognitive problems in young children, and also that these teachers believe that in special cases use of animism and anthropomorphism can cause emotional problems as well. Results also reveal that, despite their reservations, teachers use animism and anthropomorphism both consciously and unconsciously and that they attribute their conscious use of these formulations to their low levels of content and pedagogical content knowledge in science.