Developing networks of grass-roots science curriculum action

This paper describes an ongoing process of participatory curriculum development. It outlines some of the tensions which need to be explored in science curriculum development: debates about the nature of science, of society, of school science content and of learning theories. The process whereby action can arise from this debate is also explored. An example will be outlined of a network of science curriculum action which has developed from the work of a range of science education projects in Natal, South Africa. Specializations: science curriculum development from primary to tertiary level. Specializations: inservice primary science teacher development. Specializations: inservice teacher development, biology education. Specializations: environmental education, teacher development. Specializations: environmental education, teacher development.     

Metafiction for beginners: Allan Ahlberg'sTen in a Bed

Margaret Mackey is studying for a master's degree in library and information studies at the University of Alberta in Canada. Previously, in Britain, she taught English language and literature in secondary schools for ten years. She has been secondary editor ofThe Essex Review of Children's Literature and has editedFestival Plays (Longman), a collection of young playwrights.     

Effects of varying trial distribution,intra- and extramaze cues,and amount of reward on proactive interference in the radial maze

Rats are typically less accurate in their arm selections in the radial maze over successive trials in a session (Roberts & Dale, 1981). In the present study, rats’ choice accuracy declined when such trials were separated by 2-min (massed) but not by 2-h (spaced) intertriai intervals. Changing intramaze visual/tactile arm stimuli (Experiments 1 and 3) or extramaze landmark stimuli (Experiment 4) between trials weakened the massed-trials effect, but changing the number of food pellets per arm, either alone or in conjunction with changes in intramaze cues (Experiments 2 and 3), did not. The rats also tended to avoid the spatial locations of their last four choices on a previous trial during their first four choices on a current trial, and more so with massed than with spaced trials. These findings indicate that intertriai proactive interference (PI) occurred only with massed trials and was weakened by changing intra- and extramaze cues between such trials.     

The Relationship between Attitudes, Knowledge, and Demographic Variables of High School Teachers Regarding Food Irradiation

ABSTRACT:  The purpose of this study was to use a validated instrument to determine the attitudes and knowledge of high school teachers regarding food irradiation, and to determine the correlations among their knowledge and attitudes and certain demographic variables. Knowledge and attitudes about food irradiation were measured in selected high school family and consumer sciences teachers ( n = 121) who taught Food and Nutrition, Food Science and Technology, and/or Food Production Management and Services, via a 24-item instrument with 6 factors. Results revealed these teachers held neutral to positive attitudes about the safety of irradiated foods, their perception of the risk of foodborne illness, and learning about food irradiation, and neutral to negative perceptions of their understanding of food irradiation and their competence to teach about it. These teachers had a moderate knowledge base regarding food irradiation. Teachers' attitudes regarding the safety of food irradiation were positively correlated with their perceived understanding of food irradiation, actual knowledge of it, and competence to teach about it. Their perceived understanding of food irradiation was positively correlated with competence to teach about it, knowledge, and attitudes toward the safety of food irradiation. The only demographic variable correlated with knowledge or attitudes was teachers' previous food irradiation educational experiences. These data suggest the importance of education for family and consumer sciences teachers concerning food irradiation.     

Fear-motivated vicious-circle behavior maintained through secondary punishment

Two experiments attempted to establish vicious-circle behavior through fear motivation combined with secondary punishment. In Experiment 1, rats were trained with two CSs, a tone and a buzzer, paired with shock in different contexts. Secondary punishment based on delay and trace conditioning procedures facilitated running in fear-motivated rats, relative to four control groups. In Experiment 2, rats were given pairings of a tone CS with shock, and a buzzer CS with a drop into a water tank. Fear-motivated rats which received secondary punishment during either 33% or 100% of test trials exhibited self-punitive running relative to a nonpunished (0%) group and a backward-conditioning control group. Results indicate that “all secondary” vicious-circle behavior can be established through Pavlovian conditioning, thus supporting a conditioned fear interpretation.     

Parental concerns and priorities in the education of disabled students

During a conference organized as part of I.Y.D.P., parents of the disabled from throughout Queensland attempted to identify the primary needs they experienced in coping with a disabled child in the family. Recommendations were made concerning the provision of services which would help to alleviate these needs. Issues and recommendations concerning education, including educational rights, legislative and financial considerations, teacher education, and the adequacy of educational services, are discussed in this paper. The dearth of a range of appropriate post‐school options was of crucial import; provision of continuing education services for disabled school leavers, including minimally handicapped students integrated into regular classes, is seen as an urgent requirement. Co‐operative planning and service provision should be given priority status by special education authorities, tertiary institutions and employment departments and agencies.     

What Is Wrong with Practicum?: some reflections

The purpose of this study was to examine students’ perceptions of previously identified negative aspects of practicum during preparation courses for careers in the field of early childhood education. Students at each of three year levels of the course earlier had been surveyed using a Likert‐type instrument following recent practicum experiences. Item frequency analysis was conducted for each separate year group's responses and for the combined group. Analysis of data from the combined responses included item properties, item‐scale relationships, scale properties and instrument factor analysis. Results of factor analysis revealed seven interpretable stressors, the most serious being the cluster labelled ‘physical demands’. The 10 most negative aspects for each year level (i.e. items with the lowest means) were compiled in a subsequent instrument similar to the original but also including a request for explanatory comments following each item. These three instruments were administered at the end of the same year. Student comments on the latter instruments clarified the statistical results and are presented here in the categories of ‘demands on students’, Hime and energy’, ‘coping with written requirements’, and ‘conforming with mistrusted practices’. Reflections on the implications of this illumination of statistical analysis are then presented.     

Steps to abstract reasoning: An interdisciplinary program for cognitive development

A learning cycle approach to undergraduate instruction was implemented in a variety of subjects in the liberal arts and sciences. The students in the experimental program were typical representatives of an institution with liberal admissions policies. Significant gains were made in critical thinking and cognitive skill development by the experimental group. Additionally, retention of the experimental group was improved. Gains of this sort have the potential to rekindle hope in college faculties that some of the traditional goals of higher education that center on critical thinking and cognitive skill development need not be abandoned in institutions with liberal admissions policies.     

Breaking the tyranny of office hours: Overcoming professor avoidance

ABSTRACT

Studies have found that Faculty–Student Interaction (FSI) has many positive benefits for students including academic support, professional development, mentoring, and career planning. Research-intensive universities exhibit the lowest levels of faculty–student interaction within higher education. This article utilises qualitative methods to explore faculty, student, and staff perceptions of faculty–student interactions, particularly those that take place out of the classroom, at a research-intensive public U.S. university. We identify social distance between faculty and students based on unequal status within a rigid, hierarchically-organised culture as a key barrier to FSI. We then discuss methods that some of the faculty in our study used to mitigate their social distance with students in an effort to increase FSI.