Development of Scientific Reasoning in College Biology: Do Two Levels of General Hypothesis‐Testing Skills Exist?

The primary purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that two general developmentally based levels of hypothesis‐testing skills exist. The first hypothesized level presumably involves skills associated with testing hypotheses about observable causal agents; the second presumably involves skills associated with testing hypotheses involving unobservable entities. To test this hypothesis, a hypothesis‐testing skills test was developed and administered to a large sample of college students both at the start and at the end of a biology course in which several hypotheses at each level were generated and tested. The predicted positive relationship between level of hypothesis‐testing skill and performance on a transfer problem involving the test of a hypothesis involving unobservable entities was found. The predicted positive relationship between level of hypothesis‐testing skill and course performance was also found. Both theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 81–101, 2000     

我在中国教书

2006年,对我来说是一个全新的开始,我来到了中国衢州。在这个全新的国度里,我从事了一份以前未曾做过的工作,同时也交上新的朋友。对我来说,以前从未有过这样的经历,所以来到衢州时一直有些紧张和担心,而即将独自去面对所有的一切让我尤其感到焦虑不安。此前,我曾经到过中国首都北京,但那是完全不同的一种情况：那时我是学生,     

Naming a Personal “Unearned” Privilege: What Pre-service Teachers Identify After a Critical Multicultural Education Course

This qualitative study systematically documents pre-service teachers' responses to a writing prompt asking them to name a personal “unearned” privilege on an end-of-term final assessment. Findings suggest that typical White/European heritage pre-service teachers can name privileges that have advantaged their own lives, even after one 14-week critical multicultural education course. Categories reveal patterns in participants' responses about their own privilege that are traditionally attended to in critical multicultural education curriculum, such as White privilege. However, student responses show that students are most comfortable talking about inherited privileges related to social class and race is named at a lower rate. Other responses show a range of privileges that students can draw on when they reflect on the structured nature of privilege in society. Overall, our findings suggest that when opportunities are created for students to grapple with complex, personal, emotional concepts, the vast majority of students are willing and able to perform this type of reflection and analysis. This work begins a discussion of what kinds of social privilege are more easily discussed in a high stakes assessment after experiences in critical multicultural education. Our findings provide nuanced understandings of how typical pre-service teachers name their own personal unearned privileges and deconstruct their experiences of privilege. Our findings suggest that attention to privileges associated with social class could provide powerful entry into examinations of other personal privileges in critical multicultural education.     

Can the Wisdom of Aging be Activated and Make a Difference Societally?

The Experience Corps?, a community-based intergenerational program, was developed to promote the health of older adults, while simultaneously addressing unmet social and academic needs in public elementary schools. The model was designed to draw on, and potentially activate, the wisdom of older adults. This paper explores the nature of wisdom-related knowledge and how older adults may apply such knowledge when tutoring and mentoring young children, as well as the potential for the intergenerational transmission of wisdom from the older adult volunteers to the school children being mentored by them. Developing an understanding of these issues may provide a basis for the creation of more extensive wisdom-generating opportunities for both older and younger generations.     

青少年运动员早期专业化训练的生理学问题

青少年运动员是运动员的一个特殊群体,正面临身体的生长发育和运动能力提高的双重压力,如何在不影响身体正常发育的同时又能在运动能力及身体素质等方面得到充分的发展,始终是青少年运动员在运动训练中亟待解决的问题,研究对处在发育期青少年的生理特点,运动能力训练等问题进行了探讨,以期能为青少年运动员的科学训练提供有价值的参考。