The Conceptual Nature of Gain in Vocabulary Research: An Analysis of Vocabulary Data from Schoolchildren

Two ways of measuring change are presented and compared: A conventional “change score”, defined as the difference between scores before and after an interim period, and a process-oriented approach focusing on detailed analysis of conceptually defined response patterns. The validity of the two approaches was investigated. Vocabulary knowledge was assessed by means of equivalent multiple-choice tests administered before and after an intervention, and four characteristic responses were observed: Words consistently not understood; words inconsistently understood; learned words; and words consistently understood. The results showed that inclusion of the category “words consistently not understood” offered a “truer” gain score than did the conventional change score. It captured more variance from age and cognitive constraints and appeared educationally more reliable from an assessment-for-teaching-perspective.     

Effect of angle stimulation during development on adult discrimination ability in rats

Hooded rats were reared in very restricted environments with angular, curved, or white-field stimulation. The extent of transfer from this exposure was assessed in adulthood by testing subjects for (a) learning ability in form, brightness, and pattern discrimination tasks, and (b) exploration and activity differences in an open field. The angle-reared group performed better than the other two rearing groups in all three discrimination tasks. Moreover, the curved and white-field groups were equivalent. These learning differences did not appear to result from differences in (a) exploration or activity or (b) dependence on kinesthetic cues. The results demonstrated that one type of early visual stimulation produced transfer to discrimination tasks that varied in difficulty and in degree of relevancy to the rearing forms. This effect was related to the results and interpretations from previous form-rearing studies. Three interpretations were proposed for this transfer and for the advantage of angular vs. curved stimulation.     

Motivation and learning physics

Being involved in science education we cannot avoid confronting the problem of students' waning interest in physics. Therefore, we want to focus on arguments developed by new theoretical work in the field of motivation. Especially, we are attracted by the theory of motivation featured by Deci and Ryan, because it is related to an assumptions of human development similar to our own approach. Beneath elements of cognitive development, motivation is seen as a basic concept to describe students' learning in a physics classroom. German students at lower and upper secondary level regard physics as very difficult to learn, very abstract and dominated by male students. As a result physics at school continuously loses importance and acceptance although a lot of work has been done to modernise and develop the related physics courses. We assume that knowing about the influence of motivation on learning physics may lead to new insights in the design of classroom settings. Referring to Deci and Ryan, we use a model of motivation to describe the influence of two different teaching strategies (teacher and discourse oriented) on learning. Electrostatics was taught in year 8. The outcomes of a questionnaire which is able to evaluate defined, motivational states are compared with the interpretation of the same student's interaction in the related situation of the physics classroom. The scales of the questionnaire and the categories of analysis of the video-recording are derived from the same model of motivation.     

Influences on US middle school teachers’ use of environment‐based education

The term environment‐based education (EBE) describes a form of school‐based environmental education in which an instructor uses the environment as a context for integrating subjects and a source of real world learning experiences. Despite the growing body of evidence that supports the educational efficacy of this instructional approach and its grounding in high‐quality environmental education, relatively few US teachers seem to practice EBE (University of Maryland Survey Research Center 2000 University of Maryland Survey Research Center. 2000. Environmental studies in the K‐12 classroom: A teacher’s view, College Park, MD: Author.  [Google Scholar]). In the context of encouraging more widespread adoption of this formal instructional approach, the author used survey research with a random sample of fifth–eighth grade teachers in US public schools to investigate influences on their decisions to use EBE and barriers to EBE implementation. The study also investigated how perceived influences on and barriers to EBE teachers differed from perceptions of teachers using other forms of environmental education and teachers using neither approach. Results suggest the importance of the following in teachers’ decisions to use EBE: positive environmental attitudes; environmental sensitivity; receptiveness to EBE; teaching context; and environmental literacy knowledge and skills. The influence that best discriminated between EBE teachers and teachers using other forms of environmental education was evidence of positive outcomes. The barrier that best discriminated among EBE teachers, teachers using other forms of environmental education, and teachers not using any form of environmental education was lack of training.     

Environmental action and student environmental leaders: exploring the influence of environmental attitudes,locus of control,and sense of personal responsibility

The Student Climate and Conservation Congress (SC3) is a joint educational effort between the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Green Schools Alliance that aims to develop the next generation of conservation leaders through fostering action competence in youth. Data from SC3 participants was used to investigate four predictors of adult environmental behavior (environmental attitudes, locus of control, sense of personal responsibility, intention) to explore their predictability of environmental action and intention toward future involvement in environmental action in student environmental leaders. Of the four variables explored, pre-program levels of environmental attitudes was a significant predictor of environmental action. Additionally, changes in levels of environmental attitudes significantly predicted environmental action, with an increase in environmental attitudes being associated with a decrease in environmental action. Pre-program levels of environmental attitudes and sense of personal responsibility, and an interaction between the two, potentially were predictors of intention toward future involvement in environmental action. Changes in pre- and post-program levels of environmental attitudes, locus of control, and sense of personal responsibility did not significantly predict intention toward future involvement in environmental action, nor did environmental action. Implications for programming and research, in light of the study’s limitations, are discussed.     

Book reviews

International Review of Education -     

Scholarly Honesty,Textbooks and Teaching

Three teacher educators recount cautionary tales to serve as a catalyst for -discussion and share their collective musings about teaching, accountability, and assessment. From ongoing reflection and conversations, three themes emerged: expertise, certainty, and orthodoxy. They begin by clarifying their understandings of these three areas and then provide commentary about each one.