Supporting Students’ Learning and Socioscientific Reasoning About Climate Change—the Effect of Computer-Based Concept Mapping Scaffolds

Climate change is one of the most challenging problems facing today’s global society (e.g., IPCC 2013). While climate change is a widely covered topic in the media, and abundant information is made available through the internet, the causes and consequences of climate change in its full complexity are difficult for individuals, especially non-scientists, to grasp. Science education is a field which can play a crucial role in fostering meaningful education of students to become climate literate citizens (e.g., NOAA 2009; Schreiner et al., 41, 3–50, 2005). If students are, at some point, to participate in societal discussions about the sustainable development of our planet, their learning with respect to such issues needs to be supported. This includes the ability to think critically, to cope with complex scientific evidence, which is often subject to ongoing inquiry, and to reach informed decisions on the basis of factual information as well as values-based considerations. The study presented in this paper focused on efforts to advance students in (1) their conceptual understanding about climate change and (2) their socioscientific reasoning and decision making regarding socioscientific issues in general. Although there is evidence that “knowledge” does not guarantee pro-environmental behavior (e.g. Schreiner et al., 41, 3–50, 2005; Skamp et al., 97(2), 191–217, 2013), conceptual, interdisciplinary understanding of climate change is an important prerequisite to change individuals’ attitudes towards climate change and thus to eventually foster climate literate citizens (e.g., Clark et al. 2013). In order to foster conceptual understanding and socioscientific reasoning, a computer-based learning environment with an embedded concept mapping tool was utilized to support senior high school students’ learning about climate change and possible solution strategies. The evaluation of the effect of different concept mapping scaffolds focused on the quality of student-generated concept maps, as well as on students’ test performance with respect to conceptual knowledge as well as socioscientific reasoning and socioscientific decision making.     

The effect of short online pedagogical training on university teachers’ interpretations of teaching–learning situations

The aim of the study was to explore whether short online pedagogy courses can have an effect on university teachers’ interpretations of teaching–learning situations. Before and after participating in a short online pedagogical training programme, a total of 66 participants wrote their interpretations of two short video clips, which depicted a content-focused teacher and a learning-focused teacher, respectively. The training was successful in changing participants’ interpretations from a knowledge-transmission view to a learning-facilitation view of teaching. This result indicates that even short online training programmes have the potential to affect participants’ interpretations of teaching–learning situations, especially when participants are not very experienced in teaching. Therefore, pedagogical training should be offered already at the early stages of teaching careers.

     

Prevention of Targeted School Violence by Responding to Students' Psychosocial Crises: The NETWASS Program

The standardized, indicated school‐based prevention program “Networks Against School Shootings” combines a threat assessment approach with a general model of prevention of emergency situations in schools through early intervention in student psychosocial crises and training teachers to recognize warning signs of targeted school violence. An evaluation study in 98 German schools with 3,473 school staff participants (M_age = 46.2 years) used a quasi‐experimental comparison group design with three measurement points (pre, post, and 7 months followup) with schools randomly allocated to implementation conditions. The study found increases in teachers' expertise and evaluation skills, enhanced abilities to identify students experiencing a psychosocial crisis, and positive secondary effects (e.g., teacher–student interaction, feelings of safety).     

Teachers’ voices on integrating MCAG into Reading Assessment Tasks

The paper is an attempt to address, on behalf of the teacher of reading, some pedagogically significant aspects of metacognition. A study was designed to test the effect of using Metacognitive Awareness Guidance (MCAG) in reading assessment tasks given to nine year old pupils (fourth grade in Israel). MCAG addresses five basic habits of mind (HOM) through questions and activities. The rationale for applying it was influenced by Vygotsky’s notion of the “zone of proximal development”. After the study ended, each teacher whose class was part of the treatment group was interviewed. The purpose of the interviews was to gain the teachers’ perspectives, thoughts and opinions on applying MCAG to assessment tasks in reading; its role and effects on learner performance and outcomes; and its influence on their daily teaching and learning activities. Their reactions related to four aspects: the use of self‐talk, the use of metacognitive learning strategies, the written MCAG and integrating habits of mind into reading assessment tasks. The implications of the findings are discussed.     

CAREER PATTERNS OF FINNISH ACADEMICS AND INTELLECTUALS: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF THE 1965 STUDENT GENERATION

This article is concerned with the career patterns of Finnish intellectuals and professionals. It aims to illuminate the trajectories of individuals who studied in universities in the 1960's and later found various types of positions in Finnish society. It illustrates certain aspects of this career differentiation and the role of the university in this process. The group being studied represents the professional and managerial core of society. Many of the individuals concerned hold visible positions in the public life of the nation. They do not, however, form any unitary class. The educated population is divided into various sections and levels which display quite different models of career trajectories and different forms of social influence. This diversity makes both the study of the impact of university education and the system of careers an extremely complex research theme.     

Journals based on applications: An attempt to improve students' learning about composite materials

In a course on composite materials for fourth-year students at Chalmers University of Technology, students are required to write journals as a complement to the more traditional teaching approach. The journals comprise a series of reports relating the theory currently being treated to an application object, and are sent to the teacher by e-mail for comments. These give the students the opportunity to make use of the theoretical knowledge they meet in each section of the course by reflecting on how it is applicable to a real application. The goal is for better, more integrated understanding, in that, on the one hand, the students should understand the importance of each part of the course and, on the other hand, they should be able to relate the parts to one another, and to practical application. In this paper, we describe the goals and strategies of the change to teaching, we analyse the ways that students approach the journal writing task and we discuss ways in which the journals can improve the quality of student learning.     

Working memory updating as a predictor of academic attainment

There is growing evidence supporting the importance of executive functions, and specifically working memory updating (WMU), for children’s academic achievement. This study aimed to assess the specific contribution of updating to the prediction of academic performance. Two updating tasks, which included different updating components, were administered to 97 fourth-grade children. The keeping track task involves retrieval and substitution of information, while the numerical updating task also includes a transformation component. Academic attainment was assessed through standardised tests of verbal comprehension, arithmetic operations, mathematical problems and an assessment made by the teacher. The relative contribution to academic attainment, of the updating measures and measures related to intelligence, was compared. Results showed that both updating tasks are predictive measures of academic attainment, although the numerical updating task appeared to be a more consistent predictor of children’s performance. The relationship between updating and academic attainment is discussed, and possible educational implications are considered. The role of the transformation component of WMU is highlighted. This component could make a distinct and independent contribution to performance and, by extension, could be particularly relevant to the prediction of academic achievement.     

Tensions and the Teacher’s Role in Student Teacher Identity Development in Primary and Subject Teacher Curricula

This paper describes a 2-year follow-up study on teacher identity development in different types of teacher education programmes. Teacher identity development was analysed with a focus on student teachers’ views of teacher’s roles and tensions experienced during their studies. Student teachers (n?=?20) were interviewed at the beginning and end of the master-level studies. Three types of tensions were identified: (1) conception of self versus professional role, (2) role expectations versus university training, (3) and multiple professional role expectations. The follow-up study showed that tensions tended to accumulate to some extent. However, successful consolidation of tensions appeared to depend on how the student teachers were able to recognise resources at their disposal, with implications for organisation of reflection support in teacher education.     

TYPES OF HIGH ABILITY: HIGHLY ABLE CHILDREN WITH AN UNBALANCED INTELLIGENCE STRUCTURE

The present study focused on children (N=55) with a 12 point or greater difference between verbal IQ (VIQ) and performance IQ (PIQ) on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), with either value being higher than 120. There was a particular focus on those with 24 points or more difference. The control group included children with IQ over 110, but with less than 9 points difference between VIQ and PIQ (N=33). Relatively low VIQs were found in the group with very large discrepancies, and their school performance was in accordance with this result. The problem with the VIQ of this group seemed to be one of maturity. The findings also showed that the subscales are important in diagnosis; the Object Assembly subscale of the WAIS, for instance, has a particular function in the characterisation of hemispheric connections. It was concluded that the group of gifted children displayed right hemispheric dominance, and that differences in the direction of intelligence might influence cognitive style, field of interest and choice of profession. Caution is needed when using VIQ‐PIQ differences for diagnostic purposes, particularly in the case of children with high intelligence.

     

Evaluating research-oriented teaching: a new instrument to assess university students’ research competences

Several concepts have been developed to implement research-oriented teaching in higher education in the last 15 years. The definition of research competences, however, has received minor attention so far. Some approaches to modeling research competences describe these competences along the research process but either focus on a specific academic discipline and/or specific facets or offer no empirical verification for cross-disciplinary approaches. We have developed a new approach to model research competences across various academic disciplines in form of a competence model—the RMRC-K-model. This model comprises five dimensions: skills in reviewing the state of research, methodological skills, skills in reflecting on research findings, communication skills, and content knowledge. In this study, we present an instrument (R-Comp) developed on the basis of this cross-disciplinary competence model. The factorial structure of the R-Comp was examined with data from 391 university students in three groups, either enrolled in a Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree, or a PhD program. The sample represented various academic disciplines. Results from confirmatory factor analyses supported the hypothesized structure of the R-Comp for the five dimensions in accordance with the RMRC-K-model. Additionally, results provided evidence for a more detailed differentiation of all dimensions with sub-dimensions reflecting theorized facets of the model. Both Cronbach’s α and construct reliability H indicated overall good reliability. Despite limitations to this study, there is some first evidence of a valid and reliable assessment of student research competences.