The effect of sensory awareness training on interpersonal social distance in fourth graders

The use of sensory awareness training and the place of training (youth hostel or regular classroom) were systematically controlled in 4 fourth-grade classrooms. The Horace Mann-Lincoln Social Distance Scale was given. A 2-way nested analysis of variance produced significant effects of intervention training in both settings. This supports the hypothesis that sensory awareness and personal contact promote lessening of social distance within groups. The training methods described in this study can easily be adapted for use in elementary classrooms as a part of group activities and as a counseling technique.     

Applying robust regression techniques to institutional data

Regression techniques are used frequently to analyze the relationships between university activity variables and the needs for different categories of resources. The ordinary least squares method (LS) has the disadvantage of being very sensitive to outliers. As an alternative the least median of squares (LMS) technique is discussed, which can resist a large fraction of contaminated data. To demonstrate the advantages of LMS, the parameters of some regression equations, estimated some years ago by means of ordinary least squares, and describing the needs for nonacademic staff and operating funds in a university, will be reestimated by means of this robust regression technique.     

Instructional efficiency of different discussion approaches in an outreach laboratory: Teacher-guided versus student-centered

Given the rapid development of modern biotechnology, attention to socioscientific issues in educational contexts is crucially important to support students in becoming responsible citizens. The authors' research focused on the impact of discussing socioscientific issues during biology lessons under 3 different treatments (teacher guided, student centered, text only), comparing these treatments with regard to cognitive achievement, cognitive load, and instructional efficiency. The biology lessons were part of an educational intervention with Bavarian 10th-grade students (N = 583) in an out-of-school laboratory on plant genetic engineering. The teacher-guided group performed significantly better regarding knowledge increase, while the cognitive load of the student-centered group was significantly higher. Accordingly, teacher-guided discussion led to the highest instructional efficiency, suggesting an enhanced cognitive achievement through the teacher's guidance. However, a student-centered approach allows students to contribute more of their own opinions, making further research in this area desirable. Finally, we discuss potential implications for teaching and teacher education.     

The Potential of Education for Sustainable Development for Reform in Schools

Can the concept of education for sustainable development foster reform in schools? The discussion of this question is based upon some reflection on social challenges in education, on a brief presentation of three concepts of environmental education (OECD Project 'Environment and School Initiatives' (ENSI); Action Competence Model; Socio-ecological Environmental Education) and on a closer theoretical look at the term Education for Sustainable Development. With some reference to an ongoing initiative in whole school development on the basis of education for sustainability called 'Ecologisation of Schools', the present and future relevance of the sustainability debate, with all its inherent dilemmas, uncertainties and confusions, is seen as a breeding ground for promoting innovations in education which might meet and cope with the current social challenges in an active and constructive manner.     

Module-Phase-Dependent Development of Pedagogical Content Knowledge: Replicating a Role-Change Approach in Pre-Service Teacher Education in an Outreach Lab

Research in Science Education - How pre-service teachers (PST) develop components of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is an open question. Theoretically based on PCK and combined with student...     

Environmental values and environmental concern

Abstract

Attitudes, values and concerns are frequently measured to monitor individual preferences of adolescents. As there is still some discussion about how to monitor those variables with respect to empirical instruments, directions of items or length of instruments, we applied two established scales (2 Major Environmental Value Model [2-MEV] and Environmental Motives Scale [EMS]) to a Slovenian sample of 804 middle and high school students. Subsequently, we confirmed the validity and reliability of both scales as well as their applicability to Slovene subjects, aged 12–18?years. The main objective of our study was to explore the relationship between three factors of environmental concern (EMS) and the two higher-order factors of utilisation of nature and preservation of nature (2-MEV). The results show that altruistic (ALT), biospheric (BIO) and egoistic (EGO) environmental concerns correlate strongly positively with preservation of nature, but negatively and less strongly but still significantly with utilisation of nature. We conclude that raising awareness of EGO environmental concern may be as important as ALT and/or BIO concern for understanding the environmental values and attitudes of an individual. Consequences and recommendations for designing and completing educational programmes are discussed.