How teacher and students study ‘all that matters’ in high school chemistry

This study focuses on the relationships between meanings of science constructed in classrooms and sociocultural precepts of the wider society. Research presented is part of a larger study of the negotiation of knowledge and roles in high school science classrooms. The data presented document that what goes on in classrooms reflects and recreates societal attitudes towards work, in general, and teachers’ work, in particular. The teacher in this study reduces his demands for academic work in return for students’ cooperation and as a means of coping with negative aspects of teaching. Students, in turn, are not concerned about the specific subject matter of chemistry. What matters to them are the academic credentials that lead to success in the college and employment arenas. As a result, teacher and students construct school chemistry to be what you‐get‐through‐as‐you‐get‐along. The interdependence of the roles and actions of teachers and students suggests changes in policy and practice.     

The Effect of a National Initiative on Exam Results

ABSTRACT

This paper considers the examination results of TVEI and non TVEI pupils in the database established at the University of Newcastle in 1985‐87. The pupils took national exams in the summer of 1987, when they were about 16 years old. Their average grades (Exam Means) and their accumulated grades (Exam Totals) were considered separately.

The Exam Mean and Exam Total scores were generally worse for TVEI than non TVEI pupils, even when pupils with the same ability test scores and aspirational scores were compared. However, it is possible that non TVEI factors caused the discrepancy in results and it is these factors which are the subjects of this paper.

The paper considers firstly whether the differences are an artefact of regression analysis. Secondly, the data are considered using various multilevel models. Both analyses suggest that there was no TVEI effect on the Exam Mean score and a negative TVEI effect on the Exam Total. Various explanations for these findings, concerning internal school allocational and curriculum policies, are considered and discussed.     

An intervention in the Halliwick Method procedures (swimming) for a group of individuals with Downs syndrome

The purpose of this study was to intervene in the process of the Halliwick Method (swimming), in order to improve the method, or some of its aspects, for a sample of 14 individuals with Downs syndrome (aged six to 21 years), using both an individualized educational setting approach and a differentiation of the elements of the Halliwick Method. The pre-intervention phase included medical examination, IQ, measurement of the behaviour according to the Rutter Scale and a Test of Physical Performance for each subject. Next, the subjects were assigned to seven pairs of case studies, where each individual following a Halliwick Methods swimming programme was paired with an individual following a modified swimming programme based on the same method, on physical health variables, IQ, behaviour and motor abilities. The duration of each swimming programme was 24 weeks for each individual, at a frequency of once per week, for 40 minutes. In the light of the findings of this study, further recommendations for the improvement of Halliwick Method procedures were made, common factors that affected the performance of each individual were identified and their relation with performance was explored.     

Linking Mind,Brain, and Education to Clinical Practice: A Proposal for Transdisciplinary Collaboration

It has been suggested that the field of Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) requires a stable infrastructure for translating research into practice. Hinton and Fischer (2008) point to the academic medical center as a model for similar translational work and suggest a similar approach for linking scientists to research schools. We propose expanding their model to include a formal role for clinicians. Including clinicians who work with children with learning problems brings an important perspective to the translational work. For example, the integration of the concept of “differential diagnosis,” a core precept in clinical medicine, would bring needed diagnostic specificity to the field of MBE. We describe a virtual infrastructure for collaboration, or “collaboratory,” consisting of research scientists, educators, and clinicians, linked to an academic institution. We anticipate that MBE graduates can play a critical role in the collaboratory model. With additional training, they can become “neuroeducators” capable of moving comfortably among the disciplines, building linkages, fostering communication, and facilitating collaboration.     

Teaching of biological inheritance and evolution of living beings in secondary school

The purpose of this investigation is to examine some solutions to the problems involved in the learning and teaching of biological inheritance and the evolution of living beings at the secondary school level. For this, we implemented a teaching programme which takes into account a constructivist approach to learning and analysed the progress in students' knowledge at different times (pre-test, post-test and retention test). Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the results show that the programme instilled a knowledge close to what might be considered adequate for this educational level. As a follow up, we propose certain disciplinary criteria for selecting and sequencing the content to be taught and discuss the educational circumstances which favour the construction of student knowledge on these topics.     

Teacher Beliefs in Action: A Cross-Sectional,Longitudinal Follow-Up Study of Teachers' Personal Practical Theories

Based on a cross-sectional, longitudinal follow-up study of graduates from our master's-level elementary education program, in this article we examined changes in espoused beliefs elicited in the form of personal practical theories (PPTs) of three graduates with 2, 4, and 6 years of experience teaching in the same partnership school where they did their student teaching. We compared their original PPTs collected during their teacher education program with their current PPTs elicited in follow-up interviews, and then observed their classroom practices. Case summaries of these teachers are presented, and analysis and implications focus on changes in their PPTs, how their PPTs played out in their classrooms, and perceived barriers and supports to enacting their beliefs.     

Science textbooks for lower secondary schools in Brunei: issues of gender equity

This paper is concerned with issues affecting equity in science education for girls and boys. In the paper the results of an investigation into the recently published (1998–2000) series of textbooks entitled Lower Secondary Science for Brunei Darussalam are presented. In the first part of the paper, background issues of continuing gender inequality in science education and of the nature and scope of textbook analyses are outlined. Then the representation of males and females in both illustrations and text in the Bruneian textbooks is discussed. From this analysis a picture emerges of the extent to which science is portrayed as a pursuit of equal appropriateness for both boys and girls. The paper concludes with a consideration of the implications of the findings presented within the wider context of gender and education in Brunei.