Lesson study for accessible science: Building expertise to improve practice in inclusive science classrooms

The Lesson Study for Accessible Science (LSAS) project created middle school teams comprised of both science and special education teachers who engaged in collaborative work to improve instruction in inclusive classrooms. The intervention is based on Lesson Study, a professional development approach that originated in Japan, which supports the systematic examination of practice and student understanding. Using an experimental design, teams of teachers were randomly assigned to the LSAS intervention or to a wait‐list comparison group. The results of this study suggest that science and special educators in the LSAS intervention were able to generate more accommodations for students with learning disabilities, and they increased their ability to set an instructional context and adapt an instructional plan to meet science learning goals for all students in an inclusive classroom. They did not, however, show significant increases in their knowledge of science content or learning disabilities. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 1012–1034, 2012     

Capturing essential understandings of the urban science learning environment

This research is distinctive in that a mixed-methods approach, employing both cogenerative dialogues and student responses from the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES), was used to help to understand 9th grade urban students?? experiences in their biochemistry class in New York City. Factor analyses of student responses demonstrated that empirically there were four robust scales rather than five. Qualitative analyses, using cogenerative dialogues and informal interviewing, demonstrated that more adaptable forms of teaching, learning and assessing could support a variety of students. Shared with students, the contents of the CLES and cogenerative dialogues created opportunities for understanding ontologies and helped to create, access and appropriate resources that assist in bringing about success in the science classroom.     

EVALUATION OF A TRUANCY DIVERSION PROGRAM AT NINE AT‐RISK MIDDLE SCHOOLS

Many schools are faced with the prospect of soaring absenteeism rates, despite the use of traditional truancy courts and other legal interventions. A recent trend in the literature has been to explore alternative, hybrid, and multidisciplinary approaches to address the underlying obstacles to school attendance. These programs are often integrated into schools to reduce stigma and transportation burdens on families. The present study involved an evaluation of a truancy diversion program in nine at‐risk middle schools in an ethnically diverse sample. Graduates from the program demonstrated significant declines in internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. In addition, participants and their parents expressed high levels of perceived improvement in academic performance. Academic tutoring was found to differentiate program graduates from nongraduates. Results are preliminary but discussed within the context of the role of school attachment in truancy diversion programs.     

From Vision to Change: Educational Initiatives and Research at the Intersection of Physics and Biology

In this editorial we link the articles published in this Special Issue with the framework from Vision and Change and summarize findings from the editorial process of assembling the Special Issue.The authors of Vision and Change (American Association for the Advancement of Science [AAAS], 2011 ) issued the following call to action to biologists, physicists, chemists, and mathematicians:

To ensure that all students graduate with a basic level of scientific literacy and meet the challenges raised in Bio 2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists (2003), Scientific Foundations for Future Physicians: Report of the AAMC-HHMI Committee (2009), A New Biology for the 21st Century (2009), and similar reports, biologists, physicists, chemists, and mathematicians need to look thoughtfully at ways they can introduce interdisciplinary approaches into their gateway courses. (AAAS, 2011 , p 54)

The articles that comprise this special issue of CBE—Life Sciences Education (LSE) take important steps toward responding to this call by describing teaching and learning at the intersection of biology and physics. Broadly defined, the work aims to encourage the development of genuine interdisciplinary understanding, or “the capacity to integrate knowledge and modes of thinking in two or more disciplines or established areas of expertise to produce a cognitive advancement … in ways that would have been impossible or unlikely through single disciplinary means” (Boix Mansilla and Duraisingh, 2007 , p. 219). Indeed, many of the most exciting recent breakthroughs in the life sciences have occurred at the intersection of these established disciplines. Physical laws help to predict, describe, and explain biological phenomena occurring at molecular to ecosystem levels, and the development of new physical tools helps to visualize these phenomena in new and informative ways. Thus, the Vision and Change report stresses the urgency for undergraduate biology and physics educators to develop, assess, and revise content materials, pedagogical strategies, and epistemological perspectives for encouraging student learning in interdisciplinary biology and physics classes.We received more than 50 abstracts in response to the call for this special issue, and we are pleased to publish 10 Articles, four Essays, and eight Features reflecting the state of educational transformation at the intersection of biology and physics. Several articles describe integration of physics into biology curriculum or biology into physics curriculum that goes beyond simple provision of examples from the respective disciplines (e.g., Batiza et al., Christensen et al., Svoboda Gouvea et al., O’Shea et al., Thompson et al., Breckler et al.). A number of articles address cross-cutting themes, such as problem solving (e.g., Hoskinson et al.) and energy (e.g., Cooper and Klymkowsky, Svoboda Gouvea et al.), the application of mathematical laws to biological phenomena (e.g., Redish and Cooke), epistemology (e.g., Watkins and Elby), and assessment as a powerful tool for driving curriculum change, in this case the integration of physics and biological thinking (e.g., Svoboda Gouvea et al., Momsen et al., Thompson et al.). Other articles reflect research crossing disciplinary boundaries to introduce research approaches (e.g., Watkins and Elby, Momsen et al.) or innovative curriculum models (e.g., Manthey and Brewe, Donovan et al., Thompson et al.) to help students develop reasoning strategies that move beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries. The Hillborn and Friedlander essay highlights potential impacts of cross-disciplinary collaboration in education on the revised Medical College Admission Test.We were pleased by the number of articles coauthored by physicists and biologists working in teams to examine and recommend new directions for the future of biology education. These teams brought a richness and depth of knowledge in both disciplines that made it possible to move instruction and research forward at the intersection of the disciplines. Together, these articles start to provide the evidence base for responding to the calls for interdisciplinary teaching and learning. Further, they provide opportunities to compare and contrast education and epistemologies in biology and physics, allowing for more informed integration of knowledge from these disciplines.     

Examining the association of job tenure,employment history,and organizational status with employee dissent

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between temporal and structural components of organizational life (i.e., job tenure, employment history, and organizational history) and employee dissent. This was accomplished by comparing respondents’ reports about their tendencies to use varying strategies for dissent to their reports about present job tenure, number of full‐time employers, total years work experience, and organizational status. Structural equation models were used to examine the association between temporal measures (job tenure, number of full‐time employers, total years work experience), structural measures (organizational status) and dissent constructs. Findings indicated that articulated dissent use was associated with management status, whereas latent dissent use was associated with nonmanagement status, increases in present job tenure and decreases in number of full‐time employers and total years work experience.     

Essential Criteria to Characterize Constructivist Teaching: Derived from a review of the literature and applied to five constructivist‐teaching method articles

Constructivism is an important theory of learning that is used to guide the development of new teaching methods, particularly in science education. However, because it is a theory of learning and not of teaching, constructivism is often either misused or misunderstood. Here we describe the four essential features of constructivism: eliciting prior knowledge, creating cognitive dissonance, application of new knowledge with feedback, and reflection on learning. We then use the criteria we developed to evaluate five representative published articles that claim to describe and test constructivist teaching methods. Of these five articles, we demonstrate that three do not adhere to the constructivist criteria, whereas two provide strong examples of how constructivism can be employed as a teaching method. We suggest that application of the four essential criteria will be a useful tool for all professional educators who plan to implement or evaluate constructivist teaching methods.     

Maltreatment experiences and associated factors prior to admission to residential care: A sample of institutionalized children and youth in western Kenya

Objectives

This study aims to determine the prevalence of maltreatment experienced by institutionalized children prior to their admission to Charitable Children's Institutions (orphanages) in western Kenya, and to describe their socio-demographic characteristics, reasons for admission, and the factors associated with prior experiences of maltreatment.

Methods

A systematic file review was undertaken in five CCIs. Demographic, prior caregiving settings and maltreatment data were extracted. Forms of maltreatment were recorded according to WHO and ISPCAN guidelines. Logistic regression was used in bivariate and multivariable analyses of factors associated with reasons for placement and forms of maltreatment.

Results

A total of 462 files were reviewed. The median (interquartile range) age of children was 6.8 (5.08) years at admission, 56% were male, and 71% had lost one or both parents. The reasons for admission were destitution (36%), abandonment (22%), neglect (21%), physical/sexual abuse (8%), and lack of caregiver (8%). The majority of child and youth residents had experienced at least one form of maltreatment (66%): physical abuse (8%), sexual abuse (2%), psychological abuse (28%), neglect (26%), medical neglect (18%), school deprivation (38%), abandonment (30%), and child labor (23%). The most common reason for non-orphans to be admitted was maltreatment (90%), whereas the most common reason for orphans to be admitted was destitution (49%). Girls (adjusted odds ratio, AOR: .61, 95% CI: .39–.95) and orphans (AOR: .04, 95% CI: .01–.17) were both independently less likely to have a history of maltreatment irrespective of whether it was the reason for admission. Children whose primary caregiver had not been a parent (AOR: .36, 95% CI: .15–.86) and orphans (AOR: .17, 95% CI: .06–.44) were less likely to have been admitted for maltreatment, while children who were separated from siblings were more likely to have been admitted for maltreatment (AOR: 1.62, 95% CI: 1.01–2.60).

Conclusions

The high prevalence of maltreatment prior to admission, particularly among nonorphans, suggests the need for better child abuse and neglect prevention programs in communities, and psychosocial support services in institutions. The significant proportion of children admitted for poverty, predominantly among orphans, indicates that community-based poverty-reduction programs might reduce the need for institutionalization.