Contributions from citizen science to science education: an examination of a biodiversity citizen science project with schools in Central Europe

ABSTRACT

Despite the rising popularity of Citizen Science (CS) projects, there is little empirical evidence for effects on learning outcomes, particularly when young people are involved. It is also often not clear how CS projects are linked to science education (SE) research. The aim of this study was to examine biodiversity CS projects in an outdoor school class context and to measure the effects on individual learning outcomes (ILOs) with a perspective for SE. Five learning outcomes considered important for CS were tested: interest, self-efficacy/mastery, motivation, behaviour and attitude. These ILOs were measured via eight different scales and tested in an evaluation study of a large CS project with 428 students aged 8–18. Students recorded hedgehogs, wild bee activity, birds and butterflies in gardens. Results showed that students’ interest and motivation, as well as perceived mastery increased during the project. Most remarkably, positive attitudes towards wild animals, natural gardens and biodiversity rose significantly. For most ILOs there were significant differences between age groups: Primary school students showed the highest ILOs and also provided most database entries. The authors describe how well biodiversity CS projects contribute to SE aims and how discrepancies between educational and scientific aims in CS projects may be addressed.     

Pupils in Control: Sex Talk as an Educational Resource

Education for citizenship is now recommended for all primary schools. Whilst primary teachers have long covered social and moral education, they have been less likely to cover teaching about community and political literacy (including the discussion of topical, controversial issues). This paper reports research findings on current practice and identifies key areas for discussion. It argues that there is great scope for enriching and enlivening the primary curriculum through the introduction of education for citizenship, by extending current practice in social and moral education and incorporating the newer themes of community and political literacy into existing teaching.     

A cross-national comparison of perceived strategic importance of RFID for CIOs in Germany and Italy

Purpose

Drawing from literature on innovation, strategy and culture the objective of this study is to explore the role of perceived potentials and perceived strategic importance on CIOs’ perspective on RFID technology in two different cultural settings.

Methodology

Based on survey responses from 463 German and 157 Italian IT decision makers we analyzed the data with PLS structural equation modeling.

Findings

We show that perceived potentials of RFID influence the perceived strategic importance which positively influences CIOs’ intention to invest in RFID. The composition of perceived potentials affecting the strategic importance of RFID differs significantly in both cultures. In Germany, potentials attributed to RFID are improving quality, automating manpower, reducing counterfeits, and improving customer service. Italian CIOs value reducing stock inconsistencies, optimizing stock keeping, and improving customer service as RFID potentials. Regardless of culture, findings show that company size hardly has impact on perceived strategic importance.

Originality/value

This research shows on a large empirical basis cultural differences in the perception of RFID in two countries using PLS.     

惩罚性损害赔偿的欧洲视角

这可能是不正确的,正如Sebok所指出的那样,惩罚性赔偿赔偿在美国早期的侵权法中主要是补偿性的功能,如美国最高法院在Cooper IndustriesInc案中所宣传的……首先,惩罚性赔偿的基础是对特定民事权利的侵害,此民事权利有别于完全被补偿性赔偿所纠正的民事权利体系。运用这一原则到我们的问题,我们得出如下结论：即使有很强的证据对被告人实施制裁,如果原告没有受到相应的损害,也没有对被告提出不当得利请求,那么这些证据不能单独证明原告有优势。……撇开惩罚性赔偿与私法的基本原则的不一致的事实,其也显示出一些另外的缺陷。……Colby称之为“总的损害”的惩罚性赔偿金：有可能一些受害者将获得旨在惩罚不法行为的整个计划的惩罚性损害赔偿金,从而导致不公正处罚的累积……一些欧洲的法律制度允许某些团体代表受害者的利益进行禁止令的申请和补偿的请求。     

Food Safety Education Using Music Parodies

ABSTRACT:  Musical parodies of contemporary songs with their lyrics altered to address current food safety issues were incorporated into a variety of food safety educational programs and the effectiveness of the music was evaluated by semiquantitative and qualitative measures. Audiences receiving the music-enriched curricula included school foodservice supervisors, school foodservice managers, culinary arts instructors, culinary arts students, Family and Consumer Sciences teachers, and youth aged 8 to 12 y and studies were conducted in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Delaware. Among school foodservice supervisors, school foodservice managers, and culinary arts students, most participants were able to recall the main points of each song that was introduced in the curriculum. The culinary arts students were less likely to recall the main points of each song than were the other 2 groups, possibly because of the lack of prior knowledge of food safety practices as well as a lack of preference for the style of songs used. Family and Consumer Sciences teachers were enthusiastic about the use of the music but also identified potential barriers to the successful use of the music, due to the potential lack of appropriate audiovisual equipment, a lack of skills in using such equipment, and time constraints for the use of music in curricula due to the strong emphasis on end of year testing. Participants in the summer youth groups demonstrated significant increases between pre- and posttest examinations of safe food handling behaviors and most were able to quote lines or phrases from the songs.     

Disrupting colonial discourses in the geography curriculum during the introduction of British Values policy in schools

The main purpose of this article is to expose and disrupt discourses dominating global development in an English school geography textbook chapter. The study was prompted by a teacher’s encounter with cultural difference in a geography lesson in South Korea. I investigate the issues raised through the lens of a new curriculum policy in English schools called ‘Promoting Fundamental British Values’ which forms part of England’s education-securitisation agenda, a topic of international attention. Following contextualization across research fields and in recent curriculum and assessment policy reform, I bring together theoretical perspectives from curriculum studies and Continental philosophy that do not usually speak to each other, to construct a new analytical approach. I identify three key themes, each informed by colonial logic: ‘development’, ‘numerical indicators’ and ‘learning to divide the world’. The inquiry appears to expose a tension between the knowledge of the textbook chapter and the purported aims of the British Values curriculum policy, but further investigation reveals the two to be connected through common colonial values. The findings are relevant to teachers, publishers, textbook authors, policy-makers and curriculum researchers. I recommend a refreshed curriculum agenda with the politics of knowledge and ethical global relations at its centre.     

IN THE “EDUCATION BUSINESS”, WHO OWNS WHAT?

This article conducts a historically‐based conceptual analysis of the major paradigms of Western higher education in terms of the primary duties of academics, to whom those duties are owed, and who owns the products or services created in the pursuit of these duties. Three such paradigms are identified, relating respectively to free enquiry and teaching, to community and national development service, and to business activity as a service provider for customers or clients. The conflicts of interest which form the theme of this issue of Higher Education In Europe are hypothesized to arise when (a) there is an institutional or system mismatch between the paradigms and (b) the implications of one of the paradigms are taken to extremes by either the individual academic or the institution or system. The article concludes with six proposals for activities to minimize such conflicts.