Priming urban learners' attitudes toward the relevancy of science: A mixed-methods study testing the importance of context

The development of three-dimensional learning among all K-12 student demographics remains a prominent goal for the field of science education. However, substantial research in science teacher education for urban populations showcases hurdles to overcome in order to achieve this goal, particularly for elementary teachers. Research shows that urban elementary teachers are often ill-prepared to develop a type of science pedagogy responsive to students' learning needs. The fidelity of such pedagogies that these teachers adhere to when trying to implement such a requested content–relationality between these populations and how their local contexts can be used as sites to learn science in relevant ways are often not fully realized, as well. Given that science achievement gaps exhibit racial disparities starting in primary grades and attitudes toward science have been shown to affect academic achievement and motivation, we argue that one way to ameliorate, in at least an incremental way, this disparity is to design novel learning experiences to prime students to see the relevancy of science in their local contexts before such three-dimensional designed learning is set to occur. In this research, we leveraged the immersive nature of Virtual Reality 360 videos and present a design-based research iteration testing how this novel technologically enhanced learning experience may have influenced close to 400 urban elementary students' attitudes toward science around those attitudes labeled as “behavioral beliefs” by the field. Using a concurrent, convergent mixed-methods design with a two-way multivariate analysis of covariance quantitative data set triangulated with students' qualitative self-reports that were transformed into quantitative preponderances in graphic form, the data support that our design iteration emphasizing the importance of context as a design focus can prime students who struggle to see science as relevant to change their attitudes. Implications are discussed around relationality, novel technological affordances, and the use of local contexts as learning resources.     

The reliability of some VOSTS items when used with preservice secondary science teachers in England

A selection of Views on Science–Technology–Society (VOSTS) items was made and administered to a group of 29 postgraduate trainee science teachers. Two sections of VOSTS were addressed: VOSTS 1 (Defining Science and Technology) and VOSTS 9 (Epistemology). Reliability was determined by a cross-tabulation procedure following a retest. All 27 items selected were generally found to be reliable, although when put to a severe treatment, 24 of 27 items were found to be reliable. A cluster analysis of the responses was also carried out: Two main clusters were obtained for VOSTS 1 and three for VOSTS 9. The findings are discussed, compared with those from the Canadian study, and reviewed in the context of professional development of science teachers. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 53-71, 1998.     

祝贺复旦大学百年校庆

吴女士、韩市长、王校长、各位同仁、女士们、先生们：本人非常愉快和荣幸代表悉尼大学带来对复旦大学的祝贺,祝贺复旦大学在过去一百年所取得的伟大成就。我相信,在下一个百年复旦大学能取得更辉煌的成功。我也希望悉尼大学能为成就这个未来贡献一份力量。     

点燃思维之火：开放教育，长尾理论和学习2．0

高等教育需求和服务供给的矛盾为基于新技术的学习模式提供了空间.基于实践社区支持,强调参与、建构和兴趣驱动的社会化学习等非正式学习开始从边缘走向中心.本文讨论技术支持下的学习模式变革,强调整合社区支持和资源共享的重要性,从学习知识(Learn about)向学会生存(Learn to be)转变,并指出以资源共享为主的开放教育资源在社区支持方面的薄弱.开放教育资源的价值在学习的长尾中得到了揭示和体现,而建立社区与共享资源同样重要.通过建立参与性学习生态系统,推动从Web2.0发展到Learning2.0.     

Correlates of psychosocial adjustment in deaf adolescents with and without cochlear implants: a preliminary investigation

The number of children who have received cochlear implants (CIs) has increased dramatically in the past two decades. In view of potential concerns about their psychosocial adjustment, our aim was to assess the effect of implants on the adolescents' psychosocial functioning among a group of 57 deaf adolescents with and without CIs, using published and validated measures completed by the adolescents themselves, their parents, and teachers. Adolescents with CI tended to be more hearing acculturated, whereas those without CI tended to be more Deaf acculturated. Despite some differences in background characteristics between the two groups, there were no differences between them on the psychosocial variables assessed in this study, regardless of the reporting sources. Rather than having a direct effect on the psychosocial outcomes assessed in this study, it is through the mediating effect of acculturation and school setting that CI status exerts an influence over many of this study's outcomes. Recommendations for future research are made in light of our findings.     

Promoting global citizenship through ICT： Ukrainian high school students

Information is one of the important assets in today＇s society. Information and communication technologies （ICT） may be particularly important for students as one of the tools shaping global citizens. The objective of this study was to investigate the use of ICT by high school students （n=122） from a developing country, like Ukraine. The Global Citizenship Survey was used and modified for the purpose of this study （Lima, 2006）. Initial analyses indicated that the majority of the students use computers at school at least once per week. However, most of the students do not use the Intemet at school on a weekly basis. At the same time, the majority of students from Ukraine have computers at home and more than half of students have the Internet access at home. A chi-square analysis revealed statistically significant gender differences in the use of computers and the lnternet.     

How Adolescents Come to See Themselves as More Responsible Through Participation in Youth Programs

This qualitative study was aimed at developing theory about the process underlying the development of responsibility grounded in accounts of youth who reported experiencing this change. A total of 108 high-school-aged ( M = 16.5) youth from 11 programs were interviewed about their experiences within the program, and 24 reported becoming more responsible through their participation. The youth's accounts suggested that this process was driven largely by successfully fulfilling program expectations. This process was driven by youth's adherence to their commitments and their consideration of the consequences of their actions on others. Youth mentioned changes in responsibility most frequently in three programs, which appeared to differ from the remaining programs in having more structure and placing greater ownership and accountability on youth.     

Connecting photosynthesis and cellular respiration: Preservice teachers' conceptions

The biological processes of photosynthesis and plant cellular respiration include multiple biochemical steps, occur simultaneously within plant cells, and share common molecular components. Yet, learners often compartmentalize functions and specialization of cell organelles relevant to these two processes, without considering the interconnections as well as the significance of the plant as an independent biological system functioning as a nested component within local and global ecosystems. Understanding connections among biological systems at macro and micro levels is important to biological literacy. This study examined preservice elementary teachers' conceptions of photosynthesis and plant cellular respiration, with attention to interconnections and systems. Participants were limited in their understanding of the processes impacting multiple ecological levels, and they held inadequate representations of interconnections between the processes. Participants' views were laden with sociological and egocentric components. They often compared plant functions with analogous human functions. Most participants viewed plants as dependent on humans while having societal use. Justifications for views included nominal knowledge of the processes; experiential authoritarian reasoning; and anthropomorphism. We discuss instructional implications in light of the findings. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 46: 791–812, 2009