Does STES‐Oriented Science Education Promote 10th‐Grade Students’ Decision‐Making Capability?

Today’s society is continuously coping with sustainability‐related complex issues in the Science‐Technology‐Environment‐Society (STES) interfaces. In those contexts, the need and relevance of the development of students’ higher‐order cognitive skills (HOCS) such as question‐asking, critical‐thinking, problem‐solving and decision‐making capabilities within science teaching have been argued by several science educators for decades. Three main objectives guided this study: (1) to establish “base lines” for HOCS capabilities of 10th grade students (n = 264) in the Israeli educational system; (2) to delineate within this population, two different groups with respect to their decision‐making capability, science‐oriented (n = 142) and non‐science (n = 122) students, Groups A and B, respectively; and (3) to assess the pre‐post development/change of students’ decision‐making capabilities via STES‐oriented HOCS‐promoting curricular modules entitled Science, Technology and Environment in Modern Society (STEMS). A specially developed and validated decision‐making questionnaire was used for obtaining a research‐based response to the guiding research questions. Our findings suggest that a long‐term persistent application of purposed decision‐making, promoting teaching strategies, is needed in order to succeed in affecting, positively, high‐school students’ decision‐making ability. The need for science teachers’ involvement in the development of their students’ HOCS capabilities is thus apparent.     

Visualizing Humans by Computer

Abstract

This paper gives an overview of the problems involved in visualizing humans in a three‐dimensional scene, and looks at the history and development of human shape modelling, human motion control, and modelling of human characteristics and clothing to produce computer‐generated actors.     

A comparative study of three methods for the popularization of a physical phenomenon

A study of Norwegian science textbooks for grade 8 indicates an individualistic image of science where individual scientists are discovering truth, through experiment. Scientific rationality is grounded in procedures of inquiry alone and not in debate and argumentation within scientific communities. The communal aspects of science tend to become visible in historical examples where science did not function properly due to prejudices or ignorance. Furthermore, science proper and school science are not differentiated between, and 'scientific knowledge about nature' and 'nature' are one and the same. The discourse identified is well suited to provide students with broad and general knowledge about natural and everyday phenomena. However, it is less suitable for teaching about the scientific enterprise in contemporary society. This is worrying for students' scientific literacy as future adults, as this dimension is essential for understanding the nature of science and for democratic citizenship in socio-scientific issues.     

Universities after postmodernism

Universities have a contribution to make towards the creation of a more just society. To do so, not only must the new language from industry be challenged, there needs too to be a break from the postmodernist mindset which still defines much academic debate. Drawing on ideas from political economy, critical social science and feminist theory and practice this paper urges a re-positioning of higher education which requires moving on from the ‘linguistic turn’ towards a more ‘practical turn’. It proposes that mass university higher education has a future if it actively engages with adults from a much wider social spectrum than at present and if it re-engages with notions of the public nature of truth and values through working to articulate urgent problems with people other than academics.     

The impact of a college counseling program on economically disadvantaged gifted students and their subsequent college adjustment

The impact of a college and career counseling program on economically disadvantaged gifted students and their subsequent college adjustment was assessed. Fifty‐five students from public high schools in a major urban school district in the midwest were compared to a group of economically advantaged students who participated in a special summer program for high school students at a private midwestern university. Results indicate that both before and after the program, the groups were similar with respect to the basis for their college choices, motivation to attend college, and career readiness. The economically disadvantaged students changed their plans to finance college as a result of the program and expected college to be significantly more lonely. A three‐year follow‐up revealed that economically disadvantaged gifted students were more likely to enroll at in‐state colleges, to experience college as significantly more boring, dull, and snobbish, and to have more difficulty adjusting socially and forming attachments to their universities.