From professional lives to inclusive practice: Science teachers and scientists' views of gender and ethnicity in science education

To provide insight into issues of gender and ethnicity in science education, we examine the views of approximately 60 secondary science teachers and university scientists from three different research projects. In each project, participants and researcher explored the intersection of professional and personal identities; views of the nature of science; beliefs related to students' experiences in science education; and kinds of curricular and instructional strategies used to promote access and equity for all students. Participants' interviews were analyzed qualitatively for patterns across these four dimensions of inclusive science education. Analysis of data revealed a wide range of beliefs and experiences along each dimension. From our findings, we argue for careful examination of the ways identities shape instructors' professional experiences and educational practices; critical, constructive conversations about feminist science studies scholarship between professional developers and science teachers or scientists; and reasoned reflection on how views of students can inform recommendations for inclusive content and instruction. We conclude with the call for increased sophistication in the conceptualization and implementation of solutions to the “problem” of women and ethnic minorities in science education, for balancing recognition of systematic gender and ethnic bias with sensitivity to instructors and students' diverse interests and experiences. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 511–547, 2000     

Sociology of science as a means to a more authentic,inclusive science education

In this article, we argue that insights from scholarship in the sociology of science can provide a powerful basis for making science education more authentic and inclusive. Drawing on recent work in the sociology of science, we describe how adopting sociological ideas as integral components of science curricula and instruction can provide opportunities for students that a traditional approach cannot. We focus on three insights from sociology—social networking, peer review, and skepticism—to demonstrate how sociological understandings can inform and improve the content, structure, and pedagogy of science classrooms. We argue that shifts in the balance of power and authority that result from explicit attention to these aspects of the nature of science offer a more authentic science education for all. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 483–499, 1998.     

Childhood adversity, educational trajectories, and self-reported health in later life among U.S. women and men at the turn of the century

A major objective of current life course research is to specify the processes linking early childhood conditions to subsequent life course statuses that span educational, occupational, familial, and health domains across the life span. This study confronts at least two persistent challenges to the rigorous specification of the relationships among these variables. The first is that the point-in-time measurement of education as “years of schooling” masks considerable heterogeneity in the timing and curricular tracks of schooling and obscures our understanding of how and when education matters for life-course inequality. The second challenge involves interdependencies between aspects of life-course inequality, including educational achievement and health. The intertwining of these variables across the life course, and their usual conceptualization and measurement, limit the interpretation of their relationship and its generalizability across studies. We use data from three waves of the National Survey of Families and Households between 1987–1988 and 2001–2002 to explore trajectories of self-reported health, applying latent class cluster analysis (finite mixture models) to deal directly with these measurement and specification issues. Generally, we find mediating effects of education in mid- to late-life health demonstrating the pivotal role of education in life course processes. Women’s childhood backgrounds are more heterogeneous and temporally complex educational careers affect their self-assessed health more than men’s. Late degrees are linked to poor health trajectories among women, but not men. Also, marital history, number of births and health behaviors are associated in expected ways with women’s and men’s health trajectories at midlife.     

Investigating the quality of the school technology needs assessment (STNA) 3.0: A validity and reliability study

Schools and districts should use a well-designed needs assessment to inform important decisions about a range of technology program areas. Presently, there is a lack of valid and reliable instruments available and accessible to schools to effectively assess their educational needs to better design and evaluate their projects and initiatives. The School Technology Needs Assessment (STNA) is a free, user-friendly online survey tool that meets this need for planning and formative evaluation of technology projects in educational settings. This study used existing data from a robust sample (n = 1918) of educators from across North Carolina to examine the reliability and validity of STNA. A collective review of study results including the literature review, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and internal consistently reliability analysis indicated that STNA was a high-quality instrument.     

Excerpt of the interview with Mathew Sands

Face to Face

Excerpt of the interview with Mathew Sands Mathew Sands talks to Finn Aaserud     

‘Straitjacket’ or ‘springboard for sustainable learning’? The implications of formative assessment practices in vocational learning cultures

In contrast to theoretical and empirical insights from research into formative assessment in compulsory schooling, understanding the relationship between formative assessment, motivation and learning in vocational education has been a topic neglected by researchers. The Improving Formative Assessment project (IFA) addresses this gap, using a sociocultural approach to explore the relationship between formative assessment practices and ‘learning cultures’ in vocational education. This article explores the influence of learning cultures in vocational education on the practice of formative assessment and evaluates critically two closely related questions. Why do some learning cultures foster formative assessment that leads to instrumental learning while others develop deeper forms of learning? When is formative assessment a springboard for sustainable learning, and when does it remain an instrumental straitjacket?