Grasping the essence of a science activity by using a model of pedagogical reasoning and action

This article grasps the essence of how a science content can be foregrounded by elaborating around concepts as floating and sinking, in relation to boats. The data consist of a videotaped authentic session with one preschool teacher and four children. The model of pedagogical reason and action [Shulman, L. S. 1987. “Knowing and Teaching: Foundations of the New Reform.” Harvard Educational Review 57 (1): 1–23. doi:10.17763/haer.57.1.j463w79r5645541] constitutes the analytical lens. The results show that the content is framed within a series of creative activities where children’s suggestions of how to act are crucial. The scientific content is approached according to the children’s verbalisations of their understandings. Furthermore, dialectical relationships become the main tool when making the content visible.     

More than meets the eye: patterns and shifts in middle school mathematics teachers’ descriptions of models

Modeling is a major topic of interest in mathematics education. However, the field’s definition of models is diverse. Less is known about what teachers identify as mathematical models, even though it is teachers who ultimately enact modeling activities in the classroom. In this study, we asked nine middle school teachers with a variety of academic backgrounds and teaching experience to collect data related to one familiar physical phenomenon, cooling liquid. We then asked each participant to construct a model of that phenomenon, describe why it was a model, and identify whether a variety of artifacts representing the phenomenon also counted as models during a semi-structured interview. We sought to identify: what do mathematics teachers attend to when describing what constitutes a model? And, how do their attentions shift as they engage in different activities related to models? Using content analysis, we documented what features and purposes teachers attended to when describing a mathematical model. When constructing their own model, they focused on the visual form of the model and what quantitative information it should include. When deciding whether particular representational artifacts constituted models, they focused on how the representations reflected the system under study, and what purposes those representations could serve in further understanding that system. These findings suggest teachers may have multiple understandings of models, which are active at different times and reflect different perspectives. This has implications for research, teacher education, and professional development.     

Exploring the boundaries: A study of multiple classroom learning environments

The study of learning environments has developed into a productive field of research in science education. Initially, the design and application of classroom perceptual measures of particular dimensions of science classrooms attracted much attention. More recently, such instruments have been used alongside of qualitative techniques to provide a richer understanding of sub-environments. We continue this trend in the present interpretive study by exploring the nature of multiple environments within a middle school classroom from the different perspectives of teacher, student and participant observer. In particular, we examine the activity settings of lectures and group work, as well as the issues of learning and assessment. We conclude by arguing that teachers need to adopt procedures that enable them to identify and plan for multiple environments.     

Further evidence that conditioned inhibition is not the mechanism of an extinction cue’s effect: A reinforced cue prevents spontaneous recovery

Previous research has demonstrated that discrete cues presented during extinction of a conditioned response (extinction cues) subsequently reduce spontaneous recovery and the renewal effect. In order to assess whether an extinction cue’s effect is due to conditioned inhibition, the effect of pairing an extinction cue with food on the cue’s capacity to modulate spontaneous recovery was investigated in an appetitive conditioning experiment with rats. Conditioned inhibitors paired with the unconditioned stimulus lose their potential to inhibit responding. The food-paired extinction cue did not lose its potential to reduce spontaneous recovery. In fact, it reduced spontaneous recovery more than did an extinction cue that was not paired with food. The results indicate that extinction cues attenuate postextinction recovery of conditioned responding through a mechanism other than conditioned inhibition. The cue’s action appears to be similar to that of serial negative occasion setters. Theories of spontaneous recovery and the relationship of extinction cues to other modulatory stimuli are discussed.     

Catalysing Changes in Research on Learning Environments: Regional Editor's Introduction

Learning Environments Research -     

Student and Teacher Perspectives in Computer-Mediated Learning Environments in Teacher Education

Rapid advances in technology, particularly with the Internet, have led to the availability of numerous tools to support teaching and learning. This study involved the use of an Internet application, Connecting Communities of Learners (CCL), in courses for prospective teachers. Unlike earlier studies involving the use of the CCL, the context of this study related to full-time graduate students who used the CCL to augment weekly face-to-face instruction. An interpretive study was undertaken to ascertain student and teacher perceptions of the learning environments associated with the use of the CCL. Through the use of the CCL, students were able to be autonomous in regard to their own learning, co-participate with their peers and the instructor, and establish and maintain a community of learners in which participants could interact with others as co-teachers and co-learners. The CCL was perceived as a useful tool for building learning environments in which all participants can contribute written texts as evidence of what is known and as objects from which others can learn. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Development and validation of a group test of integrated science processes

The paper describes the development and validation of a group test of integrated process skills. The test assesses student performance on a set of twelve objectives related to the generic objective: planning and conducting an investigation. Evidence of content validity, construct validity, and reliability are presented in the paper. A range of generalizability coefficients from 0.77 to 0.98 is reported for specific uses of the 24-item test. Since the items measure performance on objectives that can be readily translated into classroom activity, the test has direct applicability to classroom based research, and evaluation of instruction. In addition to sound psychometric properties, the Test of Integrated Science Processes is distincitve because it includes a set of interrelated, cumulative objectives which reflect autonomous problem solving.