Supporting Reform-Oriented Secondary Science Teaching Through the Use of a Framework to Analyze Construction of Scientific Explanations

The Next-Generation Science Standards (NGSS) call for a different approach to learning science. They promote three-dimensional (3D) learning that blends disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts and scientific practices. In this study, we examined explanations constructed by secondary science teacher candidates (TCs) as a scientific practice outlined in the NGSS necessary for supporting students’ learning of science in this 3D way. We examined TCs’ ability to give explanations that include explicit statements of underlying reasons for natural phenomena, as opposed to simply describing patterns or laws. In their methods courses, TCs were taught to organize explanations into a what/how/why framework, where what refers to what happens in specific cases (data or observations); how refers to how things usually happen and is equivalent to patterns or laws; and why refers to causal explanations or models. We examined TCs’ ability to do this spontaneously and in a resource-rich environment as a first step in gauging their preparedness for NGSS-aligned teaching. We found that (1) the ability of TCs to articulate complete and accurate causal scientific explanations for phenomena exists along a continuum; (2) TCs in our sample whose explanations fell on the upper end of this continuum were more likely to provide complete and accurate explanations even in the absence of support from explicit standards; and (3) teacher candidate’s ability to construct complete and accurate explanations did not correlate with cross-course performance or academic major. The implications of these findings for the preparation of teachers for NGSS-based science instruction are discussed.     

Friends, classmates, and self-regulated learning: discussions with peers inside and outside the classroom

The current study sought to understand the relationship between peer discussions and self-regulated learning. Eighty-eight first year high school students answered questions from the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire and reported the perceived frequency of discussions with peers both inside and outside of the classroom regarding self-regulated learning. Results suggest that differences exist between the frequency of self-regulation discussions with peers from inside and outside of the classroom, especially for discussions concerning motivation. Discussions with peers outside of class were related more closely to students’ reported self-regulated learning than discussion with peers inside of class. In addition, peer groups with higher average levels of self-regulated learning discussions had individual members with high reported self-regulated learning. The study’s results also highlight the need for further research on the mechanisms by which peer discussions may relate to students’ self-regulated learning.     

A proactive and responsive bio-psychosocial approach to managing challenging behaviour in mainstream primary classrooms

Research in the area of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties, and teacher’s struggle to respond to challenging behaviour in mainstream classrooms, has consistently highlighted the need for proventative and responsive approaches within a continuum of support. This study aims to, firstly, investigate what proactive and reactive strategies Irish primary school teachers are currently utilising in mainstream classrooms. Secondly, it aims to ascertain a rating of the perceived effectiveness of these strategies within an overarching bio-psychosocial framework. A total of 274 mainstream teachers were surveyed online, whereby quantitative and qualitative data was collected and analysed. Results suggest that teachers are drawing upon research in the area of bio-physiological, cognitive, behavioural, person-centred, humanistic and eco-social psychology. ‘Building a rapport with the child’ was rated as the Most Effective proactive strategy by 39% of teachers and ‘Acknowledging the child’s feelings’ was rated as the Most Effective responsive strategies by 25% of teachers.     

Taste quality and extinction of a conditioned taste aversion in rats

Rats (Rattus norvegicus) that received a taste cue (saccharin, saline, quinine, or sucrose) paired with a lithium chloride (LiCl) injection displayed a robust decrease in consumption of that taste, relative to controls that had the taste unpaired with LiCl. Consumption of the paired taste increased with each nonreinforced presentation (i.e., extinction). After asymptotic extinction, rats that had had a 0.1% saccharin cue paired with LiCl consumed less of the saccharin solution than did controls. A similar data pattern was observed with a 10% sucrose solution. These results are consistent with the view that some aspect of the excitatory CS-US association remains after extinction. On the other hand, rats that had a bitter (0.005% or 0.001% quinine) or salty (1% or 0.5% saline) solution paired with LiCl drank similar amounts of the fluid as controls after asymptotic extinction treatment. Together, these experiments suggest that a taste that is either sweet or preferred is required in order to demonstrate the chronic decrease in fluid consumption after extinction treatment. The data suggest that the conditioning experience prevents the later development of a preference for the sweet taste, rather than there being a retained aversion that suppresses fluid consumption.     

The effectiveness of a mass screening procedure in an early intervention program

The effectiveness of a mass screening procedure was examined within the context of a preventively oriented school-based treatment program. Mass screening consisted primarily of teachers rating the frequency of all primary grade children's acting-out, moody-withdrawn, and learning problem behaviors. While teachers directly referred 6.9% (n = 48) of the primary grade population of three inner-city schools (n = 698), mass screening subsequently identified an additional 9.7% (n = 68) of this population. Furthermore, both referred and screened-in groups were rated by teachers on the Child Activity Rating Scale (CARS) as behaving much less adaptively relative to a normative group (n = 285; ps < .001). As expected, the referred children evidenced greatest overall dysfunctioning with most pronounced acting-out and learning problems according to ratings by teachers. In addition, further evidence of the validity of the CARS rating form was demonstrated by the agreement between staff predictions of CARS scores and actual ratings by teachers. The mass screening procedure employed is discussed as an effective procedure and suggestions are offered which could increase its utility.