A Thematic Review of Studies into the Effectiveness of Context-Based Chemistry Curricula

Context-based chemistry education aims at making connections between real life and the scientific content of chemistry courses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate context-based chemistry studies. In looking for the context-based chemistry studies, the authors entered the keywords ??context-based??, ??contextual learning?? and ??chemistry education?? in well-known databases (i.e. Academic Search Complete, Education Research Complete, ERIC, Springer LINK Contemporary). Further, in case the computer search by key words may have missed a rather substantial part of the important literature in the area, the authors also conducted a hand search of the related journals. To present a detailed thematic review of context-based chemistry studies, a matrix was used to summarize the findings by focusing on insights derived from the related studies. The matrix incorporates the following themes: needs, aims, methodologies, general knowledge claims, and implications for teaching and learning, implications for curriculum development and suggestions for future research. The general knowledge claims investigated in this paper were: (a) positive effects of the context-based chemistry studies; (b) caveats, both are examined in terms of students?? attitudes and students?? understanding/cognition. Implications were investigated for practice in context-based chemistry studies, for future research in context-based chemistry studies, and for curriculum developers in context-based chemistry studies. Teachers of context-based courses claimed that the application of the context-based learning approach in chemistry education improved students?? motivation and interest in the subject. This seems to have generated an increase in the number of the students who wish to continue chemistry education at higher levels. However, despite the fact that the majority of the studies have reported advantages of context-based chemistry studies, some of them have also referred to pitfalls, i.e. dominant structure of out-of-school learning, tough nature of some chemistry topics, and teacher anxiety of lower-ability students.     

A Journal from the South: Lithuanian Papers

The Australian peer-reviewed journal Lithuanian Papers has been published since 1987 in Hobart, Tasmania. The editor summarizes its history and invites readers to subscribe.     

Why Do Historical Beeswax Seals Become Brittle Over Time?

ABSTRACT

Mechanical properties of aged beeswax were studied by an indirect measurement, using hydrogenated beeswax as a model material. The adequacy of the model was evaluated by comparison of its chemical composition and thermal properties with those of samples of historical beeswax. It was found that the gradual decrease in content of unsaturated compounds in beeswax contributes significantly to changes of its mechanical properties. As a consequence, beeswax artefacts become increasingly prone to mechanical damage during natural ageing. Understanding the difference between mechanical properties of recent and historical beeswax is primarily important from the point of view of safe handling and storage of such artefacts. Besides, this knowledge could help conservation scientists, e. g. when preparing model samples for testing new conservation methods.     

The Dangers of using Film in Schools

This is an account of a situation which is in no way a fictitious case and one which unfortunately happens only too often.     

PISA and scientific literacy: similarities and differences between the nordic countries

In this paper we have set out to search for similarities and differences between the Nordic countries concerning patterns of competencies defined as scientific literacy in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study. The first part focuses on gender differences concerning the two types of competencies, understanding of scientific concepts versus skills in scientific reasoning, based on analyses of sum scores of groups of items. The second part focuses on differences and similarities between countries based on item‐by‐item analyses. Correlations between each Nordic country (as well as the Nordic group as a whole) and every other country have been used to look for a Nordic pattern. In the last part cluster analysis has been used to see how countries establish clusters and whether these clusters represent meaningful groups in a geographical, cultural or political context.     

Visiting Shrines: A Turkish Religious Practice and Its Mental Health Implications

The purpose of the present study was to explore through qualitative methodology the practice of visiting shrines, a religious practice indigenous to Turkish Muslims, and its potential mental health benefits. Thirteen individuals were interviewed at two shrines in Istanbul, Turkey. The researchers focused on visitors’ presenting issues, beliefs regarding the practice, the mental health benefits of the visit, and the behaviors that the visitors engaged in during their visit. The data were analyzed using the Consensual Qualitative Research method. Five domains emerged from the data: (i) degree of religiosity and duties, (ii) knowledge and beliefs about shrines, (iii) purpose of visits, (iv) activities during the visit, and (v) experience and impact of the visit. The findings were discussed based on the mental health benefits of visiting shrines and the counseling and cultural implications.     

Analogical reasoning for understanding solution rates: students’ conceptual change and chemical explanations

The study aims to demonstrate evidence of (a) students’ conceptual change on solution rates; (b) students’ sub‐microscopic explanations of dissolution; and (c) retention of the concepts of solution rates. The sample consists of 44 Grade 9 students (18 boys and 26 girls) drawn purposively from two different classes (22 each) in the city of Trabzon, Turkey. The current study incorporates multiple methods of data collection: items from a solution concept test, clinical interviews and examination of students’ self‐assessment tasks. The results reveal that there is a statistically significant difference between scores in pre‐test and post‐test and between pre‐test and delayed test (p < 0.05). This research indicates that the intervention has improved students’ understanding of the conceptual relationship between solution rates and the sub‐microscopic explanation of dissolution. It has also helped in overcoming students’ alternative conceptions to some extent. However, alternative conceptions have not been eliminated completely. In the light of the results, this current study suggests that a simple model such as the four‐step constructivist teaching (4E) is efficient.     

The eternal flower of the child: The recognition of childhood in Zeami’s educational theory of Noh theatre

European theorists of childhood still tend to locate the first positive acknowledgements of childhood as a human developmental period in its own positive right between the 16th and 18th century in Europe. Even though the findings of Ariès have been constantly challenged, it still remains a commonplace, especially within the history of education, to refer to Jean-Jacques Rousseau of the 18th century as one of the earliest and most prominent conceptualisers of childhood as a positive period that must not be evaluated in the light of its distance to adulthood but for its inherent value as an important and unmissable period of human life. Such a view is as unhistorical as it is biased and eurocentred. This article endeavours to shed at least a small light on the history of education and of childhood outwith the usual focus. The central objects of examination are the theoretical treatises of Zeami Motokiyo regarding the Noh theatre which have long been recognised as one of the great cultural achievements of humankind. Despite their acknowledged importance, theorists of education have hardly engaged with these treatises even though they present us with a whole theory of education that also embraces a very original and positive theory of childhood. Given that the treatises originate from the 14th-early 15th century, they pre-date everything the typical Western History of Education would bring forth as the beginning of a positive childhood and a pedagogy that acts accordingly.     

A reinterpretation of institutional transformations in European higher education: strategising pluralistic organisations in multiplex environments

The paper draws on institutional theory with special attention to recent contributions that aim at developing its micro-foundations. We address the question of how individual higher education institutions deal with institutional pluralism. We develop an analytical framework inspired by institutional theory, the sensemaking perspective in organisation theory and strategy-as-practice to connect the macro-transformation processes of the organisational field and the micro-processes of organisational strategising.