Developing an Understanding of Chemistry: A case study of one Swedish student's rich conceptualisation for making sense of upper secondary school chemistry

In this paper, we report a case study of a 16-year-old Swedish upper secondary student's developing understanding of key concept areas studied in his upper secondary school chemistry course. This study illustrates how the thinking of an individual learner, Jesper, evolves over a school year in response to formal instruction in a particular educational context. Jesper presented a range of ideas, some of which matched intended teaching whilst others were quite inconsistent with canonical chemistry. Of particular interest, research data suggest that his initial alternative conceptions influenced his thinking about subsequent teaching of chemistry subject matter, illustrating how students' alternative conceptions interact with formal instruction. Our findings support the claims of some researchers that alternative conceptions may be stable and tenacious in the context of instruction. Jesper's rich conceptualisation of matter at submicroscopic scales drew upon intuitions about the world that led to teaching being misinterpreted to develop further alternative conceptions. Yet his intuitive thinking also offered clear potential links with canonical scientific concepts that could have been harnessed to channel his developing thinking. These findings support the argument that identifying students' intuitive thinking and how it develops in different instructional contexts can support the development of more effective science pedagogy.     

Conceptions of assessment: trainee teachers' practice and values

This study examines the values and practice in relation to assessment of a sample of 220 trainee teachers studying for a Postgraduate Certificate in Education, an initial teacher training and education (ITET) course, at the University of Cambridge, UK. The survey instrument was drawn from James and Pedder (2006 James, M. and Pedder, D. 2006. Beyond method: Assessment and learning practices and values. The Curriculum Journal, 17(2): 109–138. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]), and was composed of questionnaire items that sought to elicit how trainees valued different classroom assessment practices, and the extent to which their own teaching complied with such values. The study draws additionally on the findings of James and Pedder (2006 James, M. and Pedder, D. 2006. Beyond method: Assessment and learning practices and values. The Curriculum Journal, 17(2): 109–138. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) to compare and contrast results with those for qualified teachers. Item and factor analyses revealed three dimensions that underpin trainees' classroom practice and values (promoting learning autonomy, performance orientation, making learning explicit). Values-practice gaps were greatest on promoting learning autonomy and performance orientation. Trainees valued practices associated with the former more than they implemented them in their teaching, while they implemented practices associated with the latter more than predicted by their values. Values-practice gaps suggested that trainees were constrained from implementing their values to a greater extent than qualified teachers, particularly with respect to these two factors.     

English secondary students’ thinking about the status of scientific theories: consistent,comprehensive, coherent and extensively evidenced explanations of aspects of the natural world – or just ‘an idea someone has’

Teaching about the nature of science (NOS) is seen as a priority for science education in many national contexts. The present paper focuses on one central issue in learning about NOS: understanding the nature and status of scientific theories. A key challenge in teaching about NOS is to persuade students that scientific knowledge is generally robust and reliable, yet also in principle always open to challenge and modification. Theories play a central role, as they are a form of conjectural knowledge that over time may be abandoned, replaced, modified, yet sometimes become well established as current best scientific understanding. The present paper reports on findings from interviews with 13–14 year olds in England where target knowledge presents theories as ‘consistent, comprehensive, coherent and extensively evidenced explanations of aspects of the natural world’. Student thinking reflected a two-tier typology of scientific knowledge in which largely unsupported imaginative ideas (‘theories’) became transformed into fairly definitive knowledge (such as laws) through relatively straightforward testing. These results are considered in relation to research into intellectual development which indicates that effective teaching in this area requires careful scaffolding of student learning, but has potential to contribute to supporting intellectual development across the curriculum.     

‘They still use some of their past’: historical salience in elementary children's chronological thinking

Fifty‐eight students at seven grade levels (kindergarten through sixth) from three population groups (urban, suburban and rural) were presented with the task of chronologically ordering a set of nine historical pictures and ‘thinking aloud’ about the task. The results of this study provide increased evidence regarding the kind and sources of children's historical knowledge, and how they deploy that knowledge. The most accessible historical knowledge for early and middle grade children apparently relates to changes in material culture and the patterns of everyday life. It appears, too, that the intertexts that inform children's historical understanding, especially prior to fourth grade, provide better information about material culture than about other aspects of change over time. In addition, some children at all grade levels linked history to such sociocultural issues as race and gender. Finally, by fifth grade, children were learning a new reference system that consisted of specific eras (Colonial, Revolution), events (Boston Massacre, War of 1812) and relationships (British taxes, lack of colonial representation creates pre‐Revolutionary tensions) that allowed them to make more interpretations reflective of the academic discipline of history (British and colonists had legitimate but differing points of view). Children's willingness to engage in this new genre and the facility with which some students managed the transition have important implications for instruction.     

Knowing and Learning about Science in Primary School ‘Communities of Science Practice’: The Views of Participating Scientists in the MyScience Initiative

MyScience is a primary science education initiative in which being in a community of practice is integral to the learning process. One component of this initiative involves professional scientists interacting with primary school communities which are navigating their way towards sustainable ‘communities of practice’ around the ‘domain’ of ‘investigating scientifically’. This paper describes the ongoing journey to date of eleven scientists (six astronomers and five engineers) who actively participated in MyScience over an extended period. Their views of interactions with teachers and students were analysed using attributes associated with both ‘communities of practice’ and the ‘nature of science’. Findings reveal new understandings about the evolving characteristics associated with the development of such school-community collaborations as well as affordances and barriers that may influence their further growth. The influence of these scientists’ own ‘community of science practices’ may account for some of the findings. Implications for science teaching and learning in primary school community of practice settings are discussed.     

Interpreting differences between the United States and New Zealand university students’ engagement scores as measured by the NSSE and AUSSE

Press releases concerning the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE) results warn that university students in Australia and New Zealand are less engaged than their peers at United States institutions. Such warnings about student engagement and interactions then become targets for improvement on Australasian universities’ strategic plans. In considering New Zealand university students’ survey responses, we examined AUSSE and the US National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) data for 2009 and 2010 with respect to all items that load on the five scales these instruments share. We argue that most of the observed differences in responses, response distributions and subsequent scale scores can be attributed to differences in educational pathways and cultures between the USA and New Zealand. Consequently, considerable caution in these trans-Pacific comparisons is warranted, particularly when formulating policy and practices to improve student engagement in New Zealand based on methods that have been employed in different educational contexts.     

The role and impact of the Regional Curriculum Support Service in Irish primary education

The Regional Curriculum Support Service (RCSS) was established to provide locally based advice and support to principals and teachers in relation to the implementation of the Primary School Curriculum (1999). Drawing on data from a large-scale national evaluation, this article traces the purpose, structure and operation of the RCSS and provides commentary on the achievements and challenges associated with this initiative.     

Variatio Est Mater Studiorum

There is no learning without discernment. And there is no discernment without variation. If good teaching is about making learning possible, how do good teachers help students experience variation? In this paper, we argue that they constitute a space of learning which contains those aspects of the object of learning that are subject to variation simultaneously. For learning to occur, whether it be in the formal learning contexts established by these teachers, or in the less formal contexts of participation in social practices, there must necessarily be a certain pattern of variation present to experience, and this pattern must be experienced.