Science teachers' social conscience and the role of controversial issues in the teaching of science

The increasing number and variety of controversial scientific and technological issues with which citizens are confronted has led, in recent years, to calls for a schooling of science which prepares future citizens for participation in resolving such issues. We examined the social conscience of science teachers as it bears on the teaching of controversial issues. The study was conducted by interviewing teachers in two widely different English-speaking locations, Scotland and the United States. The research explores the perceptions of teachers with regard to the teaching of controversial issues, the problem of handling personal value positions when dealing with issues, and the tension that exists between the teaching of controversial issues and traditional value-free science curricula. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Exciting nonfiction

Nonfiction for children and young adults long suffered from a reputation for dullness in both content and presentation. In recent years, however, the genre has been re-created with entertaining writing, focused treatment of subjects, supplementary backmatter, and an emphasis on design and illustration. In this article, a nonfiction writer describes some methods for making such books exciting and readable. James Cross Giblin is the author of eleven, nonfiction books for young readers, many of which have won awards and honors. His two most recent titles areThe Truth About Unicorns andThe Riddle of the Rosetta Stome: Key to Ancient Egypt. Mr. Giblin is also contributing editor at Clarion Books, and he lectures frequently at conferences of librarians, teachers, and writers.     

Dynamic Self-Regulation: The Driving Force Behind Academic Achievement

Research has shown that the most successful students are those who have a propensity to control their own effort to learn. They take personal responsibility for regulating the way in which they approach their studies. Traditionally, it was believed that such self-regulation occurred only through the practice of active, deliberate learning strategies. This study explores an expanded conception of self-regulated learning, one that includes not only the active, strategic control but an internally driven or dynamic disposition to learn as well. Its findings suggest that the natural dynamic component, reflecting qualities such as curiosity, enthusiasm, willingness to take risks, and persistence, actually underlies and drives the strategic behavior. Whether these dynamic qualities can be taught, just as active self-regulation, remains a question. In this study where dynamic qualities were valued highly and the environment was supportive and expressive of a culture of learning, initial findings demonstrated that a sizable portion of students who were low dynamic at pre course changed to high dynamic by post course.     

Social coping and self-concept among young gifted students in Ireland and the United States: a cross-cultural study

Social coping and self-concept were explored among Irish (n = 115) and American (n = 134) grades 3–8 students. Denying one’s giftedness or the impact it has on peer relationships were associated with poor self-concept in both samples. Among Irish students, denying giftedness was associated with more positive self-concept when paired with a high activity level. Engaging in many activities in the US sample and helping one’s peers in the Irish sample were positive predictors of academic self-concept. Findings suggest young gifted students may benefit from learning more about their exceptional abilities and their impact on peers. They should also be encouraged to engage in extracurricular activities and find ways to use their exceptional abilities to support their peers.     

Collateral Information for Equating in Small Samples: A Preliminary Investigation

This article describes a preliminary investigation of an empirical Bayes (EB) procedure for using collateral information to improve equating of scores on test forms taken by small numbers of examinees. Resampling studies were done on two different forms of the same test. In each study, EB and non-EB versions of two equating methods—chained linear and chained mean—were applied to repeated small samples drawn from a large data set collected for a common-item equating. The criterion equating was the chained linear equating in the large data set. Equatings of other forms of the same test provided the collateral information. New-form sample size was varied from 10 to 200; reference-form sample size was constant at 200. One of the two new forms did not differ greatly in difficulty from its reference form, as was the case for the equatings used as collateral information. For this form, the EB procedure improved the accuracy of equating with new-form samples of 50 or fewer. The other new form was much more difficult than its reference form; for this form, the EB procedure made the equating less accurate.     

Argumentation: A strategy for improving achievement and revealing scientific identities

In this paper we explore the relationship between learning gains, measured through pre‐assessment and post‐assessment, and engagement in scientific argumentation. In order to do so, this paper examines group discourse and individual learning during the implementation of NASA Classroom of the Future’s BioBLAST!® (BB) software program in a high school biology classroom. We found that the argumentative structures, the quality of these structures, and the identities that students take on during collaborative group work are critical in influencing student learning and achievement in science. We provide recommendations for instructors implementing argumentation in their science classrooms, and provide suggestions for the development of future research in this area.