Anonymity in classroom voting and debating

The advent of networked environments into the classroom is changing classroom debates in many ways. This article addresses one key attribute of these environments, namely anonymity, to explore its consequences for co-present adolescents anonymous, by virtue of the computer system, to peers not to teachers. Three studies with 16-17 year-olds used a vote-debate-vote scenario to explore in Study 1 (N = 59) anonymous, public or private voting with public oral debate; Study 2 (N = 79) anonymous, public or private voting with public written debate; and Study 3 (N = 84) anonymous or public voting and debating. Students were more likely to change their views after debate and show less convergence to group norms if voting anonymously. However, anonymous debate created an increased amount of off-task behaviour, but only at the beginning of the lesson. In general, anonymity was found to bring positive benefits to classroom argumentation.     

“Ready,Set, Grow!” Nurturing Young Children Through Gardening

This editorial describes one class’ experience of participating in a community-funded gardening project entitled “Ready, Set, Grow!” Children at risk who lived in an urban setting were encouraged to plant fruits, vegetables, and flowers in order to learn about healthy eating and active living. Numerous easy to implement strategies for how educators can replicate this program and engage young children in a container gardening program in their own classrooms are included throughout the text.     

An investigation into an interaction programme for children on the autism spectrum: outcomes for children,perceptions of schools and a model for training

The objective of this study was to investigate a system of training designed by a Local Education Authority support service to promote interactive skill building with children on the autism spectrum. Using a case study approach, the study focused thematically upon outcomes for children, perceptions of schools regarding impact of the training programme and key features of the system of delivering training. Five schools (four primary mainstream and on primary special) which had completed training during a one‐year period participated in the research. Data was gathered using multi‐methods including questionnaires, semi‐structured interviews and document scrutiny. Findings indicate a number of positive outcomes for children, including enhanced communication skills and the development of friendships with peers. The model of training was perceived to be effective by all participants, with a focus upon increased staff confidence in order to become trainer of other members of staff. The training model comprises a number of features essential to effectiveness, including the development of partnerships between all stakeholders. The model of training is seen as a system through which continuation of interaction techniques in schools is promoted, initially with input from a local authority specialist, and with the aims of independent continuation of the programme and practices. This case study reflects the ability of support services to identify innovative ways of providing services, underpinned by the notion of promoting inclusive practices: this holistic package of support could serve as a model for other types of interventions with children with a range of needs. Conclusions indicate that involvement of children as active participants at the inception of the programme should be considered: further research ought also to include the voices of children in order to seek insights into the perceptions of the programme.     

Promoting and Providing Expert Guidance in Work-intensive Clinical Settings

This paper discusses how expert guidance can be best provided in work intensive clinical settings. The adequacy for supporting learning in the clinical practicum for health care disciplines is often complicated by the intensive work practices in healthcare settings. Often, clinicians’ work is so intense that the scope for providing close guidance for students is quite restricted. The case advanced here draws on a range of empirical work to propose how clinician-student interactions might be optimized through the provision of a clinical supervisor to assist clinicians develop collegial relationships and acquire skills in guided learning such as demonstrating and role-modeling. These roles can contribute in essential ways to the development of learning environments where clinicians have the opportunity to facilitate the learning of others as part of their workload, and without being burdened by the requirements of teaching and assessment processes. It differs from other approaches because although clinicians partner students and provide feedback to them, clinicians are not expected to formally assess or award a grade for student performance. Assessment and remedial action, when required, is undertaken by the role of a designated clinical supervisor qualified to perform such activities.     

Students' illustrations of the human nervous system as a formative assessment tool

The purpose of this study was to explore students' knowledge and learning of the human nervous system (HNS) in an introductory undergraduate Human Anatomy and Physiology course. Classroom observations, demographic data, a preinstructional unit test with drawings, and a postinstructional unit test with drawings were used to identify students' overall knowledge and learning during the unit of study. Quantitative and qualitative analysis indicate that students have an initially poor understanding of the nervous system with many prevailing alternative conceptions. These alternative conceptions include both structural and functional components and often incorporate colloquial use of language. Findings reveal students include the heart as a major component of the HNS, a reflex arc illustrated by the action rather than structure, and types of neurons (unipolar, bipolar, or multipolar) differentiated by charge or number of cell bodies rather than structural arrangement. Classroom instruction coupled with concurrent laboratory participation provided experiences for students to overcome some of their alternative conceptions. The finding of this research suggest that instructors should be aware of the students' prevailing alternative conceptions prior to instruction and that use of drawings as a formative assessment tool is an excellent way to collect such information. Anat Sci Educ 3:227–233, 2010. © 2010 American Association of Anatomists.     

Comparison of Views of the Nature of Science between Natural Science and Nonscience Majors

Science educators have the common goal of helping students develop scientific literacy, including understanding of the nature of science (NOS). University faculties are challenged with the need to develop informed NOS views in several major student subpopulations, including science majors and nonscience majors. Research into NOS views of undergraduates, particularly science majors, has been limited. In this study, NOS views of undergraduates in introductory environmental science and upper-level animal behavior courses were measured using Likert items and open-ended prompts. Analysis revealed similarities in students'' views between the two courses; both populations held a mix of naïve, transitional, and moderately informed views. Comparison of pre- and postcourse mean scores revealed significant changes in NOS views only in select aspects of NOS. Student scores on sections addressing six aspects of NOS were significantly different in most cases, showing notably uninformed views of the distinctions between scientific theories and laws. Evidence-based insight into student NOS views can aid in reforming undergraduate science courses and will add to faculty and researcher understanding of the impressions of science held by undergraduates, helping educators improve scientific literacy in future scientists and diverse college graduates.     

通过话轮交替模式分析《茶花女》中的人物性格

本文运用会话分析中的话轮交替模式来分析Alexandre Dumas fils的剧本《茶花女》第九章的一段对话,展示戏剧中人物性格。本文中具体分析话轮交替机制主要包括的三个方面,即话轮分配、话轮分布和话轮序列。     

Connecting high school physics experiences,outcome expectations,physics identity,and physics career choice: A gender study

This study explores how students' physics identities are shaped by their experiences in high school physics classes and by their career outcome expectations. The theoretical framework focuses on physics identity and includes the dimensions of student performance, competence, recognition by others, and interest. Drawing data from the Persistence Research in Science and Engineering (PRiSE) project, which surveyed college English students nationally about their backgrounds, high school science experiences, and science attitudes, the study uses multiple regression to examine the responses of 3,829 students from 34 randomly selected US colleges/universities. Confirming the salience of the identity dimension for young persons' occupational plans, the measure for students' physics identity used in this study was found to strongly predict their intended choice of a physics career. Physics identity, in turn, was found to correlate positively with a desire for an intrinsically fulfilling career and negatively with a desire for personal/family time and opportunities to work with others. Physics identity was also positively predicted by several high school physics characteristics/experiences such as a focus on conceptual understanding, real‐world/contextual connections, students answering questions or making comments, students teaching classmates, and having an encouraging teacher. Even though equally beneficial for both genders, females reported experiencing a conceptual focus and real‐world/contextual connections less frequently. The explicit discussion of under‐representation of women in science was positively related to physics identity for female students but had no impact for male students. Surprisingly, several experiences that were hypothesized to be important for females' physics identity were found to be non‐significant including having female scientist guest speakers, discussion of women scientists' work, and the frequency of group work. This study exemplifies a useful theoretical framework based on identity, which can be employed to further examine persistence in science, and illustrates possible avenues for change in high school physics teaching. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 978–1003, 2010     

Labelling and self‐esteem: the impact of using specific vs. generic labels

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between being labelled either as having dyslexia or as having general special educational needs (SEN) and a child's self‐esteem. Seventy‐five children aged between 8 and 15 years categorised as having dyslexia (N = 26), as having general SEN (N = 26) or as having no learning difficulties (N = 23), completed an age‐appropriate version of the Culture‐Free Self‐Esteem Inventory and a standard test of reading ability. When the self‐esteem scores of the groups were compared (with the discrepancy between reading and chronological age being partialled out), it was found that the self‐esteem scores of those in the ‘general SEN’ group had significantly lower self‐esteem scores than those in both the ‘dyslexia’ group and the ‘control’ group. There was no significant difference between the self‐esteem scores of the ‘dyslexia’ and the ‘control’ group. On the basis of these findings, it is suggested that being labelled as having a general SEN may negatively affect children's self‐esteem because, unlike the label dyslexia, this label offers very little in the way of an explanation for the child's academic difficulties and because targeted interventions are not as available for those with a less specific label.