Classroom factors related to changes in students' conceptions of the nature of science

Scientific literacy implies an adequate understanding of the nature of scientific knowledge. However, little is known about classroom factors that can influence students' conceptions of the nature of science. In the present study, classroom variables that were related to changes in students' conceptions of science were identified. Particular attention was directed toward students' overall conceptions of scientific knowledge and their views of its tentative nature. Twenty-five classroom variables were found to be significantly related to both overall and tentative conceptions, while 12 variables were found to be scale-specific. A comparison between teacher and student conceptions of science did not support the prevalent assumption that a teacher's conception of science is significantly related to changes in students' conceptions of science. “Successful” classes were defined as those exhibiting the greatest student conceptual changes toward the viewpoint held by the teacher, irrespective of the “adequacy” of the teacher's viewpoint. In general, these classes were typified by frequent inquiry-oriented questioning with little emphasis on rote memory. Implicit references to the nature of science were commonly observed. Furthermore, where greatest changes in student conceptions of science were observed, the teachers were pleasant, supportive, and frequently used anecdotes to promote instruction and establish rapport. Emphasis on the depth, breadth, and accuracy of content statistically differentiated between “successful” and “unsuccessful” classes with respect to students' overall conceptions. However, this emphasis on content presentation did not differentiate classes with respect to students' conceptions of the tentative nature of science.     

中学后教育知识产业时代的大学领导与院校研究

产业是看待高等教育的新视角。高等教育产业经历了传统高等教育、大众化高等教育、中学后教育的发展阶段,正在向中学后教育知识产业阶段迈进。多样化、信息通讯革命、学术和院校质量、经济生产力、继续教育市场和全球化等挑战促成了中学后教育知识产业的发展,随之而来的是大学治理、大学领导方式的变革。院校战略规划强调实施,进而促进院校的改善,院校研究在战略规划中起着提供数据、咨询建议的作用。     

RACE, CULTURE, AND THE EDUCATION OF AFRICAN AMERICANS

A bstract .  In this essay, Marvin Lynn explores a range of perspectives on African American education, with particular focus on three works: Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement , by social anthropologist John Ogbu; African-Centered Pedagogy: Developing Schools of Achievement for African American Children , by teacher education expert Peter Murrell; and African American Literacies , by Elaine Richardson, professor of English and applied linguistics. Lynn draws on Charles Valentine's sociological framework for understanding culture in order to interrogate how the concept of culture is used in these works. Lynn concludes that critical race theory in education — a rapidly emerging discourse on schooling and inequality — may be a useful tool for lucidly framing the conditions under which African Americans are educated as well as the possible solutions to the perennial problems faced by this historically marginalized group.     

Organizing evaluations for use as a management tool

The theme of this journal issue - evaluation as an educational management tool - is critical and timely. Today's administrators face a dual challenge: to demonstrate how well their school systems are performing and to take greater responsibility in that demonstration.     

What is past may be prologue after all

This article is based on Roger Baron's M.A. thesis, “Facilitation of Short‐Term Learning by Loudness Change of Selected Information Bearing Units and of Arbitrarily Selected Passages within Connected Speech,” completed in the Department of Telecommunications, University of Southern California, in 1966. Mr. Baron is now intimately conducting researches in Navy radio pioneer S. C. Hooper.