Constructivism and science education: Some epistemological problems

The paper outlines the significant influence of constructivism in contemporary science and mathematics education and emphasizes the central role that epistemology plays in constructivist theory and practice. It is claimed that constructivism is basically a variant of old-style empiricist epistemology, which had its origins in Aristotle's individualist and sense-based theory of knowledge. There are well-known problems with empiricism from which constructivism appears unable to dissociate itself.     

Education research and the natural sciences: What can be learned from chaos theory?

This article explores some aspects of the relationship between education research and the natural sciences. It begins by pointing out that empirical or positivist science of the Modern era has had a powerful influence on the method and on the products of education research. From there the article moves to discuss the post modern sciences of the current era and speculative examples are given of the way they too may influence the method and the products of education research. In conclusion it is argued that this can and will occur as both education research and post modern science inhabit the same cultural and epistemological field.     

Support provision for students with Special Educational Needs in Irish Primary Schools

The provision of support for students with special educational needs in schools is seen as a critical factor in the development of inclusive education. The means through which support is provided, continues to be based upon assumptions that individualized learning approaches may remediate learning difficulties. This paper reports findings from a longitudinal study of provision for students with special educational needs conducted in The Republic of Ireland. The authors identify in‐class and withdrawal approaches to support and consider the impact and efficacy of these. It is suggested that the withdrawal of students from class continues to be a dominant model, and that this approach has limitations and may not be conducive to the promotion of inclusive practice. Drawing upon data obtained through interviews with service users (students and parents/carers), and service providers (teachers, paraprofessionals, principals), and those gained from a national survey, the authors present the authentic voices of individuals to illustrate the experiences and opinions of those directly involved in special education in schools.     

Impact of a Temporary Food Shortage on Children and Their Mothers

Kenya experienced a severe drought and temporary food shortage during a study on mild malnutrition. Effects of the temporary food shortage on energy intake, weight, and behaviors were evaluated in schoolchildren and in toddlers and their mothers. Schoolchildren were seriously affected, showing significant declines in their energy intake, age-corrected weight, activity on the playground, and classroom attention. Toddlers appear to have been somewhat protected since their energy intake, weight, and play and language behaviors were stable. Maternal caregiving of toddlers declined for the group as a whole, but individually those mothers who maintained family food levels delegated responsibility for toddlers to other caregivers. While the food shortage affected poorer families more than those of higher SES, declines in the behaviors of schoolchildren occurred regardless of SES and previous level of nutrition, suggesting that food shortages can have behavioral consequences for schoolchildren in all communities.     

Accelerating the development of formal thinking in middle and high school students III: Testing the permanency of effects

Two years after the end of a two-year intervention program intended to promote formal operational thinking, the achievement of students initially 12 years of age was tested by their results in British National examinations, taken at age 16. The intervention methodology was set within the context of science learning, so the difference between experimental and control classes was examined first in terms of their science results. The boys achieved an average of 40% more grades of C or above than the controls. This grade is the minimum criterion for higher education in Britain. The achievement was not found equally in all students: About 40% of the boys and 25% of the girls showed effect sizes of two standard deviations in relation to comparable controls, whereas the others did not differ from the controls. Both boys and girls showed significantly higher achievement in English than comparable controls, with an effect size about half that for science. The boys—but not the girls—also showed higher achievement in mathematics. It is argued that this evidence supports the interpretation that the students' increased science achievement was caused by increased general intellectual capacity, and not just by improved domain-specific skills.     

Discussion of competences at university level: review of the competency profile of social educators / Discusión de competencias en el ámbito universitario: revisión del perfil del educador social

Training in competences helps university students develop in a comprehensive way that is oriented towards working in their chosen profession. The profession focused on in this study is that of social educator. Degree programmes related to this profession are relatively new and their implementation is also open to variation. As a result of this, a review of the competency profile of the profession is considered necessary. The study presented here aims to validate the competences of this profession by means of expert judgement. The panel of experts assesses the relevance and clarity of each element, as well as giving their opinions on them. The contributions provided result in a set of qualitative and quantitative data whose analysis helps to redefine a profile comprising 23 competences distributed across two dimensions: basic competences (14) and professional competences (9).