The PISA Tasks: Unveiling Prospective Elementary Mathematics Teachers’ Difficulties with Contextual,Conceptual, and Procedural Knowledge

The aim of this mixed methods study was to investigate the difficulties prospective elementary mathematics teachers have in solving the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 released items. A mathematics test consisting of 26 PISA items was administered, followed by interviews. Multiple data were utilized to provide rich insights into the types of mathematical knowledge that a particular item requires and prospective teachers’ difficulties in using these knowledge types. A sample of 52 prospective teachers worked the mathematics test, and 12 of them were interviewed afterwards. The data-sets were complementary: the quantitative data showed that PISA items could be categorized under contextual, conceptual, and procedural knowledge and indicated the most frequent difficulties in the combined contextual, conceptual, and procedural knowledge items. The qualitative data revealed that few prospective teachers could give mathematical explanations for conceptual knowledge items, and that their contextual knowledge was fragmented. Educational implications were discussed.     

“The Day That Changed My Life,Again”: The Testimonio of a Latino DACAmented Teacher

This article, based on the testimonio of a Latino DACAmented teacher, underscores the impacts and benefits of immigration policies for individuals and their communities. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) has benefitted about 750,000 people; most have used the benefits to pursue higher education and to enter public service careers, including teaching and nursing. Mr. Juárez’s testimonio walks us through his educational trajectory and current role as an educator. This testimonio contributes to current debates and struggles demanding the new U.S. presidential administration to maintain DACA. As researchers, we urge students, educators, policymakers, and the incoming administration to listen to the testimonios of DACA beneficiaries prior to making hasty decisions that will have dire consequences for individuals, families, and the nation, as a whole.     

On the nature of problems

This paper is an attempt at clarifying the concept of problem, and originates from a concern for improving the teaching of problem solving.The following categories are identified and employed in the analysis of several examples of problems and related notions: (a) the formulation of a problem, i.e. the definition of the task to be performed, (b) the context in which the problem is embedded, (c) the set of suitable solutions, (d) the methods of approach that could be employed in solving the problem.Commonalities as well as contrasts among specific examples are used to identify important elements of problems. The study suggests a possible classification of types of problems of educational interest, and draws some implications for the choice and use of problems in classroom instruction.     

‘Let's Save Energy!’: incorporating an environmental education dimension in the teaching of energy

A curricular unit called ‘Let's Save Energy!.’ was developed and tested as part of a project of Science Materials for Secondary Education. The project is focused on human needs, and how Science relates to them. This paper discusses how E.E. is built into a ‘traditional’ science topic (Energy), and some of the activities used to develop an awareness about the need and ways to ‘save’ Energy. A simulation game is presented with a focus on international co‐operation and environmental protection. The process of the development of the materials, and some results of its use in the classroom with 15/16‐year‐old pupils are discussed.     

Adolescent moral judgement: A study of UK secondary school pupils

Despite a recent world‐wide upsurge of academic interest in moral and character education, little is known about pupils’ character development in schools, especially in the UK context. The authors used a version of the Intermediate Concept Measure for Adolescents, involving dilemmas, to assess an important component of character—moral judgement—among 4053 pupils aged 14–15. Data were generated in 33 UK schools of varying types between February 2013 and June 2014. Results showed that compared with US samples, the pupils’ scores were, on average, low, suggestive of tendencies towards ‘self‐interest’, ‘not getting involved’ and ‘conformity/loyalty to friends’. Judgements varied by subscales assessing ‘action’ and ‘justification’ choices; pupils more successfully identified good actions than good justifications, but generally struggled more to successfully identify poor actions and poor justifications. Highest scores were for a dilemma emphasising ‘self‐discipline’ and lowest for ‘honesty’, with ‘courage’ in between. Overall average results were significantly and positively associated with being female, having (and practising) a religion and doing specific extra‐curricular activities. Differences in schools were also noted, although the kinds of school (e.g. public/private, religious/secular) were unrelated to student scores.     

Methodology and Politics: A Proposal to Teach the Structuring Ideas of the Philosophy of Science through the Pendulum

This article refers to a framework to teach the philosophy of science to prospective and in-service science teachers. This framework includes two components: a list of the main schools of twentieth-century philosophy of science (called stages) and a list of their main theoretical ideas (called strands). In this paper, I show that two of these strands, labelled intervention/method and context/values, can be taught to science teachers using some of the instructional activities sketched in Michael Matthewss Time for Science Education. I first explain the meaning of the two selected strands. Then I show how the pendulum can be used as a powerful organiser to address specific issues within the nature of science, as suggested by Matthews.     

Learning paths in synthesis writing: Which learning path contributes most to which learning outcome?

Instructional Science - This paper presents a secondary analysis of data collected during an intervention study in which students learnt to synthesise pairs of texts presenting opposite views on...     

Technology-Enhanced Formative Assessment of Plant Identification

Developing plant identification skills is an important part of the curriculum of any botany course in higher education. Frequent practice with dried and fresh plants is necessary to recognize the diversity of forms, states, and details that a species can present. We have developed a web-based assessment system for mobile devices that is able to pose appropriate questions according to the location of the student. A student’s location can be obtained using the device position or by scanning a QR code attached to a dried plant sheet in a herbarium or to a fresh plant in an arboretum. The assessment questions are complemented with elaborated feedback that, according to the students’ responses, provides indications of possible mistakes and correct answers. Three experiments were designed to measure the effectiveness of the formative assessment using dried and fresh plants. Three questionnaires were used to evaluate the system performance from the students’ perspective. The results clearly indicate that formative assessment is objectively effective compared to traditional methods and that the students’ attitudes towards the system were very positive.     

Evaluating student allocation in the Portuguese public higher education system

This paper characterizes and evaluates the student allocation in the Portuguese public higher education system. It describes the supply and demand sides of the system by looking at the numerus clausus across areas of study and institutions, institutions’ degree of diversity, and performance and adjustment indicators based on students’ revealed preferences. Performance indicators quantify the adequacy between demand and supply, across institutions and fields of study, and gauge the performance of public higher education institutions in the competition for candidates. Adjustment indicators allow us to predict the potential impact of changes in higher education regulations on student allocation and its stability. According to these indicators, such changes could result in an expansion for some institutions and fields of study, whereas other institutions might face a reduction.