Misconceptions and light: A curriculum approach

This paper describes the method used by the author to teach a class of Year 8 students about light and its properties so that the students’ own ideas were considered and their misconceptions addressed. To achieve this a series of teaching modules were designed using a model of conceptual change suggested by Posner and his colleagues at Cornell University. Students’ prior misconceptions about light were identified using a pretest developed by the author. After teaching a posttest was used to determine if the teaching method resulted in a lower level of misconceptions. Interviews from seven students selected at random and the observations gathered by a participant observor were used to verify results. It was found that the teaching method resulted in a lower level of misconceptions in the sample and this was confirmed by the results of the interviews and participant observation. This paper concentrates on the design and content of one of the teaching modules. Specializations: students’ misconceptions in science.     

Serving the distant student: Implications for external degree programming

The results of a questionnaire survey of 132 students enrolled in the University Without Walls (UWW) program at the University of Minnesota regarding how they assessed their UWW experience in general and the services provided by faculty in particular is presented. Readers will find a special focus on how local students who reside within commuting distance to campus compare with students who live a distance from campus. Comparisons are made in terms of students' frequency and mode of communication with faculty, general satisfaction with UWW, and satisfaction with faculty services. The majority of students responded favorably to the faculty with whom they worked. Implications of the study are considered for enhancing educational services for distant students.     

"What’s your science teacher like?": Using students to appraise teaching and teachers

The evaluations of teacher performance as carried out in most schools are brief, superficial affairs involving a few moments of classroom observation, followed by the completion of an evaluation report form which is read and signed by all interested parties, filed away and never referred to again. Such cursory processes do very little to promote the professional development of teachers, and yet the use of alternative schemes for appraising teaching or providing feedback to teachers is still not widespread in Australian schools. Students can play a role in providing feedback to teachers, yet whether this feedback is valid and welcomed is still a contested issue. Some published research shows that it can be a valid and valuable exercise. This paper reports some work-in-progress in which students in secondary science classes in Tasmania were interviewed, with some very insightful responses being provided. Broader issues associated with "Teacher Appraisal" are also discussed. Specializations: Science teacher education, teacher appraisal, classroom practice, environmental education.     

Sci-Tec: Evaluating a non-deficit model of in-service

The Sci-Tec project was based on an interactive, non-deficit model of in-service in which the fundamental principle was to value the expertise of all participants, and to encourage them to share that expertise with others. As part of the unfolding of the project, the participants also identified various areas of need as they arose, and these too became elements of the in-service agenda. The model has proved to be robust when applied in a wide range of schools, and with teachers who originally expressed widely varying degrees of confidence and interest in teaching primary science and technology. Specializations: primary science in-service education, curriculum leadership Specializations: in-service and pre-service primary science and technology     

A comparison of author intentions and student perceptions about textbook characteristics

The textbook is often accepted as a fundamental resource in a science classroom because the assumption is made that students are able to interpret a text in a manner which is congruent with the author's intentions. For example, where an author seeks to promote student cognition through the inclusion of specific elements, or implies a high degree of social awareness through the incorporation of societal characteristics in a text, it is expected that students will, at least, perceive these emphases. This research questions these assumptions and suggests that if textbook authors with to communicate such ideas to students, then they should do so in an overt manner. Specializations: Science Education, pedagogy. Specializations: Science Education.     

Renovation of Adult Education by the New Media

In most developing countries, that are confronted, as we know, with so many complex problems, no one can deny that the most important are those of education and training.     

Heart Rate Response to a Modified Harvard Step Test: Males and Females,Age 10–69

Abstract

The residents of an entire community are being examined periodically in an effort to determine the etiologic factors which lead to impaired health. As a part of this study, a submaximal test consisting of stepping onto an 8-inch bench at the rate of 24 steps/ minute for three minutes was administered to 2696 males and 2568 females, aged 10–69. The ECG, from which heart rate (HR) was measured, was recorded before, during, and after the exercise. Resting, exercise, and postexercise HR's are significantly higher for females at all ages. Pre-exercise HR decreases from age 10 to about age 25 in males and females, and shows little age change thereafter. In both males and females the terminal (3 minute) HR decreases from age 10 to 35, remains fairly constant to age 55, and decreases thereafter. The postexercise HR decreases again at age 65 in males and females. Reclining pre-exercise HR is moderately correlated with the exercise and postexercise HR at all ages in males and females. However, there is only a low correlation between either sitting or standing anticipatory HR and exercise and postexercise HR's. The HR's at 2′30” and 3′ during exercise are highly correlated as are the various postexercise HR's with each other at all ages and in both males and females. The correlation of the exercise HR and postexercise HR is moderately high. Percentile ranks for males and females (age 10–69) are given for the 1-minute postexercise HR's.     

How Effective is Our University? A Study of Graduates from the University of Malawi

The diminished resources available to a University in a developing country which has at the same time great national responsibilities require that the University will aim to be as efficient and effective as possible. This study of graduates of the University of Malawi attempts to measure the effectiveness of the University and to raise policy issues for the improvement of quality.