Patterns of participation in year 9 academic testing and factors predicting absence on the day of test

Policies aiming to improve educational outcomes are typically based on academic testing data. However, such data only reflect the performance of students who completed the tests. It is possible that students who were absent have shared characteristics. The proportion of students absent out of all eligible school students and whether they have shared characteristics has not been investigated, as this is only possible through the use of linked administrative data. Participants were born in Western Australia in 1994 and 1995, and their birth records were linked to participation status in the Year 9 academic tests to determine the proportion of students who were absent. Logistic regression was conducted to investigate characteristics which predicted absence on test day. A proportion of non-Aboriginal (3.2 %) and Aboriginal students (21.9 %) were absent on test day. Risk factors which predicted the absence included contact with Child Protection and Family Services, history of maternal mental health problems, and fathers aged below 20 years at the time of their child’s birth. A significant proportion of students was absent and therefore not represented in academic achievement information. These students were more likely to have experienced adverse events and therefore are not randomly absent. As these data are typically used to inform policies which aim to improve educational outcomes, they may lack the necessary information to adequately address the complex needs of students who are absent on test day. However, findings suggest that service providers, as well as schools may play an important role in encouraging participation in school.     

Students in Australian Catholic and Independent Schools Have More Positive Learning Environments: Evidence From the 2012 PISA Study

Critics of Catholic and independent (nongovernment) schools in Australia contend that the higher levels of performance of students in nongovernment schools can be dismissed as simply a function of student- and especially school-level socioeconomic status (school-SES). A recent article extends this critique to school-sector differences in students’ evaluations of their teachers and schools, arguing that the observable school-sector differences are because of differences in school-SES, not because of school-sector differences in their teachers and schools. In response, this article reviews these arguments and focuses on school-sector differences in students’ evaluations of their teachers and schools using the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation’s (OECD) measures in the PISA 2009 study. On eight of the 10 attitudinal measures, students attending Catholic and independent schools have more positive evaluations and these school-sector differences survive controls for students’ SES, their overall level of achievement and school-SES, which has no substantive influence. Although the effect sizes are generally small (0.06–0.26) their combined influence means that nongovernment school students enjoy superior learning environments which is likely to contribute to their generally higher levels of academic performance in senior secondary school.     

Understanding Linear Function: a Comparison of Selected Textbooks from England and Shanghai

This study describes a comparison of how worked examples in selected textbooks from England and Shanghai presented possible learning trajectories towards understanding linear function. Six selected English textbooks and one Shanghai compulsory textbook were analysed with regards to the understanding required for pure mathematics knowledge in linear function. Understanding was defined as being at five levels: Dependent Relationship, Connecting Representations, Local Properties Noticing, Object Analysis and Inventising. These levels were developed by examining the most prominent theories from the existing literature on understanding function. Findings suggested that the English textbooks constrained the structural aspect of understanding linear function due to a point-to-point view of function, while the Shanghai textbook which focussed on a variable view of function overemphasised the algebraic approach. The discussion explored the drawbacks to each approach and what teachers or textbook writers could do to balance these two approaches in order to facilitate students’ understanding towards a structural view of linear function.     

A Didactic Sequence of Elementary Geometric Optics Informed by History and Philosophy of Science

The concepts and instruments required for the teaching and learning of geometric optics are introduced in the didactic process without a proper didactic transposition. This claim is secured by the ample evidence of both wide- and deep-rooted alternative concepts on the topic. Didactic transposition is a theory that comes from a reflection on the teaching and learning process in mathematics but has been used in other disciplinary fields. It will be used in this work in order to clear up the main obstacles in the teaching-learning process of geometric optics. We proceed to argue that since Newton’s approach to optics, in his Book I of Opticks, is independent of the corpuscular or undulatory nature of light, it is the most suitable for a constructivist learning environment. However, Newton’s theory must be subject to a proper didactic transposition to help overcome the referred alternative concepts. Then is described our didactic transposition in order to create knowledge to be taught using a dialogical process between students’ previous knowledge, history of optics and the desired outcomes on geometrical optics in an elementary pre-service teacher training course. Finally, we use the scheme-facet structure of knowledge both to analyse and discuss our results as well as to illuminate shortcomings that must be addressed in our next stage of the inquiry.     

Curriculum Interventions for Area Measurement Instruction to Enhance Children’s Conceptual Understanding

This study examined the effectiveness of 3 curriculum interventions focused on strengthening children’s ability to solve area measurement problems and explored the instructional perspectives of the instructor who implemented the interventions. The interventions involved various degrees of emphasis on area measurement and knowledge of 2-dimensional geometry. Participants were 131 fourth graders, recruited from a city in northern Taiwan, and 1 instructor. The results confirmed the effectiveness of an enriched curriculum integrating knowledge of 2-dimensional geometry in enhancing children’s conceptual understanding of area measurement. The group that received the enriched curriculum outperformed the other groups that received the curricula stressing only 2-dimensional geometry or numerical calculations for area measurement in solving the area problems requiring mathematical judgments and explanations. The curriculum also facilitated children’s reasoning in distinguishing between the perimeter and area of a rectangle, which required higher-order mathematical thinking. Interview data revealed that approximately all children from the 3 intervention groups could identify the mathematical subject-matter components highlighted in the curricula. Interviewees tended to consider the use of formulae to solve area measurement problems to be important, despite some differences in learning gains among the 3 groups. In interviews, the participating instructor revealed a change of perspective regarding the importance of offering students opportunities for manipulation and geometric operations when teaching area measurement, prompted by curriculum enactment.     

Implications of a Cognitive Science Model Integrating Literacy in Science on Achievement in Science and Reading: Direct Effects in Grades 3–5 with Transfer to Grades 6–7

Reported are the results of a multiyear study in which reading comprehension and writing were integrated within an in-depth science instructional model (Science IDEAS) in daily 1.5 to 2 h daily lessons on a schoolwide basis in grades 3–4–5. Multilevel (HLM7) achievement findings showed the experimental intervention resulted in significant and consistent direct effects in grades 3–4–5 and complementary transfer effects in grades 6–7 on both ITBS Science (+1.08 Grade Equivalent Units [GE]) and ITBS Reading (+.57 GE). Discussed are implications of the findings and related research for changing grade K-5 curriculum policy to allocate increased instructional time for integrated science instruction.     

Physical Sciences Preservice Teachers’ Religious and Scientific Views Regarding the Origin of the Universe and Life

This paper explores final-year physical sciences preservice teachers’ religious and scientific views regarding the origin of the universe and life. Data was obtained from 10 preservice teachers from individual in-depth interviews conducted at the end of the Science Method module. Their viewpoints were analyzed using coding, sorting, and categorizing. They attributed the origin of the universe and life to a blend of theistic, intelligent design or scientific beliefs. Moreover, their academic backgrounds, exposure to topics in Cosmology in the Science Method module, and classroom dialogues did not significantly influence or change their original religious beliefs. However, the dialogues did create an awareness of their own reflected positions regarding the tenacity of beliefs in religion and their inadequate cosmological understandings. The paper has implications for Science Education in addressing preservice teachers’ religious beliefs in contrast to scientific evidence.