Academic expectations and actual achievements: the roles of hope and effort

This study sought to extend the research on adolescents' hope, academic expectations, and average grades. The hope theory (Snyder, Psychological Inquiry 13(4):249–275, 2002), the salutogenic paradigm (with a focus on sense of coherence (SOC) (Antonovsky 1987)), and Bandura's (Journal of Management 38(1):9–44, 2012) social learning theory (with a focus on three self-efficacy (SE) constructs: academic SE, social SE, and emotional SE), were used as an integrated conceptual framework for predicting expected and actual academic performance. The sample consisted of 289 10th grade high school students (152 girls and 137 boys). The structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis provided support for the hypothesized modified model. The results demonstrated that hopeful thinking had a direct effect on grade expectations, which, in turn, predicted academic achievement. In addition, SOC, social SE, emotional SE, and academic SE were interrelated, but only emotional SE and SOC contributed directly to hope. Academic SE predicted effort, which also contributed to hope. Thus, the relations between students' investment of effort and actual grades were predicted indirectly through hopeful thinking and grade expectations. The implications for future research and the field of educational psychology of using hope, SOC, and SE as an integrated conceptual framework for predicting academic outcomes are discussed.     

Four case studies,six years later: Developing system thinking skills in junior high school and sustaining them over time

This study examines the process by which system thinking perceptions develop within the context of a water cycle curriculum. Four junior high school students undergoing an especially designed inquiry‐based intervention were closely observed before, during, immediately after, and 6 years after completing a year long systems‐based learning program. The employed research tools included observations, semi‐structured interviews, and a number of “concept viewing” tools (drawings, concept maps, and repertory grids). Out of the data, four distinct “stories,” each presenting a different way of constructing hydro system mental models, are described. The paper's main conclusion is that students develop their systems mental models and remember the learned material based on learning patterns that tend to remain unchanged over time. Consequently, in order to facilitate efficient and lasting construction of students' system models, learning experiences should harness these, and especially the meta‐cognitive learning pattern, which holds special significance for constructing systems. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 1253–1280, 2010     

Seizing the Opportunity to Create Uncertainty in Learning Mathematics

The paper is a reflective account of the design and implementation of mathematical tasks that evoke uncertainty for the learner. Three types of uncertainty associated with mathematical tasks are discussed and illustrated: competing claims, unknown path or questionable conclusion, and non-readily verifiable outcomes. One task is presented in depth, pointing to the dynamic nature of task design, and the added value stimulated by the uncertainty component entailed in the task in terms of mathematical and pedagogical musing.     

中国市场与Good-Enough

中国最近提出的减少海外投资的计划并不是跨国企业在中国大陆面临的唯一威胁.在中国政府频频修改其监管框架的同时,一个庞大的、定价格外低廉而质量却可以接受的低端产品领域正在悄然形成.这个“够用就好“(Good-Enough)的市场冲击着公司原本想将中国作为低成本加工中心,或者向中国不断走向富裕的消费者销售优质产品的想法.……     

A Student’s-Eye View: What 4th Grade Students Describing Their Visit to a Science Museum Recall as Significant

Research in Science Education - This mixed-method research focuses on how school children visiting a science museum with their class perceive the overall experience of their visit to the...     

Advancement of Preschoolers' Resilience: The A. R. Y. A. Project

While it is well known that resilience develops from a young age, specific interventions that might promote resilience in very young children remain to be developed. The A.R.Y.A. Project addresses 4-year-old inner-city kindergartners. The project comprises individual sessions, 20 minutes each, and group sessions (involving either part of or the entire kindergarten)—lasting altogether for an approximately 8-month period. In both the individual and group sessions, children learned and discussed various topics concerning animal stress and coping behavior. Subsequently, they are guided to adapt this knowledge to their own personal life. First-year evaluation indicates that both kindergarten teachers' and parents' evaluations as well as children's responses support the assumption that the project positively affects children's resilience.     

Influence of a Non-formal Environmental Education Programme on Junior High-School Students’ Environmental Literacy

One of the solutions implemented by schools for conducting value-based environmental education (EE) is outsourcing: allocating external environmental organizations that develop and conduct EE programmes. This study addressed such a programme—the Green Council Programme (GCP)—developed and implemented in schools by the Israeli Society for Protection of Nature. A pre-test/post-test design was used to investigate the influence of participation in the GCP on components of junior high-school students' environmental literacy. Conceptualizations of ‘environment’, environmental attitudes and sense of ability to act on environmental issues were studied employing quantitative and qualitative tools. Contribution of the programme to the cognitive domain, in developing a systemic understanding of the environment, was limited. On the other hand, participating in this programme heightened students' sensitivity to human–environment interrelationships and developed a more ecological worldview. After the programme, students demonstrated greater perception of humans as part of the environment, an increased sensitivity to human impact on the environment and their value for non-human nature moved from an anthropocentric to a more ecocentric orientation. While students' internal locus-of-control increased, when environmental protection entailed personal economic trade-offs, their support was limited and remained unchanged. The article concludes with recommendations, based on the findings, regarding supplementing the school (science) curriculum with external EE enrichment programmes.