Teaching behaviour and science achievement

Summary This study is of interest for a number of reasons. The first relates to the measures used to assess teacher behaviour and the comprehensive procedures followed to establish reliability. The second is associated with the large sample size which represents nearly the entire population. The third is concerned with the overall lack of relationship between teacher behaviours and growth in science achievement that is apparent from this secondary analysis. Although the first two of these features are relatively uncommon to research studies in the field of teacher effectiveness using observers, the last is far from unique. The lack of relationships between observed low inference teacher behaviour and student gain in achievement on cognitive outcomes has been noted frequently in reviews of the literature (one of the latest being, Rosenshine, 1978). It is, of course, possible to discuss the overall lack of relationship between teacher and student behaviour and science achievement gain as a consequence of unreliabilities of measurement of the independent and dependent variables. It is possible to take a more optimistic view and observe that the data reported here were collected in Canberra in 1969. The prevalence of streaming would have resulted in certain teaching behaviour being more highly correlated with both pre-test and post-test scores than would be found if streaming had not been present. In addition, the homogeneity of teaching behaviour imposed by an inspectorial system would have reduced the variance in the independent variables. Hopefully, a replication today would be more likely to identify effective teaching behaviour. However, one thing appears evident. Any investigation that does not exceed the one reported above in establishing the reliability and stability of its measures, or in the extent and scope of the study, is not likely to produce findings of greater strength than have been presented in this paper.     

Interpretive investigation of the science‐related career decisions of three African‐American college students

Reports published since 1977 indicate that African Americans are underrepresented among Ph.D.‐holding scientists. Although researchers have identified numerous factors that correlate with career choice, they have failed to address students' reasons for choosing or not choosing science and science‐related careers. This study examines the career decisions of three African‐American college students. All three students began college aspiring toward science‐related careers. However, by the end of data collection only one student was working toward a science‐related career. Data were collected by means of eight, open‐ended, 1‐hour interviews conducted over a period of 6 months. Findings indicate that students' interest in a science‐related career is directly related to the degree to which they perceive that career as being supportive of deep‐seated life goals; and that a deeper view of the nature of science better enables students to perceive a science‐related career as supportive of life goals. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 599–621, 2001     

College Classroom Environments: Disciplinary and institutional-type differences and effects on academic achievement in introductory courses

Using the College Classroom Environment Scales (CCES) and controlling for differences in class size, it was found that there were significant differences in students' perceptions of their classroom social climates depending on the type of collegiate institution they attended. Students at research universities perceived their classes as having more structure than did those at two year colleges and liberal arts colleges and they perceived less concern by instructors for their personal development and learning than did students at liberal arts colleges. Two-year college students perceived that their classes had higher academic standards than did their counterparts at liberal arts colleges. When comparing classes (and controlling for class size) in English composition, laboratory sciences, and behavioral sciences, it was found that students in English classes perceived them as being the most intellectually exciting and interesting, as being the most academically rigorous, as having the least amount of formal structure, and as promoting more friendships and cooperation among students (than in behavioral sciences classes). Laboratory sciences classes were perceived as having the most hostile and intimidating environments. Significant interactions of institutional type and academic discipline occurred on all scales of the CCES. It was found that perceptions of the classroom environment differentially affected students' course grades in each of the academic discipline areas.Mary E. Vahala is currently Associate Director of Student Activities and Centers at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse and teaches in the college student personnel program. She obtained an Ed.D. in counseling and student personnel services from the University of Georgia. Her research interests focus on environmental assessment. Roger B. Winston, Jr. obtained his Ph.D. in counseling and student personnel services from the University of Georgia. He is professor and coordinator of the student affairs administration specialty in the Department of Counseling and Human Development Services at the University of Georgia. His research interests include environmental and outcomes assessment in higher education and the psychosocial development of college students.     

“The approaching storm.” Ideology power and control: The national science teachers association curriculum development in the USA

This paper examines the ideology of one the best known figures in science education in the USA, and draws attention to the relationship between the political climate and curriculum in national curriculum developments. We are mindful of the forces shaping the schooling of science in Australia, and we present this analysis as an example of the social forces that dominate education both here and overseas. Paramount is our desire to open the door for a socially responsible Australian school science experience. Social Responsibility of Science in Science Education Group.Specializations: sociology of science education, the nature of science and the production of scientific knowledge, comparative science education and environmental education. Social Responsibility of Science in Science Education Group.Specializations: comparative education with particular reference to China, the nature of science and the production of scientific knowledge.     

Rats don’t always respond faster for more food: The paradoxical incentive effect

Rats’ leverpressing was reinforced on variable-ratio (VR) schedules. As ratio values increased, response rates initially increased with them, then eventually decreased. In Experiment 1, rates were uniformly higher with one-pellet reinforcers than with two-pellet reinforcers—theparadoxical incentive effect. Killeen’s (1994) mathematical principles of reinforcement (MPR) described the data quantitatively but failed to predict the advantage for the one-pellet condition. In Experiment 2, rats received one-, two-, and three-pellet reinforcers with counterbalanced preloads of pellets; the continued superiority of the smaller reinforcers ruled out a satiation explanation. Experiment 3 introduced a 20-sec intertrial interval (ITI), and Experiment 4 filled the ITI with an alternate response to test a memorial/overshadowing explanation. In Experiment 5, the rats received one or two standard grain pellets or one sucrose pellet as reinforcers over an extended range of ratios. Once again, rates were higher for one than for two pellets at short to moderate VR values; thereafter, two pellets supported higher response rates. The diminution of the effect in Experiment 3 and its reversal in Experiment 4 and in Experiment 5 at large ratios provided evidence for overshadowing and reconciled the phenomenon with MPR.     

Developmental Change in Infant Cortisol and Behavioral Response to Inoculation

Child Development, 1994, 65 , 1491–1502. Infant cortisol and behavioral responses to receiving 1 versus 2 inoculations on 1 pediatric office visit were observed at 2 and 6 months of age. Cortisol level (pre- plus postinoculation level) decreased with age, whereas cortisol response (post- minus preinoculation level) did not vary with age when the data were aggregated over infants showing a pre- to postinoculation cortisol increase and those showing a decrease. Nonetheless, for those infants who showed a cortisol increase, cortisol level and response decreased with age. Infants quieted faster at the older age. There was a moderate relation between quieting behavior and cortisol response, at least for infants who showed a pre- to postinoculation cortisol increase. These findings indicate a developmental trend for a decline over age in adrenocortical reactivity to inoculation for infants showing a cortisol release following the perturbation. Results were comparable whether infants received 1 or 2 inoculations.     

Four studies dealing with mediated persuasive messages,attitudes, and learning styles

Conclusions A fundamental assumption of the research presented above was that attitude change is an important concern of the educator, and that if attitudes are important, information on how attitudes might be formed or changed with media is needed. Four studies were conducted to examine the use of media to deliver persuasive messages. The results of the four studies presented in this article tended to support the following conclusions. First, attitudes toward educationally relevant topics, such as conservation, smoking, and disabled persons, can be modified by using persuasive messages delivered by media. Next, it appeared that some types of media may be more effective than others at delivering information designed to change attitudes. Motion pictures seem to be more effective than slides. There also seems to be sufficient evidence to warrant further investigation into the relationship between the content of persuasive messages, the media used to deliver those messages, and the learning styles of the target audience. In short, attitudes can be modified by mediated messages, and the degree of modification may be related to the characteristics of the students who view the message and to the way the message is mediated.