Nature education and science

Four-year-old Adrienne is on her hands and knees watching ants in one corner of the school yard. Her friend June is nearby with a magnifying glass and sifter. She's pouring dirt through the sifter and then using the magnifying glass to study the remains of what's left in the sifter. So far, she's found a small pebble, something that looks like a bone, and remnants of dried grass.Ruth A. Wilson is Director of Environmental Education for Preschoolers, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH.The author's work is supported, in part, through a grant from the Ohio Environmental Education Fund, a program of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.     

Careers in the environment in Australia: surveying environmental jobs

Internationally, commentators have identified a growing demand for environmental expertise. Matching this has been an expansion in the range of environmental careers available to workers: from environment protection and bio‐physical areas, to local government operations, environmental auditing, assessment, and management. However, in Australia there is no overall picture of the types of jobs graduates in this sector have undertaken, which has limited the advice that can be given about environmental careers. To redress this situation a survey was conducted with 600 respondents working in the environment professions in Australia. The results identified a wide range of professional areas; these are grouped into 12 subcategories for three main environmental employment sectors: Environmental protection (19% of respondents), Conservation and preservation of natural resources (26%), Environmental Sustainability (55%). Respondents mainly had a bachelor‐level degree; however, a substantial proportion had an honours degree or postgraduate qualification. Respondents strongly recommended undertaking work experience to acquire key general skills that they identified as important for working in the environment sector. A related suggestion was for tertiary environmental courses to have a practical focus that produces ‘work‐ready’ students. Comparison with the situations in the UK, Canada and the USA and are also offered regarding the results and trends, and suggestions for further research.     

Predictors of reading delay in deaf adolescents: the relative contributions of rapid automatized naming speed and phonological awareness and decoding

Deaf readers often fail to achieve age-appropriate reading levels. In hearing children, two cognitive factors correlated with reading delay are phonological awareness and decoding (PAD) and rapid automatized naming (RAN) of visual material. In this study we explored the contribution of these factors to reading and reading delay in a sample of deaf students (N = 49, mean age 13 years) whose reading age (RA) was around 7 years. Although PAD performance was poor in the deaf students compared with RA-matched hearing controls, it nevertheless correlated with their RA. Whether tested in sign or speech, RAN was much faster in the deaf group than in RA-matched hearing controls but showed no direct relationship with reading level or reading delay. We conclude that in contrast to PAD, which is a factor in both deaf and hearing reading achievement, RAN may be only indirectly related to reading in deaf students.     

Effect of bead and illustrations models on high school students' achievement in molecular genetics

Our main goal in this study was to explore whether the use of models in molecular genetics instruction in high school can contribute to students' understanding of concepts and processes in genetics. Three comparable groups of 11th and 12th graders participated: The control group (116 students) was taught in the traditional lecture format, while the others received instructions which integrated a bead model (71 students), or an illustration model (71 students). Similar instructions and the same guiding questions accompanied the two models. We used three instruments: a multiple‐choice and an open‐ended written questionnaire, as well as personal interviews. Five of the multiple‐choice questions were also given to students before receiving their genetics instruction (pretest). We found that students who used one of the two types of models improved their knowledge in molecular genetics compared to the control group. However, the open‐ended questions revealed that bead model activity was significantly more effective than illustration activity. On the basis of these findings we conclude that, though it is advisable to use a three‐dimensional model, such as the bead model, engaging students in activities with illustrations can still improve their achievement in comparison to traditional instruction. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 500–529, 2006     

The Development of Leadership among Chemistry Teachers in Israel

The implementation of new content and pedagogical standards in science education in Israel as well as in other countries necessitates intensive, life-long professional development of science teachers. Here we describe a model for the professional development of chemistry teacher-leaders. In the first part of the paper, we describe a model for the development and change of chemistry teacher-leaders. In the second part of the paper, we present the assessment of teachers' change. It is suggested, that in order to become a leader, the teacher has to undergo several interrelated phases of development and changes, namely personal, professional, and social. In order to attain these changes, a two-year program was designed in which teachers were given opportunities to develop their content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and their leadership abilities and skills. The assessment of teachers' professional development clearly showed that engaging teachers in a long-term professional development program changed their beliefs (personal change) regarding their role as chemistry teachers in general and their confidence to become leaders in particular. In addition, we observed that the teachers changed in their professional abilities as well as in their social behavior. We also report on the involvement of the teacher-leaders in activities in which leadership skills were implemented in attempting to reform chemistry education in Israel.     

The 2018 Guidelines for Initial IFT Approval of undergraduate food science and food technology programs

IFT Approval of undergraduate food science and technology programs has continued to evolve since its inception in the 1960s. This report provides rationale and outlines key changes in the latest revisions of the IFT Approval Guidelines that were approved by the IFT Board of Directors in 2018. The 2018 Guidelines retained the previously established outcomes‐based assessment model, but includes changes to Program Goals, redefined Standards, and measurable Essential Learning Outcomes. In addition, this report describes a new online submission platform. The report also provides insights into the training and review systems employed by the Higher Education Review Board.     

Academic choices and motivation: Diverse groups in Israel

Israel is a multi-cultural society with a Jewish majority and a large Arab minority. This study aims to examine whether Israeli Arab and Jewish students have different motivations and consider different factors when choosing a college for postgraduate studies. A case study, during the academic year 2010–11 administered questionnaires to 290 Jewish and Arab postgraduate students in a private academic college in order to investigate students’ motivations for postgraduate studies and choice of college. Findings indicated that the strongest motivation expressed by all the students is a desire for self-fulfilment. Motivation for social mobility and to help to empower their society is more important for Arab students. Convenience considerations (proximity to home, flexible entrance standards and employment prospects while studying) determined college choice for Jews and Arabs more than college reputation and teaching quality. Yet Arab students attach more importance than Jewish students to the college’s quality. It is concluded that postgraduate programmes should be more sensitive to diverse students’ needs.     

Controlled processing in pigeons

This paper investigates whether rehearsal, or posttrial processing, of information about an event can be modulated by instructions in infrahuman organisms. Using pigeons, a procedure was developed for establishing a stimulus as a cue to disengage rehearsal, or posttrial processing, of a food reinforcer. Specifically, the stimulus instructed the animals to behave on a subsequent choice test as if food had not, in fact, been presented. Results are reported that suggest that this training was successful in establishing the stimulus as a cue to forget the occurrence of the food. These findings are interpreted as providing tentative support for the view that the cognitive repertoire of infrahuman organisms does include controlled processing strategies.     

Lessons learned from a decade implementing Comprehensive Sexuality Education in resource poor settings: The World Starts With Me

Today, more than half of the world population is under the age of 25 years and one in four is under age 18. The urgency of expanding access to Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) notably for children and young people in Africa and Asia is greater than ever before. However, many challenges to the implementation and delivery of CSE in resource poor settings have been identified in the literature. CSE’s effectiveness could be strongly improved if these challenges were better met. This paper aims to contribute to those much-needed improvements by sharing lessons learned from a decade of implementation of one particular CSE programme, The World Starts With Me, among various populations in 11 low income countries in Africa and Asia. The aims, content, reach and effectiveness of the programme are described. Next, the challenges for implementation and delivery at student, teacher, school and context level are discussed with reference to the wider knowledge base in this area. Finally, suggestions are provided for ways forward including the increased sensitivity of programmes for normative and practical barriers to sexual health, further advancement towards gender transformativity, a far-reaching expansion of comprehensive forms of teacher training and coaching, and a serious stepping-up of multilevel ‘whole school’ approaches.