Relations among three aspects of first‐year college students' epistemologies of science

At the start of their first semester, 35 college freshmen were given an interview probing (a) their differentiation of scientists' ideas from evidence, and hypotheses from theories; (b) their understanding of the inherent uncertainty of scientific knowledge; and (c) their reasoning about scientific controversies. The most common responses were in terms of an epistemology in which scientists' ideas and evidence are differentiated, and theories are understood as tested hypotheses (Level 2 in our system based on Carey, Evans, Honda, Jay, & Unger, 1989), although students varied in how consistently they differentiated theories and evidence across all questions. Responses in which theories are understood as broader explanatory frameworks guiding hypothesis testing (Level 3) were virtually nonexistent, but some students gave responses that showed awareness of processes of interpreting and reinterpreting patterns of results (Level 2.5). Responses across the three parts of the interview were significantly related. Consistently differentiating scientists' ideas from evidence was strongly related to appreciating the inherent uncertainty of scientific knowledge and with having a deeper understanding of the reasons for scientific controversies and how to resolve them. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 747–785, 2006     

Afro-Caribbean Immigrant Faculty Experiences in the American Academy: Voices of an Invisible Black Population

Afro-Caribbean immigrants have been an integral part of the history and shaping of the United States since the early 1900s. This current study explores the experiences of five Afro-Caribbean faculty members at traditionally White institutions of higher education. Despite the historical presence and influence of Afro-Caribbean communities and the efforts within education systems to address the needs of Afro-Caribbean constituents, Afro-Caribbean faculty members continue to be rendered indiscernible in higher education and to be frequently and erroneously perceived as African–Americans. The study examines the lived experiences of these individuals in the hegemonic White spaces they occupy at their institutions with both White and Black populations. Through their narratives, issues of stereotyping, microaggression, and isolation are addressed. The participants also offer solutions to address these issues by university administrators, department heads, faculty development professionals, diversity officers, policy makers, and other stakeholders. The voices in this study shed light on an overlooked, misunderstood, and under-researched population within our faculty ranks in the American Academy.     

Developing a School Drawing Policy with Newly Qualified Teachers of Art and Design

This paper describes part of a one–day course run by the authors for Newly Qualified Teachers of art and design (NQTs) planned to develop subject knowledge and assessment expertise. The former was achieved partly through an examination of the roles of drawing in secondary school art and design education. Through review and discussion of their pupils’ drawings, the NQTs developed ideas about the functions and purposes of drawing. These ideas were then refined and some practical work undertaken. The nature of drawing policies for secondary art and design departments was considered. The session concluded with a consideration of ideas that might inform the development of such a drawing policy. Secondly, the authors take up and develop several issues from the NQTs’ ideas and responses. These include reference to participants’ drawing performance and understanding, their judgements about the value of drawing, and to how these may be influenced by factors in art education, including those associated with GCSE and assessment. Finally, reference is made to two distinctive perceptions of drawing in schools and, with reference to the work of Wilson, Hurwitz and Wilson, the authors suggest a strategy and argue for the development of drawing policy and curricula for secondary school art departments. The paper is based on part of a presentation given at the Annual Conference of the NSEAD, York, 2002.     

Theory of educational art: A reply

Educational technology research and development -     

The multiple sources of workplace stress among land-grant university faculty

Workplace stress has received a fair amount of treatment in the research literature over the past decade. What has not been examined, at least not systematically, is this same phenomena inacademe. Our study looked at stress among university faculty at a land-grant university located in the western region of the U. S. Analyses from the self-assessment mail survey (N = 786) reveals that faculty in the Hard Pure Nonlife (e. g., Astronomy, Math, Physics), Hard Applied Nonlife (e. g., Civil Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, Computer Science) and Soft Applied Life (e. g., Education Administration, Special Education) experience more stress than faculty in disciplines such as Hard Pure Life (e. g., Botany, Zoology) and Soft Pure Nonlife (e. g., English, Philosophy, Communications). Careful attention was paid to the different levels of stress reported by male and female faculty, with women professors reporting a higher level of stress than their male counterparts. We provide an assessment and explanation for this finding. Research ends with several proposals for individual faculty, department chairs and academic administrators for addressing the problem of workplace pressure and work overload.     

Knowing,Believing, and Understanding: What Goals for Science Education?

Science &; Education - What is a teacher to do when confronted with a student who says “I understand that theory (e.g., evolution), but I don't believe it”? The purpose of this...     

An evaluation of the impact of a Year in industry scheme

This paper reports a survey of the progress of participants in a year in industry scheme for A’ level graduates in the UK typically aged 18/19. The scheme involves spending a supervised year in industry prior to a degree programme in engineering. The evidence shows that the year in industry: has a beneficial effect on the degree classification of the academically weaker participants, but little effect on the stronger; encourages all participants to take up further study; provides participants with a more positive picture of industry and engineering; but does not provide greater motivation to enter industry; provides greater financial remuneration in the world of work than would otherwise be the case. These results can be interpreted in terms of the way young people weigh the benefits of different career paths. Our hypothesis is that this involves moving to situations where they are more likely to be treated as adults.     

Contemporary high-profile scientists and their interactions with the community

This article presents a case study of 10 high-profile Australian research scientists. These scientists are highly committed to engaging with the public. They interact with a wide range of groups in the community, including the traditional media. They are aware that they are seen as representatives of science at a time when the authority of science and scientists is threatened in Australia by controversy around issues such as climate change and vaccination. Through their experiences of interacting with non-scientists, they have developed views about qualities, characteristics and knowledge that contribute to, or inhibit, positive interactions between scientists and non-scientists. Their experiences and insights highlight aspects of contemporary science that are not generally acknowledged in science curricula.     

Teaching strategies associated with conceptual change learning in Science

The use of teaching strategies associated with a conceptual change model of science teaching was examined in a study of thirteen 7th-grade life science teachers. Teachers taught units on photosynthesis, cellular respiration, and matter cycling in ecosystems in their regular classes under conditions varying as to whether or not conceptual change-oriented instructional materials and training sessions were provided. Greater use of conceptual change teaching strategies was associated with use of the special instructional materials, but not with the training. Students in classes where teachers were provided with the materials tended to perform better on posttests than those where such materials were not provided. The use of the conceptual change strategies by teachers was also associated with higher student performance on tests designed to assess conceptual change learning. The results support claims for the usefulness of conceptual change teaching strategies, but few of the teachers in this study could successfully implement these strategies without the support of appropriately designed curriculum materials.