Students’ views of uncertainty in formal and personal science

Background: Uncertainty is a crucial element of scientific knowledge growth. Students should have some understanding of how science knowledge is developed and why scientific conclusions are considered more or less certain than others. A component of the nature of science, it is considered an important aspect of science education and allows students to recognize the limitations of scientific research.

Purpose: This study examined Grades 5 and 9 students’ views of uncertainty in their personal scientific research and the formal scientific research of professionals.

Sample: This study included 33 students in Grade 5 (n = 17) and Grade 9 (n = 16). The students were recruited from a charter school that emphasised inquiry instruction.

Design and methods: Data were collected through interviews. Students were asked their views of their inquiry-based projects and their views of professional science.

Results: Interview data and statistical analyses indicated that students recognized uncertainty in personal science, which varied across elements of the scientific process. Additionally, their views of uncertainty in formal science tended to change across grades and knowledge of uncertainty in personal and formal science were positively correlated.

Conclusion: These findings offer insights into the processes by which students come to understand uncertainty in science and point to ways of fostering such knowledge through teaching practices.     

Lessons from ‘a really useful engine’™: using Thomas the Tank Engine™ to examine the relationship between play as a leading activity,imagination and reality in children’s contemporary play worlds

This paper examines Vygotsky’s conception of play as a leading activity in the contexts of children’s contemporary play worlds. Commencing with an examination of the relationship between leading activities and the development of psychological functions, the paper moves into a consideration of the relationship between imagination and reality as a basis for play as a leading activity. The relationship is considered in the context of current discussion regarding the sociology of childhood and the sociology of consumerism to explore the ways in which children’s experiences in digital–consumerist contexts possibly shape learning and development. Drawing on the example of the highly popular character Thomas the Tank Engine?, the paper examines the implications associated with understanding play as a leading activity within contemporary contexts, and how these might relate to existing perspectives on play, pedagogy and curriculum in early childhood education settings.     

The Influence of Education Major: How Diverse Preservice Teachers View Pseudoscience Topics

Pseudoscience beliefs (e.g., astrology, ghosts or UFOs) are rife in American society. Most research examines creation/evolution among liberal arts majors, general public adults, or, infrequently, middle or high school science teachers. Thus, research truncates the range of ersatz science thinking and the samples it studies. We examined diverse beliefs, e.g., extraterrestrials, magic, Biblical creation, and evolution, among 540 female and 123 male future teachers, including 325 elementary education majors. We study how these cognitions related to education major and, because popular media often present pseudoscience “information”, student media use. Future elementary educators most often rejected evolution and endorsed “creationism” or Intelligent Design. Education majors held similar beliefs about astrology, UFO landings, or magic. Compared with other education students, elementary education majors watched less news or science television and read fewer popular science magazines. However, religious and media variables explained more variation in creation/evolution beliefs than education major. We discuss implications of our findings for elementary school science education and how teacher educators may be able to affect pseudoscience beliefs among their elementary education students.     

Asian medical students: quality of life and motivation to learn

Issues linked with the notions of quality of life (QOL) and motivation to learn among Asian medical students have not been well documented. This is true in both the international and the New Zealand contexts. Our paper addresses this lack of research by focusing on the QOL of international and domestic Asian students studying in New Zealand, where Asian students form a significant proportion of tertiary students. Although there is evidence to suggest that Asian students do well academically, it was felt that an investigation into their QOL would be instructive as QOL will likely have an impact on cognition, behavior, general well-being, and motivation. The present study surveyed fourth- and fifth-year medical students to examine the relationship between QOL and motivation to learn and to consider how Asian medical students compare against European medical and non-medical student peers. The study utilized the World Health Organization—Quality of Life questionnaire (BREF version) and a shortened version of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. The results show that the Asian medical students in this study generated significantly lower scores in terms of their satisfaction with social relationships compared with their non-Asian peers. In addition, international Asian medical students appear to be more at risk than domestic Asian students with respect to test anxiety. The paper considers the findings and the implications for quality of life, motivation to learn, medical education, and the Asian student community.     

Building a Creative Ecosystem – The Young Designers on Location Project

This article reports on findings from a research project designed to explore ways in which creativity can be fostered through interactions between selected children, particular environments, materials, techniques and key adults. The Young Designers on Location (YDoL) project was funded by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA), and brought together selected groups of 11 year‐olds with ‘design‐related professionals’ (DRPs) to work together intensively for a week in two locations (Bath Spa University College and Ironbridge Gorge Museum, Shropshire) then subsequently in participants' schools. The findings from case studies of selected individuals within the Bath location include key messages about the quality of environment and relationships in unlocking children's creativity. The study has exemplified aspects of Harrington's model of a ‘creative ecosystem’ [1].