Student Teachers’ Understanding of the Terminology, Distribution, and Loss of Biodiversity: Perspectives from a Biodiversity Hotspot and an Industrialized Country

The loss of biodiversity is one of the most urgent global environmental problems of our time. Public education and awareness building is key to successful biodiversity protection. Knowledgeable and skilled student teachers are a key component for the successful implementation of biodiversity education in schools. Yet, little empirical evidence exists on teachers’ detailed understanding of biodiversity. This study aimed to assess student teachers’ conceptions of the terminology as well as their understanding of the distribution and loss of biodiversity. Data were collected from a qualitative in-depth interview study of student biology teachers from Costa Rica and Germany (n?=?24). Both verbal and visual methods were used to elicit responses. The results show that participants from both countries equated biodiversity with species diversity and had misconceptions about genetic diversity. Costa Rican student teachers seemed to have a more local perspective on biodiversity and unanimously described their local biodiversity as high, and under threat. In contrast, German teachers showed a more global view and were mostly uncertain about the level and threat status of local biodiversity. Prevailing associations explaining the global distribution and loss of biodiversity were heavily based on everyday assumptions, such as the presence/absence of humans, cities, and industries. Additionally, the transnational character of many of the socioeconomic drivers causing biodiversity loss was largely neglected. Although most participants were unfamiliar with the scientific concept of biodiversity hotspots, they implicitly used a naive biodiversity hotspots concept to explain the distribution and loss of global biodiversity. The results are discussed in terms of the educational implications.     

Qualification paths of adult educators in Sweden and Denmark

The qualification of adult educators is a central aspect of the quality of adult education. However, within current policy discourses and adult education research on the professional development of prospective adult educators, little attention is paid to teacher qualification when compared to other fields of education and training. In this study, we analyse the qualification paths, or learning trajectories, of prospective adult educators in Sweden and Denmark. The analysis is based on narrative interviews with 29 students in training to become adult educators. The career paths of adult educators are often long and winding roads. Becoming an adult educator could be their primary desire, but it could also be their ‘Plan B’, a second choice. Individual motives and external demands interact in the professionalisation process. A shift in focus from teaching subject and methods to teaching context and the relation to the learners is part of the professional development. Finally, we argue that both academic studies and hands-on work in the adult education community are crucial parts of the adult educator's qualification path.     

Enhancing learning in clinical placements: reflective practice,self-assessment,rubrics and scaffolding

Professional preparatory health programmes generally involve clinical placements with a focus on integration of theory into real life practice. Reflective writing is often included in the assessment requirements for clinical placement courses. However enabling students to engage in deeper levels of reflective writing in action, on action and for action requires careful scaffolding and assessment task design within university clinical placement handbooks. The purpose of this case study was to explore iterative refinement of assessment exercises within clinical placement handbook activities. Specifically, the study examined students’ responses to counselling experiences in authentic pharmacy practice, with comparative analysis undertaken for the various versions of the assessment task. Results showed that provision of iteratively developed guidelines, provided to three different groups of students, to support students in the assessment task, increased the marks achieved for individual components of the assessment. The results provide insight into how the design of these types of assessment exercises can be improved.     

Preschool and primary school influences on the development of children's early numeracy skills between the ages of 3 and 7 years in Germany

Few studies have investigated how preschool and primary school interact to influence children's cognitive development. The present investigation explores German children's numeracy skills between age 3 (1st year of preschool) and age 7 (1st year of primary school). We first identified the influence of preschool experience on development while controlling for child factors, family background, and the quality of the home learning environment (HLE). We then considered how the instructional quality of primary schools influences numeracy. We finally analysed how preschool and primary school interact. We sampled 547 children who attended 97 German preschools. Latent growth curve analyses identified child and family factors related to age 3 numeracy and development to age 7: gender, migration background, socioeconomic status (SES), mother education, HLE. The effects of preschool on numeracy development persist until age 7 with notable effects from process quality. Strengthened efforts are needed to ensure high quality preschool education in Germany.     

Discovering Randomness, Recovering Expertise: The Different Approaches to the Quality in Measurement of Coulomb and Gauss and of Today’s Students

The aim of this paper is to discuss different approaches to the quality (or uncertainty) of measurement data considering both historical examples and today’s students’ views. Today’s teaching of data analysis is very much focussed on the application of statistical routines (often called the ?Gaussian approach” to error analysis). Studies on students’ understanding of measurement however show, that though the majority can be enabled to apply those routines most of the students fail to construct a coherent understanding of the matter. Analysing two historical examples of measurement practice of the time around 1,800 when the statistical approach was established, we point out what often neglected key idea gave rise to the statistical approach to data analysis (the appreciation of randomness in data distribution) and how the emergence of this idea was embedded in a very sophisticated insight on measurement and the nature of measurement data (experimental expertise). These two aspects can vividly be illustrated using the different approaches to data handling of Coulomb and Gauss around the time of 1,800. Gauss’s appreciation of the randomness in data distribution consequently led him to other analytical routines as those employed by Coulomb. This is an important aspect concerning the teaching of the statistical routines of data analysis. However, the deep experimental expertise of both Gauss and Coulomb in both cases prevented an application by rote of some routines and shaped their approaches to very successful instruments of data handling. We therefore argue that both the key idea of randomness as well as an elaborated experimental expertise has to be taken into consideration much more than before by instructors and teachers in order to support the students to construct a coherent understanding on the nature and the handling of measurement data and especially the assessment of their quality.     

Who intends to learn and who intends to leave? The intention to leave education early among students from inclusive and regular classes in primary and secondary schools

ABSTRACT

Early school leaving is a serious problem for individual students, especially for students with special educational needs (SEN). This study tests predictors of early school leaving, using data collected among 1,047 students from 60 inclusive and regular classes in primary and secondary schools in Austria with 4th- and 7th-grade students aged 9–11 and 12–14 years. Multilevel regression analyses show that higher school wellbeing and a more positive student–teacher relationship reduce the intention of both 4th and 7th graders to leave school early. Additionally, for 7th graders, having a migrant background and more individualised instruction are predictors of a greater intention to leave school early. School grade, gender, socioeconomic background, SEN, social integration, class climate, school setting (regular class vs. inclusive class), and the heterogeneity of the class composition had no impact on the intention to leave school early.     

A comparative study on student perceptions of their learning outcomes in undergraduate science degree programmes with differing curriculum models

ABSTRACT

This study investigated students’ perceptions of their graduate learning outcomes including content knowledge, communication, writing, teamwork, quantitative skills, and ethical thinking in two Australian universities. One university has a traditional discipline-orientated curriculum and the other, an interdisciplinary curriculum in the entry semester of first year. The Science Students Skills Inventory asked students (n?=?613) in first and final years to rate their perceptions of the importance of developing graduate learning outcomes within the programme; how much they improved their graduate learning outcomes throughout their undergraduate science programme; how much they saw learning outcomes included in the programme; and how confident they were about their learning outcomes. A framework of progressive curriculum development was adopted to interpret results. Students in the discipline-oriented degree programme reported higher perceptions of scientific content knowledge and ethical thinking while students from the interdisciplinary curriculum indicated higher perceptions of oral communication and teamwork. Implications for curriculum development include ensuring progressive development from first to third years, a need for enhanced focus on scientific ethics, and career opportunities from first year onwards.     

Informal Learning with Technology: The Effects of Self-Constructing Externalizations

ABSTRACT

Especially in the context of technology-enhanced informal learning, it is crucial to understand how to design information sources in such a way that learners are not overwhelmed by the demands of the learning process, but at the same time are engaged in higher order thinking processes. Guidance aids learners in dealing with the demands of a learning process. The authors examined the effects of different levels of guidance provided by an information source. To this end, the effects of a preconstructed externalization are compared to a self-constructed externalization. Thirty-eight students participated in the study. The results revealed no significant differences between the groups with respect to posttest retention. However, performance in application tasks was promoted by the condition associated with a lower level of guidance. This suggests that having learners self-construct an externalization might be a suitable means to elicit learners’ higher order thinking processes in technology-enhanced informal learning.     

The use of heuristics during route planning by expert and novice orienteers

Expert orienteers have reported using two heuristics when planning routes to points in the environment that must be located, known as 'controls'. These heuristics constitute attending to the start first and subsequently planning forward to a given control, and attending to the control first and planning backwards to the start. The aim of this study was to establish which heuristic experts use predominantly and whether novices' use of these heuristics differs from that of experts. Two methods for tracing attention were used while 20 expert and 20 novice orienteers planned routes in the laboratory. The results were used to infer the use of heuristics. The orienteers were also interviewed about planning. We found that, when planning, experts generally attend to the control first and novices to the start first. There was also some evidence that novices work forwards from the start to the control and that experts work backwards from the control to the start. From the interviews, it would appear that experts regard the location of the control as the crux of the problem and prioritize this area during planning. These results have implications for an understanding of expertise and problem-solving in sport.     

Physical activity, nutrition, screen time and sleep associated with body weight and physical condition in young children

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to explore the possible relationship between (un)healthy behaviour and (over)weight and physical condition in families with young children (4–7 years), in a village (30,000 inhabitants) in the eastern part of the Netherlands, close to Germany. It is one of two pilot studies as a precursor of a cross-border project including six Dutch and six German villages, to counteract physical inactivity and possible future metabolic problems. In total, 459 children of five elementary schools and their parents were included. Parents were requested to fill in a questionnaire on the nutritional, physical, sedentary, and sleeping behaviour of their child. Relevant background characteristics were obtained and lifestyle classifications were made. At school, the children's height and weight (body mass index (BMI)) were measured, as well as their physical condition (two tests) and basic motor abilities (four physical exercise tests). The relationship between the standardized BMI z-scores and physical condition test scores, and nutritional, physical, sedentary and sleeping habits was analysed using independent sample t-test, bivariate correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis. Latent class analysis was used to identify clusters of people based on their nutritional, physical and sleep habits. Of the parents, 376 (82?%) were willing to fill out the questionnaire. High birth weight and a high BMI of the mother and/or father correlated with a higher BMI of the child (ρ?=?0.28, p?<?0.001; ρ?=?0.13, p?=?0.016; and ρ?=?0.23, p?<?0.001, respectively). Daily playing outside, eating small cookies (compared with large cookies) and no sleeping problems (no waking up during the night) were related to low BMI levels (no overweight) [ρ?=???0.14, p?=?0.005; ρ?=???0.12, p?=?.020; t(364)?=?1.81, p?=?0.072 (trend), respectively]. Daily playing outside (frequency and duration) and being a member of a sports club were related to positive scores on the physical condition tests [ρ?=?0.20, p?<?0.001; t(365)?=???2.99, p?=?0.003, respectively]. High levels of television (TV) watching and general sleeping problems were related to a less optimal physical condition [ρ?=???0.09, p?=?0.076 (trend); and ρ?=???0.10, p?=?0.059 (trend), respectively]. A latent class analysis revealed three clusters: 46?% of the sample belonged to the ‘healthy group’ concerning nutrition, sedentary lifestyle and TV/personal computer (PC) use; 17?% to the ‘less healthy’ group and 37?% to a group with nutrition and physical activity habits close to the healthy group, but with low conditional probabilities for the sleeping items. Conducting a pilot study before the start of a binational intervention study gives a blueprint for the final questionnaire, and clues for tailored interventions in the schools, as proposed in the approach of ‘Gesunde Kinder in gesunden Kommunen’ (GKGK). The results of a latent class analysis underscore that interventions should exist of a multi-component strategy, focusing on promoting physical activity, healthy nutrition habits and appropriate sleep.