Motivation and learning physics

Being involved in science education we cannot avoid confronting the problem of students' waning interest in physics. Therefore, we want to focus on arguments developed by new theoretical work in the field of motivation. Especially, we are attracted by the theory of motivation featured by Deci and Ryan, because it is related to an assumptions of human development similar to our own approach. Beneath elements of cognitive development, motivation is seen as a basic concept to describe students' learning in a physics classroom. German students at lower and upper secondary level regard physics as very difficult to learn, very abstract and dominated by male students. As a result physics at school continuously loses importance and acceptance although a lot of work has been done to modernise and develop the related physics courses. We assume that knowing about the influence of motivation on learning physics may lead to new insights in the design of classroom settings. Referring to Deci and Ryan, we use a model of motivation to describe the influence of two different teaching strategies (teacher and discourse oriented) on learning. Electrostatics was taught in year 8. The outcomes of a questionnaire which is able to evaluate defined, motivational states are compared with the interpretation of the same student's interaction in the related situation of the physics classroom. The scales of the questionnaire and the categories of analysis of the video-recording are derived from the same model of motivation.     

The Gap between Theory and Practice

This contribution outlines the state of the art of the recent developments in teacher education for Secondary education in the Netherlands.

In the first section an overall picture is given from the different types of teacher training, their certification and their developments.

In the second section two key‐issues in teacher training are discussed, particularly the different training concepts and the developments in teaching practice in schools. Specific attention is given to the training of the co‐operating teachers.

In the third section two of the author's research projects are reviewed: the first is a project on problems of beginning teachers, and the second a project on teaching practice in schools.     

Reconsidering meaning making and its analytical implications for cultural studies of science education

The discussion in this forum aims to push some of the ideas further and thus clarify some of the concepts used in the feature article. This includes a debate of the concepts of meaning making, procedural and conceptual learning experiences, the distinction between realism and constructivism in our research practice, and finally how to foster productive disciplinary engagement.     

Exploration of direct and indirect associations of system-level policy-amenable variables with reading literacy performance

As expectations of the economic impact of educational attainment are soaring (Hanushek & Woessmann, 2009 Hanushek E. A., & Woessmann, L. (2009). Do better schools lead to more growth? Cognitive skills, economic outcomes, and causation (NBER Working Paper, No. 14633). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) and conjectures about successful national educational reforms (Mourshed, Chijioke, & Barber, 2010 Mourshed, M., Chijioke, C., & Barber, M. (2010). How the world's most improved school systems keep getting better. Retrieved from http://www.mckinsey.com/client_service/social_sector/latest_thinking/worlds_most_improved_schools[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) are welcomed by educational policy-makers in many countries, a careful assessment of the empirical evidence for these kinds of claims is needed. In this article, we present a methodology that was applied to an international data set. A multi-level model of education was used to present a hypothetical scenario, indicated as the “implementation scenario”. The scenario was tested on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 data set by means of multi-level structural equation modelling. Although we find some evidence for direct effects and some support for straightforward implementation, the overall impact of malleable conditions at the system and school level appears disappointingly small. A theoretical strand of literature that would account for “limited malleability” is referred to in discussing these results.     

Effective Students and Families: The Importance of Individual Characteristics for Achievement in High School

Recent Australian experience of decentralisation in education has many parallels with contemporary movements in a number of other western democratic nations. Within the State of Victoria, Australia, all schools have developed, at local community level, school charters which address the school’s goals, policies, priorities, curriculum, and standards. This article reports an analysis of one component of almost 300 schools’ charters; namely codes of conduct for student behaviour. The results indicate a need for schools to emphasise a closer connection between students’ rights and their responsibilities. Secondly, the many schools intending to implement an assertive or authoritarian approach to discipline are failing to balance their planned use of punishments with corresponding rewards and recognition. Thirdly, the political relevance of the style of discipline develop chosen by local school communities appears incompatible with an education likely to develop democratic citizens.     

Valuing Pupils’ Views in Scottish Schools

This article presents a comparison between elementary and secondary schools in the Netherlands with respect to the consistency of achievement scores across subjects both at the individual level and the school level. The analyses showed less consistency at the student level within schools. Although findings with respect to the school level were less conclusive, the consistency appeared to be lower in secondary education when controlling for prior achievement and curriculum track. Résumé Cet article compare les résultats scolaires des élèves des écoles primaires et secondaires des Pays-Bas, dans les différentes disciplines, tant au niveau individuel (élèves) qu’à celui des établissement scolaires (écoles). L’analyse montre qu’il y a moins de constance dans les résultats scolaires des élèves au sein des écoles. Les résultats relatifs aux établissements scolaires se sont avérés moins définitifs. Il semble toutefois que la constance soit moindre dans le cycle secondaire lorsqu’on évalue les résultats scolaires antérieurs et le curriculum. (Traduction: Chantal Sandoz, CIIP/SR + TI, Neuchâtel, Suisse)     

International and Foreign Media

W. Phillips Davison's Mass Communication and Conflict Resolution: The Role of the Information Media in the Advancement of International Understanding (New York: Praeger Special Studies, 1974—price not known, but about $12.00)

EBU—25 Years (Geneva: EBU, 1974—price not known)

Sydney W. Head and Lois Beck's The Bibliography of African Broadcasting: An Annotated Guide (Philadelphia: School of Communications and Theater of Temple University, 1974—$2.00, paper)

Rural Broadcasting in Dahomey (Rome: Food and Agricultural Organization [of the United Nations] released in this country by Unipub Inc., P.O. Box 433, New York, N.Y. 10016—$5.00 for filmstrip and accompanying illustrated booklet of text)

1974 Report to the President and the Congress (Washington: Communications Satellite Corporation, 950 L'Enfant Plaza, Washington D.C. 20024—free on request, along with earlier versions of the annual review)

Jacques Moussear (general editor) Les Communications de Masse: L'Univers des Mass Media (Paris: Hachette, 1972—about $12.55)     

Book of the Month

Sydney W. Head's Broadcasting in America: A Survey of Television and Radio (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1972---$9.95)     

Incarnation,Now: Five Brief Thoughts and a Non-Conclusive Ending

This article problematizes the renewed appeal of incarnation, a signifier that points to a vague desire in our present and perhaps, altogether, to an unclear future promise, rather than to the complex history of elaborate theological meanings with which the word had long been related. Incarnation is one among a number of concepts and topics that had become almost unspeakable since the eighteenth century—and that have recently returned to intellectual legitimacy. We propose to explain what could be the conditions of this rehabilitation.