STEM Integration in Middle School Life Science: Student Learning and Attitudes

In many countries around the world, there has been an increasing emphasis on improving science education. Recent reform efforts in the USA call for teachers to integrate scientific and engineering practices into science teaching; for example, science teachers are asked to provide learning experiences for students that apply crosscutting concepts (e.g., patterns, scale) and increase understanding of disciplinary core ideas (e.g., physical science, earth science). Engineering practices and engineering design are essential elements of this new vision of science teaching and learning. This paper presents a research study that evaluates the effects of an engineering design-based science curriculum on student learning and attitudes. Three middle school life science teachers and 275 seventh grade students participated in the study. Content assessments and attitude surveys were administered before and after the implementation of the curriculum unit. Statewide mathematics test proficiency scores were included in the data analysis as well. Results provide evidence of the positive effects of implementing the engineering design-based science unit on student attitudes and learning.     

Foraging for covered and uncovered food on a radial maze

Rats were trained to forage for food on a four-arm radial maze. Each arm of the maze was defined as a patch and contained four feeding stations. Each patch contained a total of 20 45-mg food pellets, with the first feeding station in each patch baited with 1 pellet and the remaining stations baited with 1, 5, or 13 pellets. In Experiment 1, one group of rats was tested with feeders open and food readily accessible, and another group was tested with metal covers on the feeders, which necessitated extra time to gain access to food. With open feeders, the rats visited each feeder in a patch in the order in which they encountered the feeders, from the center of the maze to the end of the arm. The rats in the group with the covered feeders often visited the feeders containing 5 or 13 pellets first and the feeders containing 1 pellet last. In Experiment 2, it was found that the rats switched readily between these two foraging strategies when tested with covered and open feeders on alternate sessions. The extra time and effort required to uncover food appeared to produce selective foraging in rats.     

Early adolescents' and their parents' mental imagery in relation to perceived reading competence

This cross‐sectional survey study examined the relation between mental imagery (i.e., seeing images of a story ‘in the mind's eye’) and perceived self‐competence in reading. The study was conducted with a group of seventh‐grade to ninth‐grade students in the prevocational educational track of secondary schools in the Netherlands and their parents. Results showed a moderate relation between mental imagery and self‐competence beliefs, also after controlling for the quality of students' home literacy environment. Examination of gender differences revealed that girls outperformed boys in self‐competence beliefs. Furthermore, boys perceived themselves as better readers when their parents had higher mental imagery skills. No direct relation was found between parents' and adolescents' mental imagery skills. These findings imply that parents and teachers may need to be made aware of the importance of mental imagery strategies as it may enhance the reading experiences of boys as well as girls.     

Instructions for Authors

Instructions for Authors

Instructions for Authors     

Connecting instructional and cognitive aspects of an LE: A study of the global seminar project

My research problem is based on the lack of unifying conceptual cohesion between the discourses concerning cognitive and instructional aspects of learning environments (LE). I contrast that lack with practical developments of LE studies connected at the level of practical implementation and evaluation. Next, I briefly review the LE boundaries, which are established within cognitive and instructional domains of LE research. This study aims to bring the aforementioned discourses together via reconsidering and clarifying LE conceptual understandings. Using the case of a global seminar project (GSP), my goal is to define an LE as a conceptual phenomenon and a practical model with the two objectives of determining the GSP??s components that establish the course in a context of higher education; and the GSP??s specific contributions to deep learning. Within a qualitative research framework, I used three forms of data collection: 20 open-ended interviews of the GSP instructors; 11 direct observations of the GSP classroom; and the GSP??s written documents and artifacts. Noting the contextual significance of the suggested LE framework that resulted from this study, I propose a definition of an LE as a conceptual phenomenon and educational model. Here, I introduce the key understandings of an LE and outline its significance based on a broader analysis of the results. I conclude with an interpretation of the results and potential limitations of my approach.     

Élaboration d'un environnement logo favorable au développement d'habiletés en manipulation procédurale

Résumé Un environnement pédagogique propice à l'acquisition et à l'expression des habiletés procédurales en Logo est mis au point et accueille des enfants de 10–12 ans dans un projet d'une durée de 8 mois. Dans des phases successives de familiarisation et d'évaluation des compétences, on propose aux 10 participants une série de mises en situation requérant la manipulation de procédures en programmation Logo. Une analyse des comportements des enfants en termes de leurs habiletés fines et distinctes permet d'observer leur compétence et intérêt à manipuler des procédures. La discussion met en perspective l'importance des habiletés acquises et retrace les conditions environnementales qui en favorisent et supportent l'expression. Les limites dans les compétences observées sont aussi soulignées, ceci dans une perspective d'identification des étapes encore à parcourir dans la poursuite de l'acquisition et de la maîtrise des habiletés procédurales.

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A learning environment that facilitated the acquisition and expression of procedural skills in LOGO was set up for children in the 10 to 12 year range. In successive phases of familiarization and evaluation of competence over an eight month period, ten participants were placed in a series of situations that required them to manipulate programming procedures in LOGO. A fine-grained analysis of each of the children's behavior revealed their competence and interest in manipulating procedures. The importance of the acquired skills and the environmental conditions that favor and support their expression are discussed. Limits in the competencies observed are highlighted in order to identify the further steps to be taken in the acquisition and mastery of procedural skills.

     

The effect of contrasting cases during problem solving prior to and after instruction

Instructional Science - Research on productive failure suggests that attempting to solve a problem prior to instruction facilitates conceptual understanding compared to receiving instruction prior...     

Process-Oriented Worked Examples: Improving Transfer Performance Through Enhanced Understanding

The research on worked examples has shown thatfor novices, studying worked examples is oftena more effective and efficient way of learningthan solving conventional problems. Thistheoretical paper argues that addingprocess-oriented information to worked examplescan further enhance transfer performance,especially for complex cognitive skills withmultiple possible solution paths.Process-oriented information refers to theprincipled (``why'') and strategic (``how'')information that experts use when solvingproblems. From a cognitive load perspective,studying the expert's ``why'' and ``how''information can be seen as constituting agermane cognitive load, which can fosterstudents' understanding of the principles of adomain and the rationale behind the selectedoperators, and their knowledge about howexperts select a strategy, respectively. Issueswith regard to the design, implementation, andassessment of effects of process-orientedworked examples are discussed, as well as thequestions they raise for future research.     

When Developmental Education is Optional,What Will Students Do? A Preliminary Analysis of Survey Data on Student Course Enrollment Decisions in an Environment of Increased Choice

Historically, college students needing additional academic preparation have been assigned to developmental/remedial courses. In 2013 Florida took a drastic departure from this model by passing Senate Bill 1720, which prohibited institutions from requiring placement tests and made developmental education optional for many students, regardless of prior academic preparation. For this pilot study we conducted a survey at two colleges in the Florida College System to begin to understand the kinds of courses students will take now that developmental education is optional and the factors that students considered when making their course enrollment decisions.     

The role of importance and interest in the processing of text

In this review, text-based research on importance and interest is analyzed with several objectives in mind. First, the constructs of importance and interest are unidimensionally considered to show that various forms of each can operate within any text-learning environment. Second, research specifically addressing the interplay between these two factors is explored in relation to the goal of learning from text. The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate the research on importance and interest from a methodological standpoint and to delineate key findings that emerge from this body of research. Finally, based on the review of the literature, implications for future research and instructional practice are presented.