Instructional practices and science performance of 10 top-performing regions in PISA 2015

ABSTRACT

This study analysed 10 top-performing regions in PISA 2015 on their science performances and instructional practices. The regions include Singapore, Japan, Estonia, Taipei, Finland, Macao, Canada, Hong Kong, China and Korea. The science performances of the 10 regions and their teaching practices are described and compared. The construct of enquiry-based instruction as developed in PISA 2015 is revised into two new constructs using factor analysis. Then, the relationships of the teaching practices with science performance are analysed using hierarchical linear modelling. Adaptive instruction, teacher-directed instruction and interactive application are found positively associated with performance in all regions, while investigation and perceived feedback are all negative. The regions except Japan and Korea tend to have a high frequency of teacher-directed instruction facilitated by more or less authoritative class discussion in class. A fair amount of practical work is done, but not many of them are investigations. The cultural influences on teaching practices are discussed on how an amalgam of didactic and constructivist pedagogy is created by the Western progressive educational philosophy meeting the Confucian culture. The reasons for investigation’s negative association with performance are also explored.     

Modern Language Teaching in Australian Universities

This paper reports the attitudes of academics teaching languages other than English in Australian universities. The data are derived from a national survey in 1984 which asked a range of questions ranging from background details on students, characteristics of course structures, methods of teaching, and perceptions of the attitudes of students to numerous issues relevant to the teaching of languages. The responses of these language teachers are analysed with respect to theories of language teaching. The matters of major concern to language teachers highlighted by the study are shown to be relevant to current debate about the future of modern, especially Asian, language teaching.     

Examining the structure of vocational interests in Turkey in the context of the personal globe model

The structural validity of the Personal Globe Inventory-Short (PGI-S: Tracey in J Vocat Behavi 76:1–15, 2010) was examined in a Turkish sample of high school and university students. The PGI-S measures eight basic interest scales, Holland’s (Making vocational choice, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1997) six types, Prediger’s (J Vocat Behav 21:259–287, 1981) people/things, data/ideas dimensions, and prestige. After adapting the original PGI-S items into Turkish (PGI-S-T), the inventory was administered to high school students (N = 605) and university students (N = 359). The fit of Holland’s RIASEC and the PGI eight type model were examined separately using the randomization test of hypothesized order relations. Results indicated a strong fit for both the eight type and the RIASEC model. Expected significant differences were found between PGI-S-T subscales across gender and age. The results support the structural validity of the adapted PGI-S-T in a Turkish sample.     

Islamic morality: Teaching to balance the record

The article proposes that the teaching of Islamic morality presents as an important if not urgent task for moral education. It offers the opportunity to inform a student body about a vital historical development in the formation of moral thought and action; to challenge and offset a blind spot in Western thinking about Islam in general; to challenge the ease with which radical Islamist views of Islam have captured the minds of Muslim and non-Muslim audiences alike; and, because of the contentious nature of the topic, to provide the kind of robust debate that should accompany moral pedagogy in general. The article focusses on select aspects of historical Islamic morality as exemplars of the contribution to morality made by the religious tradition.     

Adolescent maltreatment and its impact on young adult antisocial behavior

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Childhood maltreatment is known to be a risk factor for a range of later problems, but much less is known about adolescent maltreatment. The present study aims to investigate the impact of adolescent maltreatment on antisocial behavior, while controlling for prior levels of problem behavior as well as sociodemographic characteristics. METHODS: Data are from the Rochester Youth Development Study, a cohort study of the development of problem behaviors in a sample of 1,000 urban youth followed from age 13 into adulthood. Subjects include 68% African American, 17% Hispanic, and 15% White youth. This analysis includes a maximum of 884 subjects, of whom 9.3% had substantiated maltreatment reports in adolescence. Among the maltreated adolescents, 14 experienced sex abuse, 36 experienced physical abuse, and 32 were neglected or emotionally abused. Outcomes explored in late adolescence (ages 16-18) and young adulthood (ages 20-22) include arrest, self-reported general and violent offending, and illicit drug use. Control variables include prior levels of these outcomes as well as sociodemographic characteristics like poverty, parent education, and caregiver changes. RESULTS: Logistic regression analysis determined that experiencing any substantiated maltreatment during adolescence increases the odds of arrest, general and violent offending, and illicit drug use in young adulthood, even controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and prior levels of problem behavior. Different types of adolescent maltreatment, including neglect, appear to produce similar adverse behavioral consequences. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent maltreatment necessitates increased attention in view of its enduring and potentially wide-ranging impact on the life span.     

The impact of values education on school ambience and academic diligence

The article will focus on demonstrating the effects of values education on enhancing students’ academic diligence through the more positive ambience it creates in the school. Evidence will be drawn from international studies but principally from the Australian Government's Values Education Program and, especially from the Values Education Good Practice Schools Project Reports (2006, 2008) and the Project to Test and Measure the Impact of Values Education on Student Effects and School Ambience (2009).     

Values education and holistic learning: Updated research perspectives

The article introduces the special issue by exploring international research findings that identify certain forms of values education constituting an effective catalyst for good practice pedagogy and, in turn, contributing to holistic learning. It refers firstly to research that justifies and explains how values education works to enhance positive student effects across the full range of developmental measures, personal, emotional, social, moral, spiritual and intellectual. It then focuses on international evidence that underpins the central theme of the special issue, so providing updated samples of the theoretical and empirical research that both explains and demonstrates the impact of values education on holistic learning.