The reading–science learning–writing connection: Breakthroughs,barriers, and promises

This article establishes a broad framework from which to interpret and evaluate the reading–science learning–writing connection. The presentation of breakthroughs, barriers, and promises is intended to outline the established links between, to identify current bottlenecks in thinking about, and to highlight productive inquiries into, print-based languages and scientific understanding. The ideas presented come from various disciplines connected to science education. The ideas are meant to be informative, provocative, integrative, supportive, and without hidden agenda.     

Oral traditions,changing rural landscapes,and science education

This forum response extends the argument made by Avery and Hains that oral traditions can be useful for including the cultures and contexts of rural areas within science instruction. To buttress the oral expressions presented in Avery and Hains, I compare oral expressions of a second rural area, 600 miles to the South, in Eastern North Carolina. I explore similarities and differences in expressions from the two areas and consider the changing rural context within Eastern North Carolina. I add a consideration of larger demographic shifts impacting many rural areas—particularly in the US South—and close with a discussion of implications for science education.     

Development and validation of a group test of integrated science processes

The paper describes the development and validation of a group test of integrated process skills. The test assesses student performance on a set of twelve objectives related to the generic objective: planning and conducting an investigation. Evidence of content validity, construct validity, and reliability are presented in the paper. A range of generalizability coefficients from 0.77 to 0.98 is reported for specific uses of the 24-item test. Since the items measure performance on objectives that can be readily translated into classroom activity, the test has direct applicability to classroom based research, and evaluation of instruction. In addition to sound psychometric properties, the Test of Integrated Science Processes is distincitve because it includes a set of interrelated, cumulative objectives which reflect autonomous problem solving.     

Investigating the structural relationship for the determinants of cloud computing adoption in education

This research is one of the first few to investigate the adoption and usage of cloud computing in higher education in the context of developing countries, in this case Thailand. It proposes extending the technology acceptance model to integrate subjective norm, perceived convenience, trust, computer self-efficacy, and software functionality in order to better understand the degree of influence that each has on the adoption of cloud in an educational setting. The instrument development was modified from past studies on technology adoption. Data was collected from two leading universities in Thailand, Mahidol University International College, and Thammasat University. Structural equation modeling was applied to the research, the results of which illustrated that perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, intention to use, perceived convenience, trust, and software functionality have a statistically positive relationship towards the adoption of cloud computing. However, it is interesting to note that, contrary to most studies, computer self-efficacy and subjective norm did not posit a positive relationship. The research also presents the conclusions, which include a discussion of the findings, the academic and practical implications, and limitations.     

Implications of social network sites for teaching and learning. Where we are and where we want to go

This conceptual paper deals with some of the implications that the use of social network sites, though not originally developed and conceived for learning purposes, have for schools and academic activities when they are used as tools able to modify and innovate teaching/learning practices and academic culture. Beside the differences that characterize the two contexts, the attention that social network tools are progressively gaining in schools and higher education practices and pedagogies requires adjustments in learning and teaching that should be constantly considered by educators and policy makers. These environments are also presenting new and crucial opportunities for teacher training and teachers’ professional development. The purpose of the study is to reflect on some significant challenges and opportunities offered by social network sites, and how to exploit the latter, in relation to a number of themes. These themes have been identified as those that deserve better comprehension and further research investigation: communication between students and teachers and appropriate professional behaviours; pedagogical and technological challenges related to incorporating social networking practices into teaching and academic practices; how social networking can be exploited for teachers’ professional training and development. The study also provides some implications for policy and practice.     

Cross-National Estimates of the Effects of Family Background on Student Achievement: A Sensitivity Analysis

This article uses the data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2000 to examine whether the influence of family background on educational achievement is sensitive to different measures of the family’s socio-economic status (SES). The study finds that, when a multidimensional measure of SES is used, the family background has a stronger influence on achievement across countries than if the simpler measure of SES is used. The new measure, which incorporated aspects of parental occupation, education and cultural resources, was not biased towards more wealthy nations, Western nations, or urban population. However, when a proxy of wealth was included in the measure of SES, this reduced the other measured effects of family background on achievement in many countries.