Systems thinking of pre- and in-service science and engineering teachers

Systems thinking is an important skill in science and engineering education. Our study objectives were (1) to create the basis for a systems thinking language common to both science education and engineering education, and (2) to apply this language to assess science and engineering teachers’ systems thinking. We administered two assignments to teacher teams: first, modelling the same adapted scientific text, and second, modelling a synthesis of peer-reviewed articles in science and engineering education, with teams selecting a topic from a list and summarising them. We assessed those models using a rubric for systems thinking we had developed based on our literature review of this topic. We found high interrater reliability and validated the rubric’s theoretical construct for the system aspects of function, structure and behaviour. We found differences in scores between the assignments in favour of the second assignment, for two attributes of systems thinking: ‘expected outcome/intended purpose’ and ‘main object and its sub-objects’. We explain the first attribute difference as stemming from the modellers’ domain expertise as science or engineering teachers, rather than as scientists or engineers, and the second attribute difference – from the larger amount of information available for modelling the articles synthesis assignment. The theoretical contribution of this study lies in the definition of the systems thinking construct as a first step in establishing a common language for the science education and engineering education communities. The study's methodological contribution lies in the rubric we developed and validated, which can be used for assessing the systems thinking of teachers and potentially also of undergraduate students.     

Identity negotiations in conflict-ridden societies: historical and anthropological perspectives

Abstract

The present paper deals with epistemological and methodological issues as these touch upon the products of educational practices related to the teaching of historical narratives in settings purposely created to facilitate dialogue, inclusion and recognition among children thought to be belonging in clearly differentiated and antagonistic groups in a conflict-ridden area – i.e. Israeli Jews and Palestinians, and Greek and Turkish Cypriots. It offers an overview of the sociopolitical and educational contexts the authors have studied and vignettes of some of the events that captured their attention and led them to critically approach present theorising on peace and multicultural education. It finalises with reflections on the epistemological and methodological issues the authors encountered in their studies.     

Teaching Objectives in Chemistry: a Comparison of Teachers’ and Students’ Priorities

Summaries

English

An inventory which consisted of 12 objectives of chemistry teaching was constructed from lists compiled from the responses of 12th‐grade students and given to 10th, 11th and 12th graders and to their teachers. All four groups were asked to rank the objectives according to their order of significance.

The analysis of the order of rankings gives an insight into what are considered as the most important and interesting aspects of chemistry by students and by teachers.

The use of an objectives questionnaire in this manner is recommended to curriculum developers as part of the process of development and implementation of any curriculum. This may help to make the subject matter more suitable for the needs of both students and teachers.     

GOLEM,FROM PRAGUE TO CYBERSPACE: THE USE OF CSCL IN CULTURAL EDUCATION FOR DIASPORAS

In this paper we describe and theorize about a computer‐supported and mediated educational research project which encourages cultural production and sustainability. We first describe the CD‐Golem project which was developed in light of the perceived needs of a Diaspora community's attempts to impart its youth with a sense of belonging and continuity. Next we characterize Cultural Education and discuss the theoretical rationale of our approach in the context of current theories of identity and cultural construction, multicultural education and computer‐supported collaborative learning. We conclude by reviewing briefly and evaluating critically some of the lessons we have learned in our first years of activity.     

TRADITIONAL VERSUS HISTORICAL APPROACH IN THE TEACHING OF THE BIBLE

This article describes results from interviews with Jewish teenagers about the tension between adherence to tradition and commitment to egalitarianism in relation to issues like women in the rabbinate, women wearing ritual garments like kipot and talitot, and gender separation at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. For many teens, egalitarian values trumped traditional objections to female rabbis and other forms of participation in synagogue life in America; however, they were more hesitant to challenge gender separation at the Kotel in Israel, where the purported antiquity and authenticity of Orthodox tradition is more readily accepted.     

Emotion Reactivity and Regulation in Maltreated Children: A Meta-Analysis

The many adverse effects of child maltreatment make the scientific investigation of this phenomenon a matter of vital importance. Although the relationship between maltreatment and problematic emotion reactivity and regulation has been studied, the strength and specificity of these associations are not yet clear. We examine the magnitude of the maltreatment—child-emotion reactivity/regulation link. Studies with substantiated maltreatment involving children aged up to 18 were included, along with a smaller number of longitudinal studies (58 papers reviewed, encompassing more than 11,900 children). In comparison to nonmaltreated children, maltreated children experience more negative emotions, behave in a manner indicative of more negative emotion, and display emotion dysregulation. We outline several theoretical implications of our results.     

Learning from Failure: A Case Study of Where an Extracurricular Science Program Went Wrong

This article re-examines the learning environment in an after-school science program for socio-economically disadvantaged children, attempting to discover why the particular group we studied failed to make significant progress between pre and post program testing, while other groups undergoing the same program elsewhere succeeded. Data composed of in class observations, students’ class workbooks and perceptive/cognitive interviews was analyzed qualitatively to construct a picture of the learning environment as experienced by both the students and their student teacher, Liora. Our primary finding revealed a striking dissonance between the program’s student-centered theory (based on the tenets of social-constructivism) and the classroom reality enforced by Liora, who ran the lessons primarily as a monologue that left very little room for active student participation. This disparity was further complicated by an ambiguity in Liora’s position as an authority figure, wherein she wavered between her predilection for a rigid, authoritative teaching environment and a desire to be her students’ friend and confidante.     

Chabad Tracks the Trekkers: Jewish Education in India

Fundamentalists and modernists seem, at times, to work in contrapuntal interdependency. While the fundamentalist's rhetoric markets its image as celebrating the renewal of an authentic past identity in modernity, modernists state the need for and possibility of adapting a cherished past to modern assumptions. Yet, it seems as if it is the fundamentalists who are the ones to embrace a highly modern narrative and that it is the modernists who oppose it. In this article, we investigate this paradox by portraying the educational efforts of the Chabad Movement to introduce young Israeli trekkers in Southeast Asia, from secular, Zionist backgrounds, into a religious lifestyle. We show Chabad's strategies to be what, in modernist jargon, would be considered progressive informal educational activities, the very ones from which modernists seem to be retreating with the advance of Jewish day school educational technologies in the Diaspora. We suggest that the Chabad movement demonstrates an understanding of the covert symbolic power of formal educational approaches and that it resists them by enacting a radical epistemological change in all that guides their educational activity.     

Figuring out what works: learning and engaging with ideas about evolution within integrated informal learning environments

Instructional Science - Informal learning environments can be a fun and effective means of introducing visitors to a variety of topics in evolution. Our study examined 120 sixth-grade...