Students’ Views of Scientific Models and Modeling: Do Representational Characteristics of Models and Students’ Educational Levels Matter?

The aim of this study was to examine the potential impact of the representational characteristics of models and students’ educational levels on students’ views of scientific models and modeling (VSMM). An online multimedia questionnaire was designed to address three major aspects of VSMM, namely the nature of models, the nature of modeling, and the purpose of models. The three scales of representational characteristics included modality, dimensionality, and dynamics. A total of 102 eighth graders and 87 eleventh graders were surveyed. Both quantitative data and written responses were analyzed. The influence of the representational characteristics seemed to be more salient on the nature of models and the purpose of models. Some interactions between the educational levels and the representational characteristics showed that the high school students were more likely to recognize textual representations and pictorial representations as models, while also being more likely to appreciate the differences between 2D and 3D models. However, some other differences between educational levels did not necessarily suggest that the high school students attained more sophisticated VSMM. For instance, in considering what information should be included in a model, students’ attention to particular affordances of the representation can lead to a more naive view of modeling. Implications for developing future questionnaires and for teaching modeling are suggested in this study.     

Feeling Brown in the Academy: Decolonizing Mentoring Through a Disidentification Muxerista Approach

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, “Hispanics” comprise only 4% of the full-time faculty in U.S. universities, although Latin@s comprise 16.4% of the U.S. population. Given the under-representation of Latin@ faculty, efforts to support and retain them are paramount. Recently a small body of literature has surfaced explicitly centering the practices of peer mentoring among Latin@s. Through collaborative auto-ethnography and counter-storytelling, using a framework of disidentification, muxerista mentoring, and community cultural wealth, we add to this literature by discussing our experience of engaging in non-hierarchical Latina peer mentoring at a predominantly White university. The main themes include: merging emotional needs with professional growth, forging learning and research partnerships, Browning teaching spaces and transforming institutional practices.     

The pursuit of useable knowledge in instructional technology

The object of inquiry in instructional technology is not simply knowledge, but useable knowledge. This paper explores the dimensions of relevance with respect to research and suggests ways the research community can accommodate the needs and interests of practicing professionals in the field. Research relevance is examined as a reflection of: (a) practitioner and disciplinary values; (b) perceived credibility, viewed in terms of authenticity, methods employed, and replicability; and (c) perceptions of utility based upon the concrete nature of the findings. Specific recommendations relate to expanding the range of topics addressed in our research, expanding the range of research methods employed, orienting our research communication to specific practitioner communities, conducting research under natural conditions, replicating research, and establishing links between abstract and concrete findings. Finally, the role of the practitioner as an educated consumer of research is discussed.     

Zum Problem der Hochschulreform in Spanien: Einige Ausgewählte Daten

Over the past ten years there has been a sweeping reform of the courses taught and qualifications awarded by Spanish universities. For that reason, an investigation was launched in 1996–97 at the University of Santiago de Compostela (in Northwest Spain) into the teaching, research and management entailed in four new degree courses: physics (years one to four), agricultural engineering (first and second years), agricultural food-processing technology (years one to three) and pharmacy. This article reports on students' opinions of the reforms in these courses, revealing dissatisfaction with facilities for practical course work, lack of connection with prospective employment, and a call for more information about courses.     

A History of Infant Feeding

The historical evolution of infant feeding includes wet nursing, the feeding bottle, and formula use. Before the invention of bottles and formula, wet nursing was the safest and most common alternative to the natural mother''s breastmilk. Society''s negative view of wet nursing, combined with improvements of the feeding bottle, the availability of animal''s milk, and advances in formula development, gradually led to the substitution of artificial feeding for wet nursing. In addition, the advertising and safety of formula products increased their popularity and use among society. Currently, infant formula-feeding is widely practiced in the United States and appears to contribute to the development of several common childhood illnesses, including atopy, diabetes mellitus, and childhood obesity.     

Trajectories of Adjustment in a Brazilian Sample of Street-Involved Youth

Trajectories of adjustment were examined in a sample of street-involved youth across a 1-year period. Participants (N = 113; M_age = 14.18 years; 80.5% male, 91% non-White) were recruited in three Brazilian cities. Interviews conducted at three time points included six measures of physical and psychological adjustment. Unconditional growth models revealed linear declines over time (i.e., improved adjustment) on three indicators: health symptoms, sexual risk behaviors, and negative affect. There were no linear changes in drug use, positive affect, or life satisfaction. Conditional growth models revealed few significant effects for age or gender, but ratings of stressful life events moderated longitudinal changes in health symptoms, drug use, and negative affect. Implications for practice, policy, and theory are discussed.     

Silk Road: The market beyond the reach of the state

Between February 2011 and October 2013, Silk Road operated the largest and most sophisticated anonymous online marketplace for illegal drugs. More than a business venture, it was designed for anarcho-capitalist resistance to state power. The primary research question of this inquiry is: Can a stable market, defying the state, emerge under conditions of online anonymity? The article shows that Silk Road was built on a contradiction. On the one hand, strong cryptographic anonymity was embraced because it facilitated hiding from the state. On the other hand, the very same cryptographic anonymity made it difficult to impose rules and create a stable market. Silk Road sought to cultivate subcultural norms to ensure proper behavior in face of anonymity but they were not strong enough to control the behavior enabled by its architecture.     

Hi-bye friends and the herd instinct: international and home students in the creative arts

The crucial role of social integration for the academic success of home students is a common theme in pedagogical research, but for international students the emphasis has been much more on cultural factors and the challenges of transition. The findings of the International Students’ Experience Project at the University of the Arts, London suggest that this is far from the whole story. International students come to the UK precisely to make cosmopolitan friendships, but are held back—by language and communication, but also, less obviously, by differences in age, qualifications, experience and expectations, and by the need to adapt rapidly to an environment which is new in every sense. While home students surmount the challenges of social integration with relative ease, international students thus need more support. By coming to understand the needs of these students in all their complexity, institutions can play a key role in facilitating integration.     

Evaluation use and involvement of internal stakeholders: The case of a new non-degree online program in Brazil

To what extent does the intense and direct involvement of internal stakeholders, such as program managers and staff members, play a significant role toward evaluation use? Stakeholder involvement is a key element in evaluation and evaluation use is considered within a broader sense that includes organizational knowledge, individual skills, and immediate program reviews. The background of this new non-degree online program is directly related to the Brazilian socioeconomic, cultural, and educational framework. Conclusions include 12 major claims related to program evaluation and an integrative approach involving Patton's and Stake's evaluation theories. Although delimited by the natural boundaries of a case study design, conclusions may benefit the strategic discussion of program evaluation in similar situations, at both professional and academic levels.     

The role of online communities of practice in promoting sociotechnical capital among science teachers

This study explores the diffusion of Web 2.0 technologies among science educators and the ways that these technologies are used to build teacher professional communities of practice (CoP) in life sciences and physical sciences. We used surveys and web analytics collected over a 21-month period to examine factors that motivate teachers to collaborate in these CoPs and the extent to which collaborative participation contributes to the development of sociotechnical capital and job outcomes, such as instructional practices and self-efficacy for science instruction. Results showed that only the lack of co-located peers at teachers’ schools predicted CoP participation. Participation did not predict job outcomes, but it did predict some aspects of sociotechnical capital, such as a cohesive climate and situated knowledge. In addition, sociotechnical capital was associated with job outcomes, including use of inquiry-based instruction, use of inquiry-based classroom activities and teacher self-efficacy. The lack of effect of most of the antecedent variables in predicting participation and the relatively minor role of participation in contributing to sociotechnical capital and job outcomes may be explained by floor effects on participation due to infrequent and ephemeral engagement of CoP members. Although participation rates were generally low, the positive association of participation with sociotechnical capital as well as generally favorable ratings of sociotechnical constructs suggest that online CoPs may have value for distributed science educators. Future research should address whether persistent participation by individuals is needed to build and sustain sociotechnical capital in online CoPs and to enhance development of participants’ teaching attitudes/practices.