To see or not to see: analyzing difficulties in geometry from the perspective of visual perception

In this paper, we consider theories about processes of visual perception and perception-based knowledge representation (VPR) in order to explain difficulties encountered in figural processing in junior high school geometry tasks. In order to analyze such difficulties, we take advantage of the following perspectives of VPR: (1) Perceptual organization: Gestalt principles, (2) recognition: bottom-up and top-down processing; and (3) representation of perception-based knowledge: verbal vs. pictorial representation, mental images and hierarchical structure of images. Examples given in the paper were mostly taken from Gal's study (2005) which aimed at identifying and analyzing Problematic Learning Situations (after Gal & Linchevski, 2000) in junior high school geometry classes. Gal's study (2005) suggests that while this theoretical perspective became part of teachers' pedagogic content knowledge, the teachers were aware of their students' thinking processes and their ability to analyze and cope with their students’ difficulties in geometry was improved.     

From Another Perspective—training teachers to cope with problematic learning situations in geometry

“From Another Perspective” is a year-long course for teachers of mathematics that is designed to enhance teachers’ awareness of the way that their students think when they are experiencing difficulties in geometry. It also aims at equipping teachers with tools needed to analyze and cope with Problematic Learning Situations in geometry (Gal & Linchevski, 2000). This paper reviews the rationale, content, and approach of the course, which is characterized as “the Back and Forth model”. It then reports on a study that tracked the changes that course participants (pre- and in-service mathematics teachers) passed through. The paper describes the results of the case study of Eti, one of the participants, who taught mathematics to junior high school students. The findings suggest that Eti was helped to achieving the goals of: (1) expanding and deepening her understanding of students’ ways of thinking; (2) increasing her awareness of her students’ processes of thinking in order to identify their difficulties; (3) equipping her with appropriate tools to analyze and cope with such difficulties; and (4) enhancing her ability to retrieve and utilize this knowledge while making instructional decisions. Conclusions and open questions for further study are drawn.     

Does Commercialized Political Coverage Undermine Political Trust?: Evidence Across European Countries

Media commercialization has long been suspected of exerting a negative influence upon political culture. The news media's interest in intrigues, personal details, and scandals rather than political issues in order to capture audience attention is regarded by many as a prime source of political cynicism. This article scrutinizes this claim by examining whether a commercialized media environment correlates with lower levels of citizen political trust across countries. Integrating cross-national survey data with country-level measures of commercialized political coverage, the findings indicate that, across 33 European countries, a negative link exists between media commercialization and political trust. Replication of the analysis with a separate cross-national survey across 28 countries demonstrated the robustness of the findings. These support the claim that media commercialization undermines political trust.     

The interplay of learning approaches and self-efficacy in secondary school students’ academic achievement in science

ABSTRACT

The aim of the present investigation was to analyse the role of academic self-efficacy and approaches to learning in general and in Physics and Chemistry academic achievements. The sample comprised 507 secondary school students of two Spanish schools and the study was conducted in the context of a Physics and Chemistry subject. Structural equation models showed that surface motive was the only type of learning approach directly related to performance. Besides, our models revealed that self-efficacy plays an important role as a mediating variable between the surface strategy and the deep motive learning approaches and academic achievement. Gender effects were also studied as girls showed higher levels of achievement both in general performance and in Physics and Chemistry. Implications for science education and suggestions for future research of these findings are also discussed.