STEM integration has become a popular concept not only in the context of education practices but also as a way of learning. The integration of the STEM domains is evident in students’ learning experiences when engaging in STEM activities. However, there is a lack of instruments for evaluating students’ levels of self-efficacy in these activities. Therefore, the aims of this study were to develop a survey for evaluating upper primary students’ self-efficacy in STEM activities and to explore whether a student’s gender, grade, and participation in STEM activities predict his or her self-efficacy in STEM activities. A total of 844 fourth- to sixth-grade primary students participated in this study. After pilot testing, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted, the survey was found to have a single-factor structure with high reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = .90). Linear regression analysis showed that school and out-of-school participation in STEM activities significantly predicted the students’ self-efficacy in STEM activities, while grade and gender did not. The survey developed in this study provides a reliable and valid way to measure students’ self-efficacy in STEM activities. These findings also highlight the importance of encouraging students’ participation in both formal and informal STEM activities.
The purposes of this study are to report the influences of a mixed delivery professional development [PD] course involving face-to-face classes and the mentoring assisted inquiry-based teaching [MAIT] website that addressed the conceptual change and self-efficacy of high school mathematics and science teachers’ conceptions of inquiry-based teaching. Twenty-five in-service high school science and mathematics teachers participated in a 9 weeks, 4 h per week PD course. Data collection included the pre-post Inquiry Teaching Efficacy Questionnaire [ITEQ], teachers’ reflective journals posted on the MAIT website, teachers’ assignments requested by the course instructor, and follow-up teachers’ interviews. Findings revealed that both mathematics and science teachers’ conceptions of inquiry teaching show significant improvements after the course. The mixed delivery PD course had the same influence on science and mathematics teachers. The authentic video clips and lesson plans provided on the MAIT website and the specific feedback toward teachers’ performance are the main factors that shaped teachers’ inquiry-based teaching conceptions. 相似文献
Measurement burst designs, wherein individuals are measured intensively during multiple periods (i.e., bursts), have created new opportunities for studying change at multiple time scales. This article develops a model that might be useful in situations where the functional form of short-term change is unknown, might consist of multiple phases, and might change over the long term. Specifically, we combine measurement of intraindividual entropy, a latent basis growth model, a multiphase growth model, and a growth model with covariates into a unified framework that could help accommodate the complexity of patterns that emerge in multiple time-scale categorical data streams. Empirical data from a longitudinal study of young children’s behavior during laboratory tasks designed to induce frustration are used to illustrate the utility of the proposed model for simultaneously describing intratask (short-term) change in self-regulation and developmental (long-term) shifts in intratask change. 相似文献
The present study investigated the effects of a special interactive dialogic reading method developed by Whitehurst et al. (1988) on deaf and hard-of-hearing children in Hong Kong. Twenty-eight deaf and hard-of-hearing children in kindergarten, first, or second grade were pretested on a receptive vocabulary test and assigned to one of three conditions, dialogic reading, typical reading, and control, with age and degree of hearing loss matched. After an 8-week intervention, the children were re-tested. The dialogic reading group had a significantly greater improvement in vocabulary scores than did the other two groups. Parent-child interactions of high quality and the use of pictorial materials are likely the key successful factors in the program. The educational value of this intervention is discussed. 相似文献
In this study, the researcher included an extensive science museum experience for the pre-service secondary science teachers within a teaching methods course to enhance their learning to teach science. The extensive museum experience covered four aspects: the visit, discussion with museum educators, the development of lesson plans, and practising teaching in the science museum. Twenty-one pre-service science teachers attended this course. Qualitative methods were used for data collection and analysis. The data sources included field notes, reports, diaries, and interviews. The findings show that this course connecting museum resources and context had created a novel situation for pre-service science teachers to learn how to teach science. The discourses with the museum educators also provided them with innovations in education beyond the gains from traditional teacher education. Through developing and practising teaching activities, they improved their understanding of the meanings and effective ways to use museum resources in science teaching. Pre-service science teachers reported that getting feedback from peers and observing modeling teaching was helpful. This course provided an alternative way to view how scientific activities were developed for junior high students. In general, the use of museum settings provides a new profile of learning and teaching course for pre-service science teachers in Taiwan. Based on the findings, this study makes suggestions for those science teacher educators who would like to use science museum resources and contexts to nurture prospective science teachers. 相似文献
International students often face challenges in adjusting to their new environment without the use of local supports such as counseling. This article suggests how universities can form an outreach support group that encourages the participation of international students by minimizing the stigma associated with using mental health services and by addressing relevant practical and emotional issues that international students face. 相似文献
Vocabulary knowledge was tested in a native (Cantonese-Chinese) and foreign (English) language in 150 twins and 150 singletons aged 6–11 years, matched on age, gender, grade level, nonverbal intelligence, parents’ education, family income, and number of siblings and household members. The singletons clearly outperformed the twins on the native vocabulary, but this “twinning effect” was much less noticeable for the foreign vocabulary. The effect on English vocabulary was further reduced after exposure to English at home was controlled. Given that these participants learned most of their English in school rather than home, the present findings support the notion that the twinning effect is associated with increased competition for family interaction in twins compared with singletons. 相似文献