The effectiveness of take-home science kits at the elementary level

A major reason for the lack of scientific and technological literacy in this country is the lack of emphasis on high-quality science education at the elementary school level. The National Science Board Commission on Precollege Education in Mathematics, Science, and Technology states in its report (1983) that formal study of science must be reinforced by a wide range of activities outside the school. Learning in the home appears to be an excellent way to enhance elementary school science programs. Students who study with their parents or whose parents are involved in school activities achieve more in school. This study describes and presents evaluation data for a program that encourages elementary school students and their parents to study science topics in a hands-on, inquiry fashion in their own homes. The analyses of the data indicate that the program is viewed very positively by both the students and their parents, that there are gender and grade-level differences in the students, and that the program seems to be more effective for girls, a group at risk for continuing in science.     

Do middle school life science textbooks provide a balance of scientific literacy themes?

Four themes of scientific literacy have been synthesized to analyze science textbooks for this purpose: (a) science as a body of knowledge, (b) science as a way of investigating, (c) science as a way of thinking, and (d) the interaction among science, technology, and society (STS). The intercoder agreement between two researchers who coded the units of analysis for the four themes was high. The life science textbooks examined in this study seem to stress two aspects of scientific literacy—science as a body of knowledge and science as a way of investigating. These textbooks devote practically no text to science as a way of thinking. Very little text is devoted to the interaction of science, technology, and society. There was at least one chapter in each textbook that addressed the nature of science and its relationship to life science. Most of the analyzed textbooks present the stereotypical steps of the scientific method and do not provide a balance of scientific literacy themes.     

Approaches to Learning of Medical Students and Practising Physicians: some empirical evidence and its implications for medical education

This paper is a review of a sustained research effort in the field of learning styles and approaches to learning. In particular it focuses on how various aspects of the medical school environment (teaching, curriculum, assessment) effect students approach to their learning. It also shows that the more desirable ‘deep approach’ to learning is not as apparent in conventional medical schools as in the innovative problem‐based medical schools. The implications of these findings for undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing education are explored. Finally, there is an attempt to identify individual students who have learning problems and, thus, are at risk of academically underachieving.     

High and low implementers of content literacy instruction: Portraits of teacher efficacy

This study used a teacher efficacy framework to describe the perceptions of high and low implementers of content literacy instruction in the context of a year-long professional development program. Interviews from middle and high school content teachers illustrated efficacy differences between teachers who demonstrated high and low levels of content literacy implementation. High implementers exhibited higher levels of general, personal, and collective efficacy, whereas low implementers exhibited lower levels of efficacy for literacy teaching. Although both high and low implementers perceived content literacy positively, high implementers were characterized by persistence in overcoming barriers associated with content literacy implementation.     

Trainee Primary Teachers’ Ideas about the Ozone Layer

The ideas of trainee primary teachers about the ozone layer have been examined. Students were well informed about the nature and location of the ozone layer and appreciated that it screens the Earth from ultraviolet (UV) rays, although some thought that it protects the Earth from acid rain. Most identified real causes of ozone layer depletion, but many thought that radioactivity and factory and vehicle emissions cause ozone layer degradation. Almost all realised that ozone depletion might cause more skin cancers; fewer recognised other potential biological problems. Many confused ozone layer depletion with global warming. The proportions holding these ideas were similar to those of older secondary school children, suggesting that misconceptions persist to the adult population. Since these ideas were found in final year trainee teachers, there is a danger that erroneous ideas or the attitudes based on them might be perpetuated in a formal learning context.     

Shaping Students’ Attitudes Toward Diversity: Do Faculty Practices and Interactions With Students Matter?

Research in Higher Education - Scholars have advocated for further investigation of the campus climate for diversity and students’ attitudes and behaviors surrounding diversity, and there...     

Increasing Educational Attainment and Aspiration in an Underserved Community: The Perspective of Urban-Community Leaders

Latino students are significantly underrepresented in higher education. As the largest and fastest growing racial/ethnic population in the US, this is cause for national concern. Additionally, this rapid population growth is a call for community and school leaders from underserved communities to assess their service areas and focus on interventions to increase the college-going rates of youth. Maywood is a city located in Southeast Los Angeles. Like many other urban areas, Maywood’s largely Latino population is underrepresented in higher education. This research focused on interviewing Maywood’s community and school leaders (n = 24) to gain insight into their perceptions of their role and responsibility to address issues surrounding their community’s low levels of educational attainment. A key theme emerged revealing that leaders understand their community’s educational issues but do not see their role as leaders to directly address this issue to build a college-going culture. Implications for practice in strengthening community partnerships and developing a college-going culture are provided and a series of recommendations for the creation of a college-going culture are discussed.     

If they can speak,why can't they read? And spell? They may now!

For the dyslexic and others with similar problems, it is suggested that the sequence of modalities known as VAKT be revised to achieve more effective and more rapid remediation. The new sequence is designated as TAK/v. The subordination of the visual modality is based on the recent identification of a visual processing deficiency in dyslexics, as well as on previous hypotheses, suggesting the desirability of substituting the tactile modality for the visual modality in the initial stages of remediation. The use of one hand is suggested for this tactile scanning of three-dimensional letters to access the right hemisphere, and experimental data are reported.     

Flowery math: a case for heterodiscoursia in mathematics problems solving in recognition of students’ authorial agency

In an innovative, progressive school, students were asked to solve a fairly routine mathematical problem using real money in a “real-world” scenario. Even though the school values students’ ideas, the reaction of the teacher to one student’s alternative modelling of the problem suggests that he was expecting a particular answer to be provided using routine mathematical models and thinking while not being interested in exploring the student’s unexpected alternative. We place his reasoning for doing so within broad pedagogical discourses that we think define the “allowable” responses of teachers and students in ways that inhibit meaning-making for both. These broad discourses are defined as the progressive constructivist approach, the scaffolding discursive approach, the situation modelling approach and the dialogic approach. We consider the advantages and the potential consequences each might bring to the case. We suggest that extensive consideration of pedagogical discourses in mathematics classes must be reconsidered both for how we understand students’ mathematical meaning-making and how we construct student agency in relationship to culture, whether as apprentices or authors.