The impact of an integrated approach to science and literacy in elementary school classrooms

This study investigates the efficacy of an integrated science and literacy approach at the upper‐elementary level. Teachers in 94 fourth grade classrooms in one Southern state participated. Half of the teachers taught the treatment unit, an integrated science–literacy unit on light and energy designed using a curriculum model that engages students in reading text, writing notes and reports, conducting firsthand investigations, and frequent discussion of key concepts and processes to acquire inquiry skills and knowledge about science concepts, while the other half of the teachers taught a content‐comparable science‐only unit on light and energy (using materials provided by their districts) and provided their regular literacy instruction. Students in the treatment group made significantly greater gains on measures of science understanding, science vocabulary, and science writing. Students in both groups made comparable gains in science reading comprehension. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 631–658, 2012     

Gendered practices in the education of gifted girls and boys

Gifted girls and gifted boys are more alike than they are different, although researchers remain fascinated with sex differences. Small differences between gifted boys and girls in achievements, interests, careers, and relationships can become exaggerated through gendered educational practices. Kindergarten “red‐shirting'' of boys and the denial of early admission to girls can cause gifted children to be out of step throughout their academic careers. When gifted children are not actively encouraged to participate in talent searches and after‐school and summer programs, whether because of overprotection of girls or the insistence on athletic activities at the expense of academic activities for boys, they lose the opportunity for challenge, friendships, and community. When boys are not supported in their interests in creative careers and girls are not supported in their interests in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers, they may enter occupations that will not offer them the sense of purpose and meaning they might have otherwise had. It is in the area of gender relations, however, that long‐term consequences of gendered practices are most apparent for gifted individuals because both gifted boys and girls need to plan for balancing family and career. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Exploring the syntactic skills of struggling adult readers

This study investigated the syntactic ability of 82 struggling adult readers who recognize words between the third and fifth grade levels. Analysis of the adults?? performance on the TOLD-I:3 indicated that they were deficient on the syntactic task. Correlations found the struggling adult readers?? oral language skills, written language skills, and reading comprehension skills to be related. A regression analyses indicated that the adults?? syntactic knowledge did not individually predict reading comprehension, however their other oral language skills did. The findings of this study suggest that the adults performed similar to children who are either learning to read or considered poor readers. This study also contributes to the adult literacy field by providing exploratory information on an area (syntax and struggling adult readers) that is lacking.     

The impact of concept mapping and visualization on the learning of secondary school chemistry students

The aim of this study was to examine whether the construction of integrated knowledge structures by students can be stimulated by concept mapping and by better visualization of concepts and their interrelationships. The investigation was carried out in regular teaching settings: chemistry courses in secondary schools in Flanders, in the domain of electrochemistry. A significant positive effect of extra attention to visualization on the learning achievement of students was found. However, significant effects of concept mapping as an instruction method could not be detected under the given research conditions.     

A Vocationalized School Science Curriculum?

This article is concerned with the meaning and legitimacy of the view that the secondary science curriculum can be given a vocational emphasis, and with a current attempt to create such a curriculum. Although this perspective on the science curriculum has a long history, in recent decades it has received little attention. This article examines recent research into the vocational and work‐related aspects of secondary school science, and the historical and policy background. Its empirical focus is a late secondary course with the title “Applied Science”, which was introduced into schools in England and Wales in 2002. It draws on the preliminary findings of a research study focusing on the origins and implementation of this course. Overall, the article provides an overview of the major issues and research agenda associated with the notion of a vocational or applied school science curriculum, focusing ultimately on the key issues of educational purpose, pedagogy, and status.     

Revisiting the Fantasy–Reality Distinction: Children as Naïve Skeptics

Far from being the uncritical believers young children have been portrayed as, children often exhibit skepticism toward the reality status of novel entities and events. This article reviews research on children's reality status judgments, testimony use, understanding of possibility, and religious cognition. When viewed from this new perspective it becomes apparent that when assessing reality status, children are as likely to doubt as they are to believe. It is suggested that immature metacognitive abilities are at the root of children's skepticism, specifically that an insufficient ability to evaluate the scope and relevance of one's knowledge leads to an overreliance on it in evaluating reality status. With development comes increasing ability to utilize a wider range of sources to inform reality status judgments.     

How Distance Education Has Improved Adult Education

This essay examines the effects that distance education has had with adult learners over the last four decades, including (a) correspondence courses, (b) single technology, (c) blended learning, and (d) e-learning. Distance education has changed to decrease situational, institutional, and dispositional barriers for adult learners that students listed in the 1970s and 1980s. Removing these barriers has improved adult education in the 21st century; however, e-learning and blended learning also raise new concerns.     

CHILDREN'S ATTITUDES TOWARD THE ELDERLY AND AGING

This article describes the attitudes of children aged 3 to 11 toward the elderly and what they think about the aging process. It examines the development of the ability to discriminate aging in people as defined in Piaget's theory. Education must reach children long before 6 years of age if it is to modify their perceptions of older people and to create positive images of aging.     

Children's Ideas about Aging before and after an Intergenerational Read-aloud

This study describes a pilot project that included senior volunteer readers reading aloud to third graders in diverse schools across a district in northeast Florida. The researchers interviewed students about their perceptions of the aging process before and after the read aloud as well as their view of the read aloud events. The children enjoyed being read to by the senior volunteers, who were able to support the children's understanding of a fairly complex book. Further, the senior volunteers, who had expressed some hesitancy about reading to older children, greatly enjoyed the interaction. The study supports the idea that children's ideas about aging may be impacted both by book selection and the reader, and it posits that reading aloud to older children by senior volunteers may be beneficial to all parties involved.