A Piagetian-Based Programme for Learning “Elements and Symbols”

Piaget's learning theory on cognitive development has had considerable impact on science education (Piaget, 1964; Inhelder and Piaget, 1958; Craig, 1972). The theory classifies cognitive learning into four successive stages: (a) sensory-motor, (b) pre-operational, (c) operational, and (d) formal. Various programmes and instructional strategies have been developed based on the theory (Batt, 1980; Karplus, 1977; Renner and Stafford, 1979; Ryan, et al., 1980; Herron, 1978; Good et al; 1978). An application of this theory for teaching and learning scientific concepts is the Piagetian learning cycle (Karplus, 1977) which is of growing interest among science educators. This article intends to introduce briefly the learning cycle in general and suggest a learning cycle for teaching a topic in chemistry: “Elements and Symbols”.     

Raising Health Literacy and Promoting Empowerment to Meet the Challenges of Aging in Hong Kong

This study aimed to determine the educational needs of members of the public and related professional disciplines in order to improve health literacy in elderly issues. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2007; 2,694 subjects were recruited from the noninstitutional Hong Kong population aged 16 years and over. Undergraduate students of health care professions, professionals working at the hospitals, and the seniors were purposefully over-sampled. Results showed significant knowledge gaps and misconceptions. The gaps were more prevalent with increasing age in general, although they also existed among health care professionals. Public education should target the revealed areas of knowledge gaps and misconceptions.     

E-Learning in China

The success of any open and distance learning course depends on how well it is designed, executed, and evaluated. Evaluation of a course not only demonstrates its strengths, but also points out any inherent shortcomings in the course. This is why course evaluation constitutes an important function in an open and distance learning system. The present paper aims to evaluate a distance education course ‘Instruction in higher education’ from the Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education (PGDHE) offered by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), India. Feedback on this course was obtained from 230 respondents with the help of a structured questionnaire. The data collected from students were analysed using percentages. Findings from the study provide an understanding of the operation of the different components of the course. While the majority of the respondents were satisfied with self‐instructional materials, assignments, the extended contact programme, and delivery mechanisms, a sizeable number of respondents were dissatisfied with academic counselling, and the use of audio‐video programmes. Generally, the respondents provided useful feedback and suggestions which will help the faculty in course revision.     

Pre‐service Teachers’ Subject Knowledge of and Attitudes about Radioactivity and Ionising Radiation

This study focussed on secondary school (11–18 years) pre‐service teachers’ (n = 73) knowledge of and attitudes towards risks associated with alpha, beta, and gamma radiations. A multi‐method approach was used with physics, chemistry, biology, and history graduates undertaking the one‐year initial teacher training, Post Graduate Certificate in Education course at a university in central England. A novel research tool, involving interviews about real concrete contexts and first‐hand data collection with radioactive sources, was employed to gain insights into a sub‐set of the sample (n = 12) of pre‐service teachers’ subject knowledge of and attitudes towards risk. The subject knowledge of all the pre‐service teachers was also measured using a Certainty of Response Index instrument; multiple‐choice questions with associated confidence indicators. Although the physicists displayed the higher levels of knowledge, they also demonstrated limitations in their knowledge and held misconceptions such as irradiation being confused with contamination. Physics graduates hold more rational attitudes and a greater willingness to accept risk while the attitudes of graduates in the other subject disciplines are more disparate. These findings raise questions about the extent to which pre‐service science and history teachers have the knowledge necessary to teach this topic. The article concludes with discussion of the implications these findings have for initial teacher training, continuing professional development needs for teachers already in the profession, and curriculum developers.     

Cross‐national Comparisons in the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP): The USA,Norway and China

This article provides a cross‐national perspective on successful school principalship in three countries derived from an analysis of case studies in the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP). The ISSPP aims to investigate the characteristics, processes and effects of successful school leadership across eight countries (i.e. Australia, Canada, England, the United States, China, Denmark, Sweden and Norway). Examples from the USA, Norway and China (Shanghai) were selected to illustrate cross‐national differences related to the societal purposes of education, the structure and funding of different national educational systems and the influence of particular governmental educational policies (i.e. accountability‐oriented policies) on the leadership practices of individual school principals. Variations in selection criteria and research procedures were also noted. Recommendations for further research using a cultural framework include analysing multiethnic schools to identify culturally specific leadership practices as well as developing further ISSPP case studies in non‐Western contexts.     

Investigating changes in pedagogical knowledge and skills from pre-service to the initial year of teaching

This study examined the levels of pedagogical knowledge and skills as perceived by student teachers who were enrolled in the Post Graduate Diploma in Education program at the National Institute of Education, Singapore, from the beginning of their initial teacher preparation program to the end of their first year of teaching. Their perceptions were assessed using the Pedagogical Knowledge and Skills in Teaching (PKST) survey which comprised six factors, namely, Student Learning, Lesson Planning, Instructional Support, Accomodating Diversity, Classroom Management, and Care and Concern. A sample of 812 student teachers participated in the study. The MANOVA conducted showed that there were significant increases in both their pedagogical knowledge and skills in teaching in all six factors from the start of their initial teacher preparation (ITP) program till the end of their first year of teaching. However, between the exit from the program to the end of the first year of teaching, they only perceived that their level of pedagogical knowledge in classroom management and care and concern continued to increase significantly. In the case of self-perceived skills, their level increased significantly between entry and exit of the program for all factors, except for care and concern, while the increase between the exit and first year of teaching was significant for all six factors. These results may have implications for preservice teacher education and this will be discussed in this article.     

How Fair are Student Ratings in Assessing the Teaching Performance of University Teachers?

This paper examines the effects of course characteristics on student ratings of university teaching. The multivariate effects of various course characteristics on student ratings of university teachers were examined by a 5×4×3×2×2 multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) with academic discipline, class size, level of course, type of course, and mode of study as independent variables and a set of six composite student ratings as the dependent variable. Data were obtained from a university in Hong Kong and consisted of 4996 course average ratings collected from 25 departments over two academic years. Significant differences were found in course average student ratings across academic disciplines, class size groups, course levels, types of course, and modes of study. The effect sizes of the largest differences between sub‐groups within each of the factors were also estimated. Academic discipline differences and class size were found to have the largest effect on student ratings, with effect sizes of 0.43–0.86 and 0.55–1.01 respectively. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Using a theoretical model of communal coping to understand changes in language brokers’ coping patterns: Implications for Latina/o early adolescents’ brokering stress and efficacy

Language brokering occurs when immigrant youth linguistically and culturally mediate for family and members of U.S. mainstream culture. Under some circumstances, brokering can be stressful. Based on a theoretical model of communal coping, this study utilized two waves of survey data from 342 Latina/o sixth- to eighth-grade students to identify different types of copers: (a) communal copers, (b) tentative copers, and (c) declined-ownership copers. Communal copers reported greater brokering stress than tentative brokers in the middle of the year, but not by the end of the year. Communal copers reported greater brokering efficacy than tentative copers in the middle and end of the year. Declined-ownership copers consistently had the lowest brokering stress and moderate brokering efficacy.