Students' estimates of knowledge gained as measures of the quality of teacher education

One set of measures of the quality of courses for the preparation of science teachers stems from the perceptions exit students have of their knowledge with respect to that teaching. The Discipline Review of Teacher Education in Mathematics and Science surveyed these students late in 1988 on three broad types of knowledge-science content knowledge, curriculum knowledge, and pedagogical knowledge. Some of these findings of the Review are described. In addition, the base for developing items to measure these three types of knowledge is discussed in this paper. The variety in the data that emerged is also presented and the consistency of the findings with other measures of quality is described. Specialisations: science and technology curriculum, environmental education, educational disadvantage. Specialisations: research and evaluation in teacher education, technical and further education and total quality management. Specialisations: research in educational systems.     

Making a Difference: Using peers to assess individual students' contributions to a group project

Overcoming the potential dilemma of awarding the same grade to a group of students for group work assignments, regardless of the contribution made by each group member, is a problem facing teachers who ask their students to work collaboratively together on assessed group tasks. In this paper, we report on the procedures to factor in the contributions of individual group members engaged in an integrated group project using peer assessment procedures. Our findings demonstrate that the method we used resulted in a substantially wider spread of marks being given to individual students. Almost every student was awarded a numerical score which was higher or lower than a simple group project mark would have been. When these numerical scores were converted into the final letter grades, approximately one-third of the students received a grade for the group project that was different from the grade that they would have received if the same grade had been awarded to all group members. Based on these preliminary findings we conclude that peer assessment can be usefully and meaningfully employed to factor individual contributions into the grades awarded to students engaged in collaborative group work.     

Responding to student expectations: a partnership approach to course evaluation

This paper presents a study that used newly developed instruments to investigate student expectations at two points in a semester‐based course. Course convenors were able to make some changes in response to the feedback, explain to students how the feedback had informed the course processes, and work with tutors on delivery enhancements. The administration of these instruments, a partnership approach involving students, tutors and lecturers, contributed to the creation of a responsive teaching and learning environment. In addition to enabling real‐time changes to be made, evaluation of the total teaching and learning experience ensured that improvements were made to subsequent offerings of the same course. Also, insights from one course were evaluated in terms of applicability to other courses offered within the same academic discipline. The study finds that establishing student expectations provides a framework for developing a responsive and iterative approach to achieving excellence in teaching and learning.     

Students' conceptions of natural selection and its role in evolution: Cases of replication and comparison

The work of Bishop and Anderson (1990) plays a major role in educators' understanding of evolution education. Their findings remind us that the majority of university students do not understand the process of evolution but that conceptual change instruction can be moderately effective in promoting the construction of a scientific understanding. The present article details two studies that represent an effort to focus on and define the limits of the Bishop and Anderson (1990) study. Study A describes a close replication of the work of Bishop and Anderson (1990) using the same conceptual-change teaching module to teach a unit on evolution to students enrolled in a biology course for nonmajors. Study B, a case of comparison, used the same evaluation instrument used in Bishop and Anderson (1990) and Study A, but high school students were the participants and the instruction was based on the inquiry approach to science. Like Bishop and Anderson (1990), Study A showed that the amount of prior instruction and students' beliefs in evolution were not found to be large factors in students' use of scientific conceptions. Unlike the original study, the students in Study A showed only a meager increase in their use of scientific conceptions for evolution. In Study B, students in the experimental group showed significant increases in their use of scientific conceptions. These findings suggest a need to investigate more closely the teachers' theories of learning, their reliance on instructional conversations, and the amount of time devoted to the topic of evolution as we study conceptual change in this area.     

Social class and participation in further education: evidence from the Youth Cohort Study of England and Wales

This paper examines the class distribution of young people, aged 16–17 years, in colleges of further education (FE) using data from the Youth Cohort Study. It finds that, contrary to popular perceptions of FE colleges as being for ‘other people’s children’, middle‐class students as well as working‐class students are well represented. However, this does not imply that FE colleges are institutions of choice; middle‐class representation is often related to lower achievement and, for low‐achieving working‐class students, leaving education entirely is more likely than entry to FE. These findings are explored using notions of habitus and field. Their relationship with studies of the education of middle‐class children is also discussed, and the paper suggests that research on class in FE colleges must come to terms with middle‐class presence.