Environmental Education and Complexity

Science & Education - The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze meanings that the term complexity assumes in Brazilian theses and dissertations in the field of environmental...     

Promoting a participatory convergence in a Spanish context: an inter-university action research project using visual narrative

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the deconstruction of an inter-university action research project that has allowed us to rethink our teaching and research, questioning the social, political and ethical dimensions of the university. Following the pre-assembly proposal to promote participatory convergence, organized within the framework of the 1^st Global Assembly for Knowledge Democracy (2017), an action research process was implemented in order to generate systematic inquiry around the current situation of the university and the need to act and rethink our commitment to promoting changes in this context. We have reflected on the meaning of democratization, rethinking the pedagogical relationship with our students and how we critically commit them to promote activism. We generated an environment where we look for the meaning of our practices by means of a visual narrative which has enabled us to weave and identify our own biography and become aware of where we are and why we act in one way or another. We have also focused on the search for the meaning of our actions in relation to the community we belong to and how to deal with the challenges of social justice, encouraging collaboration with other networks in a wider inter-university framework.     

Historical Networks in Science Education

Science & Education - This paper discusses the potential of the creation and analysis of historical networks as didactic strategies in science education. To this end, we first argue the...     

The Representation of Spatial Relationships in the Drawings of ESN(M) and Normal Children

Abstract Two age groups of normal children (7y 8m and 12y 7m) were asked to draw two cubes placed in three different spatial arrangements. A third group of ESN(M) children who had a chronological age of 12y 7m but a mental age of 7y 11m was also tested. Generally, the way that the three groups represented the cubes was in accord with the predictions made from previous research findings. One striking difference, however, was that only the older normal children attempted to depict the solidity of the cubes; in doing so, they represented the model from a viewpoint which was not their own. This finding raises doubts about the assumption that the developmental trend is towards drawing a picture from the artist's own viewpoint. The responses of the ESN (M) children resembled those of the younger normal subjects and both these groups produced more developmentally advanced drawings than had been expected.     

加拿大英语的保守性特点及其成因

加拿大英语除了具有鲜明的创新性特点以外,其保守性特点也很突出。18世纪末英国殖民者将当时的英语带到北美。随着时代的变迁,英语在祖国发生了变化,但大洋彼岸因种种因素没有发生同样的变化。因此在今天的加拿大英语中却仍可寻到昔日英国英语的痕迹。这在语音、词汇和语法方面均有体现。加拿大英语保守性特点的成因主要有语言接触因素、社会因素和移民源的心理因素。通过对加拿大英语保守性特点及其成因的分析,有助于英语的学习与传播。     

Modelling home advantage in the Summer Olympic Games

Home advantage in team games is well proven and the influence of the crowd upon officials' decisions has been identified as a plausible cause. The aim of this study was to assess the significance of home advantage for five event groups selected from the Summer Olympic Games between 1896 and 1996, and put home advantage in team games in context with other sports. The five event groups were athletics and weightlifting (predominantly objectively judged), boxing and gymnastics (predominantly subjectively judged) and team games (involving subjective decisions). The proportion of points won was analysed as a binomial response variable using generalized linear interactive modelling. Preliminary exploration of the data highlighted the need to control for the proportion of competitors entered and to split the analysis pre- and post-war. Highly significant home advantage was found in event groups that were either subjectively judged or rely on subjective decisions. In contrast, little or no home advantage (and even away advantage) was observed for the two objectively judged groups. Officiating system was vital to both the existence and extent of home advantage. Our findings suggest that crowd noise has a greater influence upon officials' decisions than players' performances, as events with greater officiating input enjoyed significantly greater home advantage.     

The Role of Historical-Philosophical Controversies in Teaching Sciences: The Debate Between Biot and Ampère

This paper evaluates the viability of using controversies in teaching. An educational project has been elaborated in which some historical-philosophical clashes were introduced into the classical syllabus of physics. The historical-philosophical controversy dealt with here, took place between the French physicists Biot and Ampère in the 19th century and referred to distinct interpretations of the Oersted experiment. This controversy was inserted into the syllabus of the 12th grade of a Brazilian secondary school.     

The Name of the Rose: A Path to Discuss the Birth of Modern Science

Various science education researchers believe that science tuition should include some discussion about how science has developed over time. Therefore, deliberations about the nature of science should be integrated in the science curriculum. Many researchers argue that teaching the history of science is a good way to place the nature of science in science classes. This paper contributes to this debate and argues the importance of having young students study the birth of modern science. Such study could allow students to understand that some of the issues about the nature of science arose in the seventeenth century with the birth of modern science. To achieve this purpose, it is important to discuss the different factors that immersed the birth of modern science. To accomplish this goal, the novel The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco may be used. Beyond introducing issues surrounding the nature of science, this strategy could help overcome the separation between the arts and humanities in education.     

Students' Pre- and Post-Teaching Analogical Reasoning When They Draw their Analogies

Analogies are parts of human thought. From them, we can acquire new knowledge or change that which already exists in our cognitive structure. In this sense, understanding the analogical reasoning process becomes an essential condition to understand how we learn. Despite the importance of such an understanding, there is no general agreement in cognitive science literature about this issue. In this study, we investigated students' analogical reasoning as a creative process where an environment was set up to foster the students' generating and explaining their own analogies. Data were gathered from pre- and post-teaching interviews, in which the 13–14-year-old students were asked to make comparisons that could explain how atoms are bound. Such data supported the discussion about how students reasoned analogically. Our results made it evident that the task aims and the students' salient knowledge exerted a great influence on the drawing of analogies.