Assessment of Practical Work in Ireland: A critique     

P. S. C. Matthews  P. J. McKenna 《International Journal of Science Education》2013,35(10):1211-1224

Proponents of science, technology and society (STS) education advocate a literacy grounded in the context of ethical, individual and social responsibility. Accordingly, STS programs and themes have been designed and developed in an effort to interpret science and technology as complex socially embedded enterprises, and to promote the development of a critical, scientifically and technologically literate citizenry capable of understanding STS issues, empowered to make informed and responsible decisions, and able to act upon those decisions. This paper posits that STS is a desirable and commendable goal. However, many dilemmas arise when educators begin to seriously address issues of power, knowledge, decision‐making, and responsible action in the science curriculum. In particular, this paper is a case study of an elementary teacher involved in STS education, with her grade three‐four class. The real‐life event or issue that triggers the STS curriculum unit is the school's septic tank overload. In describing this case, the author examines the potential power and problems of STS education.  相似文献   

Students’ Argumentation Skills across Two Socio-Scientific Issues in a Confucian Classroom: Is transfer possible?     

Chan-Choong Foong  Esther G.S. Daniel 《International Journal of Science Education》2013,35(14):2331-2355

This paper argues the possible simultaneous development and transfer of students' argumentation skills from one socio-scientific issue to another in a Confucian classroom. In Malaysia, the Chinese vernacular schools follow a strict Confucian philosophy in the teaching and learning process. The teacher talks and the students listen. This case study explored the transfer of argumentation skills across two socio-scientific issues in such a Form 2 (8th grade) classroom. An instructional support to complement the syllabus was utilised. The teaching approach in the instructional support was more constructivist in nature and designed to introduce argumentation skills which is uncommon in a Confucian classroom. The two socio-scientific issues were genetically modified foods and deforestation. This paper presents a part of the bigger case study that was conducted. Data collected from written arguments were analysed using an analytical framework built upon Toulmin's ideas. The whole class analysis indicated progression in students' argumentation skills in their ability to give more valid grounds and rebuttals during the transfer. The individual analysis suggests progression in the majority of students' performance, while several students demonstrated non-progression when they faced a different socio-scientific issue.  相似文献   

Argumentation: A strategy for improving achievement and revealing scientific identities     

Dionne Cross  Gita Taasoobshirazi  Sean Hendricks  Daniel T. Hickey 《International Journal of Science Education》2013,35(6):837-861

In this paper we explore the relationship between learning gains, measured through pre‐assessment and post‐assessment, and engagement in scientific argumentation. In order to do so, this paper examines group discourse and individual learning during the implementation of NASA Classroom of the Future’s BioBLAST!® (BB) software program in a high school biology classroom. We found that the argumentative structures, the quality of these structures, and the identities that students take on during collaborative group work are critical in influencing student learning and achievement in science. We provide recommendations for instructors implementing argumentation in their science classrooms, and provide suggestions for the development of future research in this area.  相似文献   

The effects of different types of text and individual differences on view complexity about genetically modified organisms     

Daniel L. Dinsmore  Brian P. Zoellner  Meghan M. Parkinson  Anthony M. Rossi  Mary J. Monk  Jenelle Vinnachi 《International Journal of Science Education》2013,35(7):791-813

ABSTRACT

View change about socio-scientific issues has been well studied in the literature, but the change in the complexity of those views has not. In the current study, the change in the complexity of views about a specific scientific topic (i.e. genetically modified organisms; GMOs) and use of evidence in explaining those views was examined in relation to individual factors and type of text (informational, persuasive, or narrative). Undergraduate students completed measures of their prior views about GMOs their epistemic beliefs about the nature of science, and activities related to food consumption. Participants then read either an informational, persuasive, or narrative passage about GMOs and again answered a question related to their views about GMOs. Participants who read the persuasive passage decreased in the complexity of their views, while those who read the narrative and expository passage increased in the complexity of their views. Additionally, while cultural activities related to the complexity of individuals’ views during the pretest, these significant differences were not evident at posttest after the text intervention. These findings can be used to help scientists and teachers better understand how to communicate information critical to understanding complex science and environmental issues to the public and their students.  相似文献   

A framework for developing pre‐service teachers’ competencies in using technologies to enhance teaching and learning     

Cher Ping Lim  Ching Sing Chai  Daniel Churchill 《Educational Media International》2013,50(2):69-83

This paper presents a framework for developing pre‐service teachers’ competencies in using technologies to enhance teaching and learning. It focuses on building the capacity of teacher education institutions (TEI) based on six strategic dimensions: (1) vision and philosophy; (2) program; (3) professional learning of deans, teacher educators and support staff; (4) ICT plan, infrastructure, resources and support; (5) communications and partnerships; and (6) research and evaluation. This paper describes each of these six strategic dimensions and synthesizes these in the overall framework for developing pre‐service teachers’ competencies in generating technology‐enhanced teaching and learning.  相似文献   

Teaching assistants’ roles in daily mathematics lessons     

Daniel Muijs  Mairead Dunne 《Educational research; a review for teachers and all concerned with progress in education》2013,55(4):391-407

Background:?The increasing numbers of teaching assistants (TAs) and their widening role in English primary classrooms is part of wider international developments. Several large quantitative studies have been influential in shaping debate, but little qualitative research exists on TAs and the content of their activity in the key area of mathematics.

Purpose:?The article addresses the question: How do TAs in primary schools perceive their role in daily mathematics lessons?

Sample:?Twenty-four TAs employed in English primary schools participated in the study. Their experience ranged from 2 to 20 years. Two were men; the rest were women.

Design and methods:?Interviews were undertaken in the spring and summer of 2011, transcribed and coded using Glaser and Strauss’ recommended method (B. Glaser and A. Strauss, 1967, The discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for qualitative research; Chicago, IL: Aldine Publishing Company). A typology of TA activity was created and used together with other cross-cutting factors to ascertain what TAs did in general and, specifically, in mathematics teaching.

Results:?The results show that previous pictures generated from large-scale quantitative studies of TAs working with children seen as having the greatest difficulty in mathematics are essentially (though not universally) correct. However, they may be internally differentiated to a greater extent than previously envisaged.

Conclusion:?The range of TA activities in mathematics classrooms is considerably wider than previously thought; professional development for TAs and teachers needs to take account of this.  相似文献   

Undergraduate Engineering Students’ Beliefs,Coping Strategies,and Academic Performance: An Evaluation of Theoretical Models     

Pei-Hsuan Hsieh  Jeremy R. Sullivan  Daniel A. Sass  Norma S. Guerra 《Journal of Experimental Education》2013,81(2):196-218

Research has identified factors associated with academic success by evaluating relations among psychological and academic variables, although few studies have examined theoretical models to understand the complex links. This study used structural equation modeling to investigate whether the relation between test anxiety and final course grades was mediated by personal control, self-efficacy, goal orientation, coping strategies, and self-regulation. Participants were 297 undergraduate students taking an algebra course designed for engineering students. Results indicated that the proposed theoretical model was supported by the data, although a modified model produced a better fit. Other competing models were also tested. Collectively, analyses revealed that the psychological variables played important roles in predicting students’ grades, as all the structural coefficients and R ² statistics were statistically and practically significant. Findings suggest value in the development and testing of additional models that contribute to the expansion of intervention programs to enhance academic outcomes among students.  相似文献   

Relationships between Teachers’ Views on Education and their Socio-Economic Attitudes     

Joseph Caliguri  Daniel U. Levine 《Journal of Experimental Education》2013,81(4):42-44

Twenty preschool children identified as in the poverty group by OEO standards were compared with twenty preschool children from upper middle class families, as judged by father’s occupation, as to the extent and nature of their ability to recognize their own photographs from five other unidentified photographs on each of a series of six different views. Statistical analysis supported the hypothesis that preschool lower class children cannot recognize themselves from photographs as well as preschool middle class children (P = . 005). Although some views were significantly more recognizable by both groups of children (P = .01), sex and’’time to respond" differences were not significant.  相似文献   

Comparing Class- and Task-Level Measures of Achievement Goals     

J. Elizabeth Richey  Matthew L. Bernacki  Daniel M. Belenky  Timothy J. Nokes-Malach 《Journal of Experimental Education》2013,81(4):560-578

Models of achievement goals suggest that different tasks and contexts influence the goals students adopt at a given time. However, many studies of achievement goals rely on measures assessed at the class level, analyze results with a variable-centered approach, and employ self-report questionnaires, which may reduce understanding of the contextual factors that arise as students interact with tasks. We compared a behavioral, task-level measure of middle school students' achievement goals to a self-reported, class-level measure and analyzed both measures' relations to task performance and quarterly grades using both variable-centered and person-centered approaches. Task-level goals predicted task performance but not quarterly grades, while class-level goals predicted grades but not task performance. The two measures of achievement goals were not related. This work demonstrates the importance of measuring goals at multiple levels and suggests opportunities for changing students' behaviors and achievement through motivation at the task level.  相似文献   

Cleansing the Superdome: The Paradox of Purity and Post-Katrina Guilt     

Daniel A. Grano  Kenneth S. Zagacki 《Quarterly Journal of Speech》2013,99(2):201-223

The reopening of the New Orleans Superdome after Hurricane Katrina on Monday Night Football dramatized problematic rhetorical, visual, and spatial norms of purification rituals bound up in what Burke calls the paradox of purity. Hurricane Katrina was significant as a visually traumatic event in large part because it signified the ghetto as a rarely discussed remainder of American structural racism and pressed the filthiest visual and territorial residues of marginalized poverty into the national consciousness. In this essay, we argue that a visual paradox of purification—that purifying discourses must “be of the same symbolic substance” as the polluted images that goad them—complicated ritual attempts to both purge and commemorate Katrina evacuees. It is within the paradox of purity that visually grounded purification rituals like the Superdome reopening should be considered for their potential to invite or foreclose public engagement with race and class problems firmly entrenched in Americans’ perceptions of pollution and public territory.  相似文献