Students’ science attitudes,beliefs, and context: associations with science and chemistry aspirations     

Tamjid Mujtaba  Richard Sheldrake  Michael J. Reiss  Shirley Simon 《International Journal of Science Education》2018,40(6):644-667

There is a widespread concern that relatively few students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, continue to study chemistry and other science subjects after compulsory education. Yet it remains unclear how different aspects of students’ background and home context, their own attitudes and beliefs, and their experiences of particular teaching approaches in school might limit or facilitate their studying aspirations; concurrently, less research has specifically focused on and surveyed disadvantaged students. In order to gain more insight, 4780 students were surveyed, covering those in Year 7 (age 11–12 years) and in Year 8 (age 12–13) from schools in England with high proportions of those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Predictive modelling highlighted that the students’ aspirations to study non-compulsory science in the future, and to study the particular subject of chemistry, were strongly associated with their extrinsic motivation towards science (their perceived utility of science, considered as a means to gain particular careers or skills), their intrinsic interest in science, and their engagement in extra-curricular activities. Additionally, their self-concept beliefs (their confidence in their own abilities in science), some teaching approaches, and encouragement from teachers and family alongside family science capital had smaller but still relevant associations.  相似文献   

Choosing competency-based,humanistic and self-directed programs: The contribution of personality and reasoning     

Mr. John H. Clarke Ed.D  Mark Smith Ed.D  Carol Moran 《Innovative Higher Education》1981,5(3):202-212

Fifty-five college women enrolled in competency-based, humanistic or self-directed education programs completed their California Personality Inventory and listed five reasons for selecting their program. CPI results indicated that self-directed students scored lower than other students on the Femininity Scale (p.001). Using Chickering's seven vectors of change as a framework, the study found competency-based students identifying purpose and competence, humanistic students identifying inter-personal relationships and integrity, and self-directed student identifying autonomy and purpose as reasons for enrolling in their nontraditional programs. The study used these results to question the mythology that adherents to different programs are of different personality types and to argue that differences in perceptions of purpose in education distinguish students in the three programs.  相似文献   

STUDENTS’ ATTRIBUTIONS OF ACADEMIC SUCCESS     

David Fontana  Eira Williams  Allen Simon  Lionel Ward 《Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education》1986,11(2):105-116

This study investigates higher education students’ own attributions of success using free responses, exploring in particular the relative importance of ability and effort‐related attributions on the one hand and luck‐related attributions on the other. A sample of 150 first year polytechnic degree course students from both Arts and Science faculties was investigated. A rank order of 12 categories was established: study habits, lecture‐content, lecturer, social, interest, motivation, ability, domestic security, peers, luck, financial security, health. Among study habits a rank order of 7 categories was also established: reading skills, examination technique, time, note‐taking skills, organisation of work, revision, place. Knowledge of, and practice in, study habits, is clearly important, and other implications are the need for further awareness of the lecturer‐student relationship and more research into the consistency of student attributions across faculties beyond the first year.  相似文献   

Theory: an Entitlement to Understanding     

Richard Smith 《Cambridge Journal of Education》1992,22(3):387-398

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Teaching for democracy in the absence of transitional justice: the case of Northern Ireland     

Elizabeth Anderson Worden  Alan Smith 《比较教育学》2017,53(3):379-395

ABSTRACT

In many cases, political circumstances do not allow formal for transitional justice processes to occur in countries undergoing a transition from a violent past. In this paper, we ask if education can become a default front line of transitional justice work in the absence of explicit action by the state to address past injustices. Drawing from interviews with educators and using a new citizenship education programme in Northern Ireland as our case study, we argue that several factors, including organisational constraints within the education system, limit the potential of the programme for supporting transitional justice goals. While the effectiveness in this particular case is limited, Northern Ireland provides an example of a citizenship education programme that has moved away from an emphasis on national identity and embraced human rights. Other divided societies might find this model to be an effective conduit in which to promote transitional justice.  相似文献   

Index of concern: An instrument for use in treatment of cases of physical abuse of children     

John I. Smith  E. Hocking 《Child abuse & neglect》1981,5(3):275-279

In recent years attempts to improve the management of cases of child abuse have concentrated on structural procedures for achieving better coordination between agencies, at the expense of attention to less tangible factors which may impede treatment. This paper, based on a small study which analysed retrospectively cases which had resulted in the serious injury or death of a child, identifies some of these factors. The evidence suggests that the manifest level of concern for the safety of the child changes markedly in treatment, but does not correspond with the objective reality portrayed in the case material. Some underlying factors influencing this lack of congruence are: (1) formulation of the presenting problem creates a bias which becomes more pronounced through time; (2) focus on strengths and progress conceals areas of malfunctioning in the family; (3) attention to an individual masks risk to siblings; (4) concentration of attention on one adult as possible aggressor obscures contribution of others; (5) influence of any changes in family composition is not sufficiently considered. The paper discusses these findings and suggests the hypothesis that the use of a properly constructed “Index of Concern” could provide a means of counterbalancing such factors.  相似文献   

Ethos,Habitus and Situation for Learning: An ecology     

Edwin Smith 《British Journal of Sociology of Education》2003,24(4):463-470

It is argued that the concept of ethos connects with Bourdieu's 'habitus' and the notion of situated learning. It can be argued that ethos can be defined as an organisation's habitus. An ecological perspective suggests that habituses external to the school provide dispositions that continuously construct and re-construct school ethos, and the evolving ethos itself provides developing dispositions and contexts for situated co-learning and participation in communities of practice; for example, shared learning about how to learn. Some implications for school improvement and leadership in schools are discussed.  相似文献   

Wiki Laboratory Notebooks: Supporting Student Learning in Collaborative Inquiry-Based Laboratory Experiments     

Gwendolyn Angela Lawrie  Lisbeth Grøndahl  Simon Boman  Trish Andrews 《Journal of Science Education and Technology》2016,25(3):394-409

Recent examples of high-impact teaching practices in the undergraduate chemistry laboratory that include course-based undergraduate research experiences and inquiry-based experiments require new approaches to assessing individual student learning outcomes. Instructors require tools and strategies that can provide them with insight into individual student contributions to collaborative group/teamwork throughout the processes of experimental design, data analysis, display and communication of their outcomes in relation to their research question(s). Traditional assessments in the form of laboratory notebooks or experimental reports provide limited insight into the processes of collaborative inquiry-based activities. A wiki environment offers a collaborative domain that can potentially support collaborative laboratory processes and scientific record keeping. In this study, the effectiveness of the wiki in supporting laboratory learning and assessment has been evaluated through analysis of the content and histories for three consenting, participating groups of students. The conversational framework has been applied to map the relationships between the instructor, tutor, students and laboratory activities. Analytics that have been applied to the wiki platform include: character counts, page views, edits, timelines and the extent and nature of the contribution by each student to the wiki. Student perceptions of both the role and the impact of the wiki on their experiences and processes have also been collected. Evidence has emerged from this study that the wiki environment has enhanced co-construction of understanding of both the experimental process and subsequent communication of outcomes and data. A number of features are identified to support success in the use of the wiki platform for laboratory notebooks.  相似文献   

Collaborative and Competitive Video Games for Teaching Computing in Higher Education     

Spencer Smith  Samantha Chan 《Journal of Science Education and Technology》2017,26(4):438-457

This study measures the success of using a collaborative and competitive video game, named Space Race, to teach computing to first year engineering students. Space Race is played by teams of four, each with their own tablet, collaborating to compete against the other teams in the class. The impact of the game on student learning was studied through measurements using 485 students, over one term. Surveys were used to gauge student reception of the game. Pre and post-tests, and in-course examinations were used to quantify student performance. The game was well received with at least 82% of the students that played it recommending it to others. In some cases, game participants outperformed non-participants on course exams. On the final course exam, all of the statistically significant (p<0.05) comparisons (42% of the relevant questions) showed a performance improvement of game participants on the questions, with a maximum grade improvement of 41%. The findings also suggest that some students retain the knowledge obtained from Space Race for at least 7 weeks. The results of this study provide strong evidence that a collaborative and competitive video game can be an effective tool for teaching computing in post-secondary education.  相似文献   

Earth surface modeling for education: How effective is it? Four semesters of classroom tests with WILSIM-GC     

Wei Luo  Thomas J. Smith  Kyle Whalley  Andrew Darling  Carol Ormand  Wei-Chen Hung  Jui-Ling Chiang  Jon Pelletier  Kirk Duffin 《British journal of educational technology : journal of the Council for Educational Technology》2019,50(3):1462-1481

This paper presents results from a randomized experimental design replicated over four semesters that compared students’ performance in understanding landform evolution processes as measured by the pretest to posttest score growth between two treatment methods: an online interactive simulation tool and a paper-based exercise. While both methods were shown to be effective at enhancing students’ learning of the landform concepts and processes, there was no statistically significant difference in score growth between the two instructional methods. However, the attitudinal survey indicated that students consistently favored the simulation approach over the paper-based exercise. With the simulation method, female students showed greater score growth than males, especially for test items requiring higher level thinking. This indicates that the visually rich interactive simulation tool may be integrated to better support female students’ learning in geoscience. Science major students generally outperformed non-science major students in terms of score growth, which suggests that background knowledge played an important role in realizing the potential of computer modeling in enhancing students’ learning. Sufficient scaffolding is necessary to maximize the effect of interactive earth surface modeling in geoscience education.  相似文献