Aims.
The aims of the study were to investigate whether the style of pupils with behaviour problems was different from that of children with no reported problems, and also to consider how pupils of different style manifested their problem behaviours.
Sample.
The sample comprised 83 male pupils aged 10‐18 years from two residential special schools.
Method.
The sample were given the Cognitive Styles Analysis to assess their positions on the Wholist‐Analytic and Verbal‐Imagery style dimensions. The pupil records of the special school pupils who were at the extreme of the style dimensions were also examined.
Results.
When their style characteristics were contrasted with a Comparison Sample of 413 12‐16‐year‐old males attending 10 secondary schools, the special school pupils had a significantly higher proportion of both Wholists and Verbalisers, than the Comparison Group. Further, the inspection of the records indicated that the types of social behaviour and behaviour problems exhibited varied with style, and particularly on the Wholist‐Analytic dimension.
Conclusion.
The results were considered to have implications for the origins and treatment of problem behaviour. 相似文献
Purpose: The purpose of this research, consisting of two studies, was to explore Taiwanese university science-major students’ conceptions of learning science by laboratory (CLSL).
Sample: In Study I, interview data were gathered from 47 university science-major students. In Study II, 287 university science-major students’ responses to a CLSL survey were collected.
Design and methods: In Study I, the interview data were analyzed using the phenomenographic method. Based on the findings derived from Study I, Study II developed an instrument for assessing students’ CLSL by exploratory factor analysis.
Results: Study I revealed six categories of CLSL, including memorizing, verifying, acquiring manipulative skills, obtaining authentic experience, reviewing prior learning profiles, and achieving in-depth understanding. The factor analysis in Study II revealed that the ‘verifying’ category was eliminated, but found another new category of ‘examining prior knowledge.’
Conclusions: This study finally proposes a framework to describe the variations of CLSL, consisting of three features: cognitive orientation, metacognitive orientation, and epistemic orientation. Possible factors influencing students’ CLSL are also discussed. 相似文献
Purpose: It is designed to help students deconstruct the level of organisation of each tier of a genetic diagram, as the symbols used in such diagrams (i.e. lines and letters) can be too abstract to serve as hints for students to identify the level of organisation.
Design and method: The method employs hybrid dynamic visualisation, which combines static (e.g. a genetic diagram) and dynamic visualisations (e.g. meiotic cell division, fertilisation). The method also addresses the learning problem wherein students isolate the conceptual components of the processes of meiotic cell division and fertilisation from the procedural components of genetic diagrams. The new pedagogy was trialled in a voluntary enrichment course with 22 Secondary Six (or 12th grade) students.
Results: The results of conceptual assessments and individual interviews show that the participating students, in general, provided more explanations at the molecular level, although there is considerable room for improvement in making a smooth macro–micro transition. Students also had a better grasp of the symbolic representation and mathematical concepts of genetics. In addition, their responses in individual interviews revealed that they shared a restricted understanding of the term ‘recessiveness’.
Conclusion: Possible scaffolds for revisiting the concept of recessiveness in regular teaching are suggested. 相似文献
Purpose: This study investigated the influence of an explicit reflective conceptual change approach compared with an explicit reflective inquiry-oriented approach on seventh graders’ understanding of NOS.
Sample: The research was conducted with seventh grade students. A total of 44 students participated in the study.
Design and method: The study was an interpretive study because this study focused on the meanings that students attach to target aspects of NOS. Participants were divided into two groups, each consisting of 22 students. One of the groups learned NOS with an explicit reflective conceptual change approach. The requirements of conceptual change were provided through the use of conceptual change texts and concept cartoons. The other group learned NOS with an explicit reflective inquiry-oriented approach. The data were collected through open-ended questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. These instruments were employed in a pre-test, a post-test and a delayed test. Students’ views of the aspects of NOS were categorized as naive, transitional and informed.
Results: The result of this study indicated that before receiving instruction, most of the participants had transitional views of the tentative, empirical and imaginative and creative aspects of the NOS, and they had naive understandings of the distinction between observation and inference. The instruction in the experimental group led to a 60% – a 25% increase in the number of students who possessed an informed understanding of the tentative, empirical, creative and observation and inference aspect of the NOS. The instruction in the control group led to a 30% – a 15% increase in the informed NOS views.
Conclusion: The explicit reflective conceptual change approach is more effective than the explicit reflective inquiry-oriented approach in improving participants’ NOS conceptions. Another conclusion of this study is that if NOS is taught within the explicit reflective conceptual change approach, learners can retain learned views long after instruction. 相似文献
Purpose: The study aims to understand how seventh grade students perceive a collaborative web-based science project in light of Wolff’s design categories. The goal of the project is to develop their technological and collaborative skills, to educate them about technology integration practices, and to provide an optimum collaborative, PBL experience.
Sample: Seventh grade students aged 12–14 (n = 15) were selected from a rural K–12 school in Turkey through purposeful sampling.
Design and methods: The current study applied proactive action research since it focused on utilizing a new way to enhance students’ technological and collaborative skills and to demonstrate technology integration into science coursework. Data were collected qualitatively through interviews, observation forms, forum archives, and website evaluation rubrics.
Results: The results found virtual spaces such as online tutorials, forums, and collaborative and communicative tools to be beneficial for collaborative PBL. The study supported Wolff’s design features for a collaborative PBL environment, applying features appropriate for a rural K–12 school setting and creating a digitally-enriched environment. As the forum could not be used as effectively as expected because of school limitations, more flexible spaces independent of time and space were needed.
Conclusions: This study’s interdisciplinary, collaborative PBL was efficient in enhancing students’ advanced technological and collaborative skills, as well as exposing them to practices for integrating technology into science. The study applied design features for a collaborative PBL environment with certain revisions. 相似文献
Purpose: In the current study, the purpose was to investigate the relations among perceived teacher affective support (PTAS), academic emotions (academic enjoyment, academic anxiety, and academic hopelessness), academic self-efficacy and behavioural engagement in elementary school science classrooms in Turkey.
Sample: A total of 633 fourth- and fifth-grade students in eight elementary schools in Istanbul, Turkey were participated in the study.
Design and methods: A self-report questionnaire was administered to participating students. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling.
Results: Findings showed that PTAS was both directly and indirectly related to the given variables. PTAS was found to be significantly positively associated with students’ academic enjoyment, academic self-efficacy and behavioural engagement and significantly negatively related to their academic anxiety and academic hopelessness in science classrooms. An important finding is that the total effect of PTAS on behavioural engagement, a factor strongly associated with academic success in all disciplines, was as strong as the effect of students’ perceived academic self-efficacy beliefs in science.
Conclusions: Findings suggest that PTAS may help promoting positive emotions and motivation among students in science classrooms, eventually leading to more desirable attitudes and achievement outcomes in science. Teacher affective support deserves greater recognition from researchers, educational policy-makers, administrators and teachers to build better learning conditions for all students. 相似文献
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess pre-service science teachers' TPACK over a semester-long Science Methods.
Sample: Twenty-seven pre-service science teachers took the course toward the end of their four-year teacher education program.
Design and method: The study employed the case study methodology. Lesson plans and microteaching observations were used as data collection tools. Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge-based lesson plan assessment instrument (TPACK-LpAI) and Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Observation Protocol (TPACK-OP) were used to analyze data obtained from observations and lesson plans.
Results: The results showed that the TPACK-focused Science Methods course had an impact on pre-service teachers’ TPACK to varying degrees. Most importantly, the course helped teachers gain knowledge of effective usage of educational technology tools.
Conclusion: Teacher education programs should provide opportunities to pre-service teachers to develop their TPACK so that they can effectively integrate technology into their teaching. 相似文献
Purpose: LBD uses the context of design challenges to learn, among other things, science. Previous research shows that this approach to subject integration is quite successful but provides little profit on (scientific) concept learning. For this, a lack of (knowledge of) proper teaching strategies is suggested as an important reason. This study explores these strategies and more specific the interaction with concept learning.
Sample: Six Dutch first-year bachelor’s degree science student teachers, between the ages of 16 and 18, and two science teacher trainers (principal investigators included) were involved.
Design and methods: A mixed methods study was used to study LBD’s teaching practice in depth. Based on a theoretical framework of (concept) learning-related teaching strategies video recordings of a guided LBD challenge were analysed to unravel teacher handling in detail. Complemented by questionnaire and interview data and students’ learning outcomes (pre- and post-exam) the effectiveness of teaching strategies was established and shortcomings were distracted.
Results: Students reached medium overall learning gains where the highest gains were strongly task-related. Teacher handling was dominated by providing feedback and stimulating collaboration and only 13% of all teacher interventions concerned direct explication of underlying science. And especially these explicit teaching strategies were highly appreciated by students to learn about science.
Conclusions: In accordance with insights about knowledge transfer, LBD needs to be enriched with explicit teaching strategies, interludes according to poor-related science content important for cohesive understanding and de- and recontextualisation of concepts for deeper understanding. 相似文献
Purpose: The purpose of the study is to determine the effect of the concept cartoon-embedded worksheets on grade 9 students’ conceptual understanding of Newton’s Laws of Motion.
Sample: Within a quasi-experimental research design with control group, the sample consisted of 102 grade 9 students (aged 15–16 years) enrolled in an Anatolian High School. They were randomly assigned to control (52 students) and experimental groups (50 students).
Design and methods: While the control group followed the existing physics instruction, the experimental one was exposed to the concept cartoon-embedded worksheets. To collect data, two scales (Newton’s Laws of Motion Test –NLMT– and Interview about Instances –IAI) were employed.
Results: The results indicated that the experimental group performed better than did the control group.
Conclusions: It can be deduced that the concept cartoon-embedded worksheets are effective in improving grade 9 students’ conceptual understanding and in replacing their alternative conceptions with scientific ones. 相似文献
Design/Methodology/Approach: The research addressed a purposive sample of 30 agronomists divided into two groups (older - younger). Questionnaire-based survey was followed by a semi-structured interview.
Findings: The views of both groups of agronomists follow the same orientation and revolve around the progressive and behaviourist philosophies. In terms of practice, the intervention of older agronomists mainly relates to the progressive, the liberal and the behaviourist philosophy while that of younger agronomists around the liberal framework; evidence shows a small turn of younger agronomists towards participatory extension.
Practical Implications: The current piece of work puts forward the gaps and weaknesses of Extension in Greece both in terms of rhetoric and practice; notably, Greek agronomists do not seem capable to support bottom-up processes.
Theoretical Implications: Research detected the espoused orientation of extensionists and the ways they assist their constituencies in practice.
Originality/Value: The work reported here is considered one means of raising the awareness of the field’s needs in documenting extensionists’ educational philosophies and how they guide practice. 相似文献
Purpose This study explores the construction of different instruments for measuring science skills by categorizing items systematically on three subskill levels (science-specific, thinking, metacognition) as well as on different steps of the empirical cycle.
Sample The study included 128 fifth and sixth grade students from seven primary schools in the Netherlands.
Design and method Seven measures were used: a paper-and-pencil test (PPT), three performance assessments, two metacognitive self-report tests, and a test used as an indication of general cognitive ability.
Results Reliabilities of all tests indicate sufficient internal consistency. Positive correlations between the PPT and the three performance assessments show that the different tests measure a common core of similar skills thus providing evidence for convergent validity. Results also show that students’ ability to perform scientific inquiry is significantly related to general cognitive ability. No relationship was found between the measure of general metacognitive ability and either the PPT or the three performance assessments. By contrast, the metacognitive self-report test constructed to obtain information about the application of metacognitive abilities in performing scientific inquiry, shows significant – although small – correlations with two of the performance assessments. Further explorations reveal sufficient scale reliabilities on subskill and step level.
Conclusions The present study shows that science skills can be measured reliably by categorizing items on subskill and step level. Additional diagnostic information can be obtained by examining mean scores on both subskill and step level. Such measures are not only suitable for assessing students’ mastery of science skills but can also provide teachers with diagnostic information to adapt their instructions and foster the learning process of their students. 相似文献
Design/methodology/approach: Individual interviews and focus group discussions were held with 24 farmers over 20 months. Observations were made of these farmers as they participated with eight agricultural and social scientists in a range of innovative experiences to learn about chicory and plantain establishment and management. These learning experiences were designed around evidence-informed educational pedagogies. Data sets were analyzed using NVivo to determine common themes of affordances and barriers to learning and actual practice changes.
Findings: The affordances for learning and practice change include belonging to a learning community, enhancing self-efficacy, engaging with scientists, seeing relative advantage, reinforcing and validating learning, supporting system’s integration and developing an identity as learners. Barriers to learning and practice change include issues of: trialability, complexity, compatibility and risk.
Practical implications: The importance of basing new models of extension around evidence-informed pedagogies known through educational research to promote learning and practice change.
Theoretical implications: Sociocultural theory and self-efficacy theories of learning are critical to the success of effective agricultural extension programs.
Originality: To date, little empirical research about the affordances and barriers for pastoral farmers’ learning has been based on contemporary educational research. 相似文献
Purpose: The study was designed to conduct and evaluate the effectiveness of a repertoire of interventions aimed at enhancing secondary school students’ metacognitive capabilities and their achievements in science.
Sample: A class of 35 Year 9 students participated in the study.
Design and methods: The study involved a pre-post design, conducted by the first author as part of the regular designated science programme in a class taught by him.
In order to enhance the students’ metacognitive capabilities, the first author employed clearly stated focused outcomes, engaging them in collaborative group work, reading scientific texts and using concept mapping techniques during classroom instruction. The data to evaluate the effectiveness of the metacognitive interventions were obtained from pre- and post-test results of two metacognitive questionnaires, the Metacognitive Support Questionnaire (MSpQ) and the Metacognitive Strategies Questionnaire (MStQ), and data from interviews. In addition, pre-test and post-test scores were used from a two-tier multiple-choice test on Light.
Results: The results showed gains in the MSpQ but not in the MStQ. However, the qualitative data from interviews suggested high metacognitive capabilities amongst the high- and average-achieving students at the end of the study. Students gains were also evident from the test scores in the Light test.
Conclusion: Although the quantitative data obtained from the Metacognitive Strategies Questionnaire did not show significant gains in the students’ metacognitive strategies, the qualitative data from interviews suggested positive perceptions of students’ metacognitive strategies amongst the high- and average-achieving students. Data from the Metacognitive Support Questionnaire showed that there were significant gains in the students’ perceptions of their metacognitive support implying that the majority of the students perceived that their learning environment was oriented towards the development of their metacognitive capabilities. The effect of the metacognitive interventions on students’ achievement in the Light test resulted in students displaying the correct declarative knowledge, but quite often they lacked the procedural knowledge by failing to explain their answers correctly. 相似文献
Purpose: The focus of this research is development and testing of a new classroom observation protocol specifically designed for SSI-based instructional contexts.
Design and methods: Development of this SSI-Observation Protocol (SSI-OP) took place in four distinct phases: review of existing protocols and SSI-based instruction frameworks, writing and revision of protocol items, initial testing of the draft protocol, and soliciting feedback from SSI experts.
Sample: Following the four stages of SSI-OP development, we progressed to a series of field tests. The field tests were conducted with three different samples. The first sample was an experienced (10 + years) high school biology teacher and one of her honors biology classes. The second sample consisted of seven Turkish Pre-service Science Teachers (PST) participating in a science methods course. The third sample included two Thai PST from a field experience course embedded within a teacher education program.
Results: The final version of the protocol addressed five dimensions of SSI-based instructional activities: focus of instruction, teaching moves, role of teacher, role of students, and classroom environment.
Conclusions: The SSI-OP could be used in a variety of ways for research including documentation of current practices, impacts of professional development and/or curricula on teaching practices, and changes in teaching over time. We offer the SSI-OP as a new tool with the potential to contribute to science teacher education and research that may advance the teaching and learning of science through SSI. 相似文献
Aim: The aim of this article is to compare loneliness, fear of falling, and quality of life in older women who live alone and live with others.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was done on 218 accessible elderly women (116 live alone, 102 live with others) to compare loneliness, fear of falling, and quality of life by using the Farsi versions of UCLA-LS, falls efficacy scale-international (FES-I), and SF12 questionnaires, respectively.
Results: Linear regression was used to compare the means of continuous outcomes between the two groups by adjustment on probable confounder’s age and falling history.
Conclusion: Fears of falling and physical aspect of life quality in the lonely older adults were considerably higher than other group. 相似文献
Purpose: This study evaluated and compared the Singaporean and Taiwanese middle school students’ conceptions of science assessment. Within-country gender comparisons were also explored.
Sample: 424 Taiwanese and 333 Singaporean eighth graders were invited for a cross-country comparison.
Design and methods: The participants completed a questionnaire named Conceptions of Science Assessment.
Results: The findings showed that the summative assessment dominates in the Taiwanese classrooms, while formative and summative assessment are usually perceived in Singaporean classrooms. The Singaporean students had a greater tendency than their Taiwanese counterparts to perceive the purpose of assessment as a way of reproducing knowledge, and the formative assessment as improving learning, problem-solving, and critical judgment. No gender differences were found among either the Singaporean or the Taiwanese students.
Conclusions: Educators in both countries should provide learners with more opportunities to experience process-oriented science assessment activities and de-emphasize the usage of examination-oriented practices to achieve the sophistication of conceptions. 相似文献
Purpose The paper aims to illustrate primary pre-service teachers’ understanding of argumentation based on a study using quantitative methodology. In particular, it aims to illustrate how these teachers view quality of arguments and teaching strategies related to argumentation in the context of a socio-scientific issue on energy.
Sample 332 pre-service teachers enrolled in a university teacher education programme in Spain were investigated. Many studies on argumentation have been conducted with small sample sizes of teachers. Hence, given the sample size, the study provides findings that are likely to be generalisable.
Design and methods A questionnaire was administered to the participants. The design of the questionnaire was guided by some existing analytical tools which were adapted for primary education purposes in the context of socio-scientific issues. This adaptation is novel in that the questionnaire items can potentially be used as diagnostic questions to assess primary teachers’ understanding of argumentation.
Results The results suggest that pre-service teachers had difficulty in understanding arguments and different pedagogical strategies to promote argumentation in classroom. For example, they did not understand the role and the meaning of warrants in scientific arguments and their understanding of the use of different kind of strategies is limited to debates, open discussions and experiments. The age range of the participants and the length of teaching experience had no impact on the quality of their understanding of argumentation.
Conclusions Pre-service science teacher education will benefit from incorporation of more robust and lengthy sessions on argumentation. For example, sessions could focus on quality as well as structure of arguments in science and more diverse pedagogical strategies to support argumentation in science lessons, such as the use of writing frames and presentations. 相似文献