Transformative Multicultural Science curriculum: A case study of middle school robotics

Science.gov (United States)

Grimes, Mary Katheryn

Multicultural Science has been a topic of research and discourse over the past several years. However, most of the literature concerning this topic (or paradigm) has centered on programs in tribal or Indigenous schools. Under the framework of instructional congruence, this case study explored how elementary and middle school students in a culturally diverse charter school responded to a Multicultural Science program. Furthermore, this research sought to better understand the dynamics of teaching and learning strategies used within the paradigm of Multicultural Science. The school's Robotics class, a class typically stereotyped as fitting within the misconceptions associated with the Western Modern Science paradigm, was the center of this case study. A triangulation of data consisted of class observations throughout two semesters; pre and post student science attitude surveys; and interviews with individual students, Robotic student teams, the Robotics class instructor, and school administration. Three themes emerged from the data that conceptualized the influence of a Multicultural Science curriculum with ethnically diverse students in a charter school's Robotics class. Results included the students' perceptions of a connection between science (i.e., Robotics) and their personal lives, a positive growth in the students' attitude toward science (and engineering), and a sense of personal empowerment toward being successful in science. However, also evident in the findings were the students' stereotypical attitudes toward science (and scientists) and their lack of understanding of the Nature of Science. Implications from this study include suggestions toward the development of Multicultural Science curricula in public schools. Modifications in university science methods courses to include the Multicultural Science paradigm are also suggested.

A mixed-age science collaborative between elementary and high school physics students: A study of attitude toward school science and inquiry skill

Science.gov (United States)

Blain, Mary Perron

Grade three students had significant improvements in inquiry ability and attitude toward school science as a function of their participation in mixed-age dyads completing inquiry-based science experiments with a high school physics partner. The social interaction between the 'more capable other' (Vygotsky, 1978) with the grade three student in the mixed-age problem solving team indicates a contributing factor in this improvement. This study employed a quasi-experimental design with intact groups of non-random assignment. The non-parametric Wilcoxon test (p = 0.025) was used to analyze scores for each academic achievement group for significant differences pre- and post-collaborative in "Inquiry" skill and "Attitude" toward school science scores. Three grade three classrooms from one elementary school and one high school physics class from the same school district were involved in the study. The high school physics class teamed with one intact grade three class as the mixed-age dyad performing the "hands-on" experiments (treatment). The two grade three classes teamed as same-age peer dyads (comparison group) to perform the same experiments on the same day. Using methods patterned after the way scientists investigate their world, the dyads performed experiments considered for future grade three national assessments (NAEP, 1994), i.e. "Which paper towel holds the most water?"; "Which magnet is stronger?"; "Which type of sugar, cubed or loose, dissolves best in warm water?" Trained raters scored the written lab reports using standardized scoring guides and characteristic benchmark responses to determine the "Inquiry" skill score for each subject. The "Attitude" toward school science score for each subject was determined from the Likert scale survey, Individual and Group Attitudes Toward Science and the open-ended Sentence Completion Test (SCT) (Piburn & Sidlick, 1992). Three raters scored the SCT survey for each subject. This study showed that for a grade three student

Instructional quality of lower grades natural science classes: the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... classes: the case of primary schools linked to Kemise College of Teacher Education. ... the quality of natural science education classroom instruction in lower grade ... on pedagogical and subject matter issue, closer support and supervision.

Construction and Validation of an Instrument to Measure Taiwanese Elementary Students' Attitudes toward Their Science Class

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Tzu-Ling; Berlin, Donna

2010-12-01

The main purpose of this study is to develop a valid and reliable instrument for measuring the attitudes toward science class of fourth- and fifth-grade students in an Asian school culture. Specifically, the development focused on three science attitude constructs-science enjoyment, science confidence, and importance of science as related to science class experiences. A total of 265 elementary school students in Taiwan responded to the instrument developed. Data analysis indicated that the instrument exhibited satisfactory validity and reliability with the Taiwan population used. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.93 for the entire instrument indicating a satisfactory level of internal consistency. However, both principal component analysis and parallel analysis showed that the three attitude scales were not unique and should be combined and used as a general "attitudes toward science class" scale. The analysis also showed that there were no gender or grade-level differences in students' overall attitudes toward science class.

Evaluating Junior Secondary Science Textbook Usage in Australian Schools

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, Christine V.

2016-08-01

A large body of research has drawn attention to the importance of providing engaging learning experiences in junior secondary science classes, in an attempt to attract more students into post-compulsory science courses. The reality of time and resource constraints, and the high proportion of non-specialist science teachers teaching science, has resulted in an overreliance on more transmissive pedagogical tools, such as textbooks. This study sought to evaluate the usage of junior secondary science textbooks in Australian schools. Data were collected via surveys from 486 schools teaching junior secondary (years 7-10), representing all Australian states and territories. Results indicated that most Australian schools use a science textbook in the junior secondary years, and textbooks are used in the majority of science lessons. The most highly cited reason influencing choice of textbook was layout/colour/illustrations, and electronic technologies were found to be the dominant curricula material utilised, in addition to textbooks, in junior secondary science classes. Interestingly, the majority of respondents expressed high levels of satisfaction with their textbooks, although many were keen to stress the subsidiary role of textbooks in the classroom, emphasising the textbook was `one' component of their teaching repertoire. Importantly, respondents were also keen to stress the benefits of textbooks in supporting substitute teachers, beginning teachers, and non-specialist science teachers; in addition to facilitating continuity of programming and staff support in schools with high staff turnover. Implications from this study highlight the need for high quality textbooks to support teaching and learning in Australian junior secondary science classes.

The effect of science-technology-society issue instruction on the attitudes of female middle school students toward science

Science.gov (United States)

Mullinnix, Debra Lynn

An assessment of the science education programs of the last thirty years reveals traditional science courses are producing student who have negative attitudes toward science, do not compete successfully in international science and mathematics competitions, are not scientifically literate, and are not interested in pursuing higher-level science courses. When the number of intellectually-capable females that fall into this group is considered, the picture is very disturbing. Berryman (1983) and Kahle (1985) have suggested the importance of attitude both, in terms of achievement in science and intention to pursue high-level science courses. Studies of attitudes toward science reveal that the decline in attitudes during grades four through eight was much more dramatic for females than for males. There exists a need, therefore, to explore alternative methods of teaching science, particularly in the middle school, that would increase scientific literacy, improve attitudes toward science, and encourage participation in higher-level science courses of female students. Yager (1996) has suggested that science-technology-society (STS) issue instruction does make significant changes in students' attitudes toward science, stimulates growth in science process skills, and increases concept mastery. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect STS issue instruction had on the attitudes of female middle school students toward science in comparison to female middle school students who experience traditional science instruction. Another purpose was to examine the effect science-technology-society issue instruction had on the attitudes of female middle school students in comparison to male middle school students. The pretests and the posttests were analyzed to examine differences in ten domains: enjoyment of science class; usefulness of information learned in science class; usefulness of science skills; feelings about science class in general; attitudes about what took place

The Quality of Instruction in Urban High Schools: Comparing Mathematics and Science to English and Social Studies Classes in Chicago

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Valerie E.; Robinson, Shanta R.; Sebastian, James

2012-01-01

Is the quality of instruction systematically better in one subject than another? Teachers and students in the same Chicago high schools reported on one core-curriculum class (English, mathematics, science, or social studies) in 2007 surveys. Teachers commented on instructional demands and student participation. Students described engagement,…

Doing, talking and writing science: A discourse analysis of the process of resemiotization in a middle school lab-based science class

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Laura J.

This study examines students' sense making practices in a middle school science class from a discourse analytic perspective. Using Mediated Discourse Analysis (MDA) (Scollon 1998, 2001) and interactional sociolinguistics (Gumperz 1999, 2001, Schiffrin 1994), my research seeks to enrich findings from recent sociocultural studies of science classrooms that focus on doing, talking and writing science (Roth 2005, Kress, et al. 2002, Halliday & Martin 1993, Lemke 1990). Within a middle school science classroom, these fundamental activities form a nexus of practice (Scollon 1998, 2001) basic to science literacy (AAAS 1989) and reflective of the work of practicing scientists. Moreover, students' engagement in these practices provides insight into the cultural production and reproduction of science and scientist. I first examine how the students' curriculum text encourages these three scientific practices and then trace students' uptake; that is, how they subsequently do, talk, and write science throughout the course of the unit. I argue that learning science with this curriculum unit requires students to resemiotize (Iedema 2001, 2003) first hand experience so they can represent their knowledge cohesively and coherently in evaluable forms. Ultimately, students must transform language from the curriculum text and their teacher into action in their laboratory activities and action in their laboratory activities into language. In addition, I show how students are apprenticed to the conventionalized practices and voices (Bakhtin 1986) of science (i.e. the scientific register), and how their figures of personhood (Agha 2005) reflect the development of their scientific identities. Overall, I argue that the microanalytic methods I use illuminate how students draw upon curricular resources to become scientifically literate and develop scientific identities.

Girls' and Boys' Academic Self-Concept in Science in Single-Sex and Coeducational Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Simpson, Amber; Che, S. Megan; Bridges, William C., Jr.

2016-01-01

Recently, single-sex classes within public coeducational schools have proliferated across the USA; yet, we still know little about whether and how single-sex science classes influence adolescents' attitude and affect toward science. This exploratory study expands upon our current understanding by investigating the extent in which female and male…

An examination of single-gender and coeducational classes: Their impact on the academic achievement of middle school students enrolled in mathematics and science at selected schools in Georgia

Science.gov (United States)

Elam, Jeanette H.

The purpose of this study was to compare the academic performance of students enrolled in coeducational instruction and single-gender instruction. Within this framework, the researcher examined class type, gender, and racial/ethnicity using the sixth grade CRCT scores of selected students in the areas of mathematics and science. The fifth-grade mathematics and science scores for the same population were used to control for prior knowledge. This study examined the academic achievement of students based on class type, gender, and racial/ethnicity in relation to academic achievement. The study included the CRCT scores for mathematics and science of 6th-grade students at the middle school level who were tested during the 2007--2008 school year. Many studies conducted in the past have stressed females performed better in mathematics and science, while others have stated males performed better in the same areas. Yet, other studies have found conflicting results. A large Australian study (1996), compared the academic performance of students at single-gender and coeducational schools. The conclusion of this study indicated that both males and females who were educated in single-gender classrooms scored significantly higher than did males and females in coeducational classes. A study conducted by Graham Able (2003) documented superior academic performance of students in single-gender schools, after controlling for socioeconomic class and other variables. Able's most significant finding was that the advantage of single-gender schooling was greater for males in terms of academic results than for females. This directly contradicted the educational myth that males performed better in classrooms if females were present. The sample in this study consisted of CRCT scores for 304 sixth-grade students from four different middle schools. Due to the racial composition of the sample, the study only focused on black and white students. School 1 and School 2 involved single

Photographs and Classroom Response Systems in Middle School Astronomy Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Hyunju; Feldman, Allan

2015-01-01

In spite of being readily available, photographs have played a minor and passive role in science classes. In our study, we present an active way of using photographs in classroom discussions with the use of a classroom response system (CRS) in middle school astronomy classes to teach the concepts of day-night and seasonal change. In this new…

High School Physics Students' Personal Epistemologies and School Science Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Alpaslan, Muhammet Mustafa; Yalvac, Bugrahan; Loving, Cathleen

2017-11-01

This case study explores students' physics-related personal epistemologies in school science practices. The school science practices of nine eleventh grade students in a physics class were audio-taped over 6 weeks. The students were also interviewed to find out their ideas on the nature of scientific knowledge after each activity. Analysis of transcripts yielded several epistemological resources that students activated in their school science practice. The findings show that there is inconsistency between students' definitions of scientific theories and their epistemological judgments. Analysis revealed that students used several epistemological resources to decide on the accuracy of their data including accuracy via following the right procedure and accuracy via what the others find. Traditional, formulation-based, physics instruction might have led students to activate naive epistemological resources that prevent them to participate in the practice of science in ways that are more meaningful. Implications for future studies are presented.

Middle school girls: Experiences in a place-based education science classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Shea, Charlene K.

The middle school years are a crucial time when girls' science interest and participation decrease (Barton, Tan, O'Neill, Bautista-Guerra, & Brecklin, 2013). The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of middle school girls and their teacher in an eighth grade place-based education (PBE) science classroom. PBE strives to increase student recognition of the importance of educational concepts by reducing the disconnection between education and community (Gruenewald, 2008; Smith, 2007; Sobel, 2004). The current study provides two unique voices---the teacher and her students. I describe how this teacher and her students perceived PBE science instruction impacting the girls' participation in science and their willingness to pursue advanced science classes and science careers. The data were collected during the last three months of the girls' last year of middle school by utilizing observations, interviews and artifacts of the teacher and her female students in their eighth grade PBE science class. The findings reveal how PBE strategies, including the co-creation of science curriculum, can encourage girls' willingness to participate in advanced science education and pursue science careers. The implications of these findings support the use of PBE curricular strategies to encourage middle school girls to participate in advance science courses and science careers.

A case study of Markdale High School's implementation of heterogeneously-grouped classes in English, mathematics, science, and social studies

Science.gov (United States)

Pierre-Louis, Fred

The purpose of this study was to describe Markdale High School's change from separate college preparatory and general level classes to heterogeneously-grouped classes in English, mathematics, science, and social studies, with particular emphasis on the principal's leadership style, change process, and teacher concerns (Hall & Hord, 2006) experienced during this effort. The researcher used Hall and Hord's (2006) Concern-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) as a conceptual framework. Specifically, the researcher applied three elements of the CBAM model: (a) the Twelve Principles of Change, (b) the Change Facilitator Styles, and (c) the Stages of Concerns. Hall and Hord's framework served as a lens through which the researcher analyzed all data. The researcher used a mixed-method (qualitative and quantitative) approach to answer the four research questions. The participants completed three instruments: (a) the Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ), (b) the Principles of Change Survey, and (c) the Facilitator Style Survey. All three instruments were self-report, paper-pencil surveys. The sample included 72 faculty members who experienced the change over the past three years. Findings from the three data sources and the school principal's comments during debriefing are indicated for each research question and reported by unit of analysis. Respective to the research questions, the researcher concluded that: (1) Markdale High School accomplished the change by implementing both structural and instructional changes supporting to the change to heterogeneous grouping; (2) even though teachers had divergent opinions on the school principal's facilitation style, the principal thought of himself as an incrementalist and a practitioner of differentiated facilitation styles; (3) while half of the faculty felt that they received formal training on heterogeneous grouping, (4) half felt that they did not have a choice in the decision-making process as it occurred with college preparatory and

Box Cello Middle School Science Clubs

Science.gov (United States)

Vandegrift, Guy

1998-10-01

The Box Cello is a middle school science club which is attempting to (1) understand the cello and (2) design a low-cost starter instrument. We can support and justify this research by adding a third goal: (3) to help supply local science classes with equipment. My policy of spending one entire day each week away from the university, out in a local school is essential to this project. This schedule also permits me to conduct lessons on optics and music in the schools. And, it permits circulation of tools and equipment. A simple calculation demonstrates the great economy achieved by combining science clubs with academic year school visits. Consider the cost of letting 10,000 students in 10 middle schools each learn about and play with a pair of "upside-down" glasses for one hour. A visit to each school for three consecutive weeks would easily permit such a circulation if only 30 pairs were constructed. Assume rhetorically, that the construction of 30 pairs of glasses were to consume the entire estimated annual budget of $100,000. The cost per student would be only ten dollars! The visits, guest lectures, and equipment loans permit informal networking (including lunch) with math, science and music teachers in 10 schools. For more information, visit the http://www.utep.edu/boxcello/

Changes in Student Science Interest from Elementary to Middle School

Science.gov (United States)

Coutts, Trudi E.

This study is a transcendental phenomenological study that described the experience of students’ interest in science from elementary school through middle school grades and the identification of the factors that increase or decrease interest in science. Numerous researchers have found that interest in science changes among children and the change in interest seems to modulate student motivation, which ultimately leads to fewer children choosing not only science classes in the future but science careers. Research studies have identified numerous factors that affect student interest in science; however, this study incorporated the lived experience of the child and looked at this interest in science through the lens of the child. The study design was a collective cross-case study that was multi-site based. This study utilized a sample of children in fifth grade classes of three different elementary schools, two distinct seventh grade classes of different middle schools, and ninth grade children from one high school in the State of Illinois. The phenomenon was investigated through student interviews. The use of one-on-one semi-structured interviews limited to 45 minutes in length provided the researcher with data of each child’s description of science interest. All interviews were audio- recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data was collected and analyzed in order to identify themes, and finally checked for validity. The most significant findings of this study, and possible factors contributing to science interest in children as they progress from elementary to high school, were those findings relating to hands-on activities, the degree to which a student was challenged, the offering of new versus previously studied topics in the curriculum, the perceived relevance of the curricular materials to personal life, and the empowerment children felt when they were allowed to make choices related to their learning experiences. This study’s possible implications for

Beating the numbers through strategic intervention materials (SIMs): Innovative science teaching for large classes

Science.gov (United States)

Alboruto, Venus M.

2017-05-01

The study aimed to find out the effectiveness of using Strategic Intervention Materials (SIMs) as an innovative teaching practice in managing large Grade Eight Science classes to raise the performance of the students in terms of science process skills development and mastery of science concepts. Utilizing experimental research design with two groups of participants, which were purposefully chosen, it was obtained that there existed a significant difference in the performance of the experimental and control groups based on actual class observation and written tests on science process skills with a p-value of 0.0360 in favor of the experimental class. Further, results of written pre-test and post-test on science concepts showed that the experimental group with the mean of 24.325 (SD =3.82) performed better than the control group with the mean of 20.58 (SD =4.94), with a registered p-value of 0.00039. Therefore, the use of SIMs significantly contributed to the mastery of science concepts and the development of science process skills. Based on the findings, the following recommendations are offered: 1. that grade eight science teachers should use or adopt the SIMs used in this study to improve their students' performance; 2. training-workshop on developing SIMs must be conducted to help teachers develop SIMs to be used in their classes; 3. school administrators must allocate funds for the development and reproduction of SIMs to be used by the students in their school; and 4. every division should have a repository of SIMs for easy access of the teachers in the entire division.

Story - Science - Solutions: A new middle school science curriculum that promotes climate-stewardship

Science.gov (United States)

Cordero, E.; Centeno Delgado, D. C.

2017-12-01

Over the last five years, Green Ninja has been developing educational media to help motivate student interest and engagement around climate science and solutions. The adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) offers a unique opportunity where schools are changing both what they teach in a science class and how they teach. Inspired by the new emphasis in NGSS on climate change, human impact and engineering design, Green Ninja developed a technology focused, integrative, and yearlong science curriculum (6th, 7th and 8th grade) focused broadly around solutions to environmental problems. The use of technology supports the development of skills valuable for students, while also offering real-time metrics to help measure both student learning and environmental impact of student actions. During the presentation, we will describe the design philosophy around our middle school curriculum and share data from a series of classes that have created environmental benefits that transcend the traditional classroom. The notion that formal education, if done correctly, can be leveraged as a viable climate mitigation strategy will be discussed.

Science for the People: High School Students Investigate Community Air Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Marks-Block, Tony

2011-01-01

Over a year, a small group of high school students risked their afternoons and summer to participate in a science program that was "much different from science class." This was one of several after-school programs in Oakland and Richmond that the author was leading as an instructor with the East Bay Academy for Young Scientists (EBAYS). Students…

Single-gender mathematics and science classes and the effects on urban middle school boys and girls

Science.gov (United States)

Sudler, Dawn M.

This study compared the differences in the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) mathematics and science achievement scores of boys and girls in Grade 7 at two urban middle schools. The data allowed the researcher to determine to what degree boys and girls in Grade 7 differ in their mathematics and science achievements within a single-gender environment versus a coeducational learning environment. The study compared any differences between boys and girls in Grade 7 within a single-gender environment in the subjects of mathematics and science, as measured by the CRCT assessments. The study also compared differences between boys and girls in Grade 7 within a coeducational environment in the subjects of mathematics and science, as measured by the CRCT assessments. Two middle schools were used within the study. One middle school was identified as a single-gender school (Middle School A); the other was identified as a coeducational school (Middle School B). This quantitative study applied the use of a descriptive research design. In addition, CRCT scores for the subjects of mathematics and science were taken during the spring of 2008 from both middle schools. Data were measured using descriptive statistics and independent t test calculations. The frequency statistics proceeded to compare each sample performance levels. The data were described in means, standard deviations, standard error means, frequency, and percentages. This method provided an excellent description of a sample scored on the spring 2008 CRCT mathematics and science assessments.

Preparing perservice teachers to teach elementary school science

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Amy D.

The development of scientifically literate citizens begins in the elementary school. Yet elementary school teachers are ill prepared to teach science (Trygstad, Smith, Banilower, Nelson, & Horizon Research, Inc., 2013). The research base on teacher preparation finds that programs designed to prepare elementary teachers are inadequate in providing both the content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge necessary to teach science effectively (Baumgartner, 2010; Bodzin & Beerer, 2003; Bulunuz & Jarrett 2009). This mixed methods study examined what happened when a science methods course was interactively co-taught by an expert in elementary teaching methods and a physics expert. This study also aimed to discover what aspects of the curriculum pre-service teachers (PSTs) said helped them in developing their understanding of science content and scientific reasoning, and how to implement inquiry practices to teach science. A nested case study of three PSTs provided descriptive portraits of student experiences in the class. A whole class case analysis was used to examine what PSTs learned in terms of science, scientific reasoning skills, and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) from their experiences in the course. It was found that students often conflated science content with the experiences they had in learning the content. Although PSTs felt the interactive co-teaching model effectively created a balance between theory and practice, it was their experiences doing science--conducting physical experiments, developing and discussing scientific models, and the use of inquiry-based instruction--that they credited for their learning. Even with careful curriculum planning, and a course purposely designed to bridge the theory to practice gap, this study found one semester-long methods course to be insufficient in providing the vast content knowledge and PCK elementary school science teachers need.

Loneliness and Ethnic Composition of the School Class

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Katrine Rich; Damsgaard, Mogens Trab; Rubin, Mark

2016-01-01

not belong to the ethnic majority in the school class had increased odds for loneliness compared to adolescents that belonged to the ethnic majority. Furthermore, having more same-ethnic classmates lowered the odds for loneliness. We did not find any statistically significant association between the ethnic...... of school classes for loneliness in adolescence. The present research aimed to address this gap by exploring the association between loneliness and three dimensions of the ethnic composition in the school class: (1) membership of ethnic majority in the school class, (2) the size of own ethnic group...... in the school class, and (3) the ethnic diversity of the school class. We used data from the Danish 2014 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey: a nationally representative sample of 4383 (51.2 % girls) 11-15-year-olds. Multilevel logistic regression analyses revealed that adolescents who did...

Investigating Optimal Learning Moments in U.S. and Finnish Science Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, Barbara; Krajcik, Joseph; Lavonen, Jari; Salmela-Aro, Katariina; Broda, Michael; Spicer, Justina; Bruner, Justin; Moeller, Julia; Linnansaari, Janna; Juuti, Kalle; Viljaranta, Jaana

2016-01-01

This study explores how often students are engaged in their science classes and their affective states during these times, using an innovative methodology that records these experiences "in situ". Sampling a subset of high schools in the U.S. and Finland, we collected over 7,000 momentary responses from 344 students over the course of a…

Understanding Korean Transnational Girls in High School Science Classes: Beyond the Model Minority Stereotype

Science.gov (United States)

Ryu, Minjung

2015-01-01

This study examines six Korean transnational girls enrolled in two advanced placement (AP) biology classes to understand their experiences in science classrooms at the intersection of race, language, and gender. Confronting the model minority stereotype for Asian students, which is particularly salient in science, technology, engineering, and…

Teaching Citizenship in Science Classes at the University of Arizona

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, R. M.; Mangin, K.

2008-12-01

credits while teaching young people about marine science and conservation. Classes of elementary and middle school students attend a class field trip to a UA teaching laboratory where they explore a variety of hands-on marine biology centers. Undergraduates facilitate the learning centers and develop new centers for future years of the program. In addition, undergraduates in Marine Discovery do a marine ecology field project during a field trip to the Gulf of California, and present their results as a research poster to their peers. The course is entirely project- based, and helps students to develop informal as well as formal science communication skills. Many outreach programs suffer from loss of funding and lack of sustainability. Marine Discovery's popularity with both UA undergraduates and K-12 teachers has helped sustain it into its sixteenth year.

Vocational students' meaning-making in school science - negotiating authenticity through multimodal mobile learning :

OpenAIRE

Nordby, Mette; Knain, Erik; Jonsdottir, Gudrun

2017-01-01

This article presents a qualitative study focusing school science in two vocational classes, upper secondary school, Norway. The fact that many vocational students find little meaning in school science forms the backdrop. The students were introduced to teaching combining an excursion to a district heating plant and classroom lessons, with the use of mobile phones for documentation. Thematic analysis is used to explore the students’ experiences by analysing their behaviour and utterances. A m...

Mothers as informal science class teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Katz, Phyllis

This study explores the participation of mothers as teachers (termed "Adult Leaders") in the Hands On Science Outreach (HOSO) informal science program for pre-kindergarten through sixth grade children. Since women continue to be underrepresented in the sciences (AAUW, 1992; AAUW 1998), there is a need to probe the nature of mothers' choices in science experiences, in the family context, and as role models. Mothers of school age children who choose to lead informal science activities are in a position to teach and learn not only within this alternative setting, but within their homes where values, attitudes, beliefs and motivations are continually cultivated by daily choices (Gordon, 1972; Tamir, 1990; Gerber, 1997). Policy makers recognize that schools are only one environment from many for learning science (National Science Board, 1983; National Research Council, 1996). Using complementary methodology, this study was conducted in two HOSO sessions that extended over six months. Twelve mothers who were HOSO teachers were case study participants. Primary data collection strategies were interviews, journals, and "draw-a-scientist." A larger sample of HOSO mother-teachers (N = 112) also contributed to a surrey, developed from an analysis of the case studies. Informal learning settings must, by their non-compulsory nature, focus on the affective component of learning as a necessity of participation. The framework for the qualitative analysis was from the affective characteristics described by Simpson et al. (1994). The interpretation is informed by sociobiology, science education and adult education theories. The study finds that the twelve mothers began their HOSO teaching believing in science as a way of knowing and valuing the processes and information from its practice. These women perceive their participation as a likely means to increase the success of their child(ren)'s education and are interested in the potential personal gains of leading an informal science

Science school and culture school: improving the efficiency of high school science teaching in a system of mass science education.

Science.gov (United States)

Charlton, Bruce G

2006-01-01

Educational expansion in western countries has been achieved mainly by adding years to full-time education; however, this process has probably reduced efficiency. Sooner or later, efficiency must improve, with a greater educational attainment per year. Future societies will probably wish more people to study science throughout high school (aged c. 11-19 years) and the first college degree. 'Science' may be defined as any abstract, systematic and research-based discipline: including mathematics, statistics and the natural sciences, economics, music theory, linguistics, and the conceptual or quantitative social sciences. Since formal teaching is usually necessary to learn science, science education should be regarded as the core function of high schools. One standard way to improve efficiency is the 'division of labour', with increased specialization of function. Modern schools are already specialized: teachers are specialized according to age-group taught, subject matter expertise, and administrative responsibilities. School students are stratified by age and academic aptitude. I propose a further institutional division of school function between science education, and cultural education (including education in arts, sports, ethics, social interaction and good citizenship). Existing schools might split into 'science school' and 'culture school', reflected in distinct buildings and zones, separate administrative structures, and the recruitment of differently-specialized teaching personnel. Science school would be distinguished by its focus on education in disciplines which promote abstract systematic cognition. All students would spend some part of each day (how much would depend on their aptitude and motivation) in the 'science school'; experiencing a traditional-style, didactic, disciplined and rigorous academic education. The remainder of the students' time at school would be spent in the cultural division, which would focus on broader aspects, and aim to generate

Perceived impact on student engagement when learning middle school science in an outdoor setting

Science.gov (United States)

Abbatiello, James

Human beings have an innate need to spend time outside, but in recent years children are spending less time outdoors. It is possible that this decline in time spent outdoors could have a negative impact on child development. Science teachers can combat the decline in the amount of time children spend outside by taking their science classes outdoors for regular classroom instruction. This study identified the potential impacts that learning in an outdoor setting might have on student engagement when learning middle school science. One sixth-grade middle school class participated in this case study, and students participated in outdoor intervention lessons where the instructional environment was a courtyard on the middle school campus. The outdoor lessons consisted of the same objectives and content as lessons delivered in an indoor setting during a middle school astronomy unit. Multiple sources of data were collected including questionnaires after each lesson, a focus group, student work samples, and researcher observations. The data was triangulated, and a vignette was written about the class' experiences learning in an outdoor setting. This study found that the feeling of autonomy and freedom gained by learning in an outdoor setting, and the novelty of the outdoor environment did increase student engagement for learning middle school science. In addition, as a result of this study, more work is needed to identify how peer to peer relationships are impacted by learning outdoors, how teachers could best utilize the outdoor setting for regular science instruction, and how learning in an outdoor setting might impact a feeling of stewardship for the environment in young adults.

Teaching the History and Philosophy of Science in Secondary Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Frazier, Kenneth L.

1980-01-01

Lists educational objectives, course syllabus, audiovisual materials, and bibliography for a secondary school course on the history and philosophy of science. The class consists of discussions, lectures, use of film and filmstrips, and student research papers. (KC)

An Examination of High School Social Science Students' Levels Motivation towards Learning Geography

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Yildirim, Tahsin

2017-01-01

This aim of this research was to examine the levels of motivation among high school social science students towards learning geography. The study group consisted of 397 students from different classes at Aksaray Ahmet Cevdet Pasa High School in the College of Social Science. The research was carried out with a scanning model, with data obtained…

Time on Text and Science Achievement for High School Biology Students

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Wyss, Vanessa L.; Dolenc, Nathan; Kong, Xiaoqing; Tai, Robert H.

2013-01-01

The conflict between the amount of material to be addressed in high school science classes, the need to prepare students for standardized tests, and the amount of time available forces science educators to make difficult pedagogical decisions on a daily basis. Hands-on and inquiry-based learning offer students more authentic learning experiences…

Understanding social reproduction: The recursive nature of structure and agency within a science class

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Seiler, Gale A.

Schools and science classrooms within schools continue to contribute to social reproduction and to the disenfranchisement of inner city African American students though attempts have been made to remedy the situation through standards, high-stakes testing, and compensatory programs. Such reforms ignore the sociocultural, political, and economic contexts of the individual students in the schools they are impacting. They do not take into account the uniqueness and diversity of the learners in these settings and have not included the voices of the students. Another possibility was studied here; that of starting with the cultural capital of the learner rather than with external standards. In a non-required science course at a local high school two coteachers endeavored to enact a student-emergent curriculum as a way to foster student agency and to counteract the reproductive nature of schools. The class was examined as a field within multiple other fields. The dialectical relationship between structure and agency in the class was used to frame the analysis and the tension between them was examined at several levels through video and audio analysis. Structural and rational choice views of action were abandoned in favor of an understanding hinged upon strategies of action that actors construct from cultural toolkits in and through practice. In this setting the students and teachers co-constructed a class that can be described and characterized in certain ways yet contained many counter-examples and alternative characterizations. A continuum of successes and failures, agency and subjectivity can be found in the trends and counter-trends in the course. The contradictions were examined to portray the complexity of the interactions and the possibilities for agency within them.

Validity of Learning Module Natural Sciences Oriented Constructivism with the Contain of Character Education for Students of Class VIII at Yunior Hight School

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Oktarina, K.; Lufri, L.; Chatri, M.

2018-04-01

Referring to primary data collected through observation and interview to natural science teachers and some students, it is found that there is no natural science teaching materials in the form of learning modules that can make learners learn independently, build their own knowledge, and construct good character in themselves. In order to address this problem, then it is developed natural science learning module oriented to constructivism with the contain of character education. The purpose of this study is to reconstruct valid module of natural science learning materials. This type of research is a development research using the Plomp model. The development phase of the Plomp model consists of 3 stages, namely 1) preliminary research phase, 2) development or prototyping phase, and 3) assessment phase. The result of the study shows that natural science learning module oriented to constructivism with the contain of character education for students class VIII of Yunior High School 11 Sungai Penuh is valid. In future work, practicality and effectiveness will be investigated.

DoD Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program for High School Students, 1996-󈨥 Activities

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1997-05-01

Science Fair, A Honor Roll Baseball, Cross Country, Athletics, Weightlifting , Computers Robert Sidney Cox, III Other Male Leon High School...Sports Medicine Honor Roll Weightlifting , Swimming Marcus Mills Black Male Godby High School Florida State University Undecided FSU Incentive...paid for by the program. Seven of the students took a Psy- chology course, one a Nutritional Science class and two a Mathematics course. Eight of these

34 CFR 106.34 - Access to classes and schools.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... coeducational elementary or secondary school may provide nonvocational single-sex classes or extracurricular... of the excluded sex, a substantially equal coeducational class or extracurricular activity in the... school or coeducational school. (2) Exception. A nonvocational public charter school that is a single...

Single-sex middle school science classrooms: Separate and equal?

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Glasser, Howard M.

The U.S. Department of Education's amended regulations to Title IX have attempted to expand the circumstances in which single-sex classes are permissible in public schools. This ethnographic study uses grounded theory to investigate aspects of one single-sex offering at a public, coeducational middle school. Applying elements of postmodern, queer, and sociocultural lenses, it examines the perspectives for this offering, shedding insight into the cultures of two single-sex classrooms and what it meant to be a boy or girl in this setting. Additionally, it focuses attention on the all-boy and all-girl science classes that were taught by the same teacher and examines what it meant to learn science as boys and girls in this program. Although participants supplied financial, socio-emotional, and academic reasons for these classes, the initial motivation for these classes stemmed from the teachers' desire to curb the amount of sex talk and related behaviors that were exhibited in their classrooms. Through these conversations and classroom events, the girls were constructed as idealized students, academically and behaviorally, who needed to be protected from boys' behaviors---both boys' dominating classroom behaviors and aggressive (hetero)sexual behaviors. Conversely, boys were constructed as needing help both academically and behaviorally, but in the specific discipline of science boys were identified as the sex that was more interested in the content and gained greater exposure to skills that could assist them in future science courses and careers. Overall, boys and girls, and the culture of their two classrooms, were regularly defined relative to each other and efforts were made to maintain these constructed differences. As a result, the classes and students were hierarchically ranked in ways that often pitted one sex of students, or the entire class, as better or worse than the other. The theory emerging from this study is that single-sex policies arise and survive

What Kills Science in School?: Lessons from Pre-Service Teachers' Responses to Urban children's Science Inquiries.

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Matusov, Eugene

2018-06-01

This opportunistic case-study highlights striking differences in 6 urban children's and 12 preservice suburban middle-class teachers' perception of science and discuss consequences of science education and beyond. I found that all of the interviewed urban children demonstrated scientific inquiries and interests outside of the school science education that can be characterized by diverse simultaneous discourses from diverse practices, i.e., "heterodiscoursia" (Matusov in Culture & Psychology, 17(1), 99-119, 2011b), despite their diverse, positive and negative, attitudes toward school science. In contrast to the urban children's mixed attitudes to science, the preservice teachers view science negatively. They could not see science inquiries in the videotaped interviews of the urban children. There seemed to be many reasons for that. One of the possible reasons for that was that the preservice teachers tried to purify the science practice. Another reason was that they did not see a necessity to be interested and engaged in the curriculum that they are going to teach in future. The pedagogical consequences and remedies are discussed.

The effects of hands-on-science instruction on the science achievement of middle school students

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Wiggins, Felita

Student achievement in the Twenty First Century demands a new rigor in student science knowledge, since advances in science and technology require students to think and act like scientists. As a result, students must acquire proficient levels of knowledge and skills to support a knowledge base that is expanding exponentially with new scientific advances. This study examined the effects of hands-on-science instruction on the science achievement of middle school students. More specifically, this study was concerned with the influence of hands-on science instruction versus traditional science instruction on the science test scores of middle school students. The subjects in this study were one hundred and twenty sixth-grade students in six classes. Instruction involved lecture/discussion and hands-on activities carried out for a three week period. Specifically, the study ascertained the influence of the variables gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status on the science test scores of middle school students. Additionally, this study assessed the effect of the variables gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status on the attitudes of sixth grade students toward science. The two instruments used to collect data for this study were the Prentice Hall unit ecosystem test and the Scientific Work Experience Programs for Teachers Study (SWEPT) student's attitude survey. Moreover, the data for the study was treated using the One-Way Analysis of Covariance and the One-Way Analysis of Variance. The following findings were made based on the results: (1) A statistically significant difference existed in the science performance of middle school students exposed to hands-on science instruction. These students had significantly higher scores than the science performance of middle school students exposed to traditional instruction. (2) A statistically significant difference did not exist between the science scores of male and female middle school students. (3) A statistically

Supporting and Thwarting Autonomy in the High School Science Classroom

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Patall, Erika A.; Vasquez, Ariana C.; Steingut, Rebecca R.; Trimble, Scott S.; Pituch, Keenan A.

2017-01-01

This investigation examined relations between adolescent students' daily and cumulative perceptions of teachers' practice and their experience of autonomy. Two-hundred and eighteen high school science students in 43 classes participated in a 6-week diary study. Multilevel modeling results suggested that perceptions of 8 out of 9 practices…

Inquiry Learning in the Singaporean Context: Factors affecting student interest in school science

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Jocz, Jennifer Ann; Zhai, Junqing; Tan, Aik Ling

2014-10-01

Recent research reveals that students' interest in school science begins to decline at an early age. As this lack of interest could result in fewer individuals qualified for scientific careers and a population unprepared to engage with scientific societal issues, it is imperative to investigate ways in which interest in school science can be increased. Studies have suggested that inquiry learning is one way to increase interest in science. Inquiry learning forms the core of the primary syllabus in Singapore; as such, we examine how inquiry practices may shape students' perceptions of science and school science. This study investigates how classroom inquiry activities relate to students' interest in school science. Data were collected from 425 grade 4 students who responded to a questionnaire and 27 students who participated in follow-up focus group interviews conducted in 14 classrooms in Singapore. Results indicate that students have a high interest in science class. Additionally, self-efficacy and leisure-time science activities, but not gender, were significantly associated with an increased interest in school science. Interestingly, while hands-on activities are viewed as fun and interesting, connecting learning to real-life and discussing ideas with their peers had a greater relation to student interest in school science. These findings suggest that inquiry learning can increase Singaporean students' interest in school science; however, simply engaging students in hands-on activities is insufficient. Instead, student interest may be increased by ensuring that classroom activities emphasize the everyday applications of science and allow for peer discussion.

Living in the city: school friendships, diversity and the middle classes.

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Vincent, Carol; Neal, Sarah; Iqbal, Humera

2018-06-01

Much of the literature on the urban middle classes describes processes of both affiliation (often to the localities) and disaffiliation (often from some of the non-middle-class residents). In this paper, we consider this situation from a different position, drawing on research exploring whether and how children and adults living in diverse localities develop friendships with those different to themselves in terms of social class and ethnicity. This paper focuses on the interviews with the ethnically diverse, but predominantly white British, middle-class parent participants, considering their attitudes towards social and cultural difference. We emphasize the importance of highlighting inequalities that arise from social class and its intersection with ethnicity in analyses of complex urban populations. The paper's contribution is, first, to examine processes of clustering amongst the white British middle-class parents, particularly in relation to social class. Second, we contrast this process, and its moments of reflection and unease, with the more deliberate and purposeful efforts of one middle-class, Bangladeshi-origin mother who engages in active labour to facilitate relationships across social and ethnic difference. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2017.

What Types of Instructional Shifts Do Students Experience? Investigating Active Learning in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Classes across Key Transition Points from Middle School to the University Level

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kenneth Akiha

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Despite the need for a strong Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM workforce, there is a high attrition rate for students who intend to complete undergraduate majors in these disciplines. Students who leave STEM degree programs often cite uninspiring instruction in introductory courses, including traditional lecturing, as a reason. While undergraduate courses play a critical role in STEM retention, little is understood about the instructional transitions students encounter upon moving from secondary to post-secondary STEM courses. This study compares classroom observation data collected using the Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM from over 450 middle school, high school, introductory-level university, and advanced-level university classes across STEM disciplines. We find similarities between middle school and high school classroom instruction, which are characterized by a large proportion of time spent on active-learning instructional strategies, such as small-group activities and peer discussion. By contrast, introductory and advanced university instructors devote more time to instructor-centered teaching strategies, such as lecturing. These instructor-centered teaching strategies are present in classes regardless of class enrollment size, class period length, or whether or not the class includes a separate laboratory section. Middle school, high school, and university instructors were also surveyed about their views of what STEM instructional practices are most common at each educational level and asked to provide an explanation of those perceptions. Instructors from all levels struggled to predict the level of lecturing practices and often expressed uncertainty about what instruction looks like at levels other than their own. These findings suggest that more opportunities need to be created for instructors across multiple levels of the education system to share their active-learning teaching practices and

Social class and the STEM career pipeline an ethnographic investigation of opportunity structures in a high-poverty versus affluent high school

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Nikischer, Andrea B.

This research investigates science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) high school opportunity structures, including student experiences with math and science course sequences and progress, college guidance and counseling, and STEM extracurricular activities (Weis and Eisenhart, 2009), specifically related to STEM fields and career and college choice, for top-performing math and science students. Differences in these structures and processes as they play out in two representative high schools that vary by social class and racial/ethnic makeup are examined. This comparative ethnography includes 36 school and classroom observations, 56 semi-structured individual interviews, and a review of relevant documents, all gathered during the focal students' junior year of high school. Three data chapters are presented, discussing three distinct, yet interconnected themes. In the first, I examine the ways in which chronic attendance problems and classroom distractions negatively impact math and science instruction time and lead to an instruction (time) deficit. In the second, I compare the math and science course and extra-curricular offerings at each school, and discuss the significant differences between sites regarding available STEM exposure and experience, also known as "STEM educational dose" (Wai, et al., 2010). In the third, I investigate available guidance counseling services and STEM and college-linking at each site. Perceived failures in the counseling services available are discussed. This dissertation is grounded in the literature on differences in academic achievement based on school setting, the nature/distribution of knowledge based on social class, and STEM opportunity structures. The concepts of "social capital" and "STEM capital" are engaged throughout. Ultimately, I argue through this dissertation that segregation by race, and most importantly social class, both between and within districts, damages the STEM pipeline for high-performing math and

It's not rocket science : developing pupils’ science talent in out-of-school science education for primary schools

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geveke, Carla

2017-01-01

Out-of-school science educational activities, such as school visits to a science center, aim at stimulating pupils’ science talent. Science talent is a developmental potential that takes the form of talented behaviors such as curiosity and conceptual understanding. This dissertation investigates

It's not rocket science : Developing pupils’ science talent in out-of-school science education for Primary Schools

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geveke, Catherina

2017-01-01

Out-of-school science educational activities, such as school visits to a science center, aim at stimulating pupils’ science talent. Science talent is a developmental potential that takes the form of talented behaviors such as curiosity and conceptual understanding. This dissertation investigates

Reflections of middle school students by gender and race/ethnicity on obtaining a successful science education

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Mihalik, Bethany

Sixty-five eighth grade students responded to a science beliefs survey during a science-inquiry lab unit in an action research project to assess whether gender has an effect on how the students perceive their science classes. The survey was given to eighth grade students during the first week of school. Student results were categorized by gender and by race/ethnicity. The middle school where the study took place is fairly diverse with 540 total students of which 48% of them are White, 42% are Black, and 10% are Hispanic. Six female science teachers are employed at the middle school, two per grade. The first unit that is taught in science is inquiry skills, the basics of all science such as graphing, laboratory tools, safety, etc. This unit is taught in 6 th, 7th, and 8th grades, as a part of our standards. Inquiry test results for 8th graders are also given in this thesis, and are categorized again by gender and race/ethnicity. The results of the surveys and the assessment show a gap in the way students think about and complete activities in science. It was exciting to see that the female students scored better overall than male students on an inquiry-based summative assessment, while white students overall scored better than Black and Hispanic students. White males tended to rank science as the class they enjoyed the most of all core classes and thought science was easier than all the other data demographics. The conclusion found was stunning, in that the true gap in student's beliefs about science lies within the different races/ethnicities, rather than just gender alone.

Trends in gender diversity American soil science classes: 2004-2005 to 2013-2014 academic years

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Lindbo, David L.; Brevik, Eric C.; Vaughan, Karen L.; Parikh, Sanjai J.; Dilliver, Holly; Steffan, Joshua J.; Weindorf, David; McDaniel, Paul; Mbila, Monday; Edinger-Marshall, Susan; Thomas, Pamela

2017-04-01

A diverse workforce has been viewed for a long time as a healthy workforce. Traditionally however Soil Science has been seen as a male dominated field. The total number of female students enrolled showed increasing trends in all classes investigated during this study, but the percentage of female students showed a decline when analyzed by total students enrolled and also declined in four of the seven individual classes investigated. While both total enrollment and female enrollment increased during the study, male enrollment increased more rapidly than female enrollment. Soil biology/microbiology classes had a trend of more than 45% female enrollment throughout the study period, but many classes had less than 40% female enrollment, especially after the 2008-2009 academic year, and some hovered around only 35% female enrollment. The percentage of female soil science students had increased in the USA and Canada from 1992 to 2004 (Baveye et al., 2006) and Miller (2011) reported an increase in the number of female students at Iowa State University in the early 2000s. Therefore, the decrease in percentage of female soil science students found in our study was disappointing, even though absolute numbers of female students increased. It appears there is still a need to find ways to better market soil science coursework to female students. One possible way to accomplish this is to take advantage of the fact that many schools are now focusing efforts on STEM training specifically for females in grades 5-12, whereby science projects, after school programs, and mentorship can substantively influence females to pursue science-based fields in college. Another possibility is to promote the trends in female employment. As an example female employment within the Soil Science Division of the USDA-NRCS has increased over the same period. It should also be noted that the number of females in leadership roles has also increased. As a profession, soil science should look to take

A Trial of PBL Education with Emphasis on Improving Practical Competence of Engineering Students-A Trial Connected with the Support for Science Education in Elementary School

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Tsutsumi, Hirotaka; Nikkuni, Hiroyuki; Kitakoshi, Daisuke; Yasuda, Toshitaka; Kikuchi, Akira; Mitani, Tomoyo

Recently Colleges of technology as well as universities have some experience-oriented classes in sciences for elementary school students. These have proved to be successful as good motivation for students in the primary education to be engineers. This research has tried the PBL education, which combined the Support of Science Education in Elementary School and the improvement of students‧ practical competence in their careers. The support of science education in elementary school was carried out by using LEGO blocks, widely utilized in the educational researches of robots, and was conducted in the practical class with the autonomous robots. Finally, the method for the class was evaluated by the elementary school students on the basis of the questionnaire.

From Peripheral to Central, the Story of Melanie's Metamorphosis in an Urban Middle School Science Class

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Tan, Edna; Barton, Angela Calabrese

2008-01-01

Identity formation is a critical dimension of how and why students engage in science to varying degrees. In this paper, we use the lens of identity formation, and in particular identities in practice, to make sense of how and why Melanie, over the course of sixth grade, transformed from a marginalized member of the science class with a failing…

School physics teacher class management, laboratory practice, student engagement, critical thinking, cooperative learning and use of simulations effects on student performance

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Riaz, Muhammad

The purpose of this study was to examine how simulations in physics class, class management, laboratory practice, student engagement, critical thinking, cooperative learning, and use of simulations predicted the percentage of students achieving a grade point average of B or higher and their academic performance as reported by teachers in secondary school physics classes. The target population consisted of secondary school physics teachers who were members of Science Technology, Engineeering and,Mathematics Teachers of New York City (STEMteachersNYC) and American Modeling Teachers Association (AMTA). They used simulations in their physics classes in the 2013 and 2014 school years. Subjects for this study were volunteers. A survey was constructed based on a literature review. Eighty-two physics teachers completed the survey about instructional practice in physics. All respondents were anonymous. Classroom management was the only predictor of the percent of students achieving a grade point average of B or higher in high school physics class. Cooperative learning, use of simulations, and student engagement were predictors of teacher's views of student academic performance in high school physics class. All other variables -- class management, laboratory practice, critical thinking, and teacher self-efficacy -- were not predictors of teacher's views of student academic performance in high school physics class. The implications of these findings were discussed and recommendations for physics teachers to improve student learning were presented.

School Physical Education and Gender: Influences from outside the school at participation in classes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juliana Fagundes Jaco

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Participation in physical education classes is a complex issue; many factors lead students to participate in classroom activities in different ways. This research examines how the way to take part in the class is influenced by experiences outside of school. In this way, seeks to analyze how the actions and family discourses influence the different interests of girls and boys, such as the participation in physical activities outside of school. Also, examines the influence of the participating inside of the school, and how expectations and understandings of bodily practices for boys and girls influence different ways to participate in classes when comparing the male and female gender. For this, held semi-structured interviews and classroom observations into four groups of the eighth year of two public schools in the city of Campinas-SP. The notes of this research indicated that the experience and knowledge of the body and body practice outside of school have the big influence on the ways of participating in classes. The cultural environment of the students gave different experiences and understandings for boys and girls in the knowledge that circulate in physical education classes and contributed in different ways to participate in class. Keywords: Physical Education, Gender, Participation

National Science Resources Center Project for Improving Science Teaching in Elementary Schools. Appendix A. School Systems With Exemplary Elementary Science Programs. Appendix B. Elementary Science Network

Science.gov (United States)

1988-12-01

Glass, Lawrence, Deer Park High School Glass, Millard, K-12 Science Supervisor Bloomfield Municipal School District Glassman, Neil, Gleason, Steve...Superientendent Vaughn Municipal Schools Knop, Ronald N., Teacher Grissom Junior High School Knox, Amie, Director of Master Teacher Program W. Wilson...Science Supervisor Pequannock Township Public Schools Mercado , Roberto, Science Coordinator Colegio Radians, Inc. Merchant, Edwin, K-12 Science

The Attitudes of First Year Senior Secondary School Students toward Their Science Classes in the Sudan

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Lado, Longun Moses

This study examined the influence of a set of relevant independent variables on students' decision to major in math or science disciplines, on the one hand, or arts or humanities disciplines, on the other. The independent variables of interest in the study were students' attitudes toward science, their gender, their socioeconomic status, their age, and the strength and direction of parents' and peers' influences on their academic decisions. The study answered five research questions that concerned students' intention in math or science, the association between students' attitudes and their choice to major in math or science, the extent to which parents' and peers' perspectives influence students' choice of major, and the influence of a combination of relevant variables on students' choice of major. The scholarly context for the study was literature relating to students' attitudes toward science and math, their likelihood of taking courses or majoring in science or math and various conditions influencing their attitudes and actions with respect to enrollment in science or math disciplines. This literature suggested that students' experiences, their gender, parents' and peers' influence, their socio-economic status, teachers' treatment of them, school curricula, school culture, and other variables may influence students' attitudes toward science and math and their decision regarding the study of these subjects. The study used a questionnaire comprised of 28 items to elicit information from students. Based upon cluster sampling of secondary schools, the researcher surveyed 1000 students from 10 secondary schools and received 987 responses. The researcher used SPSS to analyze students' responses. Descriptive statistics, logistic regression, and multiple regression analyses to provide findings that address the study's research questions. The following are the major findings from the study: (1) The instrument used to measure students' attitudes toward science and

School climate and bullying victimization: a latent class growth model analysis.

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Gage, Nicholas A; Prykanowski, Debra A; Larson, Alvin

2014-09-01

Researchers investigating school-level approaches for bullying prevention are beginning to discuss and target school climate as a construct that (a) may predict prevalence and (b) be an avenue for school-wide intervention efforts (i.e., increasing positive school climate). Although promising, research has not fully examined and established the social-ecological link between school climate factors and bullying/peer aggression. To address this gap, we examined the association between school climate factors and bullying victimization for 4,742 students in Grades 3-12 across 3 school years in a large, very diverse urban school district using latent class growth modeling. Across 3 different models (elementary, secondary, and transition to middle school), a 3-class model was identified, which included students at high-risk for bullying victimization. Results indicated that, for all students, respect for diversity and student differences (e.g., racial diversity) predicted within-class decreases in reports of bullying. High-risk elementary students reported that adult support in school was a significant predictor of within-class reduction of bullying, and high-risk secondary students report peer support as a significant predictor of within-class reduction of bullying. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Curricular constraints, high-stakes testing and the reality of reform in high school science classrooms

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Coble, Jennifer

Through a series of open-ended interviews, this study investigated the beliefs of six third year high school science teachers about how they implement science education reform ideals in their practice and the contextual challenges they face as they attempt to implement reform. The teachers argue that the lack of connection between their curricula and students' lives serves as a significant obstacle to them utilizing more inquiry-based and student-centered strategies. In their science classes that are not subject to a high stakes exam, the teachers shared instances where they engage students in inquiry by refraining the focus of their curricula away from the decontextualized factual information and onto how the information relates to human experience. In their science classes subject to a high stakes test, however, the teachers confessed to feeling no choice but to utilize more teacher-centered strategies focused on information transmission. This study provides an in depth analysis of how the presence of high stakes tests discourages teachers from utilizing reform based teaching strategies within high school science classrooms.

It is not known the impact or implications of a study skills class and its effect on high school students in relation to performance on math and science Georgia High School Graduation Test

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Smith, Mary E.

The Georgia State Board of Education has put in place requirements that high school students must meet in order to advance to a higher grade level and to achieve credits for graduation. Georgia requires all ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders to take an end-of-course test after completing class time for academic core subjects. The student's final grade in the end-of-course test course will be calculated using the course grade as 85% and the end-of-course test score as 15%. The student must have a final course grade of 70 or above to pass the course and to earn credit toward graduation. Students in Georgia are required to take the Georgia High School Graduation Test. The tests consist of five parts, writing, math, science, social studies and language arts. Students must make a minimum score of 500 which indicates the student was proficient in mastering the objectives for that particular section of the test. Not all students finish high school in four years due to obstacles that occur. Tutorial sessions are provided for those that wish to participate. High schools may offer study skills classes for students that need extra help in focusing their attention on academic courses. Study skill courses provide the student with techniques that he or she may find useful in organizing thoughts and procedures that direct the student towards success.

Connecting university science experiences to middle school science teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Gordon; Laughran, Laura; Tamppari, Ray; Thomas, Perry

1991-06-01

Science teachers naturally rely on their university science experiences as a foundation for teaching middle school science. This foundation consists of knowledge far too complex for the middle level students to comprehend. In order for middle school science teachers to utilize their university science training they must search for ways to adapt their college experiences into appropriate middle school learning experience. The criteria set forth above provide broad-based guidelines for translating university science laboratory experiences into middle school activities. These guidelines are used by preservice teachers in our project as they identify, test, and organize a resource file of hands-on inquiry activities for use in their first year classrooms. It is anticipated that this file will provide a basis for future curriculum development as the teacher becomes more comfortable and more experienced in teaching hands-on science. The presentation of these guidelines is not meant to preclude any other criteria or considerations which a teacher or science department deems important. This is merely one example of how teachers may proceed to utilize their advanced science training as a basis for teaching middle school science.

In the Footsteps of Roger Revelle: Seagoing Oceanography for Middle School Science

Science.gov (United States)

Brice, D.; Foley, S.; Knox, R. A.; Mauricio, P.

2007-12-01

Now in its fourth year, "In the Footsteps of Roger Revelle" (IFRR) is a middle school science education program that draws student interest, scientific content and coherence with National Science Standards from real-time research at sea in fields of physical science. As a successful collaboration involving Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office of Naval Research (ONR), National Science Foundation (NSF), San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE), and San Marcos Middle School (SMMS), IFRR brings physical oceanography and related sciences to students at the San Marcos Middle School in real-time from research vessels at sea using SIO's HiSeasNet satellite communication system. With their science teacher on the ship as an education outreach specialist or ashore guiding students in their interactions with selected scientists at sea, students observe shipboard research being carried out live via videoconference, daily e-mails, interviews, digital whiteboard sessions, and web interaction. Students then research, design, develop, deploy, and field-test their own data-collecting physical oceanography instruments in their classroom. The online interactive curriculum encourages active inquiry with intellectually stimulating problem-solving, enabling students to gain critical insight and skill while investigating some of the most provocative questions of our time, and seeing scientists as role- models. Recent science test scores with IFRR students have shown significant increases in classes where this curriculum has been implemented as compared to other classes where the traditional curriculum has been used. IFRR has provided students in the San Diego area with a unique opportunity for learning about oceanographic research, which could inspire students to become oceanographers or at least scientifically literate citizens - a benefit for a country that depends

Creating a virtual community of practice to investigate legitimate peripheral participation by African American middle school girls in science activities

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Leslie D.

How do teenage girls develop an interest in science? What kinds of opportunities can science teachers present to female students that support their engagement with learning science? I studied one aspect of this issue by focusing on ways students could use science to enhance or gain identities that they (probably) already valued. To do that I created technology-rich activities and experiences for an after school class in science and technology for middle school girls who lived in a low socio-economic urban neighborhood. These activities and experiences were designed to create a virtual community of practice whose members used science in diverse ways. Student interest was made evident in their responses to the activities. Four conclusions emerged. (1) Opportunities to learn about the lives and work of admired African American business women interested students in learning by linking it to their middle-class aspirations and their interest in things that money and status can buy. (2) Opportunities to learn about the lives and work of African American women experts in science in a classroom context where students then practiced similar kinds of actual scientific tasks engaged students in relations of legitimate peripheral participation in a virtual and diverse community of practice focused on science which was created in the after-school classes. (3) Opportunities where students used science to show off for family, friends, and supporters of the after-school program, identities they valued, interested them enough that they engaged in long-term science and technology projects that required lots of revisions. (4) In response to the opportunities presented, new and enhanced identities developed around becoming a better student or becoming some kind of scientist.

High School Pedagogy: The Influence of High School In-class Activities and Events On Introductory College Physics Success

OpenAIRE

Carter, Brooke

2014-01-01

This study explores how students’ grades in introductory college physics are influenced by the pedagogy used in their high school physics classes. The success of college science professors is often judged on the basis of the success of their students. This disregards the 18+ years of experiences with which students come into their physics classroom. This study aims to answer the question of what pedagogy best prepares students for introductory college physics. This quantitative study analyzes...

Racial Microaggressions: The Schooling Experiences of Black Middle-Class Males in Arizona’s Secondary Schools

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Quaylan Allen

2010-05-01

Full Text Available The literature on Black education has often neglected significant analysis of life in schools and the experience of racism among Black middle-class students in general and Black middle-class males specifically. Moreover, the achievement gap between this population and their White counterparts in many cases is greater than the gap that exists among working-class Blacks and Whites. This study begins to document the aforementioned by illuminating the racial microaggressions experienced by Black middle-class males while in school and how their families’ usage of social and cultural capital deflect the potential negative outcomes of school racism.

Using constructivist teaching strategies in high school science classrooms to cultivate positive attitudes toward science

Science.gov (United States)

Heron, Lory Elen

This study investigated the premise that the use of constructivist teaching strategies (independent variable) in high school science classrooms can cultivate positive attitudes toward science (dependent variable) in high school students. Data regarding the relationship between the use of constructivist strategies and change in student attitude toward science were collected using the Science Attitude Assessment Tool (SAAT) (Heron & Beauchamp, 1996). The format of this study used the pre-test, post-test, control group-experimental group design. The subjects in the study were high school students enrolled in biology, chemistry, or environmental science courses in two high schools in the western United States. Ten teachers and twenty-eight classes, involving a total of 249 students participated in the study. Six experimental group teachers and four control group teachers were each observed an average of six times using the Science Observation Guide (Chapman, 1995) to measure the frequency of observed constructivist behaviors. The mean for the control group teachers was 12.89 and the mean for experimental group teachers was 20.67; F(1, 8) = 16.2, p =.004, revealing teaching behaviors differed significantly between the two groups. After a four month experimental period, the pre-test and post-test SAAT scores were analyzed. Students received a score for their difference in positive attitude toward science. The null hypothesis stating there would be no change in attitude toward science as a subject, between students exposed to constructivist strategies, and students not exposed to constructivist strategies was rejected F(1, 247) = 8.04, p =.005. The control group had a generally higher reported grade in their last science class than the experimental group, yet the control group attitude toward science became more negative (-1.18) while attitude toward science in the experimental group became more positive (+1.34) after the four-month period. An analysis of positive

The Most Common Patterns of Classroom Dialogue Used by Science Teachers in Omani Cycle Two Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Alshaqsi, Hanan; Ambusaidi, Abdullah

2018-01-01

This study aimed to identify the patterns of classroom dialogue used by science teachers in science classes at Omani schools with respect to their gender. The study sample consisted of science teachers: three males and three females. To achieve the aims of the study, mixed methods with three instruments were used. These are an observation card or…

Faunal knowledge of students in rural schools: a guide for their recognition in science class

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rubinsten Hernández-Barbosa

2018-02-01

Full Text Available This text aims to describe a methodological proposal to identify, classify, and organize the faunistic knowledge of students of rural schools. The research was conducted with twenty sixth graders from a rural school in the Department of Cundinamarca, Colombia. Through five types of activities, they expressed, in different ways, their knowledge about the animals of the region. The information collected was organized, categorized, and systematized in tables; these tables resulted from the analysis of the information the students provided. It is a possibility of school work that favors the recognition and valuation of the traditional and ancestral knowledge, and its incorporation to the dynamics of the teaching and learning of the Natural Sciences as a way to create “bridges” between that knowledge and the scholarly scientific knowledge. It is a proposal that, among other things, favors the development of more positive attitudes toward science itself, motivates students to ask questions, to recognize the importance of the cultural context, and to recognize themselves as part of a biocultural system.

A Comparative Study of Hawaii Middle School Science Student Academic Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Askew Cain, Peggy

The problem was middle-grade students with specific learning disabilities (SWDs) in reading comprehension perform less well than their peers on standardized assessments. The purpose of this quantitative comparative study was to examine the effect of electronic concept maps on reading comprehension of eighth grade students with SWD reading comprehension in a Hawaii middle school Grade 8 science class on the island of Oahu. The target population consisted of Grade 8 science students for school year 2015-2016. The sampling method was a purposeful sampling with a final sample size of 338 grade 8 science students. De-identified archival records of grade 8 Hawaii standardized science test scores were analyzed using a one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) in SPSS. The finding for hypothesis 1 indicated a significant difference in student achievement between SWDs and SWODs as measured by Hawaii State Assessment (HSA) in science scores (p reading comprehension. Recommendations for practice were for educational leadership and noted: (a) teachers should practice using concept maps with SWDs as a specific reading strategy to support reading comprehension in science classes, (b) involve a strong focus on vocabulary building and concept building during concept map construction because the construction of concept maps sometimes requires frontloading of vocabulary, and (c) model for teachers how concept maps are created and to explain their educational purpose as a tool for learning. Recommendations for future research were to conduct (a) a quantitative comparative study between groups for academic achievement of subtests mean scores of SWDs and SWODs in physical science, earth science, and space science, and (b) a quantitative correlation study to examine relationships and predictive values for academic achievement of SWDs and concept map integration on standardized science assessments.

School and class-level variations and patterns of physical activity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Steenholt, Carina Bjørnskov; Pisinger, Veronica Sofie Clara; Danquah, Ida Høgstedt

2018-01-01

is to describe patterns of PA and assess variations between schools and classes in PA, in a large cohort of Danish high school students. METHODS: Self-reported cross-sectional data came from The Danish National Youth Study, comprising a total of 70,674 students attending 119 different schools and 3213 classes....... Multilevel logistic regressions were applied to evaluate the association between socio-demographic variables and patterns of PA, and to assess the impact of schools and classes on PA measures. RESULTS: Students whose parents have achieved a lower level of education, older students and girls of perceived......BACKGROUND: There is limited knowledge of physical activity (PA) patterns among high school students. High schools plays an important role as context for the students, but it is uncertain to what extent schools influence student participation in PA during leisure time. The purpose of this study...

A Meta-Analysis of Middle School Science Engagement

Science.gov (United States)

Aker, Leanna B.

Researchers and educational practitioners have long been concerned with declines in science engagement reported by students as they transition into the middle school setting. Though the operationalization of engagement is still nascent, an emerging consensus on a three-faceted model of student engagement has recently emerged in the research literature (Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004). Thus, a synthesis of existing primary research of early adolescents' science engagement under this emerging conceptualization was warranted. The results of this meta-analysis indicate that instructional methods, class characteristics and competence predictors had the strongest relationship with self-reported science engagement in early adolescence. These predictors also show the strongest relationship with affective and cognitive engagement sub-types. Though affective and cognitive engagement were well represented in primary studies, behavioral engagement was underrepresented in student self-reports.

The role of outside-school factors in science education: a two-stage theoretical model linking Bourdieu and Sen, with a case study

Science.gov (United States)

Gokpinar, Tuba; Reiss, Michael

2016-05-01

The literature in science education highlights the potentially significant role of outside-school factors such as parents, cultural contexts and role models in students' formation of science attitudes and aspirations, and their attainment in science classes. In this paper, building on and linking Bourdieu's key concepts of habitus, cultural and social capital, and field with Sen's capability approach, we develop a model of students' science-related capability development. Our model proposes that the role of outside-school factors is twofold, first, in providing an initial set of science-related resources (i.e. habitus, cultural and social capital), and then in conversion of these resources to science-related capabilities. The model also highlights the distinction between science-related functionings (outcomes achieved by individuals) and science-related capabilities (ability to achieve desired functionings), and argues that it is necessary to consider science-related capability development in evaluating the effectiveness of science education. We then test our theoretical model with an account of three Turkish immigrant students' science-related capabilities and the role of outside-school factors in forming and extending these capabilities. We use student and parent interviews, student questionnaires and in-class observations to provide an analysis of how outside-school factors influence these students' attitudes, aspirations and attainment in science.

Providing Middle School Students With Science Research Experiences Through Community Partnerships

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, D.

2007-12-01

Science research courses have been around for years at the university and high school level. As inquiry based learning has become more and more a part of the science teacher's vocabulary, many of these courses have adopted an inquiry model for studying science. Learners of all ages benefit from learning through the natural process of inquiry. I participated in the CIRES Earthworks program for science teachers (Colorado University) in the summer of 2007 and experienced, first hand, the value of inquiry learning. With the support and vision of my school administration, and with the support and commitment of community partners, I have developed a Middle School Science Research Program that is transforming how science is taught to students in my community. Swift Creek Middle School is located in Tallahassee, Florida. There are approximately 1000 students in this suburban public school. Students at Swift Creek are required to take one science class each year through 8th grade. As more emphasis is placed on learning a large number of scientific facts and information, in order to prepare students for yearly, standardized tests, there is a concern that less emphasis may be placed on the process and nature of science. The program I developed draws from the inquiry model followed at the CIRES Earthworks program, utilizes valuable community partnerships, and plays an important role in meeting that need. There are three major components to this Middle School Research Program, and the Center for Integrated Research and Learning (CIRL) at the National High Magnetic Field Lab (NHMFL) at Florida State University is playing an important role in all three. First, each student will develop their own research question and design experiments to answer the question. Scientists from the NHMFL are serving as mentors, or "buddy scientists," to my students as they work through the process of inquiry. Scientists from the CIRES - Earthworks program, Florida State University, and other

Single-Sex Classes in Two Arkansas Elementary Schools: 2008-2009

Science.gov (United States)

Stotsky, Sandra; Denny, George; Tschepikow, Nick

2010-01-01

Interest in single-sex classes continues to grow in the United States, but there has been little research at the elementary level in this country or elsewhere to help guide educators' decision-making about the overall value of single-sex classes in public schools and the specific value of single-sex classes in public schools for increasing boy's…

Teacher and student perspectives on motivation within the high school science classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Pickens, Melanie Turnure

The purpose of this study was to investigate teacher and student perspectives on the motivation of high school science students and to explore specific motivational strategies used by teachers as they attempt to enhance student motivation. Four science teachers took part in an initial audio-taped interview, classroom observations with debriefing conversations, and a final audio-taped interview to discuss findings and allow member checking for data triangulation and interpretation. Participating teachers also took part in a final focus group interview. Student participants from each teacher's class were given a Likert style anonymous survey on their views about motivation and learning, motivation in science class, and specific motivational strategies that emerged in their current science class. This study focused on effective teaching strategies for motivation commonly used by the four teachers and on specific teaching strategies used by two of these four teachers in different tracks of science classes. The intent was to determine not only what strategies worked well for all types of science classes, but also what specific motivational approaches were being used in high and low tracked science classes and the similarities and differences between them. This approach provided insight into the differences in motivating tracked students, with the hope that other educators in specific tracks might use such pedagogies to improve motivation in their own science classrooms. Results from this study showed that science teachers effectively motivate their students in the following ways: Questioning students to engage them in the lesson, exhibiting enthusiasm in lesson presentations, promoting a non-threatening environment, incorporating hands-on activities to help learn the lesson concepts, using a variety of activities, believing that students can achieve, and building caring relationships in the classroom. Specific to the higher tracked classroom, effective motivational

Impact of Texas high school science teacher credentials on student performance in high school science

Science.gov (United States)

George, Anna Ray Bayless

A study was conducted to determine the relationship between the credentials held by science teachers who taught at a school that administered the Science Texas Assessment on Knowledge and Skills (Science TAKS), the state standardized exam in science, at grade 11 and student performance on a state standardized exam in science administered in grade 11. Years of teaching experience, teacher certification type(s), highest degree level held, teacher and school demographic information, and the percentage of students who met the passing standard on the Science TAKS were obtained through a public records request to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC). Analysis was performed through the use of canonical correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. The results of the multiple linear regression analysis indicate that a larger percentage of students met the passing standard on the Science TAKS state attended schools in which a large portion of the high school science teachers held post baccalaureate degrees, elementary and physical science certifications, and had 11-20 years of teaching experience.

A Study on Developing a Guide Material for Science Classes Supported by Out-of-School Learningi

Science.gov (United States)

Bakioglu, Büsra; Karamustafaoglu, Orhan

2017-01-01

The main purpose of this research was to develop a guide material in line with learning outcomes of the unit for the 5th Graders titled Solving the Puzzle: Our Body in order to be utilized during out-of-school learning activities by science teachers. There is no guide material developed in our country for science teachers to be used in out-of…

Practical examples and discussion in junior high school biological delivery classes

OpenAIRE

石井, 照久; ISHII, Teruhisa

2013-01-01

Practical examples of the delivery class in junior high school biological education were reported. In 2006-2012, author did 13 times of delivery class in 5 junior high schools in Akita Prefecture. The contents of the delivery classes were‘‘Observation of animals in river’’, ‘‘Marine ecology’’, ‘‘Ecological problems’’ and ‘‘cells and DNA’’. In this report, these contents were discussed in regard to new course of education in Japan. Also, better delivery class in junior high school biological e...

The Tension between Authoritative and Dialogic Discourse: A Fundamental Characteristic of Meaning Making Interactions in High School Science Lessons

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, Philip H.; Mortimer, Eduardo F.; Aguiar, Orlando G.

2006-01-01

In this paper, we draw upon a framework for analyzing the discursive interactions of science classrooms (Mortimer & Scott, 2003, "Meaning Making in Secondary Science Classrooms," Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press), to probe the movement between authoritative and dialogic discourse in a Brazilian high school science class. More…

A multimedia educational program that increases science achievement among inner-city non-Asian minority middle-school students.

Science.gov (United States)

Murray, Nancy G; Opuni, Kwame A; Reininger, Belinda; Sessions, Nathalie; Mowry, Melanie M; Hobbs, Mary

2009-06-01

To test the effectiveness of a middle school, multimedia health sciences educational program called HEADS UP in non-Asian-minority (Hispanic and African American), inner-city students. The program designers hope to increase the number of these students entering the health sciences pipeline. The program includes video role-model stories featuring minority scientists and students, hands-on activities, and teacher resources. Collaborators from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Spring Branch Independent School District, and the Health Museum developed the modules. From 2004 to 2007, the authors used a quasi-experimental, two-group pretest/posttest design to assess program effects on students' performance and interest in science, their science self-efficacy, their fear of science, and their science-related careers self-efficacy. An independent third party matched the intervention school to a comparison school by test scores, school demographics, and student demographics and then matched pairs of sixth-grade students (N = 428) by fifth-grade science scores, gender, ethnicity, and participation in the free or reduced lunch program. The authors collected data on these students for three years. At eighth grade (2007), the intervention school students scored significantly higher (F = 12.38, P science and reported higher interest in science (F = 11.08, P school pairs. Students in neither group reported an increase in their confidence to choose a science-related career, but students in one high-implementing teacher's class reported decreased fear of science. HEADS UP shows potential for improving inner-city, non-Asian-minority middle school students' performance and interest in science.

Teacher Use of Constructivism in High School Science Courses: Perception versus Reality

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Alisha M.

2017-01-01

With all of the research devoted to the use and effectiveness of constructivist learning principles in high school science classes, it is somewhat surprising to find that there is very little research devoted to constructivism's use in international settings. The problem that this lack of research poses is that classrooms are increasingly diverse…

The Importance of Agriculture Science Course Sequencing in High Schools: A View from Collegiate Agriculture Students

Science.gov (United States)

Wheelus, Robin P.

2009-01-01

The objective of this study was to investigate the importance of Agriculture Science course sequencing in high schools, as a preparatory factor for students enrolled in collegiate agriculture classes. With the variety of courses listed in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for Agriculture Science, it has been possible for counselors,…

The Global Systems Science High School Curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

Gould, A. D.; Sneider, C.; Farmer, E.; Erickson, J.

2015-12-01

Global Systems Science (GSS), a high school integrated interdisciplinary science project based at Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley, began in the early 1990s as a single book "Planet at Risk" which was only about climate change. Federal grants enabled the project to enlist about 150 teachers to field test materials in their classes and then meeting in summer institutes to share results and effect changes. The result was a series of smaller modules dealing not only with climate change, but other related topics including energy flow, energy use, ozone, loss of biodiversity, and ecosystem change. Other relevant societal issues have also been incorporated including economics, psychology and sociology. The course has many investigations/activities for student to pursue, interviews with scientists working in specific areas of research, and historical contexts. The interconnectedness of a myriad of small and large systems became an overarching theme of the resulting course materials which are now available to teachers for free online at http://www.globalsystemsscience.org/

The kids at Hamilton Elementary School: Purposes and practices for co-opting science

Science.gov (United States)

Ortiz, Loaiza

The purpose of this study was to explore youth's purposes and motivations for engaging in science through the lens of science practices. The construct of science practices allowed me to see science in youths' lives in a holistic way, shaped by social, political, historical, economic and cultural forces. The framework for understanding urban youths' science practices is grounded in the intersections of critical and feminist theory, sociocultural learning theories, especially as applied in research in urban science education, and recent work in critical literacy studies. As I explored the answers to my research questions---(1) When 5th grade youth, living in predominantly Latino communities struggling with urban poverty, engage in science how and why do they co-opt science in ways that result in changes in participation in science? (2) What are the science practices that facilitate youths' coopting of science? And how are those practices framed by context (school, out-of-school), content (LiFE curriculum), and funds of knowledge? (3) In what ways are science practices expressions of youths' scientific literacy? And (4) In what ways do youth use science practices as tools for expressing identities and agency?---I engaged in feminist ethnography with embedded case studies. Data were collected in 2004 in school and in out of school settings. I recorded numerous informal conversations, interviews, and observations both during after-school and students' regular science and non-science classes. Findings describe how and why students co-opted science for purposes that make sense for their lives. These purposes included gaining and activating resources, building and maintaining social relationships, bridging home and school knowledge, positioning themselves with authority, and constructing science identities. Findings also explored what practices facilitated youth's co-opting of science. I highlighted three practices: making ideas public, storytelling and prioritizing and

Home Culture, Science, School and Science Learning: Is Reconciliation Possible?

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Aik-Ling

2011-01-01

In response to Meyer and Crawford's article on how nature of science and authentic science inquiry strategies can be used to support the learning of science for underrepresented students, I explore the possibly of reconciliation between the cultures of school, science, school science as well as home. Such reconciliation is only possible when…

A escolarização das classes abastadas The schooling of the affluent classes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio David Cattani

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Após indicar a inadequação do termo elite ou burguesia para designar os detentores de grandes fortunas, este artigo sustenta que as classes dominantes se constroem continuamente e se mobilizam de todas as formas para assegurar sua reprodução ampliada, sua existência cotidiana com vistas à preservação e à transmissão das posições dominantes para seus descendentes. A formação ideológica na família e o período de formação nas instituições escolares são parte importantes do processo de construção de classe. O artigo considera que os estudos sobre a escolarização das classes dedicam-se, de modo geral, à formação universal, com ênfase nos problemas que acometem a população menos privilegiada. Os estudos sobre a formação da classe dominante são recentes e apresentam resultados inusitados tais como a relação instrumental com a educação o que distinguiria o caso brasileiro das estratégias das classes abastadas dos países economicamente mais avançados. Entretanto, como as classes dominantes são heterogêneas elas podem se valer de outras estratégias de escolarização para garantir suas posições e a reprodução de classe.After pointing out the inadequacy of the terms elite or bourgeoisie to label those in possession of great wealth, this article maintains that the dominant classes are constantly constructing and mobilizing themselves in every way to assure their extended reproduction and their everyday coexistence with the aim of preserving and transmitting dominant positions to their descendents. Ideological development within the family and the school years are important elements in the process of class construction. Studies on schooling of class generally address universal education, stressing the problems that afflict the underprivileged population. The education of the dominant class is not often explored as a topic and the few studies available present original results, such as the instrumental

Twenty-first Century Space Science in The Urban High School Setting: The NASA/John Dewey High School Educational Outreach Partnership

Science.gov (United States)

Fried, B.; Levy, M.; Reyes, C.; Austin, S.

2003-05-01

A unique and innovative partnership has recently developed between NASA and John Dewey High School, infusing Space Science into the curriculum. This partnership builds on an existing relationship with MUSPIN/NASA and their regional center at the City University of New York based at Medgar Evers College. As an outgrowth of the success and popularity of our Remote Sensing Research Program, sponsored by the New York State Committee for the Advancement of Technology Education (NYSCATE), and the National Science Foundation and stimulated by MUSPIN-based faculty development workshops, our science department has branched out in a new direction - the establishment of a Space Science Academy. John Dewey High School, located in Brooklyn, New York, is an innovative inner city public school with students of a diverse multi-ethnic population and a variety of economic backgrounds. Students were recruited from this broad spectrum, which covers the range of learning styles and academic achievement. This collaboration includes students of high, average, and below average academic levels, emphasizing participation of students with learning disabilities. In this classroom without walls, students apply the strategies and methodologies of problem-based learning in solving complicated tasks. The cooperative learning approach simulates the NASA method of problem solving, as students work in teams, share research and results. Students learn to recognize the complexity of certain tasks as they apply Earth Science, Mathematics, Physics, Technology and Engineering to design solutions. Their path very much follows the NASA model as they design and build various devices. Our Space Science curriculum presently consists of a one-year sequence of elective classes taken in conjunction with Regents-level science classes. This sequence consists of Remote Sensing, Planetology, Mission to Mars (NASA sponsored research program), and Microbiology, where future projects will be astronomy related. This

Urban school leadership for elementary science education: Meeting the needs of English Language Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Alarcon, Maricela H.

Science education reform and state testing accountability call upon principals to become instructional leaders in science. Specifically, elementary school principals must take an active role in science instruction to effectively improve science education for all students including English Language Learners. As such, the research questioned posed in this study centered on How are elementary school principals addressing the academic needs of Latino Spanish-speaking English language learners within science education? This study employed a qualitative research design to identify the factors contributing to the exemplary performance in science, as measured by the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), for English Language Learner students in three high poverty bilingual elementary schools based on a multiple case study. As part of the data collection process, interviews were conducted with three school principals, three science academic support teachers, and two 5th grade bilingual teachers. Additionally, observations were acquired through school principal shadowing. The findings revealed four attributes necessary for effective instructional leadership in science education. First, Positive School Culture was defined as the core that linked the other three instructional leadership attributes and thus increased their effectiveness. Second, Clear Goals and Expectations were set by making science a priority and ensuring that English language learners were transitioning from Spanish to English instruction by the fifth grade. Third, Critical Resourcing involved hiring a science academic support teacher, securing a science classroom on campus, and purchasing bilingual instructional materials. Fourth, principal led and supported Collaboration in which teachers met to discuss student performance based data in addition to curriculum and instruction. These research findings are vital because by implementing these best practices of elementary school principals, educators

Novartis School Lab: bringing young people closer to the world of research and discovering the excitement of science.

Science.gov (United States)

Michel, Christiane Röckl; Standke, Gesche; Naef, Reto

2012-01-01

The Novartis School Lab (http://www.novartis.ch/schullabor) is an institution with an old tradition. The School Lab reaches about 5000 students through internal courses and an additional 5000 children at public science events where they can enjoy hands-on science in disciplines of biomedical research. The subjects range from chemistry, physics, molecular biology and genetics to toxicology and medical topics. The Novartis School Lab offers a variety of activities for youngsters aged 10-20 ranging from lab courses for school classes, continuing education for teachers and development of teaching kits, support for individual research projects to outreach for public science events. Innovation and adaptation to changes of current needs are essential aspects for the Novartis School Lab. Ongoing activities to shape the Novartis Biomedical Learning Lab include design of new teaching experiments, exploration into additional disciplines of biomedical science and the creation of a fascinating School Lab of the future.

Instructional strategies in science classrooms of specialized secondary schools for the gifted

Science.gov (United States)

Poland, Donna Lorraine

This study examined the extent to which science teachers in Academic Year Governor's Schools were adhering to the national standards for suggested science instruction and providing an appropriate learning environment for gifted learners. The study asked 13 directors, 54 instructors of advanced science courses, and 1190 students of advanced science courses in 13 Academic Year Governor's Schools in Virginia to respond to researcher-developed surveys and to participate in classroom observations. The surveys and classroom observations collected demographic data as well as instructors' and students' perceptions of the use of various instructional strategies related to national science reform and gifted education recommendations. Chi-square analyses were used to ascertain significant differences between instructors' and students' perceptions. Findings indicated that instructors of advanced science classes in secondary schools for the gifted are implementing nationally recognized gifted education and science education instructional strategies with less frequency than desired. Both students and instructors concur that these strategies are being implemented in the classroom setting, and both concur as to the frequency with which the implementation occurs. There was no significant difference between instructors' and students' perceptions of the frequency of implementation of instructional strategies. Unfortunately, there was not a single strategy that students and teachers felt was being implemented on a weekly or daily basis across 90% of the sampled classrooms. Staff development in gifted education was found to be minimal as an ongoing practice. While this study offers some insights into the frequency of strategy usage, the study needs more classroom observations to support findings; an area of needed future research. While this study was conducted at the secondary level, research into instructional practices at the middle school and elementary school gifted science

Using a dynamic, introductory-level volcanoes class as a means to introduce non-science majors to the geosciences

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, G. W.

2012-12-01

At the University of California, San Diego, I teach a quarter-long, introductory Earth Science class titled "Volcanoes," which is, in essence, a functional class in volcanology designed specifically for non-majors. This large-format (enrollment ~ 85), lecture-based class provides students from an assortment of backgrounds an opportunity to acquire much-needed (and sometimes dreaded) area credits in science, while also serving as an introduction to the Earth Science major at UCSD (offered through Scripps Institution of Oceanography). The overall goal of the course is to provide students with a stimulating and exciting general science option that, using an inherently interesting topic, introduces them to the fundamentals of geoscience. A secondary goal is to promote general science and geoscience literacy among the general population of UCSD. Student evaluations of this course unequivocally indicate a high degree of learning and interest in the material. The majority of students in the class (>80%) are non-science majors and very few students (degree-seeking students. In addition, only a handful of students have typically had any form of geology class beyond high school level Earth Science. Consequently, there are challenges associated with teaching the class. Perhaps most significantly, students have very little background—background that is necessary for understanding the processes involved in volcanic eruptions. Second, many non-science students have built-in anxieties with respect to math and science, anxieties that must be considered when designing curriculum and syllabi. It is essential to provide the right balance of technical information while remaining in touch with the audience. My approach to the class involves a dynamic lecture format that incorporates a wide array of multimedia, analogue demonstrations of volcanic processes, and small-group discussions of topics and concepts. In addition to teaching about volcanoes—a fascinating subject in and of

Ethics Is Not Rocket Science: How to Have Ethical Discussions in Your Science Class

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kelly C. Smith

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The Rutland Institute for Ethics at Clemson University seeks to encourage discussion on campus, in businesses, and in the community about how ethical decision-making can be the basis of both personal and professional success.  In the last 15 years, our fellows have, among other things, served as Co-PI’s on a wide range of grants, produced Responsible Conduct of Research training for science and engineering graduate students and faculty, managed the ethics curriculum at a medical school, and produced video lectures on ethical thinking for undergraduate Biology majors.  The crown jewel of our efforts to-date is our Ethics Across the Curriculum program, affectionately known as “ethics boot camp.”Each year, we bring faculty from all corners of the disciplinary spectrum together to show them how to have rich ethical discussions in their own classes with the students from their majors.  The program has been extremely successful and over the past 15 years has touched the lives of hundreds of faculty and thousands of students.  The purpose of this paper is to provide a very abbreviated version of the Rutland Ethics Across the Curriculum material to a wider audience of science educators.  It is our hope that this will motivate more faculty to introduce ethics into their classes as well as provide them the basic tools they will need to make this experience fruitful for all concerned.

Social Class and School Music

Science.gov (United States)

Bates, Vincent C.

2012-01-01

This article takes a practical look at social class in school music by exploring the manifestations and impact of three of its dimensions: financial resources, cultural practices, and social networks. Three suggestions are discussed: provide a free and equal music education for all students, understand and respect each student's cultural…

Hands-on science methods class for pre-service elementary teachers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Manner, B.M. [Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

1994-12-31

If elementary teachers are to be comfortable teaching science, they must have positive pre-service experiences. A science methods class that is activity-based and student-centered, rather than lecture-based and teacher-centered, peaks their interest in science and alleviates their fears. Activities conducted by the students illustrate science concepts or integrate science with children`s literature books such as The Grouchy Ladybug. These activities are conducted by each student with the rest of the class and the professor acting as an elementary class. Each activity is then evaluated as to the science concept, what was done well, and how it could be improved. The students also relate how the activity would be integrated with other subjects such as social studies, art, math, and language arts. Student feedback indicates this method is enjoyable, educational, and valuable in preparing them to teach science. The {open_quotes}oohs{close_quotes} and {open_quotes}I didn`t know that!{close_quotes} during activities are positives, but students have also learned some science, lost most of their science anxiety, and will teach science with the confidence and enthusiasm that was lacking at the beginning of the course.

Portsmouth Atmospheric Science School (PASS) Project

Science.gov (United States)

Coleman, Clarence D.; Hathaway, Roger (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The Portsmouth Atmospheric Science School Project (PASS) Project was granted a one-year no cost extension for 2001-2002. In year three of the project, objectives and strategies were modified based on the previous year-end evaluation. The recommendations were incorporated and the program was replicated within most of the remaining elementary schools in Portsmouth, Virginia and continued in the four middle schools. The Portsmouth Atmospheric Science School Project is a partnership, which includes Norfolk State University, Cooperating Hampton Roads Organizations for Minorities in Engineering (CHROME), NASA Langley Research Center, and the City of Portsmouth, Virginia Public Schools. The project seeks to strengthen the knowledge of Portsmouth Public Schools students in the field of atmospheric sciences and enhance teacher awareness of hands on activities in the atmospheric sciences. The project specifically seeks to: 1) increase the interest and participation of elementary and middle school students in science and mathematics; 2) strengthen existing science programs; and 3) facilitate greater achievement in core subjects, which are necessary for math, science, and technical careers. Emphasis was placed on providing training activities, materials and resources for elementary students (grades 3 - 5) and middle school students (grades 6 - 8), and teachers through a CHROME club structure. The first year of the project focused on introducing elementary students to concepts and activities in atmospheric science. Year two of the project built on the first year's activities and utilizes advanced topics and activities appropriate for middle school students. During the third year of the project, in addition to the approaches used in years one and two, emphasis was placed on activities that enhanced the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL).

UCSF partnership to enrich science teaching for sixth graders in San Francisco's schools.

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Doyle, H J

1999-04-01

Increasing the diversity of students entering the health professions is a challenging goal for medical schools. One approach to this goal is to share the enthusiasm and energy of medical students with younger students, who may pursue medical education in the future. The MedTeach program, established in 1989 and coordinated by the Science & Health Education Partnership of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), does so by partnering volunteer medical students from UCSF with sixth-grade classes studying the human body. In 1997-98, around 350 sixth-graders in the San Francisco Schools benefitted from the program. Each team of medical student's visits its class ten to 12 times a year to present engaging, hands-on lessons on body systems and health. The medical students are also role models for the middle-school students. In addition, the diverse student population of San Francisco public schools provides a rich environment for the medical students to improve their communication and teaching skills.

Cross Fertilization between Museums and Schools, Science and Art, History and Multimedia

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Falomo Bernarduzzi, Lidia; Albanesi, Gabriele

2015-01-01

In 2011 Pavia University celebrated its 650th birthday. This provided the opportunity to propose the Neverland project whose purpose was to overcome the division between formal and informal science education. A number of classes (various age groups) from a group of schools in the province of Pavia took part in the project. The University Museums…

School of Political Science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. D. Voskresensky

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Out of all the departments of political sciences in Russia - the Department at MGIMO-University is probably the oldest one. In fact it is very young. While MGIMO-University is celebrating its 70th anniversary the Department of Political Sciences turns 15. Despite the fact that political analyst is a relatively new profession in Russia, it acquired a legal standing only in the 1990s, the political science school at MGIMO-University is almost as old as the university itself. Unlike many other universities, focused on the training teachers of political science or campaign managers MGIMO-University has developed its own unique political science school of "full cycle", where students grow into political sciences from a zero level up to the highest qualifications as teachers and researchers, and campaign managers, consultants and practitioners. The uniqueness of the school of political science at MGIMO-University allows its institutional incarnation -the Department of Political Science - to offer prospective studentsa training in a wide range of popular specialties and specializations, while ensuring a deep theoretical and practical basis of the training. Studying at MGIMO-University traditionally includes enhanced linguistic component (at least two foreign languages. For students of international relations and political science learning foreign languages is particularly important.It allows not only to communicate, but also to produce expertise and knowledge in foreign languages.

Boys and girls smoking within the Danish elementary school classes: a group-level analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Mette; Damsgaard, Mogens T; Due, Pernille

2002-01-01

smokers within school classes does not correlate. There is high variation in male and female smoking behaviour between school classes. CONCLUSIONS: The influence of social classroom environment on the processes causing smoking behaviour may be different for boys and girls. This paper illustrates......AIMS: To quantify the correlation between male and female smoking prevalence in elementary school classes by group-level analysis. METHODS: This study was the Danish contribution to the cross-national study Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) 1998. Ninety school classes at grade nine (1......,515 students) from a random sample of schools in Denmark took part. The proportion of male and female "at all" smokers and daily smokers in the school class was calculated. RESULTS: The mean "at all" smoking proportion in the school classes is 39% for girls and 32% for boys. The proportion of male and female...

The Embodiment of Class in the Croatian VET School System

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Doolan, Karin; Lukic, Natalija; Bukovic, Nikola

2016-01-01

This article engages with the notion that schools embody social class in their structures and practices. We draw on Bourdieu's critical concept of "field" to describe the larger landscape of Croatian secondary schooling: a stratified system whose routes serve, and have served, to reinforce the maintenance of class (under)privilege. We…

A Science-Technology-Society Paradigm and Cross River State Secondary School Students' Scientific Literacy: Problem Solving and Decision Making

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Umoren, Grace

2007-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Science-Technology-Society (STS) curriculum on students' scientific literacy, problem solving and decision making. Four hundred and eighty (480) Senior Secondary two science and non-science students were randomly selected from intact classes in six secondary schools in Calabar Municipality of…

Aspects of science engagement, student background, and school characteristics: Impacts on science achievement of U.S. students

Science.gov (United States)

Grabau, Larry J.

Science achievement of U.S. students has lagged significantly behind other nations; educational reformers have suggested science engagement may enhance this critical measure. The 2006 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) was science-focused and measured science achievement along with nine aspects of science engagement: science self-efficacy, science self-concept, enjoyment of science, general interest in learning science, instrumental motivation for science, future-oriented science motivation, general value of science, personal value of science, and science-related activities. I used multilevel modeling techniques to address both aspects of science engagement and science achievement as outcome variables in the context of student background and school characteristics. Treating aspects of science engagement as outcome variables provided tests for approaches for their enhancement; meanwhile, treating science achievement as the outcome variable provided tests for the influence of the aspects of science engagement on science achievement under appropriate controls. When aspects of science engagement were treated as outcome variables, gender and father's SES had frequent (significant) influences, as did science teaching strategies which focused on applications or models and hands-on activities over-and-above influences of student background and other school characteristics. When science achievement was treated as the outcome variable, each aspect of science engagement was significant, and eight had medium or large effect sizes (future-oriented science motivation was the exception). The science teaching strategy which involved hands-on activities frequently enhanced science achievement over-and-above influences of student background and other school characteristics. Policy recommendations for U.S. science educators included enhancing eight aspects of science engagement and implementing two specific science teaching strategies (focus on applications or models

Towards a pragmatic science in schools

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Segal, Gilda

1997-06-01

This paper contrasts naive beliefs about the nature of science, with science as it appears from sociological and philosophical study, feminist critique and insights from multicultural education. I draw implications from these informed views to suggest how school science might be modified to project a pragmatic view of science to its students that allows students to know science and its relationships to themselves and society in multi-faceted ways. From these perspectives, pragmatic school science is situated within a values framework that questions how we know. Pragmatic school science also requires that the naive inductivist views that permeate school science inquiry methods at present be modified to recognise that observations and inquiry are guided by prior knowledge and values; that new knowledge is tentative; that some knowledge has high status, as it has been constructed consensually over a long period; but that even high status knowledge can be challenged. For implementation of these reforms, yet still to embrace the need for some students to appropriate understanding of discipline knowledge required for advanced science education, a broad set of aims is required.

Quality of nutrition analysis among graduating classes of elementary and high school students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pejčić Ana

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Results of numerous studies indicate that young people have improper eating habits. The aim of this study was to determine whether daily intake of vitamins, minerals and energy satisfies nutrition requirements for graduating classes of elementary and high school students. An epidemiological cross-sectional study was conducted on 84 students, including 42 students from graduating class of an elementary school and 42 students from graduating class of a high school. The students were asked to write the amount and composition of food consumed over a week, their age, body weight and height. 'USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 25' was used to calculate daily intake of vitamins, minerals and energy. Comparison was made with respect to recommendations of Dietary Reference Intake of the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine, US National Academy of Science. The mean, standard deviation and percentiles of daily intake of certain nutrients were determined. For nutrients for which there was defined value of Estimated Average Requirement the results are presented as percentages of individuals with intakes less than the Estimated Average Requirement as estimates of the prevalence of inadequacy, whereas for nutrients for which only Adequate Intake was defined the results are presented as percentages of individuals with intakes at or greater than the Adeqate Intake. Assessment of adequacy of energy intake was done with respect to calculated Estimated Energy Requirement for each participant in the study. It was shown that 47.6% of elementary and 38.1% of high school students have adequate energy intake. Daily intake of students from both elementary and high school does not meet the dietary recommendations for magnesium, calcium, vitamin C and liposoluble vitamins A, D, E and K. The findings of this study emphasize the importance of proper nutrition. There is a need for increased intake of milk, dairy products, fresh

"It All depends...": Middle School Teachers Evaluate Single-Sex Classes

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Spielhagen, Frances R.

2011-01-01

This mixed-methods study explored the effectiveness of single-sex classes according to key stakeholders in this educational reform--the teachers who choose or are hired to teach in single-sex classes and schools. Specifically, this study examined the on-the-ground experiences of middle school teachers as they attempted to implement a relatively…

Science dual enrollment: An examination of high school students' post-secondary aspirations

Science.gov (United States)

Berry, Chelsia

The purpose of this study was to determine if participation in science dual enrollment courses influenced African American high school students' post-secondary aspirations that will lead to college attendance. The investigation examined the relationship between African American students' learning experiences and how their self-efficacy and outcome expectations impact their goal setting. The goal was to determine the impact of the following variables on African American students' plan to pursue a bachelor's or advanced degree: (a) STEM exposure, (b) Algebra 1 achievement, (c) level of science class, and (d) receiving science college credit for dual enrollment course. The social cognitive career theory framed this body of research to explore how career and academic interests mature, are developed, and are translated into action. Science dual enrollment participation is a strategy for addressing the lack of African American presence in the STEM fields. The causal comparative ex post facto research design was used in this quantitative study. The researcher performed the Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric analysis of variance and Pearson's chi-square tests to analyze secondary data from the High School Longitudinal Study first follow-up student questionnaire. The results indicate that STEM exposure and early success in Algebra 1 have a statistically significant impact on African American students' ambition to pursue a bachelor's or advanced degree. According to the Pearson's chi-square and independent sample Kruskal-Wallis analyses, level of students' science class and receiving college credit for dual enrollment do not significantly influence African American students' postsecondary aspirations.

Exploring Social Dynamics in School Science Context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehmet C. Ayar

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to explore the socio-cultural practices and interactions of learning science in a science classroom within the concept of communities of practice. Our qualitative data were collected through observing, taking field notes, and conducting interviews in a public science classroom during an entire school year. The study occurred in a seventh-grade classroom with a veteran physical science teacher, with more than 10 years teaching experience, and 22 students. For this article, we presented two classroom vignettes that reflect a sample of the participation, practice, and community that was observed in the science classroom on a daily basis. The first vignette illustrated a typical formula of Initiation–Response–Feedback (I-R-F that transfers knowledge to students through a teacher-led discussion with the entire class. The second vignette described a laboratory activity designed to allow students to apply or discover knowledge through practical experience, while taking responsibility for their learning through small-group work. The normative practices and routine behaviors of the science classroom are highlighted through the description of material resources, and different modes of participation accompanied by assigned roles and responsibilities. What we observed was that laboratory activities reproduced the epistemic authority of the I-R-F rather than creating collective cognitive responsibility where students have the independence to explore and create authentic science experiences.

Middle School Teacher Misconceptions and Anxieties Concerning Space Science Disciplinary Core Ideas in NGSS

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Larsen, Kristine

2017-01-01

The Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI) of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are grouped into the broad disciplinary areas of Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, Earth and Space Sciences, and Engineering, Technology and Application of Science, and feature learning progressions based on endpoint targets for each grade band. Since the Middle School DCIs build on the expected learning achievements to be reached by the end of Fifth Grade, and High School DCI similarly build on the expected learning achievements expected for the end of Eighth Grade, the Middle School grade band is of particular importance as the bridge between the Elementary and High School curriculum. In states where there is not a special Middle School Certification many of these science classes are taught by teachers prepared to teach at the Elementary level (and who may have limited content background). As a result, some pre-service and in-service teachers have expressed reduced self-confidence in both their own science content knowledge and their ability to apply it in the NGSS-based classroom, while decades of research has demonstrated the pervasiveness of science misconceptions among teachers. Thus the adoption of NGSS has the potential to drive talented teachers out of the profession who feel that they are ill-prepared for this sweeping transition. The key is providing rigorous education in both content and pedagogy for pre-service teachers and quality targeted professional development for in-service teachers. This report focuses on the Middle School Space Sciences grade band DCIs and presents research on specific difficulties, misconceptions and uncertainties with the material demonstrated by pre-service education students over the past four years in a required university science content course, as well as two year-long granted workshop series for current Middle School teachers. This information is relevant to the development of both new content courses aligned with NGSS for pre

ELWIRA "Plants, wood, steel, concrete - a lifecycle as construction materials": University meets school - science meets high school education

Science.gov (United States)

Strauss-Sieberth, Alexandra; Strauss, Alfred; Kalny, Gerda; Rauch, Hans Peter; Loiskandl, Willibald

2016-04-01

The research project "Plants, wood, steel, concrete - a lifecycle as construction materials" (ELWIRA) is in the framework of the Sparkling Science programme performed by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences together with the Billroth Gymnasium in Vienna. The targets of a Sparkling Science project are twofold (a) research and scientific activities should already be transferred in the education methods of schools in order to fascinate high school students for scientific methods and to spark young people's interest in research, and (b) exciting research questions not solved and innovative findings should be addressed. The high school students work together with the scientists on their existing research questions improve the school's profile and the high school student knowledge in the investigated Sparkling Science topic and can lead to a more diverse viewing by the involvement of the high school students. In the project ELWIRA scientists collaborate with the school to quantify and evaluate the properties of classical building materials like concrete and natural materials like plants and woodlogs in terms of their life cycle through the use of different laboratory and field methods. The collaboration with the high school students is structured in workshops, laboratory work and fieldworks. For an efficient coordination/communication, learning and research progress new advanced electronic media like "Moodle classes/courses" have been used and utilized by the high school students with great interest. The Moodle classes are of high importance in the knowledge transfer in the dialogue with the high school students. The research project is structured into four main areas associated with the efficiencies of building materials: (a) the aesthetic feeling of people in terms of the appearance of materials and associated structures will be evaluated by means of jointly developed and collected questionnaires. The analysis, interpretation and evaluation are carried

Making ionising radiation a real experience for high school science students

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whitlock, J.; Lang, P.; De La Matter, D.; Hinman, P.; White, B.

2009-01-01

The Canadian public has little understanding of ionising radiation due in part to its treatment in popular media. In principle, students learn about ionising radiation in their school science classes. Developments in science curricula are providing more education opportunities for this subject. The Canadian Nuclear Society's program for introducing real, personal experience with ionising radiation in the classroom is starting to make a difference. The demand is expected to exceed the resources of the CNS and the program is being developed to facilitate external support. This paper summarizes the need, the history of this program development, and the path forward. (author)

The Impact of a Geospatial Technology-Supported Energy Curriculum on Middle School Students' Science Achievement

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Kulo, Violet; Bodzin, Alec

2013-02-01

Geospatial technologies are increasingly being integrated in science classrooms to foster learning. This study examined whether a Web-enhanced science inquiry curriculum supported by geospatial technologies promoted urban middle school students' understanding of energy concepts. The participants included one science teacher and 108 eighth-grade students classified in three ability level tracks. Data were gathered through pre/posttest content knowledge assessments, daily classroom observations, and daily reflective meetings with the teacher. Findings indicated a significant increase in the energy content knowledge for all the students. Effect sizes were large for all three ability level tracks, with the middle and low track classes having larger effect sizes than the upper track class. Learners in all three tracks were highly engaged with the curriculum. Curriculum effectiveness and practical issues involved with using geospatial technologies to support science learning are discussed.

High school science fair and research integrity

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Dalley, Simon; Shepherd, Karen; Reisch, Joan

2017-01-01

Research misconduct has become an important matter of concern in the scientific community. The extent to which such behavior occurs early in science education has received little attention. In the current study, using the web-based data collection program REDCap, we obtained responses to an anonymous and voluntary survey about science fair from 65 high school students who recently competed in the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair and from 237 STEM-track, post-high school students (undergraduates, 1st year medical students, and 1st year biomedical graduate students) doing research at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Of the post-high school students, 24% had competed in science fair during their high school education. Science fair experience was similar overall for the local cohort of Dallas regional students and the more diverse state/national cohort of post-high school students. Only one student out of 122 reported research misconduct, in his case making up the data. Unexpectedly, post-high school students who did not participate in science fair anticipated that carrying out science fair would be much more difficult than actually was the case, and 22% of the post-high school students anticipated that science fair participants would resort to research misconduct to overcome obstacles. No gender-based differences between students’ science fair experiences or expectations were evident. PMID:28328976

The Effects of Teacher Efficacy, Teacher Certification Route, Content Hours in the Sciences, Field-Based Experiences and Class Size on Middle School Student Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Salgado, Robina

No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was signed into law in 2002 with the idea that all students, no matter the circumstances can learn and that highly qualified teachers should be present in every classrooms (United Stated Department of Education, 2011). The mandates of NCLB also forced states to begin measuring the progress of science proficiency beginning in 2007. The study determined the effects of teacher efficacy, the type of certification route taken by individuals, the number of content hours taken in the sciences, field-based experience and class size on middle school student achievement as measured by the 8th grade STAAR in a region located in South Texas. This data provides knowledge into the effect different teacher training methods have on secondary school science teacher efficacy in Texas and how it impacts student achievement. Additionally, the results of the study determined if traditional and alternative certification programs are equally effective in properly preparing science teachers for the classroom. The study described was a survey design comparing nonequivalent groups. The study utilized the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI). A 25-item efficacy scale made up of two subscales, Personal Science Teaching Efficacy Belief (PSTE) and Science Teaching Outcome Expectancy (STOE) (Bayraktar, 2011). Once the survey was completed a 3-Way ANOVA, MANOVA, and Multiple Linear Regression were performed in SPSS to calculate the results. The results from the study indicated no significant difference between route of certification on student achievement, but a large effect size was reported, 17% of the variances in student achievement can be accounted for by route of certification. A MANOVA was conducted to assess the differences between number of science content hours on a linear combination of personal science teacher efficacy, science teaching outcome expectancy and total science teacher efficacy as measured by the STEBI. No significant

"Comets, Origins, and Life:” Promoting Interdisciplinary Science in Secondary and Middle Schools in the Washington, DC and Saint Louis, MO Metro Areas

Science.gov (United States)

Bonev, Boncho; Gibb, E. L.; Brewer, G.; Novak, R.; Mandell, A. M.; Seaton, P.; Price, J.; Long, T.; Bahar, S.; Edwards, S. S.

2010-10-01

Developing a full-year program to support secondary and middle school science education is a key part of the "broader impact” component of NSF Grant AST- 0807939 (PI/Co-PI Bonev/Gibb). This program is realized at two stages: (1) a professional development course for teachers is offered during the summer; (2) during the subsequent academic year we collaborate with educators in lessons planning or curriculum development as demanded in their particular schools. We successfully offered the course “ Comets, Origins, and Life: Interdisciplinary Science in the Secondary Classroom ” (45 contact hours; 3 credits) in the summers of 2009 and 2010 at the Catholic University of America. This class demonstrates how a complex hypothesis - for the delivery of water and prebiotic organic matter to early Earth - is being tested by integrating astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, and Earth and planetary science. Collaborations with participants from the 2009 class include curriculum development within the Earth Science program in Prince Georges county, MD and strengthening science in Washington DC public schools. Our next step is to offer our class in the Saint Louis, MO area. The main challenge in our work with educators is not to present them with "interesting information", but to fit what we offer within the very particular curriculum expectations of their school districts. These curriculum expectations often vary from district to district and sometimes from year to year. We gratefully acknowledge the support by the NSF, allowing to fully integrate our research area into education. We also gratefully acknowledge our collaborations with the Goddard Center for Astrobiology and the Howard B. Owens Science Center (both in MD) in developing our class curriculum. Educators interested in this program can contact Boncho Bonev (bonev@cua.edu; for the Washington DC and Baltimore, MD areas) and Erika Gibb (gibbe@umsl.edu; for the Saint Louis, MO area).

Secondary School Students' Understanding of Science and Their Socioscientific Reasoning

Science.gov (United States)

Karahan, Engin; Roehrig, Gillian

2017-08-01

Research in socioscientific issue (SSI)-based interventions is relatively new (Sadler in Journal of Research in Science Teaching 41:513-536, 2004; Zeidler et al. in Journal of Research in Science Teaching 46:74-101, 2009), and there is a need for understanding more about the effects of SSI-based learning environments (Sadler in Journal of Research in Science Teaching 41:513-536, 2004). Lee and Witz (International Journal of Science Education 31:931-960, 2009) highlighted the need for detailed case studies that would focus on how students respond to teachers' practices of teaching SSI. This study presents case studies that investigated the development of secondary school students' science understanding and their socioscientific reasoning within SSI-based learning environments. A multiple case study with embedded units of analysis was implemented for this research because of the contextual differences for each case. The findings of the study revealed that students' understanding of science, including scientific method, social and cultural influences on science, and scientific bias, was strongly influenced by their experiences in SSI-based learning environments. Furthermore, multidimensional SSI-based science classes resulted in students having multiple reasoning modes, such as ethical and economic reasoning, compared to data-driven SSI-based science classes. In addition to portraying how participants presented complexity, perspectives, inquiry, and skepticism as aspects of socioscientific reasoning (Sadler et al. in Research in Science Education 37:371-391, 2007), this study proposes the inclusion of three additional aspects for the socioscientific reasoning theoretical construct: (1) identification of social domains affecting the SSI, (2) using cost and benefit analysis for evaluation of claims, and (3) understanding that SSIs and scientific studies around them are context-bound.

Nuclear science experiments in high schools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lowenthal, G.C.

1990-01-01

This paper comments on the importance of nuclear science experiments and demonstrations to science education in secondary schools. It claims that radiation protection is incompletly realised unless supported by some knowledge about ionizing radiations. The negative influence of the NHMRC Code of Practice on school experiments involving ionizing radiation is also outlined. The authors offer some suggestions for a new edition of the Code with a positive approach to nuclear science experiments in schools. 7 refs., 4 figs

Turkish preservice science teachers' socioscientific issues-based teaching practices in middle school science classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Genel, Abdulkadir; Sami Topçu, Mustafa

2016-01-01

Background: Despite a growing body of research and curriculum reforms including socioscientific issues (SSI) across the world, how preservice science teachers (PST) or in-service science teachers can teach SSI in science classrooms needs further inquiry. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe the abilities of PSTs to teach SSI in middle school science classrooms, and the research question that guided the present study is: How can we characterize Turkish PSTs' SSI-based teaching practices in middle school science classrooms (ages 11-14)? Sample: In order to address the research question of this study, we explored 10 Turkish PSTs' SSI-based teaching practices in middle school science classrooms. A purposeful sampling strategy was used, thus, PSTs were specifically chosen because they were ideal candidates to teach SSI and to integrate SSI into the science curricula since they were seniors in the science education program who had to take the field experience courses. Design and method: The participants' SSI teaching practices were characterized in light of qualitative research approach. SSI-based teaching practices were analyzed, and the transcripts of all videotape recordings were coded by two researchers. Results: The current data analysis describes Turkish PSTs' SSI-based teaching practices under five main categories: media, argumentation, SSI selection and presentation, risk analysis, and moral perspective. Most of PSTs did not use media resources in their lesson and none of them considered moral perspective in their teaching. While the risk analyses were very simple and superficial, the arguments developed in the classrooms generally remained at a simple level. PSTs did not think SSI as a central topic and discussed these issues in a very limited time and at the end of the class period. Conclusions: The findings of this study manifest the need of the reforms in science education programs. The present study provides evidence that moral, media

Inspiring careers in STEM and healthcare fields through medical simulation embedded in high school science education.

Science.gov (United States)

Berk, Louis J; Muret-Wagstaff, Sharon L; Goyal, Riya; Joyal, Julie A; Gordon, James A; Faux, Russell; Oriol, Nancy E

2014-09-01

The most effective ways to promote learning and inspire careers related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) remain elusive. To address this gap, we reviewed the literature and designed and implemented a high-fidelity, medical simulation-based Harvard Medical School MEDscience course, which was integrated into high school science classes through collaboration between medical school and K-12 faculty. The design was based largely on the literature on concepts and mechanisms of self-efficacy. A structured telephone survey was conducted with 30 program alumni from the inaugural school who were no longer in high school. Near-term effects, enduring effects, contextual considerations, and diffusion and dissemination were queried. Students reported high incoming attitudes toward STEM education and careers, and these attitudes showed before versus after gains (P science or healthcare-related career to the program. Additionally, 63% subsequently took additional science or health courses, 73% participated in a job or educational experience that was science related during high school, and 97% went on to college. Four of every five program graduates cited a health-related college major, and 83% offered their strongest recommendation of the program to others. Further study and evaluation of simulation-based experiences that capitalize on informal, naturalistic learning and promote self-efficacy are warranted. Copyright © 2014 The American Physiological Society.

Outside school time: an examination of science achievement and non-cognitive characteristics of 15-year olds in several countries

Science.gov (United States)

Suter, Larry E.

2016-03-01

Elementary and secondary students spend more hours outside of class than in formal school and thus have more time for interaction with everyday science. However, evidence from a large international survey, Program of International Student Assessment (PISA) (OECD 2012), found a negative relationship between number of hours attending after-school science and science assessment scores in many countries, raising questions about why. The secondary analysis of the 2006, 2009, and 2012 PISA surveys found that in most Western countries the longer students attended after-school science programs (in a typical week), the lower their PISA standardized science test score, but the higher their positive attitudes toward future science careers, interest in science, and self-confidence in science. Several potential hypotheses for this relationship are examined and rejected. Further analysis of a causal relationship between frequent attendance in after-school programs and student achievement and attitudes should clearly identify the content of the program so that the analysis could distinguish experiences closely related to regular school curricula from the informal science activities that are not. A new analysis also should include carefully designed longitudinal surveys to test the effectiveness of informal experiences on later life choices in career and study. Revision of a Paper prepared for AERA meetings in Chicago, 19 April 2015.

Impacts of a Place-Based Science Curriculum on Student Place Attachment in Hawaiian and Western Cultural Institutions at an Urban High School in Hawai'i

Science.gov (United States)

Kuwahara, Jennifer L. H.

2013-01-01

This study investigates how students' participation in a place-based science curriculum may influence their place attachment (dependence and identity). Participants attend an urban high school in Hawai'i and are members of different cultural institutions within the school. Students are either enrolled in an environmental science class within the…

Longitudinal burnout-collaboration patterns in Japanese medical care workers at special needs schools: a latent class growth analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kanayama M

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Mieko Kanayama,1 Machiko Suzuki,1 Yoshikazu Yuma2 1Department of Human Health Sciences, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan; 2Department of Human Development Education, Graduate School of Education, Hyogo University of Teacher Education, Kato, Hyogo, Japan Abstract: The present study aimed to identify and characterize potential burnout types and the relationship between burnout and collaboration over time. Latent class growth analysis and the growth mixture model were used to identify and characterize heterogeneous patterns of longitudinal stability and change in burnout, and the relationship between burnout and collaboration. We collected longitudinal data at three time points based on Japanese academic terms. The 396 study participants included academic teachers, yogo teachers, and registered nurses in Japanese special needs schools. The best model included four types of both burnout and collaboration in latent class growth analysis with intercept, slope, and quadratic terms. The four types of burnout were as follows: low stable, moderate unstable, high unstable, and high decreasing. They were identified as involving inverse collaboration function. The results indicated that there could be dynamic burnout types, namely moderate unstable, high unstable, and high decreasing, when focusing on growth trajectories in latent class analyses. The finding that collaboration was dynamic for dynamic burnout types and stable for stable burnout types is of great interest. This was probably related to the inverse relationship between the two constructs. Keywords: burnout, collaboration, latent class growth analysis, interprofessional care, special needs schools

Pupil Selection Segments Urban Comprehensive Schooling in Finland: Composition of School Classes in Pupils' School Performance, Gender, and Ethnicity

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Berisha, Anna-Kaisa; Seppänen, Piia

2017-01-01

The Finnish comprehensive school system is regularly referred to as a uniform and "no-tracking". In this article, we show with novel urban case data in Finland that school performance differed significantly between schools, most strikingly between school classes, and was connected to the school's selectiveness in pupil admission. A…

Girls and science education in Mauritius: a study of science class practices and their effects on girls

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Naugah, Jayantee; Watts, Mike

2013-11-01

Background: The population of Mauritius consists of 52% females and scientific literacy is seen to be of vital importance for all young people if they are to be sufficiently equipped to meet the challenges of a fast changing world. Previous research shows, however, that science is not popular among girls. This paper explores one of many reasons why few girls opt for science subjects after compulsory schooling. Purpose: This study investigated the approaches to teaching in four science classrooms in Mauritius, with particular emphases on the preferences of girls as they learn science. Sample: A total of 20 student interviews and 16 teacher interviews were conducted in four schools in Mauritius. The four mixed-faith schools comprised two all-girl schools (one state, one fee-paying), and two mixed-sex schools (one state, one fee-paying), within urban, suburban and rural situations. Design and method: 80 non-participant lessons were observed, of which 60 were science lessons while the remaining 20 non-science lessons were in economics, accounts and commerce. Group interviews with five pupils in each of the four schools were conducted and 16 individual interviews with teachers in the four schools gave an insight into the pedagogic approaches used for the teaching and learning of science. Results: Transmissive approaches to teaching, giving little opportunity for collaborative or activity-based learning, were found to be the most important factors in alienating the girls from science. Conclusions: There need to be radical changes in approaches to teaching to retain young girls' interest in the sciences.

Sciencey Girls: Discourses Supporting Working-Class Girls’ to Identify with Science

OpenAIRE

Spela Godec

2018-01-01

Women from working class and some ethnic minority backgrounds continue to be underrepresented in science, particularly in areas such as physical sciences and engineering. Many find it difficult to see science as something that is “for them”, which then has implications for their learning and participation in science. In this paper, I discuss findings from a U.K.-based qualitative study with 15 working-class girls, aged 11 to 13, from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Data were collected over the co...

Schooling girls in a rural community: An examination of female science identity and science career choices

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Fowler, Melisa Diane Creasy

There is a gap in existence between the number of males and females entering science careers. Research has begun to focus largely on how identity impacts the selection of such careers. While much research has been done to examine the factors that impact student identity, little work has been done to examine what happens to female students who have been successful in science in a rural K-12 school once they leave high school and enter the world of academia. Thus, this study examined the following questions: (1) How do three recent female high school graduates from rural K-12 high schools narrate their identity? (2) How do the females narrate their experiences in a rural community and high school in relation to their science identity? (3) What do the participants describe as influencing their academic and career choices as they transition into the life of a college student? This study involved three female participants from a small rural community in a southeastern state. Each female has lived their entire life in the community and has attended only one K-12 school. All three females ranked in the top ten of their senior class and excelled in their science coursework. Additionally, each female elected to attend college locally and to live at home. The study utilized the qualitative methodology of interpretive biography. The researcher used a guided interview protocol with participants which served as the basis for the creation of their narrative biographies. The biographies were then analyzed for emergent themes. Sociocultural theory, identity theory, and critical feminism provided the theoretical frameworks utilized in data analysis. Findings from this study suggested that there were many differing factors influencing the science identity and career choices of the females under study. However, the most salient factor impacting their choices was their desire to remain in their hometown. Directions for future research suggestions involve exploring female students who

Science education in a bilingual class: problematising a translational practice

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Ünsal, Zeynep; Jakobson, Britt; Molander, Bengt-Olov; Wickman, Per-Olof

2016-10-01

In this article we examine how bilingual students construe relations between everyday language and the language of science. Studies concerning bilingual students language use in science class have mainly been conducted in settings where both the teacher and the students speak the same minority language. In this study data was collected in a class consisting of students aged 13-14. All students had Turkish as their minority language, whereas the teacher's minority language was Bosnian. The class was observed when they were working with acids and bases. In addition, the students were interviewed in groups. They were asked about how they use their languages during science lessons and then asked to describe and explain scientific phenomena and processes that had been a part of the observed lessons. For the analysis, practical epistemology analysis and the theory of translanguaging were used. The results show how the students' everyday language repertoire may limit their possibilities to make meaning of science. In particular, the teacher's practice of facilitating and supporting students' understanding of science content by relating it to concrete examples took another direction since the everyday words he used were not a part of the students' language repertoire. The study also shows how the students used their minority language as a resource to translate words from Swedish to Turkish in order to proceed with the science activities. However, translating scientific concepts was problematic and led to the students' descriptions of the concepts not being in line with how they are viewed in science. Finally, the study also demonstrates how monolingual exams may limit bilingual students' achievements in science. The study contributes by presenting and discussing circumstances that need to be taken into consideration when planning and conducting science lessons in classes where the teacher and the student do not share the same minority language.

Sedentary behavior during school-time: Sociodemographic, weight status, physical education class, and school performance correlates in Brazilian schoolchildren.

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da Costa, Bruno G G; da Silva, Kelly S; George, Amanda M; de Assis, Maria Alice A

2017-01-01

To investigate whether sedentary behavior during school-time is associated with gender, age, mother's education, having physical education classes, weight status, and academic performance. Cross-sectional study. A sample of 571 children (7-12 years old) from five elementary schools in Florianopolis, South Brazil had their height and weight measured, and wore accelerometers during class time. Teachers completed a form to evaluate children's reading and writing skills. Parents provided sociodemographic and educational information. Data was analyzed using multilevel linear regression analyses. Children spent an average of 132min in sedentary behavior during school-time (64% of total school-time). Girls (137.5min), obese children (138.1min), older children (144.2min), and those who did not have physical education classes (140.2min) spent more time engaged in sedentary activities than their peers. Academic performance and mother's education were not associated with sedentary behaviors. Children spent most of their school-time in sedentary activities, with girls, older students, and obese students being even more sedentary than their peers. Physical education classes were a protective factor against excessive sedentary behavior in school. Interventions for reducing sedentary behavior during school-time could employ additional strategies to benefit the at risk groups. In addition, encouraging student's participation in physical education classes could minimize the time spent in sedentary behavior during school hours. Copyright © 2016 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sciencey Girls: Discourses Supporting Working-Class Girls’ to Identify with Science

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Spela Godec

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Women from working class and some ethnic minority backgrounds continue to be underrepresented in science, particularly in areas such as physical sciences and engineering. Many find it difficult to see science as something that is “for them”, which then has implications for their learning and participation in science. In this paper, I discuss findings from a U.K.-based qualitative study with 15 working-class girls, aged 11 to 13, from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Data were collected over the course of one academic year, through interviews and discussion groups with the girls and interviews with their science teachers, and analysed through a post-structural gender lens. The paper foregrounds five science-identifying girls, who negotiated their identification and engagement with science through the following discursive strategies: (i rendering gender invisible, (ii drawing attention to the presence of women in science, (iii reframing “science people” as caring and nurturing, and (iv cultural discourses of desirability of science. The findings contribute to the understanding of how working class girls—who are often “othered” and constructed as “unintelligible” within the dominant discursive regime of prototypical science—find identification with science possible. The paper discusses the affordances and challenges of each discursive strategy.

Teacher interpersonal behaviour and student attitudes in Brunei primary science classes classes

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Scott, R.; Brok, den P.J.; Fisher, D.; Staver, J.; Zandvliet, D.; Tillotson, J.; Anderson, C. W.; Crawley, F.

2004-01-01

This study investigated relationships between students’ perceptions of their teachers’ interpersonal behaviour and their subject-related attitude in primary science classes in Brunei. Teacher-student interpersonal behaviour was mapped with the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) and reported

An Investigation of Turkish Middle School Science Teachers' Pedagogical Orientations Towards Direct and Inquiry Instructional Approaches

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Sahingoz, Selcuk

research found that several contextual factors contributed to teachers' instructional practices including internal and external issues such as school environment, limited resources, large class sizes, standardized test pressure, and limited accessibility to professional development. The findings provide insight on the readiness of middle school teachers to implement the Turkish Curriculum Framework, specifically, teacher readiness to put science inquiry instructional approaches into actual classroom practice. Given that new Turkish policy calls for greater inquiry instruction, this study can help inform teacher development efforts directed at promoting science inquiry instruction.

Rethinking Dental School Admission Criteria: Correlation Between Pre-Admission Variables and First-Year Performance for Six Classes at One Dental School.

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Rowland, Kevin C; Rieken, Susan

2018-04-01

Admissions committees in dental schools are charged with the responsibility of selecting candidates who will succeed in school and become successful members of the profession. Identifying students who will have academic difficulty is challenging. The aim of this study was to determine the predictive value of pre-admission variables for the first-year performance of six classes at one U.S. dental school. The authors hypothesized that the variables undergraduate grade point average (GPA), undergraduate science GPA (biology, chemistry, and physics), and Dental Admission Test (DAT) scores would predict the level of performance achieved in the first year of dental school, measured by year-end GPA. Data were collected in 2015 from school records for all 297 students in the six cohorts who completed the first year (Classes of 2007 through 2013). In the results, statistically significant correlations existed between all pre-admission variables and first-year GPA, but the associations were only weak to moderate. Lower performing students at the end of the first year (lowest 10% of GPA) had, on average, lower pre-admission variables than the other students, but the differences were small (≤10.8% in all categories). When all the pre-admission variables were considered together in a multiple regression analysis, a significant association was found between pre-admission variables and first-year GPA, but the association was weak (adjusted R 2 =0.238). This weak association suggests that these students' first-year dental school GPAs were mostly determined by factors other than the pre-admission variables studied and has resulted in the school's placing greater emphasis on other factors for admission decisions.

Dreaming of science: Undocumented Latin[a]s' testimonios across the borderlands of high school science

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Aguilar-Valdez, Jean Rockford

Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) or the DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act. These students' lived realities, identifying as undocumented and DREAM Act eligible, also known as "DREAMers," show that more work must be done, beyond the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) permits some have received, before these students' dreams can be realized. The students' testimonios call for a space in the U.S. where their talents and dreams in science are welcome and can thrive. These students speak to the injustice inherent in shutting out talented youth with potential contributions to make to science due to an immigrant status that was never their choice. Given the dearth of highly skilled and committed contributors to the field of science in the U.S., especially scarce in Latin representation, these students' prospects are vital in an increasingly globalized scientific world. This study makes this case as a deliberate appeal to interest convergence, while also attending to issues of social justice and problematizing the culture of school power that these students must navigate and assimilate into to "prove" themselves. This study adds to the science education research by providing insights into the lives of students who are Latin and undocumented, a considerable population in many science classes yet rarely discussed in science education literature, and elucidating how they negotiate science and science education framed by the larger structures they must face. Implications of this study suggest new ways of understanding this population in non-deficit ways that advocate changing the public dialogue and taking educational and political steps towards social change in solidarity with this group of students.

Reflections on implementing several models of teaching in a high school biology class

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Baldwin, Michael E.

This research investigates the challenges faced in enacting instructional models that previous research has found to foster student learning. In order to complete this study, the researcher documented, through a strategy of reflective practice, his return to teaching high school science after having served for a time as a science specialist and instructional coach. The study develops quality personal insights and questions that may be used by other educators and researchers to investigate the enactment of these different models and strategies. The research is limited to the spring of the 2010 school year and use notes, journals, and planner documents from the 2008--2009 school year. In order to appreciate complex interactions, triangulation was made through dovetailing personal observations with requested observations of the campus assistant principal, the district science specialist, and an out of district observer. Also, a short questionnaire administered to the students in these classes. Throughout this study, the researcher demonstrates that it is feasible to use these models. However, such external factors as imposed curriculum and standardized testing play a large role in everyday decision making of this particular teacher. The sheer amount of content to be covered under the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) also influenced instructional decisions that were made. Choices about what strategy to use resided mainly within the teacher/researcher and were governed and affected mostly by his interactions with students and professional judgments about what would both bolster student understanding and help students score well on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS).

The nature of culturally responsive pedagogy in two urban African American middle school science classrooms

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Bondima, Michelle Harris

This ethnographic in nature study explores how two middle school science teachers who have classes populated by urban African Americans teach their students and how their students perceive their teaching. Since urban African American students continue to perform lower than desired on measures of science achievement, there is an urgent need to understand what pedagogical methodologies assist and hinder urban African American students in achieving higher levels of success in science. A pedagogical methodology that theorists posit assists subordinated school populations is culturally responsive pedagogy. Culturally responsive pedagogy is defined as a teaching methodology concerned with preparing students to question inequality, racism, and injustice. Teachers who use culturally responsive pedagogy respect the culture students bring to the class, and require that the teachers willingly do whatever is necessary to educate students (Nieto, 2000). The teacher participants were two female African Americans who were identified by their school supervisors as being highly effective with urban African American students. The researcher presented the teachers in separate case studies conducted over a data collection period of nine months. Data were collected by participant observation, interviews, and artifact collection. Data were analyzed by application of grounded theory techniques. Findings of the teachers' (and the students') beliefs about pedagogy that both assisted and hindered the students' performance in science were reported in a rich and nuanced storytelling manner based on multiple perspectives (teachers', students', and the researcher's). Pedagogical methodologies that the teachers used that assisted their students were the use of cultural metaphors and images in science and applications of motivational techniques that encouraged a nurturing relationship between the teacher and her students. Pedagogical methodologies that hindered students varied by teacher

The Role of STEM High Schools in Reducing Gaps in Science and Mathematics Coursetaking: Evidence from North Carolina. Research Report. RTI Press Publication RR-0025-1603

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Glennie, Elizabeth; Mason, Marcinda; Dalton, Ben

2016-01-01

Some states have created science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) schools to encourage student interest and enhance student proficiency in STEM subjects. We examined a set of STEM schools serving disadvantaged students to see whether these students were more likely to take and pass advanced science and mathematics classes than…

Motivating Students with Authentic Science Experiences: Changes in Motivation for School Science

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Hellgren, Jenny M.; Lindberg, Stina

2017-01-01

Background: Students' motivation for science declines over the early teenage years, and students often find school science difficult and irrelevant to their everyday lives. This paper asks whether creating opportunities to connect school science to authentic science can have positive effects on student motivation. Purpose: To understand how…

Ethnic density in school classes and adolescent mental health

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Gieling, M.; Vollebergh, W.A.M; Dorsselaer, S. van

2009-01-01

Objective The present study set out to examine the association between ethnic composition of school classes and prevalence of internalising and externalising problem behaviour among ethnic minority and majority students. Methods Data were derived from the Dutch 2002 Health Behaviour in School-aged

Explaining Social Class Inequalities in Educational Achievement in the UK: Quantifying the Contribution of Social Class Differences in School "Effectiveness"

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Hobbs, Graham

2016-01-01

There are large social class inequalities in educational achievement in the UK. This paper quantifies the contribution of one mechanism to the production of these inequalities: social class differences in school "effectiveness," where "effectiveness" refers to a school's impact on pupils' educational achievement (relative to…

Not Driven by High-Stakes Tests: Exploring Science Assessment and College Readiness of Students from an Urban Portfolio Community High School

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Fleshman, Robin Earle

science readiness. Data from the transcripts of two graduating classes were analyzed and the interview transcripts were coded and analyzed as well. Analysis of qualitative data revealed key findings: (1) the school's Habits of Mind, authentic scientific inquiry, self-regulated learning triggers and strategies, and teacher feedback practices driven by an ethic of care supported students' science learning and portfolio assessment; and (2) the cyclical and extensive portfolio processes of writing, revision, and submission well prepared alumni for college science laboratory work and coursework, to a certain extent, but not for the traditional assessments administered in college science courses. Analysis of quantitative data revealed that, if based solely on the City University of New York's Regents score criteria for college readiness, the majority of students from these two graduating classes studied would not have been considered college ready even though all participants, including interviewed alumni, believed the school prepared them for college. The majority of these students, however, were transitioning to college readiness based on their Regents-level science and mathematics coursework. Findings of this study have implications for science assessment, professional development in science, education policy reform, and high school partnerships with CBOs and postsecondary institutions as they pertain to college and college science readiness for students of color in urban portfolio community high schools.

STIGMA IN THE SCHOOL: THE PRACTICE OF THE CLASS COUNCIL

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Paula Almeida de Castro

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The stigmatization observed at the interaction between teachers and students at Class Council meetings is the thematic of this paper. In this paper are presented the results from the ethnographic investigation at a basic public school at Rio de Janeiro. The scenario of Class Council under observation and analysis produced clues for comprehension about the pedagogical practices planned by stigmatization, medical treatment and pathologizing the students and sometimes their families as a justification for their failures at school. It was possible to observe that students that do not fit the normal standards imposed by school received a mark, a stigma, starting to be recognized for these assignments. At the teachers speech was present the control that made visible that mark to everyone who lives together with them. The results of this study provide clues to rethink the situation of vulnerability and exclusion that some students are exposed in the evaluation of the class councils, due to difficulties in their educational processes. It also offers the possibility of thinking about the difference by the difference in an inclusive school effectively.

Smoking Prevalence Among Mugla School of Health Sciences Students and Causes of Leading Increase in Smoking

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Metin Picakciefe

2007-08-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to determine the smoking prevalence among Mugla School of Health Sciences students, to determine the effects the increasing causes of smoking and their education about adverse health outcome of smoking. A cross-sectional study was performed among Mugla School of Health Sciences students in Mugla University. All students (417 in Mugla School of Health Sciences included in the study. The participation rates was 85.1%. Data were obtained by the self-administered questionnaire without teachers in classes. SPSS 11.0 was used for data analysis, and the differentiation was assessed by Chi-square analysis. P < 0.05 was accepted statistically significant. The prevalence of current smokers was 25.3% among students in Mugla School of Health Sciences. The students stated that the most important factor of smoking initiation was stress (59.2%. The univariable analysis showed that the friends’ smoking (p: 0.000 , having knowledge about smoking habits of teachers (p: 0.020 , alcohol consumption (p: 0.000, and other smokers out of parent in the home (p: 0.000 was significantly associated with increasing rate of smoking prevalence. The smoking prevalence was quite high (25.3% among Mugla School of Health Sciences students in Mugla University. It is needed to decreasing smoking prevalence among students that antismoking education should be reevaluated, that antismoking campaign should be administered in schools. [TAF Prev Med Bull 2007; 6(4.000: 267-272

Good Intentions: AN Experiment in Middle School Single-Sex Science and Mathematics Classrooms with High Minority Enrollment

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Baker, Dale

This study examined the effects of single-sex middle school science and mathematics classrooms with high minority enrollment on achievement, affect, peer, and teacher-student interactions. All students earned higher grades in mathematics than in science. Girls earned higher grades than boys. The higher grades of girls were not clearly attributable to the singlesex environment, and aspects of the single-sex environment interfered with boys' achievement. The single-sex environment contributed to girls', but not boys', feelings of empowerment, peer support, and positive self-concept. The curriculum and pedagogy were better suited to girls than to boys, leading to discipline problems and hostile interactions. However, boys were more engaged in technology-based activities than girls. Overall, all-boy classes were less supportive learning environments than all-girl classes. Although the results replicate findings elsewhere, this is the only study to look at minority students in middle school.

The Promise of Single-Sex Classes

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Stotsky, Sandra

2012-01-01

Despite the enthusiasm and the absence of definitive research on the pros and cons of single-sex classes, a 2011 article in Science, titled "The Pseudoscience of Single-Sex Schooling," by a new organization called American Council for CoEducational Schooling (ACCES) came out with the astonishing conclusion that single-sex education is…

A quantitative analysis of factors influencing the professional longevity of high school science teachers in Florida

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Ridgley, James Alexander, Jr.

This dissertation is an exploratory quantitative analysis of various independent variables to determine their effect on the professional longevity (years of service) of high school science teachers in the state of Florida for the academic years 2011-2012 to 2013-2014. Data are collected from the Florida Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, and the National Assessment of Educational Progress databases. The following research hypotheses are examined: H1 - There are statistically significant differences in Level 1 (teacher variables) that influence the professional longevity of a high school science teacher in Florida. H2 - There are statistically significant differences in Level 2 (school variables) that influence the professional longevity of a high school science teacher in Florida. H3 - There are statistically significant differences in Level 3 (district variables) that influence the professional longevity of a high school science teacher in Florida. H4 - When tested in a hierarchical multiple regression, there are statistically significant differences in Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3 that influence the professional longevity of a high school science teacher in Florida. The professional longevity of a Floridian high school science teacher is the dependent variable. The independent variables are: (Level 1) a teacher's sex, age, ethnicity, earned degree, salary, number of schools taught in, migration count, and various years of service in different areas of education; (Level 2) a school's geographic location, residential population density, average class size, charter status, and SES; and (Level 3) a school district's average SES and average spending per pupil. Statistical analyses of exploratory MLRs and a HMR are used to support the research hypotheses. The final results of the HMR analysis show a teacher's age, salary, earned degree (unknown, associate, and doctorate), and ethnicity (Hispanic and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander); a

Science That Matters: Exploring Science Learning and Teaching in Primary Schools

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Fitzgerald, Angela; Smith, Kathy

2016-01-01

To help support primary school students to better understand why science matters, teachers must first be supported to teach science in ways that matter. In moving to this point, this paper identifies the dilemmas and tensions primary school teachers face in the teaching of science. The balance is then readdressed through a research-based…

School and class-level variations and patterns of physical activity: a multilevel analysis of Danish high school students.

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Steenholt, Carina Bjørnskov; Pisinger, Veronica Sofie Clara; Danquah, Ida Høgstedt; Tolstrup, Janne Schurmann

2018-02-14

There is limited knowledge of physical activity (PA) patterns among high school students. High schools plays an important role as context for the students, but it is uncertain to what extent schools influence student participation in PA during leisure time. The purpose of this study is to describe patterns of PA and assess variations between schools and classes in PA, in a large cohort of Danish high school students. Self-reported cross-sectional data came from The Danish National Youth Study, comprising a total of 70,674 students attending 119 different schools and 3213 classes. Multilevel logistic regressions were applied to evaluate the association between socio-demographic variables and patterns of PA, and to assess the impact of schools and classes on PA measures. Students whose parents have achieved a lower level of education, older students and girls of perceived ethnic minority generally participated less in several forms of PA during leisure time. Substantial variations between schools were observed in terms of participation in PA at school during leisure time and in terms of use of active transportation to and from school. The school-level accounted for 9% (intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.09 (95% CI: 0.06-0.11)) and 8% (ICC = 0.08 (95% CI: 0.07-0.11)) of the variation for participation in PA during leisure time and active transportation. Overall, students whose parents achieved a lower level of education, older students and girls of perceived ethnic minority represent vulnerable groups in relation to participation in several forms of PA during leisure time. The ICCs indicate that schools, in particular, have the potential to influence participation in PA at school during leisure time and active transportation to and from school. Thus, high schools should encourage and facilitate activities aimed at engaging students in PA during leisure time as well as encourage active transportation.

Using Class Blogs in 1:1 Schools-Searching for Unexplored Opportunities

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Andersson, Annika; Räisänen, Kalle

2014-01-01

This article focuses on class blogs and presents results from 1:1 schools in Sweden. While Swedish schools are increasingly using Web 2.0 technologies (e.g., wikis and blogs), most of this use is still at an experimental stage. To further the understanding of how blogs are and can be used, we compare class blogs used in practice with the…

Effect of Engineering Education by Science Classroom for High School, Junior High School and Elementary School Students

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Yukita, Kazuto; Goto, Tokimasa; Mizuno, Katsunori; Nakano, Hiroyuki; Ichiyanagi, Katsuhiro; Goto, Yasuyuki; Mori, Tsuyoshi

Recently the importance of Monozukuri (manufacturing) has been watched with keen interest as a social; problem, which has a relation with schoolchildren's decline of their academic standards, pointed out by the reports of PISA of OECD and TIMSS, etc., and their “losing interest in science” and “dislike of science”, some people worry about, which will lead to the decline of technology in the home industry, the top-class personnel shortage, and the decrease of economical power in this country in the future. In order to solve such a problem, science pavilions, universities, and academic societies of science and engineering etc. in various places hold “Monozukuiri Classrooms” or “Science Classrooms”. We can say that various activities which try to hold off “losing interest in science” and “dislike of science.” in the whole society. Under such a situation, Aichi Institute of Technology (AIT) to which we belong, also tries to contribute to the activity of solving the problem, and holds various engineering education lectures which intend for elementary, junior high school and senior high school students. AIT has held “The Whole Experience World” which tries to bring up a talented person who has a dream and hope towards science and technology, grows his/her originality, intellectual curiosity and spirit of inquiry, and supports the nation based on science and technology in the summer vacation since 2001. This paper reports the result of a questionnaire about what kind of the long-term learning effect on the children who participated in “The Whole Experience World” and “Boys and Girls Robot Lectures”. As the conclusion of the study, we can say that the lectures could give the participants who were interested in science and technology more interest. And we could give them the idea of what the study of science and technology is. As a result, we could contribute to the participants' decision of the courses' selection in life.

Identifying Students' Expectancy-Value Beliefs: A Latent Class Analysis Approach to Analyzing Middle School Students' Science Self-Perceptions

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Phelan, Julia; Ing, Marsha; Nylund-Gibson, Karen; Brown, Richard S.

2017-01-01

This study extends current research by organizing information about students' expectancy-value achievement motivation, in a way that helps parents and teachers identify specific entry points to encourage and support students' science aspirations. This study uses latent class analysis to describe underlying differences in ability beliefs, task…

"Adotta scienza e arte nella tua classe": The results of a successfully teaching project which combines science with art⋆

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Giansanti, S.

2015-03-01

The project called Adotta scienza e arte nella tua classe ("Adopt Science and Art in your class"), on the interconnection between science and art, has been addressed to the Italian secondary middle and high school involving more than 200 teachers and about 2200 students. The main purpose of this project is to make the young students aware of the strong link between science and art is a unique cultural and interdisciplinary occasion. To reach this goal, the Adotta project asked students to produce an artwork inspired by the interpretation of a quotation among a hundred commented quotes by physicists, mathematicians, scientist, writers, artists, accompanied by an original short sentence written by students themselves. More than 1000 artworks have been produced and collected in two galleries on Facebook. From their analysis emerges the students' feeling about science, which is usually associated to human brain, based on mathematical laws and related to technological progress, but it is also a powerful tool that should be responsibly used. This project also valorizes teachers' role in scientific education through activities that encourage students to recognize science in every aspect of their lives.

Conceptualizing Student Affect for Science and Technology at the Middle School Level: Development and Implementation of a Measure of Affect in Science and Technology (MAST)

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Romine, William L.; Sadler, Troy D.; Wulff, Eric P.

2017-10-01

We describe the development of the Measure of Affect in Science and Technology (MAST), and study its usefulness for measuring science affect in middle school students via both classical and Rasch measurement perspectives. We then proceed to utilize the measurement structure of the MAST to understand how middle school students at varying levels of affect express their interest and attitudes toward science and technology and gender differences in how students express their affect. We found that affect in science and technology comprises a main dimension, science interest, and four peripheral dimensions: interest in careers in science and technology, attitudes toward science, and interest in attending science class. Of these, careers in science and technology carry the highest affective demand. While males showed higher levels of personal and situational interest in science, a greater interest in careers in science and technology was the biggest contributor to males' higher affect toward science and technology. We argue that whether the MAST is used as a measure of a single construct or multiple subconstructs depends upon specific research or evaluation goals; however, both uses of the MAST yield measures which produce valid inferences for student affect.

The Revealed Influence of Class, Race, and Ethnicity on Local Public-School Expenditures.

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Brown, Byron W.; Saks, Daniel H.

1985-01-01

Findings include (1) poor and upper middle classes want to spend more on schools than the middle classes; (2) Blacks and ethnics of European stock want to spend more on schooling than other Americans; and (3) there is no difference in demands for school expenditures between Northern and Southern/Eastern European ethnics. (RM)

Chemistry, the Central Science? The History of the High School Science Sequence

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Sheppard, Keith; Robbins, Dennis M.

2005-01-01

Chemistry became the ''central science'' not by design but by accident in the US high schools. The three important factors, which had their influence on the high school science, are sequenced and their impact on the development of US science education, are mentioned.

Effectiveness of place-based science curriculum projects situated in Hawaiian and Western cultural institutions at an urban high school in Hawai'i

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Kuwahara, Jennifer Leslie Hoof

Place-based education is a multidisciplinary and experiential approach to learning that utilizes a local environment or community. This study examined the influences of place attachment and cultural affiliation in the school on student experience and learning in a place-based science course, as well as the course's potential influence on environmentally responsible behaviors. The participants attended an urban high school on O'ahu, Hawai'i. By understanding student reaction to experience in both Western- and Hawaiian-centered classes, this study contributes to the literature on place-based education in relation to how differences in cultural affiliation in a school setting can have varying impacts on place attachment, science literacy, and environmental responsibility. A comparative case study was conducted with students enrolled in the Hawaiian Academy and non-academy students. Analysis of a pre- and post-survey and science content assessments, student documents, field notes, and interview transcripts suggested place-based science has both similar and different impacts on students depending on cultural affiliation within the school. Students in the Hawaiian Academy, as a whole, showed stronger science literacy and environmental responsibility than students in the non-Hawaiian Academy class. However, non-Hawaiian Academy students showed increased place attachment in a spiritual sense. Reactions from both groups suggest a need for smaller learning communities that promote a unity of knowledge rather than distinct courses and disciplines.

Science Lab Restructuring of a Public School Elementary and High School

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elisiane da Costa Moro

2016-02-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the process of restructuring the science lab of a state school in Caxias do Sul, whose main objective was to create a space where teachers could develop practical and experimental activities with their students. The restructuring of the science lab this school, was only possible through the project "More and Better Students and Teachers in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technologies" Initiation Program in Science and Mathematics, Engineering, Creative Technologies and Letters - PICMEL sponsored jointly by the University of Caxias do Sul, the SEDUC-RS, FAPERGS and CAPES. The project was developed at school by a teacher of physics and three high school students. Through the restructuring of the science lab, practical activities were developed and workshops where students had the opportunity to be more active in the process of teaching and learning. With the development of such activities was observed that the students were more willing to learn Science and Mathematics and could relate scientific knowledge to their daily lives, giving greater meaning to their learning.

Education sciences, schooling, and abjection: recognizing ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

people to that future. The double gestures continue in contemporary school reform and its sciences. ... understand their different cultural theses about cosmopolitan modes of life and the child cast out as different and ... Keywords: educational sciences; history of present; politics of schooling; reform; social inclusion/exclusion

Results of Using the Take-Away Technique on Students' Achievements and Attitudes in High School Physics and Physical Science Courses

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Carifio, James; Doherty, Michael

2012-01-01

The Take-away Technique was used in High School Physics and Physical Science courses for the unit on Newtonian mechanics in a teacher (6) by grade level (4) partially crossed design (N = 272). All classes received the same IE instructional treatment. The experimental group (classrooms) did a short Take-away after each class summarizing the key…

Promoting Science in Secondary School Education.

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Chiovitti, Anthony; Duncan, Jacinta C; Jabbar, Abdul

2017-06-01

Engaging secondary school students with science education is crucial for a society that demands a high level of scientific literacy in order to deal with the economic and social challenges of the 21st century. Here we present how parasitology could be used to engage and promote science in secondary school students under the auspice of a 'Specialist Centre' model for science education. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Understanding the experiences of a group of Yemeni students in an ESL science class

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Fradi, Gihan

American classrooms are experiencing an influx of diverse language speaking students while for science educators the study of EBL students' learning in science classrooms is a relatively new field (Lee & Buxton, 2010). At the same time there is a growing emphasis on the importance of science practices (NGSS). This poses significant challenges for science educators who are enacting science curriculum that supports all students' learning. Supporting EBL students' academic achievement is significant because literacy is important for students' access to economic and social benefits that come with science literacy (Atwater, 1996). The purpose of this study was to examine the socio-linguistic challenges that a specific group of EBL students (Yemeni) faced and the extent to which such challenges affected their academic performance in science. These challenges are related to linguistic and cultural interactions, which can lead to conflicts between student and school, thereby interfering with the effectiveness of their education. This study also examined these students' and their science teacher's perspectives on strategies that can be used to facilitate their language acquisition during science class and help them become active participants in the school and classroom communities. The study used a qualitative interpretive research methodology and involved four Arab-American EBL students (two males and two females) from Yemen, who had been in the US for different periods of time. The amount of time these students had been in the US was important to examine differences in their acculturation and challenges they faced. Similarly, the use of female and male student participants was important to understand the impact of gender in the lived experiences of these students. The results of the study indicated that all the participants struggled with linguistic, social, and cultural aspects of their life in an American high school. These in turn led to a sense of being different

DoD Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program for High School Students, 1995-󈨤 Activities

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1996-06-01

University of Florida Sports Medicine Honor Roll Weightlifting , Swimming NAME: RACE: SEX: HIGH SCHOOL: ANTICIPATED COLLEGE: ANTICIPATED MAJOR...program. Three of the students took a Psychology course, one took a Nutritional Science class, one a Math course and two of them took a Meteorology...Awards and Scholarships: Honor Roll 13. Activities/Hobbies: Weightlifting , Swimming (Suggested Form) INFORMATION FOR EACH APPRENTICE

Science and Technology Teachers' Views of Primary School Science and Technology Curriculum

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Yildiz-Duban, Nil

2013-01-01

This phenomenographic study attempts to explicit science and technology teachers' views of primary school science and technology curriculum. Participants of the study were selected through opportunistic sampling and consisted of 30 science and technology teachers teaching in primary schools in Afyonkarahisar, Turkey. Data were collected through an…

Working Class Mothers and School Life: Exploring the Role of Emotional Capital

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Gillies, Val

2006-01-01

This paper explores the emotional resources generated by working class mothers to support their children at school. Analysis of material from qualitative interview research with a range working class mothers will focus on specific accounts of children's school lives to reveal how situated meanings can clash with institutional expectations. By…

High school science teachers' perceptions of telecommunications utilizing a Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM)

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Slough, Scott Wayne

The purpose of this study was to describe high school science teachers' perceptions of telecommunications. The data were collected through open-ended ethnographic interviews with 24 high school science teachers from five different high schools in a single suburban school district who had been in an emerging telecommunications-rich environment for two and one-half years. The interview protocol was adapted from Honey and Henriquez (1993), with the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) (Bailey & Palsha, 1992) providing a conceptual framework for data analysis. For this study, the emerging telecommunications-rich environment included a district-wide infrastructure that had been in place for two and one-half years that included a secure district-wide Intranet, 24 network connections in each classroom, full Internet access from the network, four computers per classroom, and a variety of formal and informal professional development opportunities for teachers. Categories of results discussed include: (a) teacher's profession use of telecommuunications; (b) teachers' perceptions of student's use of telecommunications; (c) teachers' perceptions of barriers to the implementation of telecommunications; (d) teachers' perceptions of supporting conditions for the implementation of telecommunications; (e) teachers' perceptions of the effect of telecommunications on high school science instruction; (f) teachers' perceptions of the effect of telecommunications on student's learning in high school science; and (g) the demographic variables of the sex of the teacher, years of teaching experience, school assignment within the district, course assignment(s), and academic preparation. Implications discussed include: (a) telecommunications can be implemented successfully in a variety of high school science classrooms with adequate infrastructure support and sufficient professional development opportunities, including in classes taught by females and teachers who were not previously

Academic attainment and the high school science experiences among high-achieving African American males

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Trice, Rodney Nathaniel

obstacles and limitations to achievement. Student study participants believe African American male students are targeted for suspension more often because of their gender and race, parents of high achieving African American males show some uncertainty about the school's ability to treat their sons in a fair and equitable manner, and teachers see indifference and the lack of science skills as the root cause of the diminished presence of African American male participation in higher level science classes.

Perceived class climate and school-aged children's life satisfaction: The role of the learning environment in classrooms.

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Rathmann, Katharina; Herke, Max G; Hurrelmann, Klaus; Richter, Matthias

2018-01-01

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of class-level class climate on school-aged children's life satisfaction. Data was derived from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) using sixth grade school-aged children (n = 4,764, 483 classes). Class climate includes indicators of teachers' care and monitoring, demands, interaction, autonomy, as well as school-aged children's attitudes towards schoolwork at the class- and individual-level. Results showed that individual perceived class climate in terms of teachers' care and monitoring and autonomy was positively related to life satisfaction, whereas school-related demands were related to lower life satisfaction. Besides teachers' care and monitoring at class-level, indicators of class climate were not associated with school-aged children's life satisfaction, while the individual perceived class climate is more important for life satisfaction.

Injuries to primary school pupils and secondary school students during physical education classes and in their leisure time.

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Videmsek, Mateja; Karpljuk, Damir; Mlinar, Suzana; Mesko, Maja; Stihec, Joze

2010-09-01

The study aimed to establish the frequency of injuries in primary and secondary schools during leisure time and physical education classes in school as well as in group and individual sports. The sample included 2842 pupils from nine primary schools and 1235 students from five secondary schools in Slovenia. The data were processed with the SPSS statistical software package and the frequencies and Crosstabs were calculated. The results showed that substantially more pupils and students were injured in their leisure time than during physical education classes. Girls were more frequently injured in group and individual sports practiced during physical education classes and in individual sports practiced in their leisure time, whereas boys suffered more injuries in group sports practiced in their leisure time. As regards group sports, pupils and students were most frequently injured while playing football in their leisure time whereas, during physical education classes, they suffered most injuries in volleyball, followed closely by basketball and football; as regards individual sports, pupils and students were most frequently injured while cycling and rollerblading in their leisure time, whereas during physical education classes they suffered most injuries in athletics.

Causality: School Libraries and Student Success (CLASS). White Paper

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American Association of School Librarians, 2014

2014-01-01

On April 11 and 12, 2014, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) held "Causality: School Libraries and Student Success" (CLASS), an IMLS-funded national forum. Dr. Thomas Cook, one of the most influential methodologists in education research, and a five member panel of expert scholars and practitioners led 50 established…

Poor School Satisfaction and Number of Cannabis Using Peers within School Classes as Individual Risk Factors for Cannabis Use among Adolescents

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Hoff, Dominic A.; Andersen, Anette; Holstein, Bjorn E.

2010-01-01

There is little information available on the topic of poor school satisfaction as a risk factor for cannabis use among adolescents. We examined if there was an association between poor school satisfaction, school class cannabis use and individual cannabis use. Further, we investigated if many cannabis users within the school class statistically…

Single-Sex Classes in Co-Educational Schools

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Wills, Robin; Kilpatrick, Sue; Hutton, Biddy

2006-01-01

This research investigated social and academic outcomes from single-sex classrooms in a Tasmanian coeducational government primary school. Interviews, observations and surveys formed the basis of the evidence. Teachers, parents and children reported positive benefits from the class organisation, but these differed according to gender. Staff…

The Courts, Social Science, and School Desegregation.

Science.gov (United States)

Levin, Betsy, Ed.; Hawley, Willis D., Ed.

A conference on the courts, social science, and school desegregation attempted to clarify how social science research has been used and possibly misused in school desegregation litigation. The symposium issue addressed in this book is a product of that conference. First, the judicial evolution of the law of school desegregation from Brown V. the…

Perceived class climate and school-aged children's life satisfaction: The role of the learning environment in classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Herke, Max G.; Hurrelmann, Klaus; Richter, Matthias

2018-01-01

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of class-level class climate on school-aged children’s life satisfaction. Data was derived from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) using sixth grade school-aged children (n = 4,764, 483 classes). Class climate includes indicators of teachers' care and monitoring, demands, interaction, autonomy, as well as school-aged children's attitudes towards schoolwork at the class- and individual-level. Results showed that individual perceived class climate in terms of teachers' care and monitoring and autonomy was positively related to life satisfaction, whereas school-related demands were related to lower life satisfaction. Besides teachers' care and monitoring at class-level, indicators of class climate were not associated with school-aged children’s life satisfaction, while the individual perceived class climate is more important for life satisfaction. PMID:29420540

Perceived class climate and school-aged children's life satisfaction: The role of the learning environment in classrooms.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katharina Rathmann

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to examine the impact of class-level class climate on school-aged children's life satisfaction. Data was derived from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS using sixth grade school-aged children (n = 4,764, 483 classes. Class climate includes indicators of teachers' care and monitoring, demands, interaction, autonomy, as well as school-aged children's attitudes towards schoolwork at the class- and individual-level. Results showed that individual perceived class climate in terms of teachers' care and monitoring and autonomy was positively related to life satisfaction, whereas school-related demands were related to lower life satisfaction. Besides teachers' care and monitoring at class-level, indicators of class climate were not associated with school-aged children's life satisfaction, while the individual perceived class climate is more important for life satisfaction.

Earth and Space Science Ph.D. Class of 2003 Report released

Science.gov (United States)

Keelor, Brad

AGU and the American Geological Institute (AGI) released on 26 July an employment study of 180 Earth and space science Ph.D. recipients who received degrees from U.S. universities in 2003. The AGU/AGI survey asked graduates about their education and employment, efforts to find their first job after graduation, and experiences in graduate school. Key results from the study include: The vast majority (87%) of 2003 graduates found work in the Earth and space sciences, earning salaries commensurate with or slightly higher than 2001 and 2002 salary averages. Most (64%) graduates were employed within academia (including postdoctoral appointments), with the remainder in government (19%), industry (10%), and other (7%) sectors. Most graduates were positive about their employment situation and found that their work was challenging, relevant, and appropriate for someone with a Ph.D. The percentage of Ph.D. recipients accepting postdoctoral positions (58%) increased slightly from 2002. In contrast, the fields of physics and chemistry showed significant increases in postdoctoral appointments for Ph.D.s during the same time period. As in previous years, recipients of Ph.D.s in the Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences (median age of 32.7 years) are slightly older than Ph.D. recipients in most other natural sciences (except computer sciences), which is attributed to time taken off between undergraduate and graduate studies. Women in the Earth, atmospheric,and ocean sciences earned 33% of Ph.D.s in the class of 2003, surpassing the percentage of Ph.D.s earned by women in chemistry (32%) and well ahead of the percentage in computer sciences (20%), physics (19%), and engineering (17%). Participation of other underrepresented groups in the Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences remained extremely low.

Opportunities to Learn in School and at Home: How can they predict students' understanding of basic science concepts and principles?

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Su; Liu, Xiufeng; Zhao, Yandong

2012-09-01

As the breadth and depth of economic reforms increase in China, growing attention is being paid to equalities in opportunities to learn science by students of various backgrounds. In early 2009, the Chinese Ministry of Education and Ministry of Science and Technology jointly sponsored a national survey of urban eighth-grade students' science literacy along with their family and school backgrounds. The present study focused on students' understanding of basic science concepts and principles (BSCP), a subset of science literacy. The sample analyzed included 3,031 students from 109 randomly selected classes/schools. Correlation analysis, one-way analysis of variance, and two-level linear regression were conducted. The results showed that having a refrigerator, internet, more books, parents purchasing books and magazines related to school work, higher father's education level, and parents' higher expectation of the education level of their child significantly predicted higher BSCP scores; having siblings at home, owning an apartment, and frequently contacting teachers about the child significantly predicted lower BSCP scores. At the school level, the results showed that being in the first-tier or key schools, having school libraries, science popularization galleries, computer labs, adequate equipment for teaching, special budget for teacher training, special budget for science equipment, and mutual trust between teachers and students significantly predicated higher BSCP scores; and having science and technology rooms, offering science and technology interest clubs, special budget for science curriculum development, and special budget for science social practice activities significantly predicted lower BSCP scores. The implications of the above findings are discussed.

Language Use in a Multilingual Class: a Study of the Relation Between Bilingual Students' Languages and Their Meaning-Making in Science

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Ünsal, Zeynep; Jakobson, Britt; Molander, Bengt-Olov; Wickman, Per-Olof

2017-04-01

In this study, we examine how bilingual students in elementary school use their languages and what this means for their meaning-making in science. The class was multilingual with students bilingual in different minority languages and the teacher monolingual in Swedish. The analysis is based on a pragmatic approach and the theory of translanguaging. The science content was electricity, and the teaching involved class instruction and hands-on activities in small groups. The findings of the study are divided into two categories, students' conversations with the teacher and student's conversations with each other. Since the class was multilingual, the class instruction was carried out in Swedish. Generally, when the conversations were characterised by an initiation, response and evaluation pattern, the students made meaning of the activities without any language limitations. However, when the students, during whole class instruction, were engaged in conversations where they had to argue, discuss and explain their ideas, their language repertoire in Swedish limited their possibilities to express themselves. During hands-on activities, students with the same minority language worked together and used both of their languages as resources. In some situations, the activities proceeded without any visible language limitations. In other situations, students' language repertoire limited their possibilities to make meaning of the activities despite being able to use both their languages. What the results mean for designing and conducting science lessons in a multilingual class is discussed.

Saudi Elementary School Science Teachers' Beliefs: Teaching Science in the New Millennium

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Alghamdi, Amani K. Hamdan; Al-Salouli, Misfer Saud

2013-01-01

This study explored Saudi elementary school science teachers' beliefs about the process of teaching and learning science. This involved the exploration of their views about the new Saudi science curriculum, which emphasizes critical thinking and problem solving. Comprehensive interviews were held in 8 schools with 4 male and 6 female--2 of whom…

Sex, Grade-Level and Stream Differences in Learning Environment and Attitudes to Science in Singapore Primary Schools

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Peer, Jarina; Fraser, Barry J.

2015-01-01

Learning environment research provides a well-established approach for describing and understanding what goes on in classrooms and has attracted considerable interest in Singapore. This article reports the first study of science classroom environments in Singapore primary schools. Ten scales from the What Is Happening In this Class?,…

Teacher's Perceptions of Class Control in the Upper Primary School.

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Roberts, Alasdair

1984-01-01

Reports that 73% of 66 elementary school (primary) teachers interviewed in the Aberdeen, Scotland, area operated using moderate policies of class control, rather than the permissive policies commonly found in small rural schools or the more traditional restrictive policies. (SB)

Improving the teaching and learning of science in a suburban junior high school on Long Island: Achieving parity through cogenerative dialogues

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Baker, Eileen Perman

The research in this dissertation focuses on ways to improve the teaching and learning of science in a suburban junior high school on Long Island, New York. The study is my attempt to find ways to achieve parity in my classroom in terms of success in science. I was specifically looking for ways to encourage Black female students in my classroom and in other classrooms to continue their science education into the upper grades. The participants were the 27 students in the class, a friend of one of the students, and I, as the teacher-researcher. In order to examine the ways in which structure mediates the social and historical contexts of experiences in relation to teacher and student practices in the classroom, I used collaborative research; autobiographical reflection; the sociology of emotions; immigration, racialization, and ethnicity, and cogenerative dialogues (cogens) as tools. Cogenerative dialogues are a way for students and teachers to accept shared responsibility for teaching and learning. This study is of importance because of my school's very diverse student body. The school has a large minority population and therefore shares many of the characteristics of urban schools. In my study I look at why there are so few Black female students in the advanced science courses offered by our district and how this problem can be addressed. I used a variety of qualitative approaches including critical ethnography and micro analysis to study the teaching and learning of science. In addition to the usual observational, methodological, and theoretical field notes, I videotaped and audiotaped lessons and had discussions with students and teachers, one-on-one and in groups. In the first year the cogenerative group consisted of two Black female students. In the second year of the study there were four Black and one White-Hispanic female students in the cogen group. In my research I studied the interactions of the students between lessons and during laboratory activities as

Mini-med school for Aboriginal youth: experiential science outreach to tackle systemic barriers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rita I. Henderson

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Addressing systemic barriers experienced by low-income and minority students to accessing medical school, the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine has spearheaded a year-round, mini-med school outreach initiative for Aboriginal students. Method: Junior and senior high school youth generally attend the half-day program in classes or camps of 15–25, breaking into small groups for multisession activities. Undergraduate medical education students mentor the youth in stations offering experiential lessons in physical examination, reading x-rays, and anatomy. All resources from the medical school are offered in-kind, including a pizza lunch at midday, whereas community partners organize transportation for the attendees. Results: Opening the medical school and its resources to the community offers great benefits to resource-constrained schools often limited in terms of science education resources. The model is also an effort to address challenges among the medical professions around attracting and retaining students from underserved populations. Conclusion: The prospect of increasing admission rates and successful completion of medical education among students from marginalized communities poses a real, though difficult-to-measure, possibility of increasing the workforce most likely to return to and work in such challenging contexts. A mini-medical school for Aboriginal youth highlights mutual, long-term benefit for diverse partners, encouraging medical educators and community-based science educators to explore the possibilities for deepening partnerships in their own regions.

How Does the Science Writing Heuristic Approach Affect Students' Performances of Different Academic Achievement Levels? A Case for High School Chemistry

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Kingir, Sevgi; Geban, Omer; Gunel, Murat

2012-01-01

This study investigates the effects of the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH), known as an argumentation-based science inquiry approach, on Grade 9 students' performance on a post-test in relation to their academic achievement levels. Four intact classes taught by 2 chemistry teachers from a Turkish public high school were selected for the study; one…

Making the transition to middle schooling: A case study of experienced science teachers coping with change

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Strong, Donna Dorough

The increasing popularity of the middle school movement necessitates a need for more interpretive research in middle level education. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore science teachers' perceptions of the transition to a new middle school and the meanings they attached to this new experience. The participants were three eighth grade science teachers, each with 20 plus years of teaching experience. The primary data for analysis was a series of five interviews with each participant. Data collection also included weekly participant observation of team meetings. Findings revealed that the science teachers all had positive feelings attached to the ability to keep track of students' academic progress and behavior problems as a result of teaming. The changes associated with the first year were very stressful for all three, primarily the loss of the traditional junior high departmentalized structure. The two participants who transferred directly from the junior high school were very skeptical of any benefits from an interdisciplinary curriculum, the appropriateness of the middle school philosophy for eighth grade students, and the move to heterogeneously grouped science classes. In contrast, the former junior high teacher who had spent the past ten years teaching sixth grade at the elementary school had positive beliefs about the potential benefits of an interdisciplinary curriculum and heterogeneous grouping. Teacher stress associated with a change in the school setting and the science teachers' constraints to actualizing a meaningful middle schooling experience are illuminated. Teachers' lack of ownership in the reform decision making process, loss of time with their science teacher peers, diminished compliments from high school counterparts, and need for more empirical evidence supporting proposed changes all served as barriers to embracing the reform initiatives. The participants found taking a very slow approach to be their most useful means of

An Investigation of Experienced and Inexperienced Primary School Teachers' Teaching Process in Science and Technology Classes in Terms of Metacognitive Strategies

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Doganay, Ahmet; Ozturk, Ayse

2011-01-01

This comparative case study aimed to investigate whether experienced elementary school teachers' science and technology teaching processes differed from inexperienced teachers' teaching processes in terms of using metacognitive strategies. 14 elementary school teachers, including 7 experienced and 7 inexperienced, participated in the study. The…

Social class and mathematics school knowledge of two private schools in Banten Province

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Siahaan, M. F.

2018-05-01

The purpose of this study was to identify school mathematics topics and mathematics learning experiences of two elementary schools in contrasting social class settings under an umbrella of one institution. A case study research methodology was used to examine data collected from those two Elementary schools. The data revealed that there were similarities in curriculum framework, curriculum materials but there were also significant differences in what was taught and what was experienced in those two schools. The data suggested that word problem and a pedagogy of critical thinking were implemented in one of the schools. The differences were assessed in terms of theoretical and social implications. It was concluded that social stratification of mathematical knowledge occurred

ORGANIZING THE MUSIC CLASSES IN STARTING SCHOOLS

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N. G. Tagiltseva

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The paper considers the issue of children preparation for school in so called starting schools. In author’s opinion, the arts disciplines such as music, drawing and choreography can develop the aesthetic sense, moral qualities, more optimistic world outlook and respectful  attitude; the child develops creative skills and beauty perception both in fine arts and wild life.The author looks at the problems of planning and organizing the music training of preschool children, the different requirements for and concepts of the preschool and primary school normative documents being analyzed. The paper substantiates the effectiveness of poly-artistic and activity approaches to the split-level teaching, in particular – the method of projecting the familiar actions onto some sort of artistic activities. Based on the succession of preschool and primary school training, the author specifies the goals of music classes in starting schools, and outlines the most relevant game activities of role plays, didactic plays and contests.The paper is addressed to preschool and primary school teachers, music teachers, as well as methodologists and researchers dealing with preschool teaching. 

A Comparison of Single-Gender Classes and Traditional, Coeducational Classes on Student Academic Achievement, Discipline Referrals, and Attitudes toward Subjects

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Smith, Debra Messenger

2010-01-01

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in single gender education. Emerging science has proven that boys and girls learn differently. This study compared fifth grade single-gender classes to fifth grade traditional, coeducational classes in the same urban middle school. The following were compared: students' academic achievement;…

Senior High School Earth Sciences and Marine Sciences.

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Hackenberg, Mary; And Others

This guide was developed for earth sciences and marine sciences instruction in the senior high schools of Duval County, Jacksonville, Florida. The subjects covered are: (1) Earth Science for 10th, 11th, and 12th graders; (2) Marine Biology I for 10th, 11th, and 12th graders; (3) Marine Biology II, Advanced, for 11th and 12th graders; (4) Marine…

Evaluation of doctors' performance as facilitators in basic medical science lecture classes in a new Malaysian medical school

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Ismail S

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Salwani Ismail,1 Abdus Salam,2 Ahmed G Alattraqchi,1 Lakshmi Annamalai,1 Annamalai Chockalingam,1 Wan Putri Elena,3 Nor Iza A Rahman,1 Abdullahi Rabiu Abubakar,1 Mainul Haque1 1Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia; 2Department of Medical Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 3School of Health Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia Background: Didactic lecture is the oldest and most commonly used method of teaching. In addition, it is considered one of the most efficient ways to disseminate theories, ideas, and facts. Many critics feel that lectures are an obsolete method to use when students need to perform hands-on activities, which is an everyday need in the study of medicine. This study evaluates students' perceptions regarding lecture quality in a new medical school. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted of the medical students of Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin. The study population was 468 preclinical medical students from years 1 and 2 of academic year 2012–2013. Data were collected using a validated instrument. There were six different sections of questions using a 5-point Likert scale. The data were then compiled and analyzed, using SPSS version 20. Results: The response rate was 73%. Among 341 respondents, 30% were male and 70% were female. Eighty-five percent of respondents agree or strongly agree that the lectures had met the criteria with regard to organization of lecture materials. Similarly, 97% of students agree or strongly agree that lecturers maintained adequate voices and gestures. Conclusion: Medical students are quite satisfied with the lecture classes and the lectures. However, further research is required to identify student-centered teaching and learning methods to promote active learning. Keywords: lecture, effectiveness, evaluation, undergraduate medical

EIROForum science goes to school

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CERN Bulletin

The first EIROForum school was held at CERN last week. In about four days, 35 teachers from 15 countries were able to get a flavour of the science done in four of the seven organizations participating in EIROForum. This was a chance for them to feel part of top-level European scientific research.   The 35 teachers participating in thefirst EIROForum school organized at CERN. Inspiring teachers to motivate students: the formula is well-known at CERN. Here, more than 20 schools for science teachers are organized every year. Some of them are attended by teachers from all over Europe, others are organized for national groups. The successful experience of CERN has served as a model to the other six international organizations that are members of EIROForum (sea box). “The title of this first common school is ‘The evolution of the Universe’”, explains Rolf Landua, head of the CERN Education group and organizer of the school. “The programme of lectures ...

Enhancing students' science literacy using solar cell learning multimedia containing science and nano technology

Science.gov (United States)

Eliyawati, Sunarya, Yayan; Mudzakir, Ahmad

2017-05-01

This research attempts to enhance students' science literacy in the aspects of students' science content, application context, process, and students' attitude using solar cell learning multimedia containing science and nano technology. The quasi-experimental method with pre-post test design was used to achieve these objectives. Seventy-two students of class XII at a high school were employed as research's subject. Thirty-six students were in control class and another thirty-six were in experiment class. Variance test (t-test) was performed on the average level of 95% to identify the differences of students' science literacy in both classes. As the result, there were significant different of learning outcomes between experiment class and control class. Almost half of students (41.67%) in experiment class are categorized as high. Therefore, the learning using solar cell learning multimedia can improve students' science literacy, especially in the students' science content, application context, and process aspects with n-gain(%) 59.19 (medium), 63.04 (medium), and 52.98 (medium). This study can be used to develop learning multimedia in other science context.

The issues that class teachers encounter during application of science and technology teaching curriculum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mustafa Ugras

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This study aimed at investigating the challenges class teachers face in the curriculum implementation and whether these challenges differ in relation to teachers’ gender, level of education, department they graduated from and teaching experience. For this purpose; a questionnaire was developed by the researcher. Items of the questionnaire were selected from the related literature and validated by a group of expert in the field. A pilot study was conducted to assess the clarity of the questionnaire items. The internal reliability of the final version of questionnaire was calculated by using Cronbach’s Alpha Formula and found be high (α=0.85. The participants of this research included 342 class teachers who were teaching 4th and 5th class in 57 different elementary schools in 2010-2011 academic years in Bingol and Diayrbakir cities. The results of the survey were considered by using SPSS packet program. In the analyzing of data obtained from this study, frequency, arithmetic average, t-test and variance analysis were used. From the obtained data, it was determined that the 4th and 5th class teachers encounter different problems in science and technology teaching program, especially in performance homework, sourcing and lesson time topics.

Sciencey Girls: Discourses Supporting Working-Class Girls to Identify with Science

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Godec, Spela

2018-01-01

Women from working class and some ethnic minority backgrounds continue to be underrepresented in science, particularly in areas such as physical sciences and engineering. Many find it difficult to see science as something that is "for them", which then has implications for their learning and participation in science. In this paper, I…

The Changing Roles of Science Specialists during a Capacity Building Program for Primary School Science

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Herbert, Sandra; Xu, Lihua; Kelly, Leissa

2017-01-01

Science education starts at primary school. Yet, recent research shows primary school teachers lack confidence and competence in teaching science (Prinsley & Johnston, 2015). A Victorian state government science specialist initiative responded to this concern by providing professional learning programs to schools across Victoria. Drawing on…

Group composition and network structure in school classes : a multilevel application of the p* model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lubbers, Miranda J.

2003-01-01

This paper describes the structure of social networks of students within school classes and examines differences in network structure between classes. In order to examine the network structure within school classes, we focused in particular on the principle of homophily, i.e. the tendency that

Science Education at Riverside Middle School A Case Study

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Smiley, Bettie Ann Pickens

For more than thirty years the gender gap in science and related careers has been a key concern of researchers, teachers, professional organizations, and policy makers. Despite indicators of progress for women and girls on some measures of achievement, course enrollment patterns, and employment, fewer women than men pursue college degrees and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. According to the results of national assessments, the gender gap in science achievement begins to be evident in the middle school years. Gender and school science achievement involve a complex set of factors associated with schools and child/family systems that may include school leadership, institutional practices, curriculum content, teacher training programs, teacher expectations, student interests, parental involvement, and cultural values. This ethnographic case study was designed to explore the context for science education reform and the participation of middle school girls. The study analyzed and compared teaching strategies and female student engagement in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade science classrooms. The setting was a middle school situated in a district that was well-known for its achievement in reading, math, and technology. Findings from the study indicated that while classroom instruction was predominantly organized around traditional school science, the girls were more disciplined and outperformed the boys. The size of the classrooms, time to prepare for hands-on activities, and obtaining resources were identified as barriers to teaching science in ways that aligned with recent national science reform initiatives. Parents who participated in the study were very supportive of their daughters' academic progress and career goals. A few of the parents suggested that the school's science program include more hands-on activities; instruction designed for the advanced learner; and information related to future careers. Overall the teachers and

A New and Different Space in the Primary School: Single-Gendered Classes in Coeducational Schools

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Wills, Robin C.

2007-01-01

This paper derives from a two-year ethnographic study conducted in single-gendered classes in two Tasmanian government coeducational schools in socio-economically disadvantaged areas. These schools specifically adopted proactive strategies to address the educational disengagement of boys whose social behaviour affected their own education and that…

Teacher and Student Perceptions on High School Science Flipped Classrooms: Educational Breakthrough or Media Hype?

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Hunley, Rebecca C.

For years educators have struggled to ensure students meet the rigors of state mandated tests. Challenges that often impede student success are student absences, school closings due to weather, and remediation for students who need additional help while advanced students can move ahead. Many educators, especially secondary math and science teachers, have responded to these issues by implementing a teaching strategy called the flipped classroom where students view lectures, power points, or podcasts outside of school and class time shifts to allow opportunities for collaborative learning. The purpose of this research was to evaluate teacher and student perceptions of high school flipped science classrooms. A qualitative phenomenological study was conducted to observe 3 high school science teachers from Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee selected through purposeful sampling who have used the flipped classroom method for a minimum of 2 years. Analysis of data from an online survey, direct observation, teacher interviews, and student focus groups helped to identify challenges and benefits of this teaching and learning strategy. Findings indicated that teachers find the flipped classroom beneficial to build student relationships but requires a significant amount of time to develop. Mixed student reactions revealed benefits of a flipped classroom as a successful learning tool for current and future endeavors for college or career preparation.

'Adotta scienza e arte nella tua classe': The results of a successfully teaching project which combines science with art

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giansanti, S.

2015-01-01

The project called 'Adotta scienza e arte nella tua classe' ('Adopt Science and Art in your class'), on the interconnection between science and art, has been addressed to the Italian secondary middle and high school involving more than 200 teachers and about 2200 students. The main purpose of this project is to make the young students aware of the strong link between science and art is a unique cultural and interdisciplinary occasion. To reach this goal, the Adotta project asked students to produce an artwork inspired by the interpretation of a quotation among a hundred commented quotes by physicists, mathematicians, scientist, writers, artists, accompanied by an original short sentence written by students themselves. More than 1000 artworks have been produced and collected in two galleries on Facebook. From their analysis emerges the students’ feeling about science, which is usually associated to human brain, based on mathematical laws and related to technological progress, but it is also a powerful tool that should be responsibly used. This project also valorizes teachers’ role in scientific education through activities that encourage students to recognize science in every aspect of their lives.

Investigating Turkish Primary School Students' Interest in Science by Using Their Self-Generated Questions

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Cakmakci, Gultekin; Sevindik, Hatice; Pektas, Meryem; Uysal, Asli; Kole, Fatma; Kavak, Gamze

2012-06-01

This paper reports on an attempt to investigate Turkish primary school students' interest in science by using their self-generated questions. We investigated students' interest in science by analyzing 1704 self-generated science-related questions. Among them, 826 questions were submitted to a popular science magazine called Science and Children. Such a self-selected sample may represent a group of students who have a higher level of motivation to seek sources of information outside their formal education and have more access to resources than the students of low social classes. To overcome this problem, 739 students were asked to write a question that they wanted to learn from a scientist and as a result 878 questions were gathered. Those students were selected from 13 different schools at 9 cities in Turkey. These schools were selected to represent a mixture of socioeconomic areas and also to cover different students' profile. Students' questions were classified into two main categories: the field of interest and the cognitive level of the question. The results point to the popularity of biology, astrophysics, nature of scientific inquiry, technology and physics over other science areas, as well as indicating a difference in interest according to gender, grade level and the setting in which the questions were asked. However, our study suggests that only considering questions submitted to informal learning environments, such as popular science magazines or Ask-A-Scientist Internet sites has limitations and deficiencies. Other methodologies of data collection also need to be considered in designing teaching and school science curriculum to meet students' needs and interest. The findings from our study tend to challenge existing thinking from other studies. Our results show that self-generated questions asked in an informal and a formal setting have different patterns. Some aspects of students' self-generated questions and their implications for policy, science

Negotiating the Inquiry Question: A Comparison of Whole Class and Small Group Strategies in Grade Five Science Classrooms

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Cavagnetto, Andy R.; Hand, Brian; Norton-Meier, Lori

2011-03-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of two strategies for negotiating the question for exploration during science inquiry on student achievement and teachers' perceptions. The study is set in the context of the Science Writing Heuristic. The first strategy (small group) consisted of each group of four students negotiating a question for inquiry with the teacher while the second strategy (whole class) consisted of the entire class negotiating a single question for inquiry with the teacher. The study utilized a mixed-method approach. A quasi-experimental repeated measures design was used to determine the effect of strategy on student achievement and semi-structured teacher interviews were used to probe the question of teacher perceptions of the two strategies. Teacher observations were conducted using the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) to check for variation in implementation of the two strategies. Iowa Test of Basic Skills Science (ITBSS) (2005 and 2006) and teacher/researcher developed unit exams (pre and post) were used as student achievement measures. No statistically significant differences were found among students in the two treatment groups on the ITBSS or unit exams. RTOP observations suggest that teacher implementation was consistent across the two treatment strategies. Teachers disclosed personal preferences for the two strategies, indicating the whole class treatment was easier to manage (at least at the beginning of the school year) as students gained experience with science inquiry and the associated increased responsibility. Possible mechanisms linking the two strategies, negotiated questions, and student outcomes are discussed.

Class Size and Academic Achievement in Introductory Political Science Courses

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Towner, Terri L.

2016-01-01

Research on the influence of class size on student academic achievement is important for university instructors, administrators, and students. The article examines the influence of class size--a small section versus a large section--in introductory political science courses on student grades in two comparable semesters. It is expected that…

The academic majors of students taking American soil science classes: 2004-2005 to 2013-2014 academic years

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Brevik, Eric C.; Vaughan, Karen L.; Parikh, Sanjai J.; Dolliver, Holly; Lindbo, David; Steffan, Joshua J.; Weindorf, David; McDaniel, Paul; Mbila, Monday; Edinger-Marshall, Susan

2017-04-01

Many papers have been written in recent years discussing the interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary aspects of soil science. Therefore, it would make sense that soil science courses would be taken by students in a wide array of academic majors. To investigate this, we collected data from eight different American universities on the declared academic majors of students enrolled in soil science courses over a 10 year time period (2004-2005 to 2013-2014 academic years). Data was collected for seven different classes taught at the undergraduate level: introduction to soil science, soil fertility, soil management, pedology, soil biology/microbiology, soil chemistry, and soil physics. Overall trends and trends for each class were evaluated. Generally, environmental science and crop science/horticulture/agronomy students were enrolled in soil science courses in the greatest numbers. Environmental science and engineering students showed rapid increases in enrollment over the 10 years of the study, while the number of crop science/ horticulture/ agronomy students declined. In the introduction to soil science classes, environmental science and crop science/ horticulture/ agronomy students were enrolled in the greatest numbers, while declared soil science majors only made up 6.6% of the average enrollment. The highest enrollments in soil fertility were crop science/ horticulture/ agronomy students and other agricultural students (all agricultural majors except crop science, horticulture, agronomy, or soil science). In both the soil management and pedology classes, environmental science and other agricultural students were the largest groups enrolled. Other agricultural students and students from other majors (all majors not otherwise expressly investigated) were the largest enrolled groups in soil biology/microbiology courses, and environmental science and soil science students were the largest enrolled groups in soil chemistry classes. Soil physics was the only class

STEM for Non-STEM Majors: Enhancing Science Literacy in Large Classes

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Jin, Guang; Bierma, Tom

2013-01-01

This study evaluated a strategy using "clickers," POGIL (process oriented guided inquiry learning), and a focused science literacy orientation in an applied science course for non-STEM undergraduates taught in large classes. The effectiveness of these interventions in improving the science literacy of students was evaluated using a…

Urban school leadership for elementary science instruction: Identifying and activating resources in an undervalued school subject

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Spillane, James P.; Diamond, John B.; Walker, Lisa J.; Halverson, Rich; Jita, Loyiso

2001-10-01

This article explores school leadership for elementary school science teaching in an urban setting. We examine how school leaders bring resources together to enhance science instruction when there appear to be relatively few resources available for it. From our study of 13 Chicago elementary (K-8) schools' efforts to lead instructional change in mathematics, language arts, and science education, we show how resources for leading instruction are unequally distributed across subject areas. We also explore how over time leaders in one school successfully identified and activated resources for leading change in science education. The result has been a steady, although not always certain, development of science as an instructional area in the school. We argue that leading change in science education involves the identification and activation of material resources, the development of teachers' and school leaders' human capital, and the development and use of social capital.

Students' perceptions of motivation in high school biology class: Informing current theories

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McManic, Janet A.

The purpose of this study was to investigate students' perceptions of motivation to achieve while participating in general level high school biology classes. In a national poll of teacher's attitudes, student's motivation was a top concern of teachers (Elam, 1989). The student's perceptions of motivation are important to understand if improvements and advancements in motivation are to be implemented in the science classroom. This qualitative study was conducted in an urban high school that is located in a major metropolitan area in the southeast of the United States. The student body of 1100 is composed of Caucasian, African-American, Hispanic, and Asian students. The focus question of the study was: What are students' perceptions of their motivation in biology class? From general level biology classes, purposeful sampling narrowed the participants to fifteen students. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants having varying measurements of motivation on the Scale of Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Orientation in the Classroom (Harter, 1980). The interviews were recorded and transcribed. After transcription, the interviews were coded by the constant comparative method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). The coded data of students' responses were analyzed and compared to current theories of motivation. The current theories are the social-cognitive model (Bandura, 1977), attribution theory (Weiner, 1979), basic needs theory (Maslow, 1954) and choice theory (Glasser, 1986). The results of this study support the social cognitive model of motivation (Bandura, 1977) through the description of family structure and its relationship to motivation (Gonzalez, 2002). The study upheld previous research in that extrinsic orientation was shown to be prevalent in older students (Harter, 1981; Anderman & Maehr, 1994). In addition, the students' responses disclosed the difficulties encountered in studying biology. Students expressed the opinion that biology terms are

Cross-Cultural Socialization at Tibetan Classes (Schools) in the Interior: An Empirical Analysis

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Guo, Longyan

2010-01-01

Education by means of the Tibetan Classes (schools) in "neidi," or China's interior regions (or the Tibet Class), was a creative measure in the history of China's ethnic minority education, and the cross-cultural growth and experiences of the Tibetan students as they went to school in China's interior regions was of special significance…

Teaching controversial issues in the secondary school science classroom

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van Rooy, Wilhelmina

1993-12-01

A sample of fourteen secondary school biology teachers chosen from twelve schools were interviewed. The purpose was to determine their views on how controversial issues in science might be handled in the secondary school science classroom and whether the issues of surrogacy and human embryo experimentation were suitable controversial issues for discussion in schools. In general, teachers indicated that controversial issues deserve a more prominent place in the science curriculum because they have the potential to foster thinking, learning, and interest in science. The issues of surrogacy and human embryo experimentation were seen as appropriate contexts for learning, provided that teachers were well informed and sensitive to both the students and to the school environment.

Modern science in Portugal: the ‘class of the sphere’ in the college of Saint Anthony

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natália Cristina de Oliveira

2017-05-01

Full Text Available With the arrival of the Society of Jesus to Portugal in 1540, Jesuit schools were created by the Crown. The College of St. Anthony, in Lisbon, was the first Jesuit educational institution, created in 1553. We propose a discussion of the main objectives, characteristics and difficulties of the Jesuit religious order in the Portuguese territory, as well as a presentation of one of the most important classes of this College: the ‘Class of the Sphere’. The priests considered fundamental to teach issues related to mathematics and astronomy, because, through these disciplines, they addressed the theory and practice of items and concepts, such as the telescope, logarithms, equations, geometry and others. The curriculum of this college included, in addition to science and mathematics, subjects such as: Latin, Grammar, Humanities, Rhetoric, and Introduction to Moral Theology, Dogmatic Theology and Philosophy, considered only to teaching in the Portuguese context. Studying the College of St. Anthony helps us to understand how these innovations were considered in teaching, in the Jesuit case, in the temporal context of Portugal in the 16th century. We understand that the College, mainly by innovations, was essential to the development of science.

GeoBus: sharing science research with schools

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Roper, Kathryn; Robinson, Ruth; Moorhouse, Ben

2016-04-01

GeoBus (www.geobus.org.uk) is an educational outreach project that was developed in 2012 by the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of St Andrews, and it is currently sponsored by industry, NERC, The Crown Estate, and the Scottish Government. The aims of GeoBus are to support the teaching of Earth Science in secondary (middle and high) schools by providing teaching support to schools that have little or no experience in teaching this subject. This is, in part, done through the sharing of new science research outcomes and the experiences of young researchers with school pupils to provide a bridge between industry, higher education institutions, research councils and schools. Since its launch, over 40,000 pupils will have been involved in experiential Earth science learning activities in 190 different schools (over 400 separate visits) across the length and breadth of Scotland: many of these schools are in remote and disadvantaged regions. A new GeoBus project is under development within the Department of Earth Sciences at UCL in London. A key aim of GeoBus is to incorporate new research into our workshops with the main challenge being the development of appropriate resources that incorporate the key learning aims and requirements of the science and geography curricula. GeoBus works closely with researchers, teachers and educational practitioners to tailor the research outcomes to the curricula as much as possible. Over the past four years, GeoBus has developed 17 workshops, 5 challenge events and extensive field trips and each of these activities are trialled and evaluated within the university, and adjustments are made before the activities are delivered in schools. Activities are continually reviewed and further developments are made in response to both teacher and pupil feedback. This critical reflection of the project's success and impact is important to insure a positive and significant contribution to the science learning in

How Should Students Learn in the School Science Laboratory? The Benefits of Cooperative Learning

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Raviv, Ayala; Cohen, Sarit; Aflalo, Ester

2017-07-01

Despite the inherent potential of cooperative learning, there has been very little research into its effectiveness in middle school laboratory classes. This study focuses on an empirical comparison between cooperative learning and individual learning in the school science laboratory, evaluating the quality of learning and the students' attitudes. The research included 67 seventh-grade students who undertook four laboratory experiments on the subject of "volume measuring skills." Each student engaged both in individual and cooperative learning in the laboratory, and the students wrote individual or group reports, accordingly. A total of 133 experiment reports were evaluated, 108 of which also underwent textual analysis. The findings show that the group reports were superior, both in terms of understanding the concept of "volume" and in terms of acquiring skills for measuring volume. The students' attitudes results were statistically significant and demonstrated that they preferred cooperative learning in the laboratory. These findings demonstrate that science teachers should be encouraged to implement cooperative learning in the laboratory. This will enable them to improve the quality and efficiency of laboratory learning while using a smaller number of experimental kits. Saving these expenditures, together with the possibility to teach a larger number of students simultaneously in the laboratory, will enable greater exposure to learning in the school science laboratory.

Who teaches science in Alagoas? A quantitative analysis of non-specialist teaching at primary and secondary schools in Brazil

OpenAIRE

Fischer, Robert; Fireman, Elton; Gomes, Jose Renan

2013-01-01

While non-specialist teaching increasingly becomes an object of public interest, there is little data available on the actual educational background of teachers giving classes outside their specialisation. This work analyses the data collected by the Brazilian Ministry of Education from public and private schools in Alagoas (Brazil), with a special focus on science education at primary and secondary schools. We find that the phenomena of non-specialist teaching is highly subject specific. For...

The relationship of mentoring on middle school girls' science-related attitudes

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Clark, Lynette M.

This quantitative study examined the science-related attitudes of middle school girls who attended a science-focused mentoring program and those of middle school girls who attended a traditional mentoring program. Theories related to this study include social cognitive theory, cognitive development theory, and possible selves' theory. These theories emphasize social and learning experiences that may impact the science-related attitudes of middle school girls. The research questions examined the science-related attitudes of middle school girls who participate in a science-related mentoring program. The hypotheses suggested that there are significant differences that exist between the attitudes of middle school female participants in a science-related mentoring program and female participants in a traditional mentoring program. The quantitative data were collected through a survey entitled the Test of Science-Related Attitudes (TOSRA) which measures science-related attitudes. The population of interest for this study is 11-15 year old middle school girls of various racial and socio-economic backgrounds. The sample groups for the study were middle school girls participating in either a science-focused mentoring program or a traditional mentoring program. Results of the study indicated that no significant difference existed between the science-related attitudes of middle school girls in a science-related mentoring program and the attitudes of those in a traditional mentoring program. The practical implications for examining the concerns of the study would be further investigations to increase middle school girls' science-related attitudes.

Teaching chemistry and other sciences to blind and low-vision students through hands-on learning experiences in high school science laboratories

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Supalo, Cary Alan

2010-11-01

Students with blindness and low vision (BLV) have traditionally been underrepresented in the sciences as a result of technological and attitudinal barriers to equal access in science laboratory classrooms. The Independent Laboratory Access for the Blind (ILAB) project developed and evaluated a suite of talking and audible hardware/software tools to empower students with BLV to have multisensory, hands-on laboratory learning experiences. This dissertation focuses on the first year of ILAB tool testing in mainstream science laboratory classrooms, and comprises a detailed multi-case study of four students with BLV who were enrolled in high school science classes during 2007--08 alongside sighted students. Participants attended different schools; curricula included chemistry, AP chemistry, and AP physics. The ILAB tools were designed to provide multisensory means for students with BLV to make observations and collect data during standard laboratory lessons on an equivalent basis with their sighted peers. Various qualitative and quantitative data collection instruments were used to determine whether the hands-on experiences facilitated by the ILAB tools had led to increased involvement in laboratory-goal-directed actions, greater peer acceptance in the students' lab groups, improved attitudes toward science, and increased interest in science. Premier among the ILAB tools was the JAWS/Logger Pro software interface, which made audible all information gathered through standard Vernier laboratory probes and visually displayed through Logger Pro. ILAB tools also included a talking balance, a submersible audible light sensor, a scientific talking stopwatch, and a variety of other high-tech and low-tech devices and techniques. While results were mixed, all four participating BLV students seemed to have experienced at least some benefit, with the effect being stronger for some than for others. Not all of the data collection instruments were found to reveal improvements for all

Development of contextual teaching and learning based science module for junior high school for increasing creativity of students

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Kurniasari, H.; Sukarmin; Sarwanto

2018-03-01

The purpose of this research are to analyze the the properness of contextual teaching and learning (CTL)-based science module for Junior High School for increasing students’ creativity and using CTL-based science module to increase students’ learning creativity. Development of CTL-based science module for Junior High School is Research and Development (R&D) using 4D Model consist of 4 steps: define, design, develop, and disseminate. Module is validated by 3 expert validators (Material, media, and language experts), 2 reviewer and 1 peer reviewer. . Based on the results of data analysis, it can be concluded that: the results of the validation, the average score of CTL-based science module is 88.28%, the value exceeded the value of the cut off score of 87.5%, so the media declared eligible for the study. Research shows that the gain creativity class that uses CTL-based science module has a gain of 0.72. Based on the results of the study showed that CTL-based science module effectively promotes creativity of students

Forensic Science Curriculum for High School Students

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Burgess, Christiana J.

Over the last several decades, forensic science---the application of science to civil and criminal legal matters---has become of increasing popularity with the public. The range of disciplines within the field is immense, offering individuals the potential for a unique career, regardless of their specific interests or expertise. In response to this growth, many organizations, both public and private, have recognized the need to create forensic science programs that strive to maintain and enhance the quality of forensic science education. Unfortunately, most of the emphasis placed on developing these materials relates to post-secondary education, and creates a significant lack of forensic science educational materials available in the U.S., especially in Oklahoma. The purpose of this project was to create a high school curriculum that provides the foundation for building a broad, yet comprehensive, overview of the field of forensic science and its associated disciplines. The overall goal was to create and provide course materials to high school teachers in order to increase their knowledge of forensic science such that they are able to teach its disciplines effectively and with accuracy. The Forensic Science Curriculum for High School Students includes sample lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, and lab activities with step-by-step instructions.

Secondary School Students' Predictors of Science Attitudes

Science.gov (United States)

Tosun, Cemal; Genç, Murat

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that affect the secondary school students' attitudes in science. This study was conducted using survey method. The sample of the study was 503 students from four different secondary schools in Bartin and Düzce. Data were obtained using the Survey of Factors Affecting Students' Science Attitudes…

High school music classes enhance the neural processing of speech

OpenAIRE

Tierney, Adam; Krizman, Jennifer; Skoe, Erika; Johnston, Kathleen; Kraus, Nina

2013-01-01

Should music be a priority in public education? One argument for teaching music in school is that private music instruction relates to enhanced language abilities and neural function. However, the directionality of this relationship is unclear and it is unknown whether school-based music training can produce these enhancements. Here we show that two years of group music classes in high school enhance the subcortical encoding of speech. To tease apart the relationships between music and neural...

Psycho-Spatial Disidentification and Class Fractions in a Study of Social Class and Identity in an Urban Post-Primary School Community in Ireland

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Cahill, Kevin

2018-01-01

This paper draws on a three-year critical ethnography which interrogated intersections of social class, school and identity in an urban Irish community. The focus here is on the psycho-spatial disidentifications, inscriptions and class fractioning enacted throughout the school and community of Portown by a cohort of succeeding students from this…

The personal is professional: Connecting white urban middle school science teachers' biographies to their teaching of all students

Science.gov (United States)

Oey, Esther Ruth

The purpose of this study was to examine if and in what ways white, urban middle school science teachers use experiences of being marginalized or feeling different to connect to students coming from backgrounds unlike their own---especially students who are racially, culturally, linguistically and otherwise different from them, the school culture and the dominant society. Personal biography was used to frame this study. Data consisted of structured and semi-structured interviews and classroom observations of one female and two male science teachers gathered over one academic year. Results indicated that experiences with difference may be used to inform teachers' practices, but personal biography alone was insufficient to enable the teachers to reflect on their experiences with race, class, gender, and difference. Also, attending to emotions appeared to be an important factor in helping students develop cognitive skills in science classrooms.

Parent involvement and science achievement: A latent growth curve analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Ursula Yvette

This study examined science achievement growth across elementary and middle school and parent school involvement using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Kindergarten Class of 1998--1999 (ECLS-K). The ECLS-K is a nationally representative kindergarten cohort of students from public and private schools who attended full-day or half-day kindergarten class in 1998--1999. The present study's sample (N = 8,070) was based on students that had a sampling weight available from the public-use data file. Students were assessed in science achievement at third, fifth, and eighth grades and parents of the students were surveyed at the same time points. Analyses using latent growth curve modeling with time invariant and varying covariates in an SEM framework revealed a positive relationship between science achievement and parent involvement at eighth grade. Furthermore, there were gender and racial/ethnic differences in parents' school involvement as a predictor of science achievement. Findings indicated that students with lower initial science achievement scores had a faster rate of growth across time. The achievement gap between low and high achievers in earth, space and life sciences lessened from elementary to middle school. Parents' involvement with school usually tapers off after elementary school, but due to parent school involvement being a significant predictor of eighth grade science achievement, later school involvement may need to be supported and better implemented in secondary schooling.

Nuclear science summer school for high scholl students

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foster, D.E.; Stone, C.A.

1997-01-01

We have developed a two-week summer lecture and laboratory course that introduces hihg school students to concepts in nuclear science. The program has operated at the San Jose State University Nuclear Science Facility for two years. Experienced high school science teachers run the summer scholl, assisted by other science teachers. Students consider the program to be effective. Its popularity is shown by numerous requests for reservations and the necessity to offer multiple sections in 1997. (author)

High school physics enrollments by socioeconomic status and type of class

Science.gov (United States)

White, Susan C.

2016-01-01

Since September, we have been examining the relationship between high school physics enrollments by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. We have seen that the number of seniors and the number of physics teachers is roughly evenly divided into each type of school: those where students are typically better off economically than their peers at other schools in the area, those where students' economic status is typical for the area, and those where students are worse off. We have seen that even though the number of seniors and the number of physics teachers is roughly equal, the number of students taking physics is not. As we see in the figure, the enrollments in various types of physics classes are not equivalent either. While the total number of students taking Physics First or conceptual physics is about the same, the number of students in advanced classes—honors, AP, or second-year physics—is heavily skewed toward the better off schools. It is hard to know the direction of any cause and effect, but it is clear the students attending better off schools are more likely to take physics and are more likely to take more advanced physics classes in high school.

The Language Demands of Science Reading in Middle School

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Fang, Zhihui

2006-04-01

The language used to construct knowledge, beliefs, and worldviews in school science is distinct from the social language that students use in their everyday ordinary life. This difference is a major source of reading difficulty for many students, especially struggling readers and English-language learners. This article identifies some of the linguistic challenges involved in reading middle-school science texts and suggests several teaching strategies to help students cope with these challenges. It is argued that explicit attention to the unique language of school science should be an integral part of science literacy pedagogy.

Children’s and Adolescents’ Snacking: Interplay between the Individual and the School Class

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Helge eGiese

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Objective: In schools, perceived norms of classmates facilitate but can also inhibit unhealthy food intake in children and adolescents. However, the role of actual class behaviors and attitudes is less established. Thus, the present study examined classmates’ actual eating behavior and food preferences in relation to actual food intake. In addition, it tested whether these normative effects are facilitated by corresponding individual and class food preferences or a positive social self-concept.Methods: The food preferences, social self-concept, and unhealthy snacking frequency of 734 Finnish, 829 German, and 555 Romanian children and adolescents (aged 8-19 from 127 school-classes were assessed.Results: Multilevel analysis at individual and class level showed that classmates shared similar snacking habits (14.7% variance. Moreover, the unhealthy food preference of a school-class was associated with its collective snacking (χ²(1 = 54.67, p < .001, PRV = .32. This effect was facilitated by individual, unhealthy food preferences (χ²(1 = 16.72, p < .001, PRV = .57 and a positive social self-concept (χ²(1 = 5.91, p = .015, PRV = .12.Conclusions: Actual class norms are related to children’s and adolescents’ eating, but their impact depends on individual differences in preferences and social self-concept.

Kilowatt-Class Fission Power Systems for Science and Human Precursor Missions

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Mason, Lee S.; Gibson, Marc Andrew; Poston, Dave

2013-01-01

Nuclear power provides an enabling capability for NASA missions that might otherwise be constrained by power availability, mission duration, or operational robustness. NASA and the Department of Energy (DOE) are developing fission power technology to serve a wide range of future space uses. Advantages include lower mass, longer life, and greater mission flexibility than competing power system options. Kilowatt-class fission systems, designated "Kilopower," were conceived to address the need for systems to fill the gap above the current 100-W-class radioisotope power systems being developed for science missions and below the typical 100-k We-class reactor power systems being developed for human exploration missions. This paper reviews the current fission technology project and examines some Kilopower concepts that could be used to support future science missions or human precursors.

Elementary school children's science learning from school field trips

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Glick, Marilyn Petty

This research examines the impact of classroom anchoring activities on elementary school students' science learning from a school field trip. Although there is prior research demonstrating that students can learn science from school field trips, most of this research is descriptive in nature and does not examine the conditions that enhance or facilitate such learning. The current study draws upon research in psychology and education to create an intervention that is designed to enhance what students learn from school science field trips. The intervention comprises of a set of "anchoring" activities that include: (1) Orientation to context, (2) Discussion to activate prior knowledge and generate questions, (3) Use of field notebooks during the field trip to record observations and answer questions generated prior to field trip, (4) Post-visit discussion of what was learned. The effects of the intervention are examined by comparing two groups of students: an intervention group which receives anchoring classroom activities related to their field trip and an equivalent control group which visits the same field trip site for the same duration but does not receive any anchoring classroom activities. Learning of target concepts in both groups was compared using objective pre and posttests. Additionally, a subset of students in each group were interviewed to obtain more detailed descriptive data on what children learned through their field trip.

A phenomenological study on middle-school science teachers' perspectives on utilization of technology in the science classroom and its effect on their pedagogy

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Rajbanshi, Roshani

With access to technology and expectation by the mainstream, the use of technology in the classroom has become essential these days. However, the problem in science education is that with classrooms filled with technological equipment, the teaching style is didactic, and teachers employ traditional teacher-centered methods in the classroom. In addition, results of international assessments indicate that students' science learning needs to be improved. The purpose of this study is to analyze and document the lived experience of middle-school science teachers and their use of technology in personal, professional lives as well as in their classroom and to describe the phenomenon of middle-school science teachers' technological beliefs for integration of digital devices or technology as an instructional delivery tool, knowledge construction tool and learning tool. For this study, technology is defined as digital devices such as computer, laptops, digital camera, iPad that are used in the science classroom as an instructional delivery tool, as a learning tool, and as a knowledge construction tool. Constructivism is the lens, the theoretical framework that guides this qualitative phenomenological research. Observation, interview, personal journal, photo elicitation, and journal reflection are used as methods of data collection. Data was analyzed based on a constructivist theoretical framework to construct knowledge and draw conclusion. MAXQDA, a qualitative analysis software, was also used to analyze the data. The findings indicate that middle-school science teachers use technology in various ways to engage and motivate students in science learning; however, there are multiple factors that influence teachers' technology use in the class. In conclusion, teacher, students, and technology are the three sides of the triangle where technology acts as the third side or the bridge to connect teachers' content knowledge to students through the tool with which students are

High School Science Teachers' Views on Science Process Skills

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Gultepe, Nejla

2016-01-01

The current research is a descriptive study in which a survey model was used. The research involved chemistry (n = 26), physics (n = 27), and biology (n = 29) teachers working in Science High Schools and Anatolian High Schools in Turkey. An inventory that consisted of seven questions was designed to ascertain what teachers' think about the…

Education of Social Skills among Senior High School Age Students in Physical Education Classes

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Akelaitis, Arturas V.; Malinauskas, Romualdas K.

2016-01-01

Research aim was to reveal peculiarities of the education of social skills among senior high school age students in physical education classes. We hypothesized that after the end of the educational experiment the senior high school age students will have more developed social skills in physical education classes. Participants in the study were 51…

Analysis of students’ science motivation and nature of science comprehension in middle school

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Azizul Ghofar Candra Wicaksono

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to explore the pattern of science motivation and nature of science (NoS and the relationship between science motivation and nature of science in middle school students located in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia. The design of this study was survey followed by the correlation study to discover the relationship between science motivation level and nature of science comprehension. This research included 113 students as sample. The instrument used for data collection was SMQ and seven essay test from NoS indicator. This study revealed that the students had a median score of science motivation and the low score in nature of science comprehension. There were students’ science motivation and nature of science comprehension urgently need to be improved. It can be done by developing learning process and any support from school or family.

A STUDY OF TEACHER-PUPIL INTERACTION IN HIGH SCHOOL BIOLOGY CLASSES.

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PARAKH, JAL SOHRAB

A CATEGORY SYSTEM FOR SYSTEMATIC OBSERVATION OF HIGH SCHOOL BIOLOGY LABORATORY AND LECTURE-DISCUSSION-RECITATION CLASSES WAS DEVELOPED AND USED TO QUANTIFY, ANALYZE, AND DESCRIBE OBSERVED CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR. THE CATEGORY SYSTEM WAS DEVELOPED BY OBSERVING EIGHT HIGH SCHOOL BIOLOGY TEACHERS ONCE EACH MONTH FOR FOUR SUCCESSIVE MONTHS. THE OBSERVER…

The key factors affecting students' individual interest in school science lessons

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Cheung, Derek

2018-01-01

Individual interest in school science lessons can be defined as a relatively stable and enduring personal emotion comprising affective and behavioural reactions to events in the regular science lessons at school. Little research has compared the importance of different factors affecting students' individual interest in school science lessons. The present study aimed to address this gap, using a mixed methods design. Qualitative interview data were collected from 60 Hong Kong junior secondary school students, who were asked to describe the nature of their interest in science lessons and the factors to which they attribute this. Teacher interviews, parent interviews, and classroom observations were conducted to triangulate student interview data. Five factors affecting students' individual interest in school science lessons were identified: situational influences in science lessons, individual interest in science, science self-concept, grade level, and gender. Quantitative data were then collected from 591 students using a questionnaire. Structural equation modelling was applied to test a hypothesised model, which provided an acceptable fit to the student data. The strongest factor affecting students' individual interest in school science lessons was science self-concept, followed by individual interest in science and situational influences in science lessons. Grade level and gender were found to be nonsignificant factors. These findings suggest that teachers should pay special attention to the association between academic self-concept and interest if they want to motivate students to learn science at school.

Solar Fireworks - Integrating an Exhibit on Solar Physics and Space Science into the Science and Astronomy Curriculum of High-School and College Students

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Denker, C.; Wang, H.; Conod, K. D.; Wintemberg, T.; Calderon, I.

2005-05-01

Astronomers at The Newark Museum's Alice and Leonard Dreyfuss Planetarium teamed up with the New Jersey Institute of Technology's (NJIT) Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research (CSTR) and the Big Bear Solar Observatory in presenting Solar Fireworks. The exhibit opened on May 15, 2004 and features two exhibition kiosks with interactive touch screen displays, where students and other visitors can take "virtual tours" in the fields of solar physics, solar activity, Sun-Earth connection, and geo-sciences. Planetarium and museum visits are an integral part of the introductory physics and astronomy classes at NJIT and the exhibition has been integrated in the astronomy curriculum. For example, NJIT students of the Astronomy Club and regular astronomy courses were closely involved in the design and development of the exhibit. The exhibit is the latest addition to the long-running natural science exhibit "Dynamic Earth: Revealing Nature's Secrets" at the museum. More than 30,000 people per year attend various programs offered by the planetarium including public shows, more than a dozen programs for school groups, after school activities, portable planetarium outreach, outdoor sky watches, solar observing and other family events. More than 1,000 high school students visited the planetarium in 2004. The exhibit is accompanied by a yearly teacher workshop (the first one was held on October 18-20, 2004) to enhance the learning experience of classes visiting the Newark Museum. The planetarium and museum staff has been working with teachers of Newark high schools and has presented many workshops for educators on a wide range of topics from astronomy to zoology. At the conclusion of the exhibit in December 2005, the exhibit will go "on the road" and will be made available to schools or other museums. Finally, the exhibit will find its permanent home at the new office complex of CSTR at NJIT. Acknowledgements: Solar Fireworks was organized by The Newark Museum and the New Jersey

How Do Turkish Middle School Science Coursebooks Present the Science Process Skills?

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Aslan, Oktay

2015-01-01

An important objective in science education is the acquisition of science process skills (SPS) by the students. Therefore, science coursebooks, among the main resources of elementary science curricula, are to convey accurate SPS. This study is a qualitative study based on the content analysis of the science coursebooks used at middle schools. In…

Preparing Pre-Service School Librarians for Science-Focused Collaboration with Pre-Service Elementary Teachers: The Design and Impact of a Cross-Class Assignment

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Rawson, Casey H.

2015-01-01

Numerous authors in the library and information science (LIS) field have called for more authentic collaborative experiences for students in school librarian education programs, particularly experiences that partner school library students with pre-service teachers to collaboratively design instruction. The first-iteration, design-based study…

Adolescents' goal orientations for science in single-gender Israeli religious schools

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Fortus, David; Daphna, Limor

2017-01-01

Israeli students and their families can choose between state-funded secular, religious, orthodox, and other alternative schools (e.g., Waldorf, Montessori, democratic). Earlier studies showed that the motivation to engage with science differs greatly between Israeli students in secular schools and democratic schools, with these differences being attributed to differences in school culture rather than home influence (Vedder-Weiss & Fortus, 2011, 2012). In this study we extend earlier studies by looking at religious state-funded schools that serve 18% of Israel's Jewish population. These schools provide a unique research environment since from grade 6 they are gender-separated. We examined the science-related mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoid goal orientations, perceptions of the science teachers, parents, schools, and peers' goal emphases in relation to science of the students in these schools. We compared between students in religious schools (newly collected data) and secular schools (data reported in prior studies), and found that there is a distinct difference between these two populations that is associated with differing attitudes toward gender and science at these schools. This study provides additional evidence for the influence of culture on students' motivation to engage with science, suggests mechanisms by which this influence may occur.

The Effects of Motivation on Student Performance on Science Assessments

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Glenn, Tina Heard

Academic achievement of public school students in the United States has significantly fallen behind other countries. Students' lack of knowledge of, or interest in, basic science and math has led to fewer graduates of science, technology, engineering, and math-related fields (STEM), a factor that may affect their career success and will certainly affect the numbers in the workforce who are prepared for some STEM jobs. Drawing from self-determination theory and achievement theory, the purpose of this correlational study was to determine whether there were significant relationships between high school academic performance in science classes, motivations (self-efficacy, self-regulation, and intrinsic and extrinsic goal orientation), and academic performance in an introductory online college biology class. Data were obtained at 2 points in time from a convenience multiethnic sample of adult male ( n =16) and female (n = 49) community college students in the southeast United States. Correlational analyses indicated no statistically significant relationships for intrinsic or extrinsic goal orientation, self-efficacy, or self-regulation with high school science mean-GPA nor college biology final course grade. However, high school academic performance in science classes significantly predicted college performance in an entry-level online biology class. The implications of positive social change include knowledge useful for educational institutions to explore additional factors that may motivate students to enroll in science courses, potentially leading to an increase in scientific knowledge and STEM careers.

Environmental Science for All? Considering Environmental Science for Inclusion in the High School Core Curriculum

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Edelson, Daniel C.

2007-01-01

With the dramatic growth of environmental science as an elective in high schools over the last decade, educators have the opportunity to realistically consider the possibility of incorporating environmental science into the core high school curriculum. Environmental science has several characteristics that make it a candidate for the core…

Assessing does not mean threatening: the purpose of assessment as a key determinant of girls' and boys' performance in a science class.

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Souchal, Carine; Toczek, Marie-Christine; Darnon, Céline; Smeding, Annique; Butera, Fabrizio; Martinot, Delphine

2014-03-01

Is it possible to reach performance equality between boys and girls in a science class? Given the stereotypes targeting their groups in scientific domains, diagnostic contexts generally lower girls' performance and non-diagnostic contexts may harm boys' performance. The present study tested the effectiveness of a mastery-oriented assessment, allowing both boys and girls to perform at an optimal level in a science class. Participants were 120 boys and 72 girls (all high-school students). Participants attended a science lesson while expecting a performance-oriented assessment (i.e., an assessment designed to compare and select students), a mastery-oriented assessment (i.e., an assessment designed to help students in their learning), or no assessment of this lesson. In the mastery-oriented assessment condition, both boys and girls performed at a similarly high level, whereas the performance-oriented assessment condition reduced girls' performance and the no-assessment condition reduced boys' performance. One way to increase girls' performance on a science test without harming boys' performance is to present assessment as a tool for improving mastery rather than as a tool for comparing performances. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

Who Wants to Learn More Science? The Role of Elementary School Science Experiences and Science Self-Perceptions

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Aschbacher, Pamela R.; Ing, Marsha

2017-01-01

Background/Context: Much science education reform has been directed at middle and high school students; however, earlier experiences in elementary school may well have an important impact on young people's future science literacy and preparation for possible STEM careers. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: This study explores the…

The self-created outdoor class-room "Michelbachpark": Practical experiences of 5 years project work in every-day school life

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Brake, Jens; Istler, Katharina; Kisser, Thomas

2015-04-01

"Economy and ethos" is the guiding principle of the Evangelic Paul-Distelbarth-Gymnasia in Obersulm, located in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Starting with class 5, the pupils have every year another project to accomplish. Since 5 years, the project in class 10 is the creation of a 1.35 hectare outdoor-class-room near the Michelbach, the "Michelbachpark". The "Michelbachpark" is a consortium project of the school, the community Obersulm, the company Cartondruck and the forestry commission office of the county Heilbronn. The focus of the project "Michelbachpark" is on several aspects of sustainable development. In the years from 2009 to 2013, there was a highlight on the ecological aspect. Since 2012, the social facet is the centre. The aim is to construct an area, which is a place for recreation and also a learning-place for people interested in nature science. Therefore the pupils designed and manufactured different experimental set-ups for younger pupils from about age 6 to 14, and some experiential education stations. Starting from 2014, the outdoor class-room is going to be combined with the use of mobile devices. Several problems aroused in the design-work: - Pupils from age 6 to 14 do not have a mobile device for certain. - The pupils maybe do not know how to handle a mobile device. - The mobile internet in the rural area may not be fast enough for about 30 pupils. - Someone has to pay for the mobile devices and the mobile internet, if it would be used. So, there is need for easily manageable mobile device and also easy manageable application, and the data should be provided without ongoing costs and with acceptable speed. Since the media plays a great part in the prize-winning curricula of the school, a set of tablets is available. The founded solution could be a blue print for other, similar outdoor education settings: The learning modules are working with QR-Codes and the data will be provided through a temporarily available local Webserver. Hence the

Assessment of primary school students’ level of understanding the concepts of 2nd grade life sciences course based on different variables

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Altıntaş Gülşen

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The course of Life Sciences is one of the pivot courses taught in the first three years of primary school. Ensuring children get to know their environment and gain correct information related to their problems by making them investigate their natural and socio-cultural environment as well as providing them with necessary information, skills and behaviors for environmental adaptation are among the main purposes of Life Sciences course. The concepts to be instilled in students in line with these purposes are important. Since concepts are mostly intellectual and non-physical, they can only exist tangibly through examples. This study aims to assess Primary School Students’ Level of Understanding the Concepts of 2nd Grade Life Sciences Course Based on Different Variables. 17 concepts included in the 2nd Grade Life Sciences course within the subject of School Excitement were addressed within the study, and students were requested to define and exemplify these concepts. A total of 102 students from five different primary schools of upper-middle and lower socioeconomic classes located in Manisa and Istanbul were included in the study in line with the intentional maximum diversity sample selection. The answers given by students for each concept were categorized and analyzed in terms of liking or disliking home, school, technology and the course of Life Sciences.

Exploring Connections Between Earth Science and Biology - Interdisciplinary Science Activities for Schools

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Vd Flier-Keller, E.; Carolsfeld, C.; Bullard, T.

2009-05-01

To increase teaching of Earth science in schools, and to reflect the interdisciplinary nature and interrelatedness of science disciplines in today's world, we are exploring opportunities for linking Earth science and Biology through engaging and innovative hands-on science activities for the classroom. Through the NSERC-funded Pacific CRYSTAL project based at the University of Victoria, scientists, science educators, and teachers at all levels in the school system are collaborating to research ways of enriching the preparation of students in math and science, and improving the quality of science education from Kindergarten to Grade 12. Our primary foci are building authentic, engaging science experiences for students, and fostering teacher leadership through teacher professional development and training. Interdisciplinary science activities represent an important way of making student science experiences real, engaging and relevant, and provide opportunities to highlight Earth science related topics within other disciplines, and to expand the Earth science taught in schools. The Earth science and Biology interdisciplinary project builds on results and experiences of existing Earth science education activities, and the Seaquaria project. We are developing curriculum-linked activities and resource materials, and hosting teacher workshops, around two initial areas; soils, and marine life and the fossil record. An example activity for the latter is the hands-on examination of organisms occupying the nearshore marine environment using a saltwater aquarium and touch tank or beach fieldtrip, and relating this to a suite of marine fossils to facilitate student thinking about representation of life in the fossil record e.g. which life forms are typically preserved, and how are they preserved? Literacy activities such as fossil obituaries encourage exploration of paleoenvironments and life habits of fossil organisms. Activities and resources are being tested with teachers

Adolescent vigorous physical activity and the neighborhood school environment: examinations by family social class

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svastisalee, Chalida; Schipperijn, Jasper; Holstein, Bjørn Evald

Purpose: To investigate whether associations between daily vigorous physical activity (VPA) and the built environment are patterned according to family social class. Methods: We used self-reported daily VPA measured in 6046 11 to 15-year-old boys and girls in 80 schools. Multi-level stratified...... likely to achieve daily VPA than boys. Among children from low family social class backgrounds, girls were less likely to achieve daily VPA than boys (OR = 0.40; CI: 0.28-0.57). Additionally, children from low family social class backgrounds attending schools with low exposure to walking and cycling...... paths had the lowest odds (OR =0.51; CI: 0.29-0.88) of achieving daily VPA than those attending schools with higher exposure to paths. Conclusions: Findings of this study suggest that a lack of supportive physical activity support in school surroundings may have a greater impact on children of low...

Negative ageing stereotypes in students and faculty members from three health science schools.

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León, Soraya; Correa-Beltrán, Gloria; Giacaman, Rodrigo A

2015-06-01

To explore the ageing stereotypes held by health students and faculty members in three health science schools in Chile. This cross-sectional study surveyed 284 students and faculty members from the dental, physical therapy and speech therapy schools of the University of Talca, Chile. A validated 15-question questionnaire about negative stereotypes was used (CENVE). The questions were divided into three categories: (i) health, (ii) social factors and motivation and (iii) character and personality. The scores for each category were grouped into the following categories: (i) positive, (ii) neutral and (iii) negative. Negative stereotypes were compared across genders, socio-economic status levels, classes, positions (student or faculty member) and schools. The majority of the participants held neutral stereotypes towards ageing, followed by positive perceptions. No differences were detected between the genders, schools or classes. While most of the students had neutral perceptions about ageing, the faculty's perceptions were rather positive (p = 0.0182). In addition, people of lower-middle socio-economic status held more positive stereotypes about ageing than the participants of high and middle status (p = 0.0496). Stereotypes about ageing held by health-related students and faculty members appear to be rather neutral. The stereotypes seem to be better among students with some clinical experience, students of lower socio-economic status and faculty members. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S and The Gerodontology Society. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

In the Footsteps of Roger Revelle: a Partnership between SIO, ONR and Middle School Science Students

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Brice, D.; Appelgate, T. B.; Foley, S.; Knox, R. A.; Mauricio, P.

2010-12-01

Now in its seventh year, “In the Footsteps of Roger Revelle” (IFRR) is a middle school science education program that draws student interest, scientific content and coherence with National Science Standards from real-time research at sea in fields of physical science. As a successful collaboration involving Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), National Science Foundation (NSF),Office of Naval Research (ONR), and San Marcos Middle School (SMMS), IFRR brings physical oceanography and related sciences to students at the San Marcos Middle School in real-time from research vessels at sea using SIO's HiSeasNet satellite communication system. With a generous grant from ONR, students are able to tour the SIO ships and spend a day at sea doing real oceanographic data collection and labs. Through real-time and near-realtime broadcasts and webcasts, students are able to share data with scientists and gain an appreciation for the value of biogeochemical research in the field as it relates to their classroom studies. The primary impact on these students is an appreciation of ocean science as it relates to their lives. Interaction with scientists and researchers as well as crew members gives students insights into not only possible career paths, but the vital importance of cutting edge oceanographic research on our society. With their science teacher on the ship as an education outreach specialist or ashore guiding students in their interactions with selected scientists at sea, students observe shipboard research being carried out live via videoconference, Skype, daily e-mails, interviews, digital whiteboard sessions, and web interaction. Students then research, design, develop, deploy, and field-test their own data-collecting physical oceanography instruments in their classroom. The online interactive curriculum encourages active inquiry with intellectually stimulating problem- solving, enabling students to gain critical insight and skill while investigating some of

Argumentation in Science Class: Its Planning, Practice, and Effect on Student Motivation

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Taneja, Anju

Studies have shown an association between argumentative discourse in science class, better understanding of science concepts, and improved academic performance. However, there is lack of research on how argumentation can increase student motivation. This mixed methods concurrent nested study uses Bandura's construct of motivation and concepts of argumentation and formative feedback to understand how teachers orchestrate argumentation in science class and how it affects motivation. Qualitative data was collected through interviews of 4 grade-9 science teachers and through observing teacher-directed classroom discourse. Classroom observations allowed the researcher to record the rhythm of discourse by characterizing teacher and student speech as teacher presentation (TP), teacher guided authoritative discussion (AD), teacher guided dialogic discussion (DD), and student initiation (SI). The Student Motivation Towards Science Learning survey was administered to 67 students before and after a class in which argumentation was used. Analysis of interviews showed teachers collaborated to plan argumentation. Analysis of discourse identified the characteristics of argumentation and provided evidence of students' engagement in argumentation in a range of contexts. Student motivation scores were tested using Wilcoxon signed rank tests and Mann-Whitney U-tests, which showed no significant change. However, one construct of motivation---active learning strategy---significantly increased. Quantitative findings also indicate that teachers' use of multiple methods in teaching science can affect various constructs of students' motivation. This study promotes social change by providing teachers with insight about how to engage all students in argumentation.

Design and implementation of an e-class about continuous dynamical systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heck, A.; Houwing, H.; Val, J.; Ekimova, L.; Papageorgiou, G.

2009-01-01

In 2008, a small team of university and secondary school teachers in the Netherlands jointly developed an e-class for students in their final pre-university year (age: 17-18 yrs) about continuous dynamical systems. The e-class is an innovative way of teaching and learning mathematics and science by

Multiple-Choice Exams: An Obstacle for Higher-Level Thinking in Introductory Science Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Stanger-Hall, Kathrin F.

2012-01-01

Learning science requires higher-level (critical) thinking skills that need to be practiced in science classes. This study tested the effect of exam format on critical-thinking skills. Multiple-choice (MC) testing is common in introductory science courses, and students in these classes tend to associate memorization with MC questions and may not see the need to modify their study strategies for critical thinking, because the MC exam format has not changed. To test the effect of exam format, I used two sections of an introductory biology class. One section was assessed with exams in the traditional MC format, the other section was assessed with both MC and constructed-response (CR) questions. The mixed exam format was correlated with significantly more cognitively active study behaviors and a significantly better performance on the cumulative final exam (after accounting for grade point average and gender). There was also less gender-bias in the CR answers. This suggests that the MC-only exam format indeed hinders critical thinking in introductory science classes. Introducing CR questions encouraged students to learn more and to be better critical thinkers and reduced gender bias. However, student resistance increased as students adjusted their perceptions of their own critical-thinking abilities. PMID:22949426

The Case of the Royal School of Library and Information Science

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borlund, Pia

2010-01-01

The present paper forms the basis of the invited talk to be given by the author at the International Symposium on the Transformation and Innovation of Library and Information Science, November 16-17, 2010, Taipei, Taiwan. The paper introduces the Royal School of Library and Information Science......, Denmark, as a European School of Library and Information Science and a member of iSchool Caucus. The paper outlines some of the current challenges of the Royal School of Library and Information Science and how these challenges are met, including how the membership of the iSchool movement is considered...

Incorporating digital technologies into science classes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hilton, Annette; Hilton, Geoff

2013-01-01

in science. The first case study involved primary school students (12 years old) using digital video production to record and represent their learning in science. This study extended writing-to-learn approaches to include video production to learn. The second case study involved Year 11 chemistry students...... learning. There is a need for research that examines the ways in which digital technologies impact on teaching practices and learning outcomes. This paper describes case studies from two larger studies that examined ways in which digital technologies could be used to promote students’ understanding...... for students, including increased conceptual understanding, enhanced motivation and engagement, and increased representational competence. This paper reports on the classroom strategies and teaching resources used in each case, and describes the learning outcomes for the students involved and some...

Documenting Reproduction and Inequality: Revisiting Jean Anyon's "Social Class and School Knowledge"

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Luke, Allan

2010-01-01

Jean Anyon's (1981) "Social Class and School Knowledge" was a landmark work in North American educational research. It provided a richly detailed qualitative description of differential, social class-based constructions of knowledge and epistemological stance. This essay situates Anyon's work in two parallel traditions of critical educational…

Development of Instructional Materials for Electrochemical Module Class XII Science High School Students with Guided Inquiry Learning Approach

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Lilik Fatmawati

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Pengembangan Bahan Ajar Modul Elektrokimia untuk Siswa SMA Kelas XII IPA dengan Pendekatan Pembelajaran Inkuiri Terbimbing Abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of the electrochemical module for high school students of class XII results of development. Electrochemical module of the development consists of two learning activities, ie to the material Volta cells and electrolysis cells for the material. Results of the assessment by two chemistry lecturer, State University of Malang and two chemistry teachers XII as an expert content / learning material for eligibility contents was 92.9%, for eligibility and completeness of presentation is 91.1%, and for the eligibility of language is 92.3% , which is classified as very feasible criteria. Overall the average value was 92.1 feasibility. Effectiveness module is indicated by the results of the development of perception and student learning outcomes. Students' perceptions obtained from student assessment results to module development. In the limited field trials obtained average value is 81.8 for all aspects of the maximum value of 100. Obtaining the average value of student learning outcomes for the cognitive aspect is 83.3, for the affective aspect is 82.3, and for the psychomotor aspect is 83.8 out of 100. The maximum value of the overall results of the study showed that the electrochemical module for high school students Class XII Science development results are very decent and very effectively used in the learning process. Key Words: guided inquiry, electrochemical module, model 4-D Abstrak: Tujuan penelitian ini adalah mengetahui kelayakan, dan keefektifan modul elektrokimia untuk siswa SMA kelas XII hasil pengembangan. Modul Elektrokimia hasil pengembangan terdiri dari dua kegiatan belajar, yaitu untuk materi sel Volta dan untuk materi sel elektrolisis. Hasil penilaian oleh dua dosen kimia Universitas Negeri Malang dan dua guru kimia kelas XII sebagai

[Eating Disorders in Female High School Students: Educational and Migration Background, School-Related Stress and Performance-Orientated Classes].

Science.gov (United States)

Grüttner, M

2018-02-01

Many adolescents and young adults, especially young females, suffer from eating disorders or problematic nutrition behavior. Children and adolescents with migration background as well as from a lower social class are more likely to have eating disorders 1. Although schools are an important context in these age groups, there is a lack of scientific inquiry concerning the relationship between schooling and eating disorders. The present study investigates the relationship between performance-related stress at school and eating disorders while controlling for personnel and familial resources. Interview data on the 7 th grade high school students from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS)* starting cohort 3 are used. The dependent variable is based on the SCOFF questionnaire. Logistic regressions are calculated using information from students and parents. Performance-related stress at school is operationalized by the negative deviation of realistic from idealistic educational aspirations (EA) and unfulfilled social expectations (SE), performance-oriented class climate is operationalized by students' perception of the performance-orientation of the teacher (PT) and the expectations of classmates (EC). The results point towards an increased risk of suffering from an eating disorder due to performance-related school stress (EA: AME: 0.18; p<0.001; SE: AME: 0.12; p<0.05) and performance-oriented class climate (PT: AME: 0.05; p<0.1; EC: AME: 0.15, p<0.01). They partly explain the relation between both migration background and educational background and eating disorders. In order to prevent eating disorders in female high school students, attention should be paid to performance-orientation experienced at school and in the social background, and improved individual support for disadvantaged students should be made available. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

But I like PE: factors associated with enjoyment of physical education class in middle school girls.

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Barr-Anderson, Daheia J; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne; Schmitz, Kathryn H; Ward, Dianne S; Conway, Terry L; Pratt, Charlotte; Baggett, Chris D; Lytle, Leslie; Pate, Russell R

2008-03-01

The current study examined associations between physical education (PE) class enjoyment and sociodemographic, personal, and perceived school environment factors among early adolescent girls. Participants included 1,511 sixth-grade girls who completed baseline assessments for the Trial of Activity in Adolescent Girls, with 50% indicating they enjoyed PE class a lot. Variables positively associated with PE class enjoyment included physical activity level, perceived benefits of physical activity, self-efficacy for leisure time physical activity, and perceived school climate for girls' physical activity as influenced by teachers, while body mass index was inversely associated with PE class enjoyment. After adjusting for all variables in the model, PE class enjoyment was significantly greater in Blacks than in Whites. In model testing, with mutual adjustment for all variables, self-efficacy was the strongest correlate of PE class enjoyment, followed by perceived benefits, race/ethnicity, and teachers' support for girls' physical activity, as compared to boys, at school. The overall model explained 11% of the variance in PE class enjoyment. Findings suggest that efforts to enhance girls' self-efficacy and perceived benefits and to provide a supportive PE class environment that promotes gender equality can potentially increase PE class enjoyment among young girls.

The association between school class composition and suicidal ideation in late adolescence: Findings from the Young-HUNT 3 study

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Dalen Joakim D

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Few studies have explored the association between social context and suicidal ideation using multilevel models. This study examines how suicidal ideation in adolescence is related to school class composition. Methods Data were obtained from the Young-HUNT 3 study (2006–2008, a population study of adolescents attending secondary school in the Norwegian county of Nord-Trøndelag. The final sample included 2923 adolescents distributed among 379 school classes in 13 schools. Multilevel logistic regression was used to estimate the contribution of various factors at the individual and school class levels. Results The results indicate that 5.3 percent of the variation in suicidal ideation can be attributed to differences between school classes. However, a substantial part of this variation can be explained by an unequal distribution of students at risk as a result of individual factors. After controlling for individual-level variables, the results show a higher probability of suicidal ideation in school classes having higher proportions of girls as well as in those following a vocational education programme. Conclusion Targeting classes that either follow a vocational education programme or have a high proportion of girls can be an effective approach to intervention because such classes may include a greater number of students at risk for having suicidal thoughts compared to classes with a high proportion of boys or classes following a general education programme.

How to implement the Science Fair Self-Help Development Program in schools

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Menicucci, D.

1994-01-01

This manual is intended to act as a working guide for setting up a Science Fair Volunteer Support Committee at your school. The Science Fair Volunteer Support Committee, or SFVSC, is the key component of the Science Fair Self-Help program, which was developed by Sandia National Laboratories and is designed to support a school`s science activities. The SFVSC is a team of parents and community volunteers who work in concert with a school`s teaching staff to assist and manage all areas of a school Science and Engineering Fair. The main advantage of creating such a committee is that it frees the science teachers from the organizational aspects of the fair and lets them concentrate on their job of teaching science. This manual is based on information gained through a Self-Help Development pilot program that was developed by Sandia National Laboratories during the 1991--92 school year at three Albuquerque, NM, middle schools. The manual describes the techniques that were successful in the pilot program and discusses how these techniques might be implemented in other schools. This manual also discusses problems that may be encountered, including suggestions for how they might be resolved.

Improving Science Process Skills for Primary School Students Through 5E Instructional Model-Based Learning

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Choirunnisa, N. L.; Prabowo, P.; Suryanti, S.

2018-01-01

The main objective of this study is to describe the effectiveness of 5E instructional model-based learning to improve primary school students’ science process skills. The science process skills is important for students as it is the foundation for enhancing the mastery of concepts and thinking skills needed in the 21st century. The design of this study was experimental involving one group pre-test and post-test design. The result of this study shows that (1) the implementation of learning in both of classes, IVA and IVB, show that the percentage of learning implementation increased which indicates a better quality of learning and (2) the percentage of students’ science process skills test results on the aspects of observing, formulating hypotheses, determining variable, interpreting data and communicating increased as well.

What Kind of Boy Does Science? A Critical Perspective on the Science Trajectories of Four Scientifically Talented Boys

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Carlone, Heidi B.; Webb, Angela W.; Archer, Louise; Taylor, Mandy

2015-01-01

The close association between science and masculinity has been widely discussed, yet few studies have focused on boys' negotiation with, and participation in, school science. This paper seeks to trouble monolithic notions of the link between science and masculinity, arguing that the "ideal science student" is a classed, racialized, and…

Health behaviour among adolescents in Denmark: influence of school class and individual risk factors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, Anette; Rasmussen, Søren; Madsen, Mette

2006-01-01

the mother's socioeconomic status and the included health behaviour measurements; however, adolescents from the lower socioeconomic groups had a higher risk of unhealthy dietary habits and adolescents whose mothers were unemployed had a significantly lower risk of drinking alcohol weekly versus all other...... adolescents. Not living with both biological parents, focusing on friends, and not being very academically proficient were associated with an increased risk of harmful health behaviour. Health behaviour varied substantially between school classes, especially for daily smoking, weekly alcohol consumption......AIMS: The aim of this study was to assess the relative influence of school class on health behaviour among adolescents versus that of the family's socioeconomic status and individual factors among adolescents. METHODS: The material comprised 3,458 students in grades 8 and 9 in 244 school classes...

School 2.0: The Science Leadership Academy

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Lehmann, Christopher

2007-01-01

This article features the Science Leadership Academy, a new public partnership school in Philadelphia that incorporates core values of inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation, and reflection. Founded by the School District of Philadelphia and The Franklin Institute, SLA is one of four partnership high schools that opened in September 2006…

Investigating Your School's Science Teaching and Learning Culture

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Sato, Mistilina; Bartiromo, Margo; Elko, Susan

2016-01-01

The authors report on their work with the Academy for Leadership in Science Instruction, a program targeted to help science teachers promote a science teaching and learning culture in their own schools.

Influence of science and technology magnet middle schools on students' motivation and achievement in science

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Allen, David

Some informal discussions among educators regarding motivation of students and academic performance have included the topic of magnet schools. The premise is that a focused theme, such as an aspect of science, positively affects student motivation and academic achievement. However, there is limited research involving magnet schools and their influence on student motivation and academic performance. This study provides empirical data for the discussion about magnet schools influence on motivation and academic ability. This study utilized path analysis in a structural equation modeling framework to simultaneously investigate the relationships between demographic exogenous independent variables, the independent variable of attending a science or technology magnet middle school, and the dependent variables of motivation to learn science and academic achievement in science. Due to the categorical nature of the variables, Bayesian statistical analysis was used to calculate the path coefficients and the standardized effects for each relationship in the model. The coefficients of determination were calculated to determine the amount of variance each path explained. Only five of 21 paths had statistical significance. Only one of the five statistically significant paths (Attended Magnet School to Motivation to Learn Science) explained a noteworthy amount (45.8%) of the variance.

Grade six students' understanding of the nature of science

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Cochrane, Donald Brian

The goal of scientific literacy requires that students develop an understanding of the nature of science to assist them in the reasoned acquisition of science concepts and in their future role as citizens in a participatory democracy. The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the range of positions that grade six students hold with respect to the nature of science and to investigate whether gender or prior science education was related to students' views of the nature of science. Two grade six classes participated in this study. One class was from a school involved in a long-term elementary science curriculum project. The science curriculum at this school involved constructivist epistemology and pedagogy and a realist ontology. The curriculum stressed hands-on, open-ended activities and the development of science process skills. Students were frequently involved in creating and testing explanations for physical phenomena. The second class was from a matched school that had a traditional science program. Results of the study indicated that students hold a wider range of views of the nature of science than previously documented. Student positions ranged from having almost no understanding of the nature of science to those expressing positions regarding the nature of science that were more developed than previous studies had documented. Despite the range of views documented, all subjects held realist views of scientific knowledge. Contrary to the literature, some students were able to evaluate a scientific theory in light of empirical evidence that they had generated. Results also indicated that students from the project school displayed more advanced views of the nature of science than their matched peers. However, not all students benefited equally from their experiences. No gender differences were found with respect to students' understanding of the nature of science.

Religion, class and schooled sexuality among Minangkabau teenage girls

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Lyn Parker

2009-05-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the meanings attached to sexuality and femininity by Minangkabau teenage girls in schools in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Schools in West Sumatra communicate a hegemonic, normative understanding of womanhood, and a moral consciousness of the female sexual body, to students. Different types of schools – academic, vocational and Islamic senior high schools – have a different ‘curriculum of the body’ (Lesko 1988 and differently discipline bodies and shape sexuality. School girls articulate their understanding of and practise their sexuality in ways that are characteristic of their class, gender and religiosity, mediated by their schools. The schools articulate a religiously-ordained and gendered social order, and impose social control. The different types of school render girls chaste and virtuous to varying degrees. Through everyday practices, this curriculum effects girls’ embodied experience of sexuality. Minangkabau teenage girls have a highly developed sense of their own sexuality, but, far from experiencing a sexual revolution as a result of globalization, most have developed a sexual awareness that is weighted with cultural and religious burdens. Minang female adolescent sexuality is a moral sexuality based on Islam and adat.

The Earth2Class Model for Professional Development to Implement the Next Generation Science Standards

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Passow, M. J.; Assumpcao, C. M.; Baggio, F. D.; Hemming, S. R.; Goodwillie, A. M.; Brenner, C.

2014-12-01

Professional development for teachers involved in the implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) will require a multifaceted approach combining curriculum development, understanding the nature of science, applications of engineering and technology, integrating reading and writing, and other pedagogical components. The Earth2Class Workshops (E2C) at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University (LDEO) provides one model for creating effective training to meet the NGSS challenges. E2C has provided more than 135 workshops since 1998 that have brought together LDEO research scientists with classroom teachers and students from the New York metropolitan area and elsewhere. Each session provides teachers with the chance to learn first-hand about the wide range of investigations conducted at LDEO. This approach aligns strongly with the NGSS goals: mastery of the disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, understanding the nature of science, and cross-cutting relationships. During workshops, participating teachers interact with scientists to gain understanding of what stimulated research questions, how scientists put together all the components of investigations, and ways in which results are disseminated. Networking among teachers often leads to developing lesson plans based on the science, as well as support for professional growth not always possible within the school setting. Through the E2C website www.earth2class.org, teachers and students not able to attend the live workshops can access archival versions of the sessions. The website also provides a wide variety of educational resources. These have proved to be valuable on a national basis, as evidenced by an average of more than 300,000 hits per month from thousands of site visitors. Participating researchers have found E2C to be an effective approach to provide broader outreach of their results. During the next couple of years, the E2C program will expand to provide

Learning to teach science in urban schools

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Tobin, Kenneth; Roth, Wolff-Michael; Zimmermann, Andrea

2001-10-01

Teaching in urban schools, with their problems of violence, lack of resources, and inadequate funding, is difficult. It is even more difficult to learn to teach in urban schools. Yet learning in those locations where one will subsequently be working has been shown to be the best preparation for teaching. In this article we propose coteaching as a viable model for teacher preparation and the professional development of urban science teachers. Coteaching - working at the elbow of someone else - allows new teachers to experience appropriate and timely action by providing them with shared experiences that become the topic of their professional conversations with other coteachers (including peers, the cooperating teacher, university supervisors, and high school students). This article also includes an ethnography describing the experiences of a new teacher who had been assigned to an urban high school as field experience, during which she enacted a curriculum that was culturally relevant to her African American students, acknowledged their minority status with respect to science, and enabled them to pursue the school district standards. Even though coteaching enables learning to teach and curricula reform, we raise doubts about whether our approaches to teacher education and enacting science curricula are hegemonic and oppressive to the students we seek to emancipate through education.

Indiscipline in schools: working with class meetings in developing morally autonomous children

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Carmen Lúcia Dias

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The problems with discipline and violence in their several manifestations in classrooms in both public and private schools have been a major challenge for educators. Regarding the classroom environment, the purpose of this study was to propose class meetings as a coping mechanism, aiming to build morally autonomous subjects. From the description of situations experienced within the school context by children between seven and eight years old who study in a public elementary school, we tried to emphasize its importance through the analysis of thoughts and the moral development in this group, involving real dilemmas emerging from the familiarity between teacher-student and student-student. The importance of using resources such as class meetings is evidenced in this study which may result in the building of moral autonomy

Inspiring science achievement: a mixed methods examination of the practices and characteristics of successful science programs in diverse high schools

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Scogin, Stephen C.; Cavlazoglu, Baki; LeBlanc, Jennifer; Stuessy, Carol L.

2017-08-01

While the achievement gap in science exists in the US, research associated with our investigation reveals some high school science programs serving diverse student bodies are successfully closing the gap. Using a mixed methods approach, we identified and investigated ten high schools in a large Southwestern state that fit the definition of "highly successful, highly diverse". By conducting interviews with science liaisons associated with each school and reviewing the literature, we developed a rubric identifying specific characteristics associated with successful science programs. These characteristics and practices included setting high expectations for students, providing extensive teacher support for student learning, and utilizing student-centered pedagogy. We used the rubric to assess the successful high school science programs and compare them to other high school science programs in the state (i.e., less successful and less diverse high school science programs). Highly successful, highly diverse schools were very different in their approach to science education when compared to the other programs. The findings from this study will help schools with diverse students to strengthen hiring practices, enhance teacher support mechanisms, and develop student-focused strategies in the classroom that increase science achievement.

Caught in the Balance: An Organizational Analysis of Science Teaching in Schools with Elementary Science Specialists

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Marco-Bujosa, Lisa M.; Levy, Abigail Jurist

2016-01-01

Elementary schools are under increasing pressure to teach science and teach it well; yet, research documents that classroom teachers must overcome numerous personal and school-based challenges to teach science effectively at this level, such as access to materials and inadequate instructional time. The elementary science specialist model…

The formation of science choices in secondary school

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Cleaves, Anna

2005-04-01

In this paper I examine the formation of post-16 choices over 3 years among higher achieving students with respect to enrolment in post-compulsory science courses. Transcripts from four interviews carried out over 3 years with 72 secondary school students were qualitatively analysed. Students were found to shape their choices for science in a variety of ways across time. The situation regarding science choices hinges on far more dynamic considerations than the stereotypical image of the potential advanced science student, committed to becoming a scientist from an early age. There is an interplay of self-perception with respect to science, occupational images of working scientists, relationship with significant adults and perceptions of school science The findings are informative for science educators and for career guidance professionals who may need to take into account the complexity of young people's choices.

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) as a Means for School-Based Science Curriculum Change

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Browne, Christi L.

The challenge of school-based science curriculum change and educational reform is often presented to science teachers and departments who are not necessarily prepared for the complexity of considerations that change movements require. The development of a Professional Learning Community (PLC) focused on a science department's curriculum change efforts, may provide the necessary tools to foster sustainable school-based curriculum science changes. This research presents a case study of an evolving science department PLC consisting of 10 middle school science teachers from the same middle school and their efforts of school-based science curriculum change. A transformative mixed model case study with qualitative data and deepened by quantitative analysis, was chosen to guide the investigation. Collected data worked to document the essential developmental steps, the occurrence and frequency of the five essential dimensions of successful PLCs, and the influences the science department PLC had on the middle school science department's progression through school-based science curriculum change, and the barriers, struggles and inhibiting actions of the science department PLC. Findings indicated that a science department PLC was unique in that it allowed for a focal science departmental lens of science curriculum change to be applied to the structure and function of the PLC and therefore the process, proceedings, and results were directly aligned to and driven by the science department. The science PLC, while logically difficult to set-up and maintain, became a professional science forum where the middle school science teachers were exposed to new science teaching and learning knowledge, explored new science standards, discussed effects on student science learning, designed and critically analyzed science curriculum change application. Conclusions resulted in the science department PLC as an identified tool providing the ability for science departmental actions to lead to

Proceedings – Mathematical Sciences | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Proceedings – Mathematical Sciences; Volume 124; Issue 1. A Note on Conjugacy Classes of Finite Groups. Hemant Kalra Deepak Gumber. Volume 124 ... Author Affiliations. Hemant Kalra1 Deepak Gumber1. School of Mathematics and Computer Applications, Thapar University, Patiala 147 004, India ...

A Fitness Intervention Program within a Physical Education Class on Cardiovascular Endurance among Malaysia Secondary School Students

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Rengasamy, Shabeshan; Raju, Subramaniam; Lee, Wee Akina Sia Seng; Roa, Ramachandran

2014-01-01

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of a physical fitness intervention program within a physical education class on cardiovascular endurance of Malaysian secondary school boys and girls. A quasi experimental design was adopted for the study. Two schools in a district were randomly selected. In each school, two classes were randomly…

Urban High School Teachers' Beliefs Concerning Essential Science Teaching Dispositions

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Miranda, Rommel

2012-01-01

This qualitative study addresses the link between urban high school science teachers' beliefs about essential teaching dispositions and student learning outcomes. The findings suggest that in order to help students to do well in science in urban school settings, science teachers should possess essential teaching dispositions which include…

High school students presenting science: An interactional sociolinguistic analysis

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Bleicher, Robert

Presenting science is an authentic activity of practicing scientists. Thus, effective communication of science is an important skill to nurture in high school students who are learning science. This study examines strategies employed by high school students as they make science presentations; it assesses students' conceptual understandings of particular science topics through their presentations and investigates gender differences. Data are derived from science presentation given by eight high school students, three females and five males who attended a summer science program. Data sources included videotaped presentations, ethnographic fieldnotes, interviews with presenters and members of the audience, and presenter notes and overheads. Presentations were transcribed and submitted to discourse analysis from an interactional sociolinguistic perspective. This article focuses on the methodology employed and how it helps inform the above research questions. The author argues that use of this methodology leads to findings that inform important social-communicative issues in the learning of science. Practical advice for teaching students to present science, implications for use of presentations to assess conceptual learning, and indications of some possible gender differences are discussed.Received: 14 April 1993; Revised: 15 February 1994;

Science Fiction: Serious Reading, Critical Reading

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Zigo, Diane; Moore, Michael T.

2004-01-01

Science fiction deserves a greater respect, serious and critical reading and a better place in high school literature classes. Some of the science fiction books by Isaac Asimov, Alfred Bester, Ray Bradbury and Octavia L. Butler and various activities for incorporating science fiction into the English language arts instruction classroom are…

Evaluation of doctors? performance as facilitators in basic medical science lecture classes in a new Malaysian medical school

OpenAIRE

Ismail, Salwani; Salam, Abdus; Alattraqchi, Ahmed G; Annamalai, Lakshmi; Chockalingam, Annamalai; Elena, Wan Putri; Rahman, Nor Iza A; Abubakar, Abdullahi Rabiu; Haque, Mainul

2015-01-01

Salwani Ismail,1 Abdus Salam,2 Ahmed G Alattraqchi,1 Lakshmi Annamalai,1 Annamalai Chockalingam,1 Wan Putri Elena,3 Nor Iza A Rahman,1 Abdullahi Rabiu Abubakar,1 Mainul Haque1 1Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia; 2Department of Medical Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 3School of Health Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia Background: Dida...

Social Justice and Out-of-School Science Learning: Exploring Equity in Science Television, Science Clubs and Maker Spaces

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Dawson, Emily

2017-01-01

This article outlines how social justice theories, in combination with the concepts of infrastructure access, literacies and community acceptance, can be used to think about equity in out-of-school science learning. The author applies these ideas to out-of-school learning via television, science clubs, and maker spaces, looking at research as well…

Primary school children and teachers discover the nature and science of planet Earth and Mars

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Kleinhans, Maarten; Verkade, Alex; Bastings, Mirjam; Reichwein, Maarten

2016-04-01

For various reasons primary schools emphasise language and calculus rather than natural sciences. When science is taught at all, examination systems often favour technological tricks and knowledge of the 'right' answer over the process of investigation and logical reasoning towards that answer. Over the long term, this is not conducive to curiosity and scientific attitude in large parts of the population. Since the problem is more serious in primary than in secondary education, and as children start their school career with a natural curiosity and great energy to explore their world, we focus our efforts on primary school teachers in close collaboration with teachers and researchers. Our objective was to spark children's curiosity and their motivation to learn and discover, as well as to help teachers develop self-afficacy in science education. To this end we developed a three-step program with a classroom game and sand-box experiments related to planet Earth and Mars. The classroom game Expedition Mundus simulates science in its focus on asking questions, reasoning towards answers on the basis of multiple sources and collaboration as well as growth of knowledge. Planet Mundus is entirely fictitional to avoid differences in foreknowledge between pupils. The game was tested in hundreds of classes in primary schools and the first years of secondary education and was printed (in Dutch) and distributed over thousands of schools as part of teacher education through university science hubs. Expedition Mundus was developed by the Young Academy of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and De Praktijk. The tested translations in English and German are available on http://www.expeditionmundus.org. Following the classroom game, we conducted simple landscape experiments in sand boxes supported by google earth imagery of real rivers, fans and deltas on Earth and Mars. This was loosely based on our fluvial morphodynamics research. This, in the presence of a

FROM THE TEXTBOOK TO NATURAL SCIENCE LESSONS: THE CONSTRUCTION OF SCIENCE IN THE CLASSROOM

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Naranjo, Gabriela

2010-07-01

Full Text Available This ethnographic study is about the case of a Mexican primary school whose main reference for developing their classes is the Official Textbook, distributed by the government to all the students in the country. It analyzed the process of meaning construction by which teacher and students transform the curricular content of the textbook, in order to show how they produce local school science. For the analysis we incorporated several theoretical and methodological contributions of a multimodal perspective (Kress et al; 2001; Kress et al; 2005. From this perspective, on one hand, the textbook is considered as a multimodal complex of signs that has potential meanings related with the natural science and, on the other hand, teacher and students are viewed as active meaning producers. It is showed that although the classes are developed as the textbook suggests, teacher and students involve diverse resources of communication and representation (semiotic modes for making particular meanings and constructing a local version of school science. This article is written in Spanish.

Climate change in the classroom: Reaching out to middle school students through science and math suitcase lessons

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Jacobo, A. C.; Collay, R.; Harris, R. N.; de Silva, L.

2011-12-01

We have formed a link between the Increasing Diversity in Earth Sciences (IDES) program with the Science and Math Investigative Learning Experiences (SMILE) program, both at Oregon State University. The IDES mission is to strengthen the understanding of Earth Sciences and their relevance to society among broad and diverse segments of the population and the SMILE mission is to provide science and math enrichment for underrepresented and other educationally underserved students in grades 4-12. Traditionally, underserved schools do not have enough time or resources to spend on science and mathematics. Furthermore, numerous budget cuts in many Oregon school districts have negatively impacted math and science cirriculum. To combat this trend we have designed suitcase lessons in climate change that can be carried to a number of classrooms. These lesson plans are scientifically rich and economically attractive. These lessons are designed to engage students in math and science through climate change presentations, group discussions, and hands-on activities. Over the past year we have familiarized ourselves with the academic ability of sixth and seventh graders through in-class observation in Salem Oregon. One of the suit case lessons we developed focuses on climate change by exploring the plight of polar bears in the face of diminishing sea ice. Our presentation will report the results of this activity.

The connection between students' out-of-school experiences and science learning

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Tran, Natalie A.

This study sought to understand the connection between students' out-of-school experiences and their learning in science. This study addresses the following questions: (a) What effects does contextualized information have on student achievement and engagement in science? (b) To what extent do students use their out-of-school activities to construct their knowledge and understanding about science? (c) To what extent do science teachers use students' skills and knowledge acquired in out-of-school settings to inform their instructional practices? This study integrates mixed methods using both quantitative and qualitative approaches to answer the research questions. It involves the use of survey questionnaire and science assessment and features two-level hierarchical analyses of student achievement outcomes nested within classrooms. Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) analyses were used to account for the cluster effect of students nested within classrooms. Interviews with students and teachers were also conducted to provide information about how learning opportunities that take place in out-of-school settings can be used to facilitate student learning in science classrooms. The results of the study include the following: (a) Controlling for student and classroom factors, students' ability to transfer science learning across contexts is associated with positive learning outcomes such as achievement, interest, career in science, self-efficacy, perseverance, and effort. Second, teacher practice using students' out-of-school experiences is associated with decrease in student achievement in science. However, as teachers make more connection to students' out-of-school experiences, the relationship between student effort and perseverance in science learning and transfer gets weaker, thus closing the gaps on these outcomes between students who have more ability to establish the transfer of learning across contexts and those who have less ability to do so. Third, science teachers

The Impact of Social Class on Parent-Professional Interaction in School Exclusion Processes: Deficit or Disadvantage?

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Gazeley, Louise

2012-01-01

Although a great deal of previous literature has explored the ways in which social class affects parental engagement in educational processes, there has been surprisingly little discussion of the way in which social class shapes the parent-professional interaction that occurs in school exclusion processes specifically. School exclusion processes…

High School Science Teachers' Perceptions of the Effects of Oneto- one Computing Devices on Student Engagement

Science.gov (United States)

Bocchino, Herbert S., III

The identified problem of practice for the present action research study centers on ways in which teacher-participants in a working class poor, rural, southern high school can use the iPads in daily science classroom activities to more effectively to engage these students in their classrooms and make the curriculum meaningful. Data in the form of classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and teacher in-service seminars was collected over a six week period. The results of the present action research study indicate a need for more professional development for incorporating iPads into science coursework for these teacher-participants at RHS despite their claim that they are well prepared to use the iPads in their science curriculum and pedagogy. The Action Plan that resulted from the present study is in the form of professional development for teachers that focuses on how iPads can be used in a constructivist pedagogy to enable better equity of historically marginalized groups of students such as young women, people of color, rural people, and working class poor people to access higher level science courses and post-secondary careers. The Action Plan details tools for iPad use with project-based learning that lends itself to student discovery, the creation of products, and personal meaning-making.

Single Sex Mathematics Classes: A Critical Analysis of the Impact at a Secondary School

OpenAIRE

Seifert, Angelique; Pugalee, David K.

2012-01-01

Single sex classes have recently been emphasized as an effective way to promote mathematics learning. Despite their popularity, the research on the effectiveness of such programs is mixed underscoring the need for additional research and discussion. This research is set in one of the twenty-five largest public school systems in the United States, where schools have recently been allowed to begin instructional initiatives with same sex classes in mathematics. Preliminary data on the effecti...

Race-ing Class Ladies: Lineages of Privilege in an Elite South African School

Science.gov (United States)

Epstein, Debbie

2014-01-01

This paper draws on fieldwork done in Greystone School in South Africa, a single sex girls' school. I explore how the legacy of coloniser and colonised is reconfigured through the history of the school and the particular racialised politics of South Africa, where race and class have always been imbricated in differently nuanced ways before, during…

The efficacy beliefs of preservice science teachers in professional development school and traditional school settings

Science.gov (United States)

Newsome, Demetria Lynn

Teachers' efficacy beliefs have been shown to correlate positively with to the successful implementation of science reform measures (National Research Council, 1996) and are context specific (Koul & Rubba, 1999). Studies on teacher efficacy in specific contexts have been conducted including the availability of resources and parent support (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2002), classroom management (Emmer & Hickman, 1990; Raudenbush, Rowen, & Cheong, 1992); and institutional climate and behavior of the principal (Hoy & Woolfolk, 1993). The purpose of this study was to compare the science teaching efficacy beliefs of teacher interns prepared in professional development schools with those of student teachers prepared in traditional school settings. Other variables examined included academic level, academic major, and area of science concentration. Preservice science teacher efficacy beliefs were measured using the Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument for Preservice Science Teachers, STEBI Form B (Enoch & Riggs, 1990) with demographic information being collected by an accompanying questionnaire. Analyses included scoring the surveys on two scales, Personal Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Scale and the Outcome Expectancy Scale, calculating descriptive statistics, as well as performing MANOVAS and correlations. Results indicate that preservice science teachers working in professional development schools exhibit higher personal science teaching efficacy beliefs. This finding corroborates previous studies on the efficacy beliefs of preservice teachers working in PDS schools (Long, 1996; Sandholtz & Dadlez, 2000). Results also show a strong correlation between the personal science teaching efficacy beliefs and the setting where student teaching takes place. In addition, significant differences were found in the personal science teaching efficacy beliefs between elementary education majors and science majors, science education majors, and secondary education majors

Cooperative learning in science: intervention in the secondary school

Science.gov (United States)

Topping, K. J.; Thurston, A.; Tolmie, A.; Christie, D.; Murray, P.; Karagiannidou, E.

2011-04-01

The use of cooperative learning in secondary school is reported - an area of considerable concern given attempts to make secondary schools more interactive and gain higher recruitment to university science courses. In this study the intervention group was 259 pupils aged 12-14 years in nine secondary schools, taught by 12 self-selected teachers. Comparison pupils came from both intervention and comparison schools (n = 385). Intervention teachers attended three continuing professional development days, in which they received information, engaged with resource packs and involved themselves in cooperative learning. Measures included both general and specific tests of science, attitudes to science, sociometry, self-esteem, attitudes to cooperative learning and transferable skills (all for pupils) and observation of implementation fidelity. There were increases during cooperative learning in pupil formulation of propositions, explanations and disagreements. Intervened pupils gained in attainment, but comparison pupils gained even more. Pupils who had experienced cooperative learning in primary school had higher pre-test scores in secondary education irrespective of being in the intervention or comparison group. On sociometry, comparison pupils showed greater affiliation to science work groups for work, but intervention pupils greater affiliation to these groups at break and out of school. Other measures were not significant. The results are discussed in relation to practice and policy implications.

PBL Group Autonomy in a High School Environmental Science Class

Science.gov (United States)

Weiss, D. Mark; Belland, Brian R.

2018-01-01

With increasing class sizes, teachers and facilitators alike hope for learning groups where students work together in self-contained and autonomous ways requiring reduced teacher support. Yet many instructors find the idea of developing independent learning in small groups to be elusive particularly in K-12 settings (Ertmer and Simons in…

HISTORICAL-CRITICAL PEDAGOGY, CLASS STRUGGLE AND SCHOOL EDUCATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dermeval Saviani

2013-12-01

Full Text Available After introducing the approach of the relationship between education and class struggle in today's society, this article deals with the meaning of the concept of violence pointing out the current condition of a world ruled by violence that finds justification in the fascism, defined as the metaphysics of the violence. Next it approaches the problem of the eradication of the violence in the social praxis in the perspectives of the Christian Personalism (metaphysics of the non-violence, Existentialism (subjective conception of the violence and of the Marxism (objective conception of the violence and of the nonviolence. Based on those analyses it makes evident, in the conclusion, the relationship between class struggle and school education in the historical—critical perspective.

Using a Science Centre as a School Lab ? a Case Story

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Helene

2004-01-01

responsibility for their own learning committed themselves to learn the scientific language. The study shows that in school science there has to be scaffolding around a project to insure that all students gain experience with science as a learning process in an environment with self-motivated, self......The study has the overall goal of finding suggestions for improving school visits to Science Centres and similar places. One such centre (Experimentarium) has established a partnership with a nearby school to investigate possibilities for cooperation. This case story tells about a project where...... tenth graders were trained to become museum ?explainers? as part of their science education. The objectives were to investigate if it was possible to obtain a quality out-of?school experience using the Experimentarium as a science lab. The intention of the study was to look at science learning...

Improving pupils’ conceptual understanding by a connected in-school and out-of-school science program: a multiple case study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geveke, Carla; Steenbeek, Henderien; Doornenbal, Jeannette; van Geert, Paul

2016-01-01

The number of out-of-school science programs, which refers to science education at outside school environments, is gradually increasing. Although out-of-school programs are generally considered to be important for the development of pupils’ science knowledge and skills, more evidence concerning the

Science and Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs of Pre-School Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Aydogdu, Bülent; Peker, Murat

2016-01-01

The aim of this research was to examine science and mathematics teaching efficacy beliefs of pre-school teachers in terms of some variables. The sample of the study was comprised of 191 pre-school teachers working in a city in Aegean Region of Turkey. Since it attempted to define self-efficacy beliefs of pre-school teachers toward science and…

Fostering Science Club: Creating a Welcoming Extra-Curricular Science Inquiry Space for ALL Learners that Seeks to Close the Science Experience Gap in a Predominantly Minority Urban Community

Science.gov (United States)

Mayfield, K. K.

2017-12-01

BackgroundTo minority adolescents in urban centers science inquiry seems like an engagement completed by others with specialized skills (Alkon & Agyeman, 2012). When scientists teach science classes those spaces and pedagogy are underwritten by the science teachers' beliefs about how science happens (Southerland, Gess-Newsome & Johnston, 2002). Further, scientific inquiry is often presented as the realm of upperclass whiteness (Alkon & Agyeman, 2012; Mayfield, 2014). When science educators talk about the achievement gaps between raced and classed learners, accompanying that gap is also a gap in science experience. My high school students in a postindustrial school district: attend a school under state takeover (the lowest 5/5 rating (MA Executive Office of Education, 2017)); have a student body that is 70% Latinx; and 96% of whom receive Free and Reduced Lunch (a Federal marker of a family below the poverty line). Annual Yearly Progress is a goal set by state and federal governments for school populations by race, ability, and language. In 2016, the site has failed to make its goals for special education, black, hispanic, white, and English as a Second Language populations. As a high poverty district there is a paucity of extracurricular science experiences. This lack of science extensions make closing standardized test gaps difficult. Geoscience Skills & FindingsThis after school program does not replicate deficit narratives that keep certain bodies of students away from science inquiry (Mayfield, 2015; Ogbu, 1987). Instead, Science Club uses an array of student-centered science (physics, math, arts, chemistry, biology) projects to help students see themselves as citizen scientists who lead explorations of their world. We meet 1.5 hours a week in a 30 week school year. Science club helps students feel like powerful and capable science inquirers with 80% girls in attendance, and uses science experiments to cultivate essential inquiry skills like: Observation

An Examination of Single-Gender and Coeducational Classes: Their Impact on the Academic Achievement of Middle School Students Enrolled in Mathematics and Science at Selected Schools in Georgia

Science.gov (United States)

Elam, Jeanette H.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the academic performance of students enrolled in coeducational instruction and single-gender instruction. Within this framework, the researcher examined class type, gender, and racial/ethnicity using the sixth grade CRCT scores of selected students in the areas of mathematics and science. The fifth-grade…

Effects of School Gardening Lessons on Elementary School Children's Physical Activity and Sedentary Time.

Science.gov (United States)

Rees-Punia, Erika; Holloway, Alicia; Knauft, David; Schmidt, Michael D

2017-12-01

Recess and physical education time continue to diminish, creating a need for additional physical activity opportunities within the school environment. The use of school gardens as a teaching tool in elementary science and math classes has the potential to increase the proportion of time spent active throughout the school day. Teachers from 4 elementary schools agreed to teach 1 math or science lesson per week in the school garden. Student physical activity time was measured with ActiGraph GT3X accelerometers on 3 garden days and 3 no-garden days at each school. Direct observation was used to quantify the specific garden-related tasks during class. The proportion of time spent active and sedentary was compared on garden and no-garden days. Seventy-four children wore accelerometers, and 75 were observed (86% participation). Children spent a significantly larger proportion of time active on garden days than no-garden days at 3 of the 4 schools. The proportion of time spent sedentary and active differed significantly across the 4 schools. Teaching lessons in the school garden may increase children's physical activity and decrease sedentary time throughout the school day and may be a strategy to promote both health and learning.

The Key Factors Affecting Students' Individual Interest in School Science Lessons

Science.gov (United States)

Cheung, Derek

2018-01-01

Individual interest in school science lessons can be defined as a relatively stable and enduring personal emotion comprising affective and behavioural reactions to events in the regular science lessons at school. Little research has compared the importance of different factors affecting students' individual interest in school science lessons. The…

Secondary Science Teachers' and Students' Involvement in a Primary School Community of Science Practice: How It Changed Their Practices and Interest in Science

Science.gov (United States)

Forbes, Anne; Skamp, Keith

2016-02-01

MyScience is a primary science education initiative in which being in a community of practice is integral to the learning process. In this initiative, stakeholder groups—primary teachers, primary students and mentors—interact around the `domain' of `investigating scientifically'. This paper builds on three earlier publications and interprets the findings of the views of four secondary science teachers and five year 9 secondary science students who were first-timer participants—as mentors—in MyScience. Perceptions of these mentors' interactions with primary students were analysed using attributes associated with both `communities of practice' and the `nature of science'. Findings reveal that participation in MyScience changed secondary science teachers' views and practices about how to approach the teaching of science in secondary school and fostered primary-secondary links. Year 9 students positively changed their views about secondary school science and confidence in science through participation as mentors. Implications for secondary science teaching and learning through participation in primary school community of science practice settings are discussed.

Assessing High School Students’ Pro-Environmental Behaviour

Science.gov (United States)

Hidayah, N.; Agustin, R. R.

2017-09-01

This paper aims to reveal students’ pro-environmental behavior in a High School. Self-reported behavior assessment was administered in this study involving students with age range 15 to 18 years. Pro-environmental behavior in this study comprises six domains. Those are recycling, waste avoidance, consumerism, energy conservation, mobility and transportation, and vicarious conservation behavior. Pro-environmental behavior (PEB) of science class students was compared to behavior of non-science class students. Effect of students’ grade level and extracurricular activity on the behavior was evaluated. Study revealed that science could improve students’ PEB. It is because environmental topics are covered in science class. Student’s involvement in extracurricular activity may enhance PEB as well. In conclusion, students’ PEB is influenced by class program (science or non-science) but it is not influenced by time length in learning science. This finding could be consider by science educator in choosing strategy to enhance student’s pro-environmental behaviour.

Constructing Your Self in School Science

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Otrel-Cass, Kathrin

2016-01-01

of school science. Classrooms together with the new technological tools that are being used are places that fabricate and (re)align how young people see themselves in science and form their subjectivity in relation to society’s core values and rationalities and are embodied in primary science education...... in science classrooms. The findings suggest that digital tools used in classrooms expand not only the means of teaching and learning science but represent spaces for the emergence, negotiation and struggle of different forms of subjectivities.......It has been repeatedly argued that young people need to acquire science knowledge, skills and competencies, so that future economies can maintain social welfare, economic growth and international competitiveness. However, the attainment of understanding in science is not the only importance...

An exploration of middle school science teachers' understandings and teaching practice of science as inquiry

Science.gov (United States)

Castle, Margaret Ann

A number of reports have raised a concern that the U.S. is not meeting the demands of 21st century skill preparation of students, teachers, and practitioners in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). In 2005 and 2006 five reports were released indicating a need for improvement in science and mathematics education in the U.S. The reports were: Keeping America Competitive: Five Strategies To Improve Mathematics and Science Education (Coble & Allen, 2005); National Defense Education and Innovation Initiative: Meeting America's Economic and Security Challenges in the 21st Century (The Association of American Universities, 2006); Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future (National Academies Press, 2007); Tapping America's Potential: The Education for Innovation Initiative (Business Roundtable Taskforce , 2005); and Waiting for Sputnik: Basic Research and Strategic Competition (Lewis, 2005). Consensus of data in these reports indicates that the U.S., as compared to other industrialized nations, does not fare very well in science achievement and STEM degree attainment. For example, on the 2003 Program for International Assessment (PISA), 15-year-old students in the U.S. ranked 28th in math and 24th in science literacy (Kuenzi, Matthews, & Mangon, 2006). Furthermore, the U.S. ranked 20th among all nations in the proportion of 24-year-olds who earned degrees in natural sciences or engineering (Kuenzi, 2008). As a result, if the U.S. is to remain scientifically and technologically competitive in the world, it is necessary to increase our efforts to incorporate scientific practices associated with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics into the science classroom. Middle school is a critical point in students' science education and it is in middle school that they begin to dislike science. Research indicates that when students learn science through inquiry their interest in and

Exploring the impact of learning objects in middle school mathematics and science classrooms: A formative analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robin H. Kay

2008-12-01

Full Text Available The current study offers a formative analysis of the impact of learning objects in middle school mathematics and science classrooms. Five reliable and valid measure of effectiveness were used to examine the impact of learning objects from the perspective of 262 students and 8 teachers (14 classrooms in science or mathematics. The results indicate that teachers typically spend 1-2 hours finding and preparing for learning-object based lesson plans that focus on the review of previous concepts. Both teachers and students are positive about the learning benefits, quality, and engagement value of learning objects, although teachers are more positive than students. Student performance increased significantly, over 40%, when learning objects were used in conjunction with a variety of teaching strategies. It is reasonable to conclude that learning objects have potential as a teaching tool in a middle school environment. L’impacte des objets d’apprentissage dans les classes de mathématique et de sciences à l’école intermédiaire : une analyse formative Résumé : Cette étude présente une analyse formative de l’impacte des objets d’apprentissage dans les classes de mathématique et de sciences à l’école intermédiaire. Cinq mesures de rendement fiables et valides ont été exploitées pour examiner l’effet des objets d’apprentissage selon 262 élèves et 8 enseignants (414 classes en science ou mathématiques. Les résultats indiquent que les enseignants passent typiquement 1-2 heures pour trouver des objets d’apprentissage et préparer les leçons associées qui seraient centrées sur la revue de concepts déjà vus en classe. Quoique les enseignants aient répondu de façon plus positive que les élèves, les deux groupes ont répondu positivement quant aux avantages au niveau de l’apprentissage, à la qualité ainsi qu’à la valeur motivationnelle des objets d’apprentissage. Le rendement des élèves aurait aussi augment

Teaching planetary sciences to elementary school teachers: Programs that work

Science.gov (United States)

Lebofsky, Larry A.; Lebofsky, Nancy R.

1993-01-01

Planetary sciences can be used to introduce students to the natural world which is a part of their lives. Even children in an urban environment are aware of such phenomena as day and night, shadows, and the seasons. It is a science that transcends cultures, has been prominent in the news in recent years, and can generate excitement in young minds as no other science can. Planetary sciences also provides a useful tool for understanding other sciences and mathematics, and for developing problem solving skills which are important in our technological world. However, only 15 percent of elementary school teachers feel very well qualified to teach earth/space science, while better than 80 percent feel well qualified to teach reading; many teachers avoid teaching science; very little time is actually spent teaching science in the elementary school: 19 minutes per day in K-3 and 38 minutes per day in 4-6. While very little science is taught in elementary and middle school, earth/space science is taught at the elementary level in less than half of the states. It was pointed out that science is not generally given high priority by either teachers or school districts, and is certainly not considered on a par with language arts and mathematics. Therefore, in order to teach science to our youth, we must empower our teachers, making them familiar and comfortable with existing materials. In our earlier workshops, several of our teachers taught in classrooms where the majority of the students were Hispanic (over 90 percent). However, few space sciences materials existed in Spanish. Therefore, most of our materials could not be used effectively in the classroom. To address this issue, NASA materials were translated into Spanish and a series of workshops for bilingual classroom teachers from Tucson and surrounding cities was conducted. Our space sciences workshops and our bilingual classroom workshops and how they address the needs of elementary school teachers in Arizona are

Towards Science Education for all: Teacher Support for Female ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Towards Science Education for all: Teacher Support for Female Pupils in the Zimbabwean Science Class. ... Annals of Modern Education ... One hundred female pupils studying sciences at either Ordinary or Advanced level, and 10 science teachers from 10 selected secondary schools in one province in Zimbabwe, ...

Learning Science and English: How School Reform Advances Scientific Learning for Limited English Proficient Middle School Students

OpenAIRE

Minicucci, Catherine

1996-01-01

This article presents findings from the School Reform and Student Diversity Study, a 4-year project to locate and analyze schools offering exemplary science and mathematics programs to middle school students with limited proficiency in English. In contrast to the vast majority of schools, the four schools described in this article give these students access to stimulating science and mathematics curricula by instructing them either in the students' primary language or in English using shelter...

Using News Media Databases (LexisNexis) To Identify Relevant Topics For Introductory Earth Science Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Cervato, C.; Jach, J. Y.; Ridky, R.

2003-12-01

Introductory Earth science courses are undergoing pedagogical changes in universities across the country and are focusing more than ever on the non-science majors. Increasing enrollment of non-science majors in these introductory Earth science courses demands a new look at what is being taught and how the content can be objectively chosen. Assessing the content and effectiveness of these courses requires a quantitative investigation of introductory Earth science topics and their relevance to current issues and concerns. Relevance of Earth science topics can be linked to improved students' attitude toward science and a deeper understanding of concepts. We have used the Internet based national news search-engine LexisNexis Academic Universe (http://www.lexisnexis.org/) to select the occurrence of Earth science terms over the last 12 months, five and ten years both regionally and nationally. This database of term occurrences is being used to examine how Earth sciences have evolved in the news through the last 10 years and is also compared with textbook contents and course syllabi from randomly selected introductory earth science courses across the nation. These data constitute the quantitative foundation for this study and are being used to evaluate the relevance of introductory earth science course content. The relevance of introductory course content and current real-world issues to student attitudes is a crucial factor when considering changes in course curricula and pedagogy. We have examined students' conception of the nature of science and attitudes towards science and learning science using a Likert-scale assessment instrument in the fall 2002 Geology 100 classes at Iowa State University. A pre-test and post-test were administered to see if the students' attitudes changed during the semester using as reference a control group comprised of geoscience undergraduate and graduate students, and faculty. The results of the attitude survey have been analyzed in terms

Science Achievement and Occupational Career/Technical Education Coursetaking in High School: The Class of 2005. Statistics in Brief. NCES 2010-021

Science.gov (United States)

Levesque, Karen; Wun, Jolene; Green, Caitlin

2010-01-01

The definition of CTE (career/technical education) used by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) includes, at the high school level, family and consumer sciences education, general labor market preparation, and occupational education (Bradby and Hoachlander 1999; Bradby and Hudson 2007). Most researchers focus on occupational…

A School Day is a School Day

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Engelhardt, Robin

2007-01-01

Life of Science, edited by Lykke Margot Ricard and Robin Engelhardt. Learning Lab Denmark, Copenhagen, pages 7-13. 2003 Short description: The school Sint-Jozef-Klein-Seminarie in the Flemish town of Sint-Niklaas reveals a school system characterised by hard work, solicitude and tradition. Abstract......: Compared with the French communities, where many children have to repeat a year if they fail the tests, the children in the Flemish communities get a lot of help if they risk failing. In the beginning of the first school year, the students can do their homework in the school together with their own classes...

Application of expert-notice dialogue (END) method to assess students’ science communication ability on biology

Science.gov (United States)

Sriyati, S.; Amelia, D. N.; Soniyana, G. T.

2018-05-01

Student’s science communication ability can be assessed by the Expert-Notice Dialogue (END) method which focusing on verbal explanations using graphs or images as a tool. This study aims to apply the END method to assess students’ science communication ability. The study was conducted in two high schools with each sample of one class at each school (A and B). The number of experts in class A is 8 students and 7 in class B, the number of notice in class A 24 students and 30 in class B. The material chosen for explanation by expert is Ecosystem in class A and plant classification in class B. Research instruments are rubric of science communication ability, observation rubric, notice concept test and notice questionnaire. The implementation recorded with a video camera and then transcribed based on rubric science communication ability. The results showed that the average of science communication ability in class A and B was 60% and 61.8%, respectively, in enough categories. Mastery of the notice concept is in good category with 79.10 averages in class A and 94.64 in class B. Through the questionnaire notice it is known that the END method generally helps notice in understanding the concept.

Out-of-School Activities Related to Science and Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ángel Vázquez Alonso

2007-05-01

Full Text Available Artificial and natural environments constitute an extensive educational resource in whose framework the basic experiences that contribute to the development process of human beings occur. These experiences are the source of previous knowledge that students bring to school and that are key for building scientific school learning. This article reports the results of a study that addresses out-of-school experiences related to science and technology, through the application of an inventory list to a sample of students who were in their last year of compulsory education. The results show a relatively low overall frequency of experiences, characterized by some qualitative and quantitative differences according to a few grouping variables such as gender, the choice of an elective science subject, and different scientific topics and disciplines. In spite of its importance for learning, the school curriculum often ignores students’ previous experiences. Finally, we discuss the relevance of these results for developing a more equitable science and technology curriculum, from a perspective of a universal, humanistic science education.

Using immersive healthcare simulation for physiology education: initial experience in high school, college, and graduate school curricula.

Science.gov (United States)

Oriol, Nancy E; Hayden, Emily M; Joyal-Mowschenson, Julie; Muret-Wagstaff, Sharon; Faux, Russell; Gordon, James A

2011-09-01

In the natural world, learning emerges from the joy of play, experimentation, and inquiry as part of everyday life. However, this kind of informal learning is often difficult to integrate within structured educational curricula. This report describes an educational program that embeds naturalistic learning into formal high school, college, and graduate school science class work. Our experience is based on work with hundreds of high school, college, and graduate students enrolled in traditional science classes in which mannequin simulators were used to teach physiological principles. Specific case scenarios were integrated into the curriculum as problem-solving exercises chosen to accentuate the basic science objectives of the course. This report also highlights the historic and theoretical basis for the use of mannequin simulators as an important physiology education tool and outlines how the authors' experience in healthcare education has been effectively translated to nonclinical student populations. Particular areas of focus include critical-thinking and problem-solving behaviors and student reflections on the impact of the teaching approach.

Teacher Use of Constructivism in High School Science Courses: Perception versus Reality

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Alisha M.

With all of the research devoted to the use and effectiveness of constructivist learning principles in high school science classes, it is somewhat surprising to find that there is very little research devoted to constructivism's use in international settings. The problem that this lack of research poses is that classrooms are increasingly diverse as families are more and more frequently choosing to live in countries that they do not share a cultural background with. This means that there is an increasingly diverse range of cultural norms and expectations within a classroom, both of which are known to affect the effectiveness of learning strategies in general as the students will approach the problems in different ways. The purpose of this study, then, was to begin looking at whether teachers of international classrooms believe in the ideas of constructivism and whether those beliefs translate into classroom practice. A multiple case study approach was used to determine whether the beliefs of seven high school science classroom teachers and one high school administrator are consistent with constructivism and to what extent constructivist learning principles are being used to empower and engage students. The interview data suggested that most of the participants have some beliefs consistent with constructivism but do not fully embrace the learning theory. The observational evidence supported this by failing to provide evidence of constructivist activities in the classrooms. It was concluded that most of the participants in the study do not hold beliefs consistent with constructivism and that they are not using the learning theory to empower and engage students in the learning of science. Recommendations for future study include: exploring why teachers are not using constructivism to empower and engage students; provide training and support to help teachers successfully implement constructivism to engage and empower students; and expanding this study to determine

The distinctiveness and effectiveness of science teaching in the Malaysian `Smart school'

Science.gov (United States)

Tek Ong, Eng; Ruthven, Kenneth

2010-04-01

A recent reform initiative in the Malaysian educational system has sought to develop 'Smart schools', intended to better prepare students for adult life in a developing economy and to increase the flow of young people prepared for scientific and technological careers. The study reported in this paper examined lower-secondary science teaching, comparing two Smart schools officially judged to be successfully implementing the reform, with two neighbouring mainstream schools. Through analysis of classroom observation, supported by teacher interview and student report, the distinctive features of science teaching in the Smart schools were found to be use of ICT-based resources and of student-centred approaches, often intertwined to provide extended support for learning; accompanied by a near absence of the note giving and copying prevalent in the mainstream schools. Through analysis of measures of student attitude to science, science process skills and general science attainment, science teaching in Smart schools was found to be relatively effective overall. However, while the positive attitude effect was general, both academic effects were much weaker amongst students who had been of lower attainment on entry to secondary school.

The Effect of School Culture on Science Education at an Ideologically Innovative Elementary Magnet School: An Ethnographic Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Meier, Lori T.

2012-11-01

This ethnographic case study investigated the science practices of teachers at one public elementary magnet school in light of how school culture influenced science curriculum design and instruction. The purpose of the study was to address how school culture impacted the school's overall treatment of science as a viable content area. Key informant teachers were interviewed to explore their personal beliefs and values, teaching, access to materials, and views of the adopted integrated thematic curriculum model and magnet structure. The resulting data, triangulated with informal observation and artifact collection, were analyzed using a theoretical framework that emphasized five interdependent school culture indicators (values, beliefs, practices, materials, and problems). Findings suggest that the school's culture adversely influenced the treatment of science.

At-risk high school seniors: Science remediation for Georgia's High School Graduation Test

Science.gov (United States)

Carroll, Carolyn M.

State departments of education have created a system of accountability for the academic achievement of students under the mandate of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The Georgia Department of Education established the Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT) as their method of evaluating the academic achievement of high school students. The GHSGT consist of five sections and students must pass all five sections before students they are eligible to receive a diploma. The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of teacher-lead and computer based remediation for a group of high school seniors who have been unsuccessful in passing the science portion of the GHSGT. The objectives of this study include (a) Identify the most effective method of remediation for at-risk students on the science section of the GHSGT, and (b) evaluate the methods of remediation for at-risk students on the science section of GHSGT available to high school students. The participants of this study were at-risk seniors enrolled in one high school during the 2007-2008 school year. The findings of this research study indicated that at-risk students who participated in both types of remediation, teacher-led and computer-based, scored significantly higher than the computer-based remediation group alone. There was no significant relationship between the test scores and the number of times the students were tested.

Writing Chemistry Jingles as an Introductory Activity in a High School Chemistry Class

Science.gov (United States)

Heid, Peter F.

2011-01-01

Starting the school year in an introductory high school chemistry class can be a challenge. The topic and approach is new to the students; many of the early chapters in the texts can be a bit tedious; and for many students the activities are uninspiring. My goal in the first few weeks of school is to hook the students on chemistry by getting them…

The impact of real-time, Internet experiments versus interactive, asynchronous replays of experiments on high school students science concepts and attitudes

Science.gov (United States)

Kubasko, Dennis S., Jr.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether students' learning experiences were similar or different with an interactive, live connection via the Internet in real-time to an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) versus a stored replay of AFM experiments. Did the two treatments influence students' attitudes towards the learning experience? Are there differences in students' understandings of viruses and science investigations? In addition, this study investigated treatment effects on students' understandings of the nature of science. The present study drew upon the research that examined students' attitudes toward science, students' views of the nature of science, instructional technology in education, and prior research on the nanoManipulator. Specific efforts have been made to address reform efforts in science education throughout the literature review. Eighty-five high school biology students participated in the nanoManipulator experience (44 males, 41 females, 64 Euro-American, 16 African-American, and 5 of other ethnicities). Two high school classes were randomly selected and administered the interactive, real-time treatment. Two different high school classes were randomly selected and administered the limited-interaction, experimental replay treatment. The intervention occurred over a one-week period. Qualitative and quantitative measures were used to examine the differences between two treatment conditions. Experiential, affective, cognitive, and the nature of science domains were assessed. Findings show that the questions and statements made in synchronous time by the live treatment group were significantly different than students' questions and statements in asynchronous communication. Students in the replay treatment made more statements about what they learned or knew about the experience than did students in the live experience. Students in both groups showed significant gains in understanding viruses (particularly viral dimensionality and shape

School, multiliteracies and tecnologies in the portuguese language class: reflections from a project on youtubers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gabriela da Silva Bulla

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper aims at reflecting on school, multiliteracies and technologies in contemporary society. To this end, we describe and analyze a learning project carried out with a ninth grade class in Portuguese Language classes at a public school in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The project focused on multimodal discourse genres such as Youtuber video and written dissertation. We highlight the importance of working with the promotion of multiliteracies in the school that is committed to the formation of citizens that are able to circulate critically through the cybercultural and mediatic spheres inherent in the network society.

Determination of in-service needs of Turkish high school science teachers in Istanbul

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Ogan, Feral

The purposes of this study were to identify the in-service needs of high school science teachers in Istanbul, Turkey according to the subgroups such as school type and gender and determine the priority obstacles preventing these science teachers from attendance at in-service programs. Moreover, this study aimed to find the other greatest needs of high school science teachers that are not mentioned in the survey instrument. The data for this research was gathered by conducting a survey in Istanbul, Turkey in Fall 2001 and Spring 2002 Semesters. Turkish translation of the modified version of a science teacher's needs inventory, Science Teacher Inventory of Need (STIN), entitled STIN-2 was used as the survey instrument. The subjects consisted of 75 high school science teachers who were selected from 369 high schools by using stratified random sampling in grades nine through eleven. By personally administering the survey, 422 science teachers from 75 high schools completed the survey and a 97% response rate was achieved. The results obtained in this study show that Turkish high school science teachers in Istanbul have a number of shared needs. One other indication is that they also have a number of needs, which are specific to subgroups of those science teachers.

THE ROLE OF SCHOOL TECHNICIANS IN PROMOTING SCIENCE THROUGH PRACTICAL WORK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne T. Helliar

2011-11-01

Full Text Available This is a review of the role of practical work in UK’s secondary school science lessons, the impact that practical work has in the promotion of science, the challenges created through use of non-specialist science teachers and a possible additional role for science technicians. The paper considers how improved deployment of suitably experienced school science technicians and their recognition, by schools’ management, for their involvement in the delivery of training in the use of practical work, for less experienced teachers, could benefit schools and their students. This together with its companion paper endeavours to show how the more effective use of practical work and technicians can encourage more students to select science at higher, non-compulsory levels.

Teaching Writing and Critical Thinking in Large Political Science Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Franklin, Daniel; Weinberg, Joseph; Reifler, Jason

2014-01-01

In the interest of developing a combination of teaching techniques designed to maximize efficiency "and" quality of instruction, we have experimentally tested three separate and relatively common teaching techniques in three large introductory political science classes at a large urban public university. Our results indicate that the…

Assessing Prinary School; Second Cycle Social Science Textbooks ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Assessing Prinary School; Second Cycle Social Science Textbooks in ... second cycle primary level social science textbooks vis-à-vis the principles of multiculturalism. ... Biases were disclosed in gender, economic and occupational roles.

Strategic Class Roster Creation in Elementary Schools: Indicative of Student Reading Growth or a Waste of Time?

Science.gov (United States)

Henderson, John Michael

2011-01-01

One managerial leadership activity school leaders control and organize, either by overseeing or successfully delegating, is the creation of class rosters. The targeted purpose of this research is to determine whether a measurable value exists in spending the time and efforts to strategically "create" elementary school classes while…

Evaluation of American Indian Science and Engineering Society Intertribal Middle School Science and Math Bowl Project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

AISES, None

2013-09-25

The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) has been funded under a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant (Grant Award No. DE-SC0004058) to host an Intertribal Middle-School Science and Math Bowl (IMSSMB) comprised of teams made up of a majority of American Indian students from Bureau of Indian Education-funded schools and public schools. The intent of the AISES middle school science and math bowl is to increase participation of American Indian students at the DOE-sponsored National Science Bowl. Although national in its recruitment scope, the AISES Intertribal Science and Math Bowl is considered a “regional” science bowl, equivalent to the other 50 regional science bowls which are geographically limited to states. Most regional bowls do not have American Indian student teams competing, hence the AISES bowl is meant to encourage American Indian student teams to increase their science knowledge in order to participate at the national level. The AISES competition brings together teams from various American Indian communities across the nation. Each team is provided with funds for travel to and from the event, as well as for lodging and meals. In 2011 and 2012, there were 10 teams participating; in 2013, the number of teams participating doubled to 20. Each Science and Math Bowl team is comprised of four middle school — grades 6 through 8 — students, one alternate, and a teacher who serves as advisor and coach — although in at least two cases, the coach was not a teacher, but was the Indian Education Coordinator. Each team member must have at least a 3.0 GPA. Furthermore, the majority of students in each team must be comprised of American Indian, Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian students. Under the current DOE grant, AISES sponsored three annual middle school science bowl competitions over the years 2011, 2012 and 2013. The science and math bowls have been held in late March concurrently with the National American Indian Science and

Ethnographic case study of a high school science classroom: Strategies in stem education

Science.gov (United States)

Sohn, Lucinda N.

Historically, science education research has promoted that learning science occurs through direct physical experiences. In recent years, the need for best practices and student motivation have been highlighted in STEM research findings. In response to the instructional challenges in STEM education, the National Research Council has provided guidelines for improving STEM literacy through best practices in science and mathematics instruction. A baseline qualitative ethnographic case study of the effect of instructional practices on a science classroom was an opportunity to understand how a teacher and students work together to learn in an International Baccalaureate life science course. This study was approached through an interpretivist lens with the assumption that learning science is socially constructed. The following were the research questions: 1.) How does the teacher implement science instruction strategies in the classroom? 2.) In what ways are students engaged in the classroom? 3.) How are science concepts communicated in the classroom? The total 35 participants included a high school science teacher and two classes of 11th grade students in the International Baccalaureate program. Using exploratory qualitative methods of research, data was collected from field notes and transcripts from a series of classroom observations, a single one-on-one interview with the teacher and two focus groups with students from each of the two classes. Three themes emerged from text coded using initial and process coding with the computer assisted qualitative data analysis software, MAXQDA. The themes were: 1.) Physical Forms of Communication Play Key Role in Instructional Strategy, 2.) Science Learning Occurs in Casual Environment Full of Distractions, and 3.) Teacher Persona Plays Vital Role in Classroom Culture. The findings provided insight into the teacher's role on students' motivation to learn science. The recommendation for STEM programs and new curriculum is a

Impact of Science Tutoring on African Americans' Science Scores on the High School Students' Graduation Examination

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Edward

This study investigated the relationship between an after-school tutorial program for African American high school students at a Title I school and scores on the science portion of the High School Graduation Examination (HSGE). Passing the examination was required for graduation. The target high school is 99% African American and the passing rate of the target high school was 42%---lower than the state average of 76%. The purpose of the study was to identify (a) the relationship between a science tutorial program and scores on the science portion of the HSGE, (b) the predictors of tutoring need by analyzing the relationship between biology grades and scores on the science portion of the HSGE, and (c) the findings between biology grades and scores on the science portion of the HSGE by analyzing the relationship between tutorial attendance and HSGE scores. The study was based on Piaget's cognitive constructivism, which implied the potential benefits of tutorials on high-stakes testing. This study used a 1-group pretest-posttest, quantitative methodology. Results showed a significant relationship between tutoring and scores on the biology portion of the HSGE. Results found no significant relationship between the tutorial attendance and the scores on the biology portion of the HSGE or between the biology grades and scores on the biology portion of the HSGE before tutoring. It has implications for positive social change by providing educational stakeholders with empirically-based guidance in determining the potential benefit of tutorial intervention strategies on high school graduation examination scores.

Science literacy and meaningful learning: status of public high school students from Rio de Janeiro face to molecular biology concepts

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Daniel Alves Escodino

2013-12-01

Full Text Available In this work we aimed to determine the level of Molecular Biology (MB science literacy of students from two Brazilian public schools which do not consider the rogerian theory for class planning and from another institution, Cap UERJ, which favours this theory. We applied semiclosed questionnaires specific to the different groups of science literacy levels. Besides, we have asked them to perform conceptual maps with MB concepts in order to observe if they have experienced meaningful learning. Finally, we prepared MB classes for students of the three schools, considering their conceptual maps and tried to evaluate, through a second map execution, if the use of alternative didactics material, which consider meaningful learning process, would have any effect over the appropriation of new concepts. We observed that most students are placed at Functional literacy level. Nonetheless, several students from CAp were also settled at the higher Conceptual and Procedural levels. We found that most students have not experienced meaningful learning and that the employment of didactic material and implementation of proposals which consider the cognitive structure of the students had a significant effect on the appropriation of several concepts.

Experiences of high school Hispanic girls in pursuit of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related coursework and careers

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Vijil, Veronica G.

2011-12-01

An overall increased awareness of the importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has prompted attention toward the continued underrepresentation of Hispanic women in this field. The purpose of this collective case study was to explore the support systems, perceived barriers, and prior experiences influencing high school Hispanic girls' decisions to pursue advanced coursework and related careers through a career pathway in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) areas. Specifically, participants were interviewed regarding their mathematics and science experiences in elementary and middle schools, as well as perceived supports and barriers to their choices to pursue STEM careers and advanced coursework. Results indicated that the participants linked their elementary and middle school experiences with their teachers rather than specific activities. Accolades such as certificates and good grades for academic achievement contributed to the girls' strong self-efficacy at an early age. The participants possessed self-discipline and self-confidence, using intrinsic motivation to pursue their goals. Support systems included families and a few teachers. Barriers were revealed in different forms including derogatory comments by boys in class, difficult curricula with limited tutors available for higher level courses, and receipt of financial assistance to attend a university of their choice.

"Girls Hit!" Constructing and Negotiating Violent African Femininities in a Working-Class Primary School

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Bhana, Deevia

2008-01-01

Whenever gender violence and schooling have been the topic of South African research, the investigations focus on African boys in secondary schools. In contrast, this paper focuses on the ways in which violence is mobilized by African schoolgirls in a working-class primary school context. By drawing on selected elements of an ethnographic study of…

The Human Relations Class at Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School. Research Report.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilbert, Katherine J.

Human Relations was a program offered to Grade 10 students at Churchill Secondary School during the 1971-72 school year in lieu of four courses. The emphasis of the program was on the development of students as people who were more aware of themselves, of other people, and of the environment. The class took part in a variety of activities during…

The Cost of Class Size Reduction: Advice for Policymakers. RAND Graduate School Dissertation.

Science.gov (United States)

Reichardt, Robert E.

This dissertation provides information to state-level policymakers that will help them avoid two implementation problems seen in the past in California's class-size-reduction (CSR) reform. The first problem was that flat, per student reimbursement did not adequately cover costs in districts with larger pre-CSR class-sizes or smaller schools. The…

Status of teaching elementary science for English learners in science, mathematics and technology centered magnet schools

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Alyson Kim

According to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (2001), one in three students speaks a language other than English. Additionally, the Commission stated that a student is considered to be an English learner if the second language acquisition is English. In California more than 1.4 million English learners enter school speaking a variety of languages, and this number continues to rise. There is an imminent need to promote instructional strategies that support this group of diverse learners. Although this was not a California study, the results derived from the nationwide participants' responses provided a congruent assessment of the basic need to provide effective science teaching strategies to all English learners. The purpose of this study was to examine the status of elementary science teaching practices used with English learners in kindergarten through fifth grade in public mathematics, science, and technology-centered elementary magnet schools throughout the country. This descriptive research was designed to provide current information and to identify trends in the areas of curriculum and instruction for English learners in science themed magnet schools. This report described the status of elementary (grades K-5) school science instruction for English learners based on the responses of 116 elementary school teachers: 59 grade K-2, and 57 grade 3-5 teachers. Current research-based approaches support incorporating self-directed learning strategy, expository teaching strategy, active listening strategies, questioning strategies, wait time strategy, small group strategy, peer tutoring strategy, large group learning strategy, demonstrations strategy, formal debates strategy, review sessions strategy, mediated conversation strategy, cooperative learning strategy, and theme-based instruction into the curriculum to assist English learners in science education. Science Technology Society (STS) strategy, problem-based learning strategy, discovery learning

Emotional climate of a pre-service science teacher education class in Bhutan

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Rinchen, Sonam; Ritchie, Stephen M.; Bellocchi, Alberto

2016-09-01

This study explored pre-service secondary science teachers' perceptions of classroom emotional climate in the context of the Bhutanese macro-social policy of Gross National Happiness. Drawing upon sociological perspectives of human emotions and using Interaction Ritual Theory this study investigated how pre-service science teachers may be supported in their professional development. It was a multi-method study involving video and audio recordings of teaching episodes supported by interviews and the researcher's diary. Students also registered their perceptions of the emotional climate of their classroom at 3-minute intervals using audience response technology. In this way, emotional events were identified for video analysis. The findings of this study highlighted that the activities pre-service teachers engaged in matter to them. Positive emotional climate was identified in activities involving students' presentations using video clips and models, coteaching, and interactive whole class discussions. Decreases in emotional climate were identified during formal lectures and when unprepared presenters led presentations. Emotions such as frustration and disappointment characterized classes with negative emotional climate. The enabling conditions to sustain a positive emotional climate are identified. Implications for sustaining macro-social policy about Gross National Happiness are considered in light of the climate that develops in science teacher education classes.

The survey of the nuclear sciences in the curricula of senior high schools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ujeno, Yowri; Okamura, Seizo; Inaoka, Mariko; Nakase, Yoshiaki.

1994-01-01

To know senior high school education and recognition of nuclear science, questionnaire survey was made in a total of 619 university, college or occupational school students who graduated from senior high schools before 1993. Female students accounted for 95% (n=589) because females are believed to more strongly affect the next generation than males. Of these students, 92.7% had graduated from the ordinary course of senior high school. Students who majored in physical science accounted for 38.6%. In the physical science curriculum, nuclear science had been selected in 27.8% of the students. Among the students who majored in physical science, 38.1% did not memorize the learning of basic physical science at all, and only 25% memorized the learning. These results suggest that the learning of physical science is extremely insufficient. However, such an unfamiliar phenomenon of physical science seems to be closely related to the examination system to universities and colleges. The reason why few people give a debate upon atomic power generation is that people have no accurate knowledge because of their insufficient school learning of nuclear science. Only 19.1% had taken lessons of atomic power generation in the curriculum of social science. Serious problems of the senior high school educational system are pointed out. (N.K.)

A Review of Research on Technology-Assisted School Science Laboratories