Showing papers by "David Fortus published in 2014"

Measuring students' continuing motivation for science learning

Abstract: Continuing motivation for science learning may be manifested through engagement in extracurricular science-related activities, which are not the result of school or other external requirements. Very few articles have appeared in the last decade on this important aspect of science learning. This article presents a survey based on seven Likert-type items for measuring adolescents' continuing motivation for science. It describes how the survey was developed, tested, and used to explore the relations between school type, grade, and gender and adolescents' continuing motivation for science learning. Data on the continuing motivation of 2,958 Israeli 5th–8th grade students, from traditional and democratic schools, were collected and analyzed using polytomous Rasch techniques and hierarchical linear modeling. The results indicate that in both types of schools girls had lower continuing motivation for science than boys, and that while the continuing motivation of both boys and girls in traditional schools decreased between 5th and 8th grade, the continuing motivation of students in democratic schools remained constant during this period. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 51: 497–522, 2014

Teaching and Learning of Energy in K-12 Education

Abstract: As mentioned by the editors of this volume, the included chapters are the product of an international energy summit held at Michigan State University in December 2013, which was aiming to get a better sense of what the research community knows about energy as a crosscutting concept and how to communicate this knowledge in kindergarten through secondary schools. Participants included scientists, science educators, science education researchers and teachers. The chapters are organized in four parts (‘‘What should students know about energy’’; ‘‘What does the research say about the teaching and learning about energy’’; Challenges associated with the teaching and learning of energy’’; and ‘‘Opportunities and approaches for teaching and learning about energy’’). The common characteristic among these chapters is that they refer to the new Framework for K-12 Science Education, which was prepared by the NRC, and as a consequence, their mainly developmental approach is related to the teaching of the concept in the USA and the countries that are directly or indirectly influenced by this particular framework. However, this certainly does not mean that the international community would lack interest for the content of the book. When I was invited to review this book, I accepted with pleasure since I had the chance to get involved in a discussion that I personally trail for the last 30 years, since the time that my first paper was published (shared with A. Tiberghien, Emeritus Research Director at CNRS) regarding the teaching of energy as perceived from the European continental research tradition of science education. The late 1970s and the 1980s were the golden age for energy teaching, as many innovative teaching programs appeared; they were serving the social needs of the time and going beyond the traditional, fragmented approach of teaching the concept. I could mention three exceptional, in my belief, programs that had energy as the organizational principle of the relevant syllabus: the ‘Energy’ program (Haber-Schaim) taught in the USA, and the European ‘Libres Parcours’ (Agabra et al.) and ‘Neue Physik, Das

Introduction: Why Focus on Energy Instruction?

Abstract: Energy is one of the most important ideas in all of science and is useful for predicting and explaining phenomena within every scientific discipline Yet, there are substantive differences in how the energy concept is used across disciplines While a particle physicist relies heavily on the idea that energy is conserved during interactions between subatomic particles, an ecologist is typically more concerned with the idea energy transfers across system boundaries

Conclusion and Summary Comments: Teaching Energy and Associated Research Efforts

Abstract: The Energy Summit and the chapters in this book started with the premise that energy is both a critical disciplinary idea as well as a crosscutting concept, as elaborated in the Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council 2012) Energy serves a central role in our everyday lives, as well as in all science disciplines We were influenced by the argument presented in Framework for K-12 Science Education that energy is a critical concept that cuts across the disciplines and as such all learners need a solid understanding of this idea However, the general population and many professionals, including K-12 science teachers, many science graduate students and scientists, lack a solid understanding of energy across all disciplines Many of the challenges learners face in understanding the energy concept result not only because energy is a challenging concept but also because energy is seldom taught as a unifying idea; it is more likely taught using different language in different disciplines For example, most learners never develop a rich conceptual understanding of what is meant by “energy is stored in chemical bonds” This problematic situation most likely arises because there are substantive differences in how the energy concept is used across disciplines that result from shorthand usage of language Although many scientists can translate between the various shorthand ways of using energy, this language is never clearly explained to students and practitioners, including teachers and curriculum developers In fact, many graduate students do not fully understand the idea of energy This has led to many misunderstandings of energy including “energy being stored in chemical bonds” as meaning “energy is released when bonds break” As such, throughout the globe, we face challenges in teaching the energy concept, both because energy is such a challenging, misunderstood concept and different language is used to express different manifestations of it

Motivation and the Learning of Science

Abstract: Why is motivation so important? Learning is typically the result of intellectual, emotional, and physical engagement, and engagement is an outcome of motivation. Without motivation there is little engagement, and without engagement, little learning can occur. This is true in general, not only for the learning of science; one is not likely to become proficient at tennis, carpentry, or any intellectual activity unless one is motivated, for whatever the reason, to become proficient at these activities. While motivation is a necessary condition for learning to occur, it is also a desired outcome of learning. Knowledge is like a skyscraper, each level built on the foundations provided by the lower levels. However, for the construction to continue beyond a certain level, there needs to be motivation to do so. Thus, for example, one can learn about Rutherford’s model of the atom and be content with this knowledge, without any desire to learn more about the atom. Moving on to the next level (perhaps Bohr’s model of the atom, in this case) requires the motivation to go further. This motivation can be developed and fed by the process of learning about Rutherford’s model. Thus, learning and motivation are intertwined – the first seldom occurs without the second and the second needs to be fostered by the first for learning to continue.