Showing papers in "International Journal of Science Education in 1982"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address the important question of how learning in science education relates to the growth of scientific knowledge, and they offer suggestions for modifying the objectives and content of science curricula and teaching approaches, in the light of knowledge and understanding of the history and philosophy of science.
Abstract: Summaries English In this article, the authors address themselves to the important question of how learning in science education relates to the growth of scientific knowledge. After discussing how changes in scientific concepts come about, they offer suggestions for modifying the objectives and content of science curricula and teaching approaches in science education in the light of knowledge and understanding of the history and philosophy of science.
203 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a graduate tutor in freshman physics was interviewed on three separate occasions to determine what metaphysical commitments he held in relation to special relativity theory and showed the significant role his commitments played in his acceptance of counterintuitive aspects of the theory.
Abstract: Summaries English It is widely accepted that a person's existing knowledge plays a critical role in learning science. Two different aspects of this role are illuminated by the research reported in this paper. A graduate tutor in freshman physics was interviewed on three separate occasions. The first interview was used to determine what metaphysical commitments he held in relation to special relativity theory and showed the significant role his commitments played in his acceptance of counter‐intuitive aspects of the theory. The second interview was used to show the stability of his commitments four months later and to present the metaphysics underlying the theory in comparison and contrast with his own. The third interview, ten days later, repeated parts of the first interview and showed that significant changes in his metaphysical commitments had occurred. This case study demonstrates firstly the importance of the learner's metaphysical commitments as components of existing knowledge and secondly the effe...
176 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the nature of energy and its relationship with the human body were discussed. But the authors focused on the human brain. And they focused only on energy-related problems.
Abstract: (1982). The nature of energy. European Journal of Science Education: Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 295-297.
102 citations
TL;DR: For example, children aged 11 to 13 years emphasize in most cases those stages of an experiment which involve movement: movement as a cause of pressure change of a gas, and movement as the effect of this pressure change as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Summaries English When children interpret experiments concerning the physical properties of gases, they generally use frameworks from the field of mechanics. In reality, these experiments give them the opportunity of expressing relationships between movement, equilibrium and mechanical dimensions, such as forces. In their experimental interpretations, children aged 11 to 13 years emphasize in most cases those stages of an experiment which involve movement: movement as a cause of pressure change of a gas, and movement as the effect of this pressure change. This leads them to express frameworks which have been similarly observed by Piaget and other authors. For example, movement of air in one direction is thought to cause or to be caused by a specific force in one direction; similarly, the state of equilibrium and thus the immobility at the end of the experiment, are characterized by an absence of forces. The interpretations of several experiments relating to air pressure are analysed using the commentaries...
66 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the development of pupils' knowledge of the process of photosynthesis and related biological processes of respiration, breathing and digestion was studied in primary and secondary schools, and the results indicated that concepts which are wrong but which are nevertheless meaningful to the learner may escape detection by the usual methods of testing and are highly resistant to replacement by correct information.
Abstract: Summaries English This paper presents the results of a study of the development of pupils’ knowledge of the process of photosynthesis and the related biological processes of respiration, breathing and digestion. The information already known to primary pupils untutored in biology was assessed and the changes effected by teaching were monitored in the secondary school. The results indicate that concepts which are wrong but which are nevertheless meaningful to the learner may escape detection by the usual methods of testing and are highly resistant to replacement by correct information. The formation of wrong concepts may predate formal instruction or may arise during the course of instruction as a result of the inappropriate use of subsuming information.
59 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a limited empirical look at the extent to which those conflicting ideas have penetrated the South Australian educational system as evidenced by the responses to a questionnaire provided by 300 staff and students from two South Australian Universities.
Abstract: Summaries English In relatively recent years, philosophical discussion of the nature of science and scientific progress has been envigorated successively by Popper's critical rationalism and by Kuhn's more radical view of ‘paradigms‐separated‐by‐revolutions’. The brief report given here describes a limited empirical look at the extent to which those conflicting ideas have penetrated the South Australian educational system as evidenced by the responses to a questionnaire provided by 300 staff and students from two South Australian Universities. A two‐stage analysis of these data indicates a majority view of science reflecting a hybrid of Popperian ideas with earlier, more ‘traditional’ ones. Little consensus occurred in relation to the Kuhnian view, though factor analysis suggests the position is known, or is at least meaningful, to some respondents. Comment is made on science teaching which takes note of these results.
58 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the learning difficulties with a particulate theory of matter in the Scottish Integrated Science Course and found that many pupils had difficulty with the theory as presented in two different versions of worksheets.
Abstract: Summaries English The application of general theories about pupils’ learning to specific courses may be helpful to teachers, but in order to assist teachers and course developers practically it is also necessary to identify pupils’ specific learning difficulties. This paper describes some investigations, using criterion‐referenced measurement, into learning difficulties with a particulate theory of matter in the Scottish Integrated Science Course. Results indicate that many pupils had difficulty with the particulate theory as presented in two different versions of worksheets. Although different emphases in the two versions served to enhance achievement in particular areas, this achievement was not sustained to the end of the course. This is attributed to the lack of reference to particulate theory after its early introduction. It is recommended that less able pupils should be provided, initially, with a very simple explanation of particulate theory. It is also recommended that courses should enable pupils...
29 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue for a decision-making orientated science and technology curriculum for secondary school students to expose students to open-ended problems within their natural setting and involve them in scientific-technological social actions, e.g. in community institutions or industrial plants.
Abstract: Summaries English In this article, the author argues in favour of a decision‐making orientated science and technology curriculum for secondary school students. To achieve this, the curriculum should (i) expose students to open‐ended problems within their natural setting, (ii) provide students with real decision‐making situations and (iii) involve them in scientific‐technological social actions, e.g. in community institutions or industrial plants.
25 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the process of acquisition, and the nature and extent of retention, of a hierarchy of intellectual skills in genetics for each of three adults by case study and found evidence for two different learning styles which involve different specific learning strategies and which differ in the extent of incorporation of new material into the learner's cognitive structure, and on the subsequent retrieval of this material.
Abstract: Summaries English The process of acquisition, and the nature and extent of retention, of a hierarchy of intellectual skills in genetics were examined for each of three adults by case study. Task materials, based on a skill hierarchy and interview protocol, were designed to promote learning with understanding. Various theoretical models and schemes were devised to identify and monitor learning processes and changes in cognitive structure of the learner. Additional information was obtained on the stability and generalizability of learning processes, and the nature and extent of retention and accessibility of learned material. Evidence was obtained for qualitative differences in learning process and outcome. Results indicate evidence for two different learning styles which involve different specific learning strategies and which differ in the extent of incorporation of new material into the learner's cognitive structure, and on the subsequent retrieval of this material. One learning style is considered parti...
22 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a group of secondary school pupils in England and Tiv region of Nigeria wrote free definitions of common scientific words, mostly connected with burning and energy, and also listed free associations to those words.
Abstract: Summaries English Groups of secondary school pupils in England and Tiv region of Nigeria wrote free definitions of common scientific words, mostly connected with burning and energy. They also listed free associations to those words. Analysis of their responses indicated a marked lack of connection between the understandings the pupils had drawn from their general context and the structure of ideas being propounded in science lessons. ‘Concept Profiles’ for these common words (e.g., growth, heat, electricity) emerge, which could help teachers make better use of their pupils’ action knowledge when introducing these concepts in science lessons. The paper describes some of the concept profiles and the method used to obtain them.
18 citations
TL;DR: In this article, it is argued that well-chosen "case studies" from the history of science can make a major contribution to the development of pupils' scientific understanding, and that science should be seen as an essential component of general education upon which more stress should be laid in schools than upon specialization in science for vocational reasons.
Abstract: Summaries English This paper attempts to provide a reasoned basis for ‘modern methods’ in science teaching, whose fundamental feature is believed to be learning by ‘discovery’ and ‘activity’. The psychological justification normally provided for this is dismissed as flimsy, misleading and inadequate, but conclusive justification for the modern approach is found in epistemological analysis. It is argued that well‐chosen ‘case studies’ from the history of science can make a major contribution to the development of pupils’ scientific understanding. All the foregoing must be seen in the context of science as an essential component of general education upon which more stress should be laid in schools than upon specialization in science for vocational reasons.
TL;DR: In this article, curriculum developers in science in Zimbabwe have endeavoured to cater for the decision by government, at a stroke, to treble the intake of secondary school pupils and how the developers have, at the same time, attempted to employ the new situation as an opportunity to introduce the kind of science programme in schools which they believe to be appropriate to the conditions which obtain in a developing country like Zimbabwe.
Abstract: Summaries English An attempt has been made to describe how curriculum developers in science in Zimbabwe have endeavoured to cater for the decision by government, at a stroke, to treble the intake of secondary school pupils and how the developers have, at the same time, attempted to employ the new situation as an opportunity to introduce the kind of science programme in schools which they believe to be appropriate to the conditions which obtain in a developing country like Zimbabwe. The practical, economic, philosophical, political and cultural issues which have been raised in the exercise have been outlined as well as the strategies that have been adopted, wherever possible, to meet them. Implications with international relevance have been highlighted.
TL;DR: In this article, the structure of high school pupils' interest in physics as it results from their exposure to physics education at school level was investigated, and four relatively independent interest components were identified: interest in observation, interest in practical activities and interest in working with models (theories).
Abstract: Summaries English The article describes a study, consisting of a preliminary and a main investigation, of the structure of high school pupils’ interest in physics as it results from their exposure to physics education at school level. Using a factor‐analytic procedure applied to the results derived from a specially designed questionnaire, as used in the main study, four relatively independent ‘interest components’ were identified. These correspond to the following: interest in observation, interest in practical activities, interest in working with models (theories) and interest in mathematical aspects of physics.
TL;DR: In this paper, the relationship between classical mechanics and quantum mechanics is illustrated by considering how we form the images of moving objects, and Brownian motion is analyzed in two related but different frames which show how the images we construct depend on the conditions of our observation and on some intrinsic characters of the observed objects.
Abstract: Summaries English The relationship between classical mechanics and quantum mechanics is illustrated by considering how we form the images of moving objects. Brownian motion is an helpful example because it can be analyzed in two related, but different frames which show how the images we construct depend on the conditions of our observation and on some intrinsic characters of the observed objects.
TL;DR: In this article, a study of the implementation of an innovative science curriculum, the Schools Council Integrated Science Project (SCISP), in three English comprehensive schools, the authors experimented with the use of repertory grid techniques based on personal construct theory: This allowed interviews of teachers to be conducted in such a way that categories were revealed rather than imposed an...
Abstract: Summaries English Conventional correlation studies are of limited value in research aimed at discovering why curricula are successful or unsuccessful. Their basic weakness is that they offer little scope for revealing how and why innovations become modified in practice as a result of their interaction with contextual constraints such as teachers’ views of their own roles and purposes. Observational studies and the collection, through interviews, of participants’ accounts can to some degree remedy this deficiency. However, such methods encounter problems of subjective data interpretation and of establishing their reliability. In a study of the implementation of an innovative science curriculum, the Schools Council Integrated Science Project (SCISP), in three English comprehensive schools, the authors experimented with the use of repertory grid techniques based on personal construct theory: This allowed interviews of teachers to be conducted in such a way that categories were revealed rather than imposed an...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an overview of the research in science education at the University of Paris VII and present a survey of the results of their work. But they do not discuss the evaluation process.
Abstract: (1982). Research in Science Education at the University of Paris VII. European Journal of Science Education: Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 111-114.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors develop the premise that the emergence of interdisciplinary relations between different fields of learning requires terminological conventions to be made consonant, and they explore this issue with reference to two themes from the field of chemistry where strong relations exist with mathematics: the use of the equals sign and the double reaction sign, and the notions of reaction equation and reaction symbol.
Abstract: Summaries English The author develops the premise that the emergence of interdisciplinary relations between different fields of learning requires terminological conventions to be made consonant. He explores this issue with reference to two themes from the field of chemistry where strong relations exist with mathematics: the use of the equals sign and the (double) reaction sign, and the notions of reaction equation and reaction symbol.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the confidence at which fifty-five science method students would approach sixty developmental tasks at strategic points during the preservice course of teacher education, compared with the views of heads of school science department on the importance of these competencies for beginning science teachers.
Abstract: TMany trainee teachers have learned through bitter experience those teaching competencies experienced teachers hold most important. This paper describes the confidence at which fifty‐five science method students would approach sixty developmental tasks at strategic points during the preservice course of teacher education. The end‐of‐course outcomes are compared with the views of heads of school science department on the importance of these competencies for beginning science teachers.
TL;DR: In this paper, a physics course for the first three semesters at university is described, the so-called "Combined Physics Course" which is based on a co-ordinated programme of lectures and laboratory experiments.
Abstract: Summaries English A physics course for the first three semesters at university is described, the so‐called ‘Combined Physics Course’. Its conception is based on a co‐ordinated programme of lectures and laboratory experiments. It is oriented to a large degree towards the laboratory‐based study of subject matter, and to this end students are involved in the planning and setting up of all experimental arrangements as a part of the problem to be solved. An empirical investigation was conducted to find out whether the ‘Combined Physics Course’ resulted in more effective learning than the hitherto existing course in which the study of laboratory physics was isolated from the lecture course. Learning outcomes were measured by means of specially constructed achievement tests, with written as well as practical items. The ‘Combined Physics Course’ was found to lead to slight, though not significant gains compared with the traditional course.
TL;DR: In this paper, a study has been carried out to compare students' cognitive development and their learning of physics concepts at different taxonomic levels, referring to the Piaget's theory for the intellectual development and Bloom's taxonomic level of understanding and application for the evaluation of physics achievement.
Abstract: Summaries English A study has been carried out to compare students’ cognitive development and their learning of physics concepts at different taxonomic levels. We refer to the Piaget's theory for the intellectual development and to Bloom's taxonomic levels of understanding and application for the evaluation of physics achievement. Correlations among Piagetian tasks and physics concepts achievement are reported and discussed. Misconceptions are found to exist among students showing formal reasoning patterns. Relationships between misconceptions and students’ performance on a test designed to measure their ability to apply knowledge are presented and discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors outline specific ways to promote understanding enabling individuals to participate more responsibly in enlightened democratic decision-making responsive to societal needs, including teaching, outreach, curriculum development, and research.
Abstract: Summaries English In recent years problems facing humankind have become more complex and challenging and have increasingly involved science and technology. While the public, generally, has been inadequately informed about such scientific and technical issues, public understanding of issues at the interface of science, society, and technology are an essential part of the resolution of societal problems. This paper outlines specific ways to promote understanding enabling individuals to participate more responsibly in enlightened democratic decision‐making responsive to societal needs. A systematic scheme is outlined with examples from two science education centres at tertiary institutions through activities including teaching, outreach, curriculum development, and research.
TL;DR: In this article, a new physical science curriculum was developed for the education of weak pupils at high school level, which emphasized the understanding of natural phenomena met by the pupils in their everyday life.
Abstract: Summaries English The article describes a new physical science curriculum developed for the education of weak pupils at high school level. The basic rationale for the curriculum are that (i) modern science curricula which stress the acquisition of highly conceptual scientific knowledge and emphasize ‘scientific thinking’ are unsuitable for low ability pupils, and (ii) the interests of these pupils are best served by a curriculum that emphasizes the understanding of natural phenomena met by the pupils in their everyday life. The curriculum was evaluated in relation to cognitive achievements and attitude changes shown by the pupils. It was found that pupils who had followed the new curriculum, had significantly improved their attitude to and their attainments in the study of physical science, compared with a control group which had not studied the curriculum.