Showing papers in "International Journal of Science Education in 1996"
TL;DR: There is a story, perhaps apocryphal, that when a caller expressed interest in seeing his laboratory, Cavendish ordered his butler to bring it in on a tray as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: There is a story, perhaps apocryphal, that when a caller expressed interest in seeing his laboratory, Cavendish ordered his butler to bring it in on a tray. That was two hundred years ago, and science laboratories have grown far beyond that, encompassing whole institutions. Even in schools they are commonly large, well‐equipped rooms, expensive to establish and maintain, served by specialist assistants. Despite the cost, laboratories are so embedded in the practice of science teaching it is difficult to imagine doing without them. Yet their purpose is not universally agreed, and evdence of their effect is equivocal.
200 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors suggest that one of the familiar aims of practical work, teaching for the development of experimental skills, is best regarded as having a distinct knowledge base linked to the understanding of scientific evidence.
Abstract: The role of practical work in science education is ill‐defined. The authors suggest that one of the familiar aims of practical work, teaching for the development of ‘experimental skills’, is best regarded as having a distinct knowledge base linked to the understanding of scientific evidence. The significance and value of an understanding of evidence for employment in science, engineering and in regard to scientific literacy in the community is discussed. A content for the knowledge base linked to evidence is proposed and methods of teaching it considered. The authors conclude that while various teaching methods can be used, practical work has a key role in the teaching of evidence provided that the type of practical work is selected carefully with a clear purpose in mind.
163 citations
TL;DR: For example, the authors found that children's ideas about selected ecological concepts were elicited through a series of written tasks and individual interviews set in a range of contexts, referred to here as probes.
Abstract: This paper reports some of the findings from a study of the ecological understandings of children aged 5‐16 years in schools in the north of England. Children's ideas about selected ecological concepts were elicited through a series of written tasks and individual interviews set in a range of contexts, referred to here as probes. Responses of about 200 pupils, across the age range, were obtained on each probe. In this paper pupils’ ideas related to the cycling of matter between organisms, and between organisms and the abiotic environment in which they live, are presented and discussed. The design and methodology of the study were reported earlier (Leach et al. in press a) while a subsequent paper will discuss the children's ideas relating to other aspects of the interdependency of organisms in ecosystems (Leach et al. in press b).
153 citations
TL;DR: For example, the authors found that 10-to 11-year-olds were interested in the planet Earth, Earth concept, the Sun, Moon and stars, day and night, seasons, phases of the Moon and the solar system.
Abstract: Astronomy is now an established part of a National Science Curriculum operating in maintained schools throughout England and Wales. Children in the primary age phase (Key Stages 1 and 2, 5 to 11 years) have an opportunity to investigate an area of science which has influenced the nature of scientific thought and progress as a whole, highlights certain aspects of human, scientific and technological achievement, and forms a significant part of their everyday lives. Exploring the ideas of 10‐ to 11‐year‐olds concerning the planet Earth, Earth concept, the Sun, Moon and stars, day and night, the seasons, phases of the Moon and the solar system reveals the importance of everyday sensory experiences, including direct observations of the sky, cultural and social transmission, and formal instruction, in the construction of meaning to account for certain astronomical phenomena. Findings presented here carry implications for the teaching and learning of astronomy including potential research directions and curricul...
149 citations
TL;DR: The authors argued that science education research and curriculum development efforts in non-western countries can benefit by adopting a constructivist view of science and science learning, which assumes that logical thinking is an inherently human quality regardless of culture, and instead focuses attention on the processes of interpretation that lead to understanding.
Abstract: In this paper it is argued that science education research and curriculum development efforts in non‐western countries can benefit by adopting a constructivist view of science and science learning. The past efforts at transferring curricula from the West, and local development projects that result in curricula only marginally different from western curricula, stem from an acultural view of science. These efforts also ground science learning in concepts of logical thinking rather than understanding. The resulting level of science learning, however, has not met expectations. Constructivism offers a very different view of science and science learning. It assumes that logical thinking is an inherently human quality regardless of culture, and instead focuses attention on the processes of interpretation that lead to understanding. Constructivism leads on to expect that students in different cultures will have somewhat different perspectives on science. Science education research should inform curriculum project...
142 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the perceptions held by 120 students and seven teachers of the learning environment in their inquiry-based computer classrooms and found that teachers' perceptions generally were more positive than those of the students.
Abstract: This paper examines the perceptions held by 120 students and seven teachers of the learning environment in their inquiry‐based computer classrooms. The subjects responded to a classroom environment instrument before and after using a computerized database which has the potential for promoting inquiry skills. Generally, there was an increase in student‐perceived investigation and open‐endedness. Although teachers’ and students’ perceptions showed a similar trend, teachers’ perceptions generally were more positive than those of the students.
137 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors assess the efficacy of using analogies to engender conceptual change in student's science learning about the refraction of light using an interview-about-instances protocol.
Abstract: This investigation set out to assess the efficacy of using analogies to engender conceptual change in student's science learning about the refraction of light. Following instruction by the same teacher, two classes of students, one of which was taught analogically and one which was not, were interviewed three months after instruction using an interview‐about‐instances protocol. The verbatim transcripts and interviewer notes were interpreted from a constructivist perspective in an attempt to determine the status of each student's conceptions of refraction of light. The findings from this study, described in terms of class results and three case studies, illustrate the utility of an analogical teaching approach for engendering conceptual change.
137 citations
TL;DR: The Procedural and Conceptual Knowledge in Science (PACKS) project as mentioned in this paper found that children are concerned about the reliability of experimental data, an important element of their understanding of science procedures.
Abstract: This paper reports some of the findings of the Procedural and Conceptual Knowledge in Science (PACKS) project. It documents children's ides about the reliability of experimental data, an important element of their understanding of science procedures. These ideas were elicited using a written survey instrument completed by over 1000 students aged 11, 14 and 16, chosen to be representative of the full ability range. The results show progression with age in understanding of empirical data. A range of ideas about the function of repeat measurements, how to handle repeat measurements and anomalous readings, and the significance of the spread of a set of repeated measurements emerge and are discussed.
130 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a series of journal articles addressing a common theme of practical work/laboratory work in school science and discuss some of the contemporary challenges for science education, science education research and science education journals.
Abstract: In discussing some of the contemporary challenges for science education, science education research and science education journals, Gilbert (1994) outlined some strategies for a way forward. Included among them was the commissioning of a series of journal articles addressing a common theme. I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to coordinate such an initiative on the topic of practical work/laboratory work in school science.
129 citations
TL;DR: The authors discusses students' use of anthropomorphic language in science, and in particular calls upon some examples from research into student understanding of chemical bonding, and suggests a simple classification of such instances to distinguish between those examples that are useful in aiding communication and understanding, and those which merely stand in place of such understanding.
Abstract: This paper discusses students’ use of anthropomorphic language in science, and in particular calls upon some examples from research into student understanding of chemical bonding. It is argued that anthropomorphic language is common amongst scientists as well as science students. A simple classification of such instances is suggested to distinguish between those examples that are useful in aiding communication and understanding, and those which merely stand in place of such understanding.
121 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored unexamined assumptions about language, and suggested that attention to beliefs about the nature of language would be a productive focus in future research and in efforts at curriculum reform, pointing out that a key tension exists between the learner's experience of language as an interpretive system, actively used for generating new understanding, and language as a labelling system for transmitting established information.
Abstract: Researchers have recently shown a growing interest in teachers' and pupils' beliefs about the nature of science, and how these differ from the picture offered by historians, philosophers and sociologists. Tacit beliefs about how scientists work are, however, sustained by unexamined assumptions about language, and this paper explores those assumptions and suggests that attention to beliefs about the nature of language would be a productive focus in future research and in efforts at curriculum reform. A key tension is that between the learner's experience of language as an interpretive system, actively used for generating new understanding, and of language as a labelling system for transmitting established information.
TL;DR: In this article, the transition from holistic conceptualization to image projection conceptualization (IPC) is related to students' incorrect interpretation of the light-ray concept, and specific activities are suggested to encourage an...
Abstract: Educational research provides information on specific ways in which conceptual changes occur when students learn geometrical optics. Students’ ideas may be represented as clusters of ‘facets‐of‐knowledge’, each cluster specific to an optical setting. When students’ ideas undergo conceptual change these facets of knowledge are transformed. The resulting ‘hybrid knowledge’ incorporates ideas from classroom instruction as well as some beliefs students held prior to instruction. It appears that relevant pre‐instructional knowledge could be described within ‘holistic conceptualization’, while hybrid post‐instructional knowledge may be described in the framework of ‘image projection conceptualization’ (IPC) contrasting with the scientific view elaborated in ‘point to point flux mapping’, conceptualization. The transition from holistic conceptualization to IPC, neither of which is correct, is related to students’ incorrect interpretation of the light‐ray concept. Specific activities are suggested to encourage an...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report some of the findings from a study of the ecological understandings of children aged 5-16 years in schools in the north of England, which elicited children's ideas about selected ecological concepts through a series of written tasks and individual interviews set in a range of contexts, referred to here as probes.
Abstract: This paper reports some of the findings from a study of the ecological understandings of children aged 5‐16 years in schools in the north of England. Children's ideas about selected ecological concepts were elicited through a series of written tasks and individual interviews set in a range of contexts, referred to here as probes. Responses of about 200 pupils, across the age range, were obtained on each probe. In this paper the ideas related to the interdependency of organisms in ecosystems are presented and discussed. The design and methodology of the study (Leach et al. 1995), and children's ideas related to the cycling of matter between organisms, and between organisms and the abiotic environment (Leach et al. 1996), have already been reported.
TL;DR: This paper found that students often hold ideas that are not in line with accepted scientific notions, such as "the more of A, the more of B" and "everything can be divided by two".
Abstract: In the last twenty years researchers have studied students’ mathematical and scientific conceptions and reasoning. Most of this research is content‐specific. It has been found that students often hold ideas that are not in line with accepted scientific notions. In our joint work in mathematics and science education it became apparent that many of these alternative conceptions hail from the same intuitive rules. We have so far identified two such rules: ‘The more of A, the more of B’ and, ‘Everything can be divided by two’. The first rule is reflected in students’ responses to many tasks, including all classical Piagetian conservation tasks (conservation of number, area, weight, volume, matter, etc.), in all tasks related to intensive quantities (density, temperature, concentration, etc.), and in tasks related to infinite quantities. The second rule is observed in responses related to successive division of material and geometrical objects, and in successive dilution tasks. In this paper we describe and di...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors make no attempt at all to conceptualise the construct to be measured, and some studies actually contain evidence which indicates that the construct is multi-dimensional and then proceed to ignore that evidence.
Abstract: Summated rating scales to measure attitudes (and other human characteristics) commonly consist of numerous items whose scores are summed to yield a total score. A central assumption underlying the use of this technique is that the items in the scale reflect a common construct. If this assumption is not met, the scoring procedure produces largely meaningless, uninterpretable data. Although this important psychometric principle has been known for a long time, numerous studies in the research literature demonstrate a neglect of this principle. Some studies make no attempt at all to conceptualise the construct to be measured; others conceptualise the construct but then ignore the possibility that it may be multi‐dimensional; still others actually contain evidence which indicates that the construct is multi‐dimensional and then proceed to ignore that evidence. A possible contributor to the confusion is the widespread misunderstanding about the related yet distinct concepts of internal consistency and uni‐dimen...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the development of a scoring procedure that would allow for such comparisons, and the subsequent refinement of the scoring through a re-analysis of VOSTS data from the initial application.
Abstract: With the rise of Science‐Technology‐Society (STS) within the K‐16 science curriculum, helping students develop an understanding of the nature of science and technology, and their interactions in society, has become a goal of science instruction. Use of instrumentation with ‘empirically developed’ multiple‐choice items, such as the Views on Science‐‐Technology‐Society (VOSTS), has been proposed as a means for overcoming the ‘immaculate perception’ difficulty in instruments used in the past to assess the epistemology and sociology of science. However, as originally developed and implemented, the VOSTS did not lend itself to test‐‐retest comparisons and hypothesis testing using inferential statistical procedures. This paper describes the development of a scoring procedure that would allow for such comparisons, and the subsequent refinement of the scoring through a re‐analysis of VOSTS data from the initial application. If limitations associated with VOSTS item selection and categorization of VOSTS multiple‐c...
TL;DR: In this paper, the main contributions from the impressive developments made in science education research during the last decade are reviewed, and the authors refer to the new trends in education research, both in the domain of science learning and science teacher training.
Abstract: I intend to review the main contributions from the impressive developments made in science education research during the last decade. These developments have made the construction of a coherent body of knowledge possible allowing us to expect a significant improvement in the science teaching/learning process. I shall refer, in particular, to the new trends in science education research, both in the domain of science learning and science teacher‐training.
TL;DR: The model of electric current which is universally accepted is one of moving electrons in a wire, responding to a difference in potential across the ends of the wire as discussed by the authors, however, this is not the most useful model.
Abstract: Research findings indicate that students’ understanding of electric current in simple circuits is confused by many alternative conceptions. The model of current which is universally accepted is one of moving electrons in a wire, responding to a difference in potential across the ends of the wire. Remedial teaching strategies have all sought to clarify this model, to enable students to predict circuit behaviour and solve circuit problems. It is possible, however, that this is not the most useful model. An examination of expert images has shown that many experts hold a field concept rather than a particle one. This paper addresses the relevance of these findings for classroom practice.
TL;DR: The Science Foundation Programme (SFP) is a year-long pre-degree program designed to identify academically talented but underprepared black students who wish to pursue tertiary studies in science or applied science, and help them develop their potential in order to achieve this aim as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The Science Foundation Programme (SFP) is a year‐long pre‐degree programme designed to identify academically talented but underprepared black students who wish to pursue tertiary studies in science or applied science, and help them develop their potential in order to achieve this aim. In the model of the foundation programme adopted, we attempted to identify underlying skills, attitudes and resources that would help students succeed in their studies, and then tried to help the students acquire these in as efficient and lasting a way as possible. Thus the focus of the resulting curriculum is on issues such as cognitive skills, practical skills, effective study attitudes and strategies, peer learning, articulation and communication of understandings, positive coping skills, self‐reliance, confidence‐building and awareness of how each individual student learns best. The specific content was chosen primarily in order to provide a vehicle for the development of useful scientific skills, rather than for its own...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe one aspect of a teaching intervention involving groups of primary teacher trainees in Swaziland involving four different combinations of language usage and teaching strategies, focusing on the language dimension of the study.
Abstract: This paper describes one aspect of a teaching intervention involving groups of primary teacher trainees in Swaziland involving four different combinations of language usage and teaching strategies. The main focus is on the language dimension of the study. Audiotapes of group work were analysed for several features including the use of both English and SiSwati and its effect on conceptual change, the causes and frequency of language changes and the social interaction of the group during learning. Analysis of the transcripts of the tapes showed that the use of SiSwati served several important functions including articulation and elimination of alternative conceptions, clarifying of concepts and formulating ideas.
TL;DR: In this paper, a longitudinal enquiry into the development of children's ideas on light and vision was carried out, which followed the same class from Year 4 (age 9 through to Year 6 (age 11), but the greater part of the information came from Year 5.
Abstract: This paper reports a small‐scale longitudinal enquiry into the development of children's ideas on light and vision. It followed the same class from Year 4 (age 9) through to Year 6 (age 11), but the greater part of the information came from Year 5. The data were derived from the children's drawings and written responses, and from small group interviews. Care was taken to ensure that the ideas elicited were the true beliefs of the children. No formal instruction in the subject had been given, nor was any attempted. In the analysis, the children's views have been classified according to a hierarchical set of models, which reflect the strong adherence to an active vision interpretation held by the majority. The extent of progression towards the more scientific view is reported. In the introduction and discussion comparison is made between contemporary non‐scientific conceptions of vision, and the speculations of pre‐scientific philosophers. A final section presents some implications of these findings for tea...
TL;DR: In this paper, a naturalistic study of interactions in an open-inquiry physics laboratory was conducted, and three major patterns of interaction emerged: symmetric, asymmetric, and shifting asymmetric.
Abstract: This is a naturalistic study of interactions in an open‐inquiry physics laboratory. The following aspects‐‐the nature of student‐‐student interactions, the nature of the peer group‐‐teacher interactions, the interactions involved in task management, and the views of students toward group work‐‐indicated some patterns. Primarily, students negotiated in a collaborative mode, an adversarial mode, and by following a majority rule. During the planning and the data interpretation phases of an experiment, interactions were primarily verbal and took shape according to the behaviour of participating individuals. From the analysis of the degree of participation by different members of a group, three major patterns of interaction emerged: symmetric, asymmetric, and shifting asymmetric. During the planning and the data interpretation sessions, interactions between the teacher and students were either a Socratic interlocution or a discussion between a coach and novices. During the data collection stage, the teacher pr...
TL;DR: This study characterized students' and physicians' spontaneous use of analogies in reasoning about concepts related to the mechanical properties of cardiovascular physiology in response to questions at different levels of abstraction from basic physiology to clinical problems.
Abstract: Analogical reasoning is increasingly recognized as an important instrument for promoting conceptual change in science learning. This study characterized students' and physicians' spontaneous use of analogies in reasoning about concepts related to the mechanical properties of cardiovascular physiology. The analogies were made in response to questions at different levels of abstraction from basic physiology to clinical problems. The results indicate that analogies generated by subjects facilitated explanations in a number of ways. These include creating coherent representations in novel situations, bridging gaps in understanding, and triggering associations which result in modified explanations. Subjects at different levels of expertise used analogies differently. The more expert subjects used analogies to facilitate articulation and communication; that is, to illustrate and expand on their explanations. Novices and advanced medical students used more between‐domain analogies to explain all categories of qu...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors draw on three main areas of discussion: accounts of science and school science work; teachers and others' views of the nature of science; and their own data on teachers' reactions to critical incidents and practicals which go wrong.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is not to bury practical work in school science but to (once again) reconsider it. We draw on three main areas of discussion: accounts of science and ‘school science work'; teachers and others’ views of the nature of science; and our own data on teachers’ reactions to ‘critical incidents’ and practicals which go wrong. We use this as a basis for re‐thinking the role of practicals. An account of practical work is suggested which has as its main feature diversity rather than a single model or template. Within this diversity we believe that teachers should be open and honest with pupils about which type of practical work they are doing and why. We advocate that students should be made aware of the different kinds of practical work they do and the purposes of this practical work. In short, teachers should explain to students what type of practical work they are doing and why. Our second message is that teachers’ views about the nature of science both inform and are informed by their clas...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present reactions of Swazi junior secondary students to contextualized lessons on circuit electricity, air and respiratory processes using an application-led teaching strategy, identifying the characteristics of the lesson materials influencing student motivation and interest, student participation and concept development.
Abstract: Although many theoretical arguments have been put forward for contextualizing the African science curriculum, little is known about students’ responses to science curriculum content and teaching methods designed to be locally relevant. This paper describes research in Swaziland. It presents reactions of Swazi junior secondary students to contextualized lessons on circuit electricity, air and respiratory processes using an application‐led teaching strategy. It identifies the characteristics of the lesson materials influencing (1) student motivation and interest, (2) student participation and (3) concept development. It is argued that a continuation of a teacher‐centred teaching style prevents students from gaining the maximum learning benefits from contextualized lesson materials.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify some of these factors, highlight their implications, as well as suggest measures to ameliorate their overall negative effect, and possible areas for future research are identified.
Abstract: Since independence in the late 1950s and the 1960s, African countries have made significant efforts toward the development of their scientific and technological humanpower. This effort is exemplified most in curriculum development in school science, technology and mathematics. Also, concerted attempt has been made towards policy formulation and implementation. However, due to various socio‐economic factors, African states have not been able to achieve the goal of self‐reliance with respect to scientific and technological humanpower development. The focus of this paper is to identify some of these factors, highlight their implications, as well as to suggest measures to ameliorate their overall negative effect. Lastly, possible areas for future research are identified. The aim of such research endeavours is to collect baseline data for planning and decision‐making with respect to human capital development in African countries.
TL;DR: This paper examined the internal consistency of Novak and Gowin's scoring scheme and its effect on the prediction validity of concept mapping as an alternative science classroom achievement assessment and found that there was generally no significant correlation between students' scores on concept mapping and students’ scores on conventional classroom achievement assessments.
Abstract: This study examines the internal consistency of Novak and Gowin's scoring scheme and its effect on the prediction validity of concept mapping as an alternative science classroom achievement assessment. Data were collected in three typical situations: very limited concept mapping experience with free‐style concept mapping; some concept mapping experience with questions provided; extensive concept mapping experience with a list of concepts provided for. It was found that Novak's scoring scheme was not internally consistent, and therefore there was generally no significant correlation between students’ scores on concept mapping and students’ scores on conventional classroom achievement assessments. The need for a new scoring scheme when concept mapping is used as an alternative science assessment is discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report on four participants' perceptions of an interdisciplinary in-service program incorporating science and English theoretical frameworks conducted with junior secondary science teachers over six months of teaching.
Abstract: This paper reports on four participants' perceptions of an interdisciplinary in‐service programme incorporating science and English theoretical frameworks conducted with junior secondary science teachers over six months of teaching. The project aimed to examine the effects on teachers and students of the diversification of the uses of writing for learning in their classrooms. The programme focused on pragmatic issues such as specific strategies to increase opportunities for students to use writing to clarify and deepen their thinking, criteria for evaluating student writing, and effective uses of past student writing to clarify task demands. The paper focuses primarily on the effects on teachers' sense of their roles in teaching, their sense of science as a subject, and their perceptions of the effects on student attitudes towards, and knowledge of, science as a result of the in‐service programme.
TL;DR: In this paper, the transition between electrostatics and electrokinetics from two points of view, the historical and psychological, is discussed, and it is shown that previously acquired knowledge is liable to be a deforming prism in the study of electric circuits.
Abstract: This study deals with the transition between electrostatics and electrokinetics from two points of view, the historical and psychological. In both cases it is shown that previously acquired knowledge of electrostatics is liable to be a ‘deforming prism’ in the study of electric circuits. We examine the use of ideas from electrostatics during the initial study of current phenomena.
TL;DR: In this paper, a theoretical model of motivational style is proposed to explain the results of the Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education (CASE) project, which suggest enhanced cognitive development and science achievement for between 25% and 50% of the children involved.
Abstract: Results published from the Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education (CASE) project suggest enhanced cognitive development and science achievement for between 25% and 50% of children involved; other children showed less or no improvement when compared with control groups (Adey and Shayer 1990, Shayer and Adey 1992a, b). In explicating their findings, these researchers appear to have focused upon children for whom successful intervention is reported. For children failing to respond to CASE techniques, no adequate theoretical explanation is provided. Further understanding of the underlying psychological processes involved in children's learning might help teachers to utilize CASE techniques for the benefit of a greater population of children. The theoretical model of motivational style illuminates CASE findings and provides a missing theoretical framework which helps to explain them.