bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Preservice teachers' acquisition and retention of integrated science process skills: A comparison of teacher‐directed and self‐instructional strategies
Authors: Strawitz Barbara M. , Malone Mark R. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to compare the effects of two methods of instruction designed to teach preservice elementary teachers to acquire and retain integrated science process skills. In one section instruction was provided by the teacher, whereas in the other section, instruction was provided by written self‐paced self‐instructional materials. Results indicated that the self‐instructional method was significantly more effective than the teacher‐directed method. Both treatments produced long‐lasting retention effects.
The role of target students in the science classroom
Authors: Tobin Kenneth , Gallagher James J. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractThis study investigated whole class interactions in 200 science lessons involving 15 teachers and students from grades 8 to 12 in two urban Australian high schools. A relatively small number of 3–7 “target students” monopolized whole class interactions. In most instances target students were male. Compared to others in the class, target students asked more questions of the teacher, were called on to respond to higher cognitive level questions, and received higher quality feedback. Two types of target student were identified. The students who actively participated in classroom interactions in a self‐initiated manner tended to accept responsibility for their academic achievement and for interactions with others. The second type of target student, who participated as a consequence of being selected by the teacher, tended to have higher formal reasoning ability and achieve at a higher level than others in the class.
Inter‐relationship among laboratory process skills in biology
Authors: Tamir Pinchas , Amir Ruth 
Published: October 2006

AbstractInquiry oriented practical matriculation tests of 3650 12th grade biology students in Israel were analyzed to find out the interrelationships among 21 process skills. Using correlations and varimax factor analysis, seven factors were obtained. These factors are listed according to the relative percentage of the total variance accounted for from highest to lowest: handling quantitative relationships, explaining and assessing data, conceptualizing and planning investigations, summarizing results, interpreting and concluding, selecting form of presenting findings, designing experiments.The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are briefly discussed. Theoretically, the associations as well as the dissociations identified provide important clues regarding the organization of process skills related knowledge in cognitive structure. From a practical perspective the findings offer guidance for teacher educators as well as biology teachers on more effective ways for developing science process skills.
The role of cognitive factors in chemistry achievement
Authors: Chandran Sarath , Treagust David F. , Tobin Kenneth 
Published: October 2006

AbstractEvidence from the research literature suggests that a variety of cognitive factors is responsible for chemistry achievement. This investigation examined the role of four cognitive factors, namely, formal reasoning ability, prior knowledge, field dependence/ independence, and memory capacity on achievement in chemistry as measured by tests of laboratory application, chemical calculations and content knowledge. The sample comprised grade 11 students from eleven high schools who were following the same chemistry syllabus. The results indicated that prior knowledge and formal reasoning ability were each statistically significantly related to variation in chemistry achievement. Field dependence/independence and memory capacity played no significant role in chemistry achievement.
Effects of traditional and discovery instructional approaches on learning outcomes for learners of different intellectual development: A study of chemistry students in Zambia
Authors: Mulopo Moses M. , Fowler H. Seymour 
Published: October 2006

AbstractThis study examined the differential effectiveness of traditional and discovery methods of instruction for the teaching of science concepts, understandings about science, and scientific attitudes, to learners at the concrete and formal level of cognitive development. The dependent variables were achievement, understanding science, and scientific attitude; assessed through the use of the ACS Achievement Test (high school chemistry, Form 1979), the Test on Understanding Science (Form W), and the Test on Scientific Attitude, respectively. Mode of instruction and cognitive development were the independent variables. Subjects were 120 Form IV (11th grade) males enrolled in chemistry classes in Lusaka, Zambia. Sixty of these were concrete reasoners (mean age = 18.23) randomly selected from one of the two schools. The remaining 60 subjects were formal reasoners (mean age 18.06) randomly selected from a second boys' school. Each of these two groups was randomly split into two subgroups with 30 subjects. Traditional and discovery approaches were randomly assigned to the two subgroups of concrete reasoners and to the two subgroups of formal reasoners. Prior to instruction, the subjects were pretested using the ACS Achievement Test, the Test on Understanding Science, and the Test on Scientific Attitude. Subjects received instruction covering eight chemistry topics during approximately 10 weeks. Posttests followed using the same standard tests. Two‐way analysis of covariance, with pretest scores serving as covariates was used and 0.05 level of significant was accepted. Tukey WSD technique was used as a follow‐up test where applicable. It was found that (1) for the formal reasoners, the discovery group earned significantly higher understanding science scores than the traditional group. For the concrete reasoners mode of instruction did not make a difference; (2) overall, formal reasoners earned significantly higher achievement scores than concrete reasoners; (3) in general, subjects taught by the discovery approach earned significantly higher scientific attitude scores than those taught by the traditional approach. The traditional group outperformed the discovery group in achievement scores. It was concluded that the traditional approach might be an efficient instructional mode for the teaching of scientific facts and principles to high school students, while the discovery approach seemed to be more suitable for teaching scientific attitudes and for promoting understanding about science and scientists among formal operational learners.
Tools for bridging the cultures of everyday and scientific thinking
Authors: Hawkins Jan , Pea Roy D. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractA perspective about science education is developed which has implications for the design of interactive learning technologies. Current philosophical work concerning the interpretative nature of scientific inquiry is reviewed as a context for discussing the situation of the child in developing scientific understanding. This view of learning emphasizes the relationships among informal understanding, conceptual change, and enculturation into modes of scientific discourse. A prototype software system for supporting scientific inquiry processes in students is described.
Instructional design, cognition, and technology: Applications to the teaching of scientific concepts
Authors: Reif F. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractThe effective educational use of information technologies depends crucially on good instructional design based on an adequate understanding of cognitive processes. To teach flexible intellectual performance, such design must ensure that the knowledge acquired by students be explicit, coherent, reliably interpretable, and testable. For example, the ability to use scientific or mathematical concepts requires both explicit general interpretation procedures and knowledge about various special cases. Detailed observations indicate that good scientists have these kinds of knowledge, but that students exhibit many mistakes traceable to knowledge that is fragmented and unin‐terpretable. Instructional guidelines, based on such cognitive considerations, were tested in an experiment where students were taught an explicit procedure specifying the concept “acceleration,” and then diagnosed and corrected mistakes committed by themselves or others. Such teaching greatly improved students' concept interpretations and blocked previous misconceptions. Computers can provide powerful tools for research on instructional design and for implementing more effective teaching.
Artificial intelligence and science education
Authors: Good Ron 
Published: October 2006

AbstractArtificial intelligence (AI) is defined and related to intelligent computer‐assisted instruction (ICAI) and science education. Modeling the student, the teacher, and the natural environment are discussed as important parts of ICAI and the concept of “microworlds” as a powerful tool for science education is presented. Optimistic predictions about ICAI are tempered with the complex, persistent problems of: 1) teaching and learning as a soft or fuzzy knowledge base, 2) natural language processing, and 3) machine learning. The importance of accurate diagnosis of a student's learning state, including misconceptions and naive theories about nature, is stressed and related to the importance of accurate diagnosis by a physician. Based on the cognitive science/AI paradigm, a revised model of the well‐known Karplus/Renner learning cycle is proposed.
Computer simulations to stimulate scientific problem solving
Authors: Rivers Robert H. , Vockell Edward 
Published: October 2006

AbstractComputer simulations were employed by high school biology students in an attempt to enhance their problem solving skills. The simulations were administered under two conditions: (a) unguided discovery and (b) guided discovery. In addition, a control group received no simulations. To ascertain the effectiveness of the simulations in enhancing problem solving abilities, performance was compared on (a) subsequent unit pretests, (b) standardized tests measuring scientific thought processes, and (c) a standardized test of critical thinking. The results indicate that (a) the students using the simulations met the unit objectives at least as well as the control students, and (b) the students using the guided version of the simulations surpassed the other students on the subsequent simulation pretests, on the tests of scientific thinking, and on the test of critical thinking. The authors discuss the apparent usefulness of the programs in terms of the opportunities they provide students (a) to be actively involved in the learning process and (b) to repeatedly practice applying principles that would otherwise be practiced much less often.
Cognitive consequences of student estimation on linear and logarithmic scales
Authors: Berger Carl F. , Pintrich Paul R. , Stemmer Paul M. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractEstimation is a general problem solving task that has cognitive consequences for students. Many physical and biological phenomena are best modeled using logarithmic scales, but there has been little research that addresses students' understanding of logarithmic scales. Forty junior high school students were asked to solve two types of estimation problems, linear and logarithmic. A microcomputer simulation was used to provide data on students' performance on the two estimation tasks. Past research has shown that this simulation can provide an interesting and reliable method for examining students' learning on an estimation task. Results from this study showed that performance on the linear scale could be described by a general learning curve with improved performance over time. In addition the logarithmic scale results indicated a more complex interaction involving both the number of estimation trials and the position of the estimation “target” on the logarithmic scale. Students' strategy use did not relate to performance on the linear task but did influence performance on the logarithmic task. The results are discussed in terms of students' knowledge of logarithmic scales and their general strategies for problem solving. Implications for teaching and using logarithmic scales in science classes are also discussed.
Ideal and actual outcomes from precollege pascal instruction
Authors: Linn Marcia C. , Sloane Kathryn D. , Clancy Michael J. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractMore systematic study of the relationship between instructional practice and learning outcomes are needed before we can build powerful instructional theories. In this study, we relate programming proficiency to instructional practice in 14 Pascal programming classes at the High School level. We found that instructional practices involves (a) extensive on‐line access, (b) explicit instruction, and (c) extensive feedback. These results help clarify the nature of time‐on‐task and encourage researchers to examine explicit instruction more closely.
Classroom climate and science‐related attitudes of junior high school students in Taiwan
Authors: Lin Bao‐Shan , Crawley Frank E. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractDifferences in classroom climate and science related attitudes were investigated among junior high school science classes and students in Taiwan. The sample consisted of 1,269 students enrolled in 40 science classes distributed equally among ten junior high schools, five metropolitan and five rural. Classes were further classified according to sex (21 boys and 19 girls classes) and ability (19 high and 21 low ability classes). Using the Learning Environment Inventory (Anderson, Walberg, & Fraser, 1982) to measure climate, science classes in metropolitan schools, more than rural, were found to be characterized by Speed, Friction, Favoritism, Difficulty, Cliqueness, and Competitiveness. No differences were found in the classroom climates of classes in which students were grouped according to sex or ability. Using the Test of Science‐Related Attitudes (Fraser, 1981), students in science classes in metropolitan schools, in contrast to rural, expressed more positive attitudes toward the Social Implications of Science, Adoption of Scientific Attitudes, and Attitude to Scientific Inquiry. Boys more than girls recorded high scores on Leisure Interest in Science and Career Interest in Science. High ability students were found to have higher scores on Attitude to Scientific Inquiry than did low ability students. When examining the relationship between the 15 subscale scores of the LEI and the seven subscale scores of the TOSRA for the 40 classes, only 9 out of 105 correlations proved to be significant. Most differences in climate, attitude, and their interactions were attributed to school location rather than to student characteristics.
Analysis of the project synthesis goal cluster orientation and inquiry emphasis of elementary science textbooks
Authors: Staver John R. , Bay Mary 
Published: October 2006

AbstractThe purpose of this descriptive study was to examine selected units of commonly used elementary science texts, using the Project Synthesis goal clusters as a framework for part of the examination. An inquiry classification scheme was used for the remaining segment. Four questions were answered: (1) To what extent do elementary science textbooks focus on each Project Synthesis goal cluster? (2) In which part of the text is such information found? (3) To what extent are the activities and experiments merely verifications of information already introduced in the text? (4) If inquiry is present in an activity, then what is the level of such inquiry?Eleven science textbook series, which comprise approximately 90 percent of the national market, were selected for analysis. Two units, one primary (K‐3) and one intermediate (4‐6), were selected for analysis by first identifying units common to most series, then randomly selecting one primary and one intermediate unit for analysis.Each randomly selected unit was carefully read, using the sentence as the unit of analysis. Each declarative and interrogative sentence in the body of the text was classified as: (1) academic; (2) personal; (3) career; or (4) societal in its focus. Each illustration, except those used in evaluation items, was similarly classified. Each activity/experiment and each miscellaneous sentence in end‐of‐chapter segments labelled “review,” “summary,” “evaluation,” etc., were similarly classified. Finally, each activity/experiment, as a whole, was categorized according to a four‐category inquiry scheme (confirmation, structured inquiry, guided inquiry, open inquiry).In general, results of the analysis are: (1) most text prose focuses on academic science; (2) most remaining text prose focuses on the personal goal cluster; (3) the career and societal goal clusters receive only minor attention; (4) text illustrations exhibit a pattern similar to text prose; (5) text activities/experiments are academic in orientation, almost to the exclusion of other goal clusters; (6) end‐of‐chapter sentences are largely academic; (7) inquiry is absent or present only in limited forms in text activities/experiments; and (8) texts allocate only a minor portion of space to activities/experiments. Detailed findings are given as numeral, percentage, and decimal values. Discussion focuses on the implications of the results and a comparison of NSTA recommendations with the results of this analysis.
A study of two measures of spatial ability as predictors of success in different levels of general chemistry
Authors: Carter Carolyn S. , Larussa Mary A. , Bodner George M. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractPreliminary data (Bodner and McMillen, 1986) suggested a correlation between spatial ability and performance in a general chemistry course for science and engineering majors. This correlation was seen not only on highly spatial tasks such as predicting the structures of ionic solids (r = 0.29), but also on tasks such as multiple‐choice stoichiometry questions (r = 0.32) that might not be expected to involve spatial skills. To further investigate the relationship between spatial ability and performance in introductory chemistry courses, two spatial tests were given to 1648 students in a course for science and engineering majors (Carter, 1984) and 850 students in a course for students from nursing and agriculture (La‐Russa, 1985) at Purdue. Scores on the spatial tests consistently contributed a small but significant amount to success on measures of performance in chemistry. Correlations were largest, however, for subscores that grouped questions that tested problem solving skills rather than rote memory or the application of simple algorithms, and correlations were also large for verbally complex questions thaty required the students to disembed and restructure relevant information.
Learning about technology: Family vs. peer pairings
Authors: Heller Patricia , Padilla Michael , Hertel Barbara , Olstad Roger 
Published: October 2006

AbstractRecently a number of institutions have begun sponsoring nondeficit science and/or technology learning experiences for parents and their middle school‐aged children which are intended to be enriching rather than remedial or compensatory in purpose. Very little research documenting the effects of parental involvement in the education of older children has been reported, however.The intent of this article was to present two studies designed to determine whether middle school‐aged children's attitudes and content achievement are different when they take a technology course with their parents (parent‐child treatment) or with their peers (child‐child treatment). The first study focused on learning about communications technology (primarily telegraphs, telephones and radios); the second study focused on microcomputers.Results indicate that parents have little affect in helping their children learn the subject matter of technology courses. Likewise, parents do not affect children's attitudes toward computers. Both results were attenuated by the fact that the students in the studies were high achievers who were interested in and motivated to learn the subject matter, regardless of treatment. Significant differences were noted for computer literacy favoring the parent‐child group, however. Parents also seemed to effect children's attitudes toward the subject matter of the courses.Further research needs to be done with less appealing course content or with less motivated students to fully determine the effect of parent‐child and child groupings in science and technology courses.
Learning chemistry from text: The effect of decision making
Authors: Pedersen Jon , J. Ronald , Alice Bonnstetter , Corkill J. , Glover John A. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractTwo experiments examined the relative effects of questions requiring decisions, statements providing the decision information to students, questions not requiring decisions, and control procedures on students' memory for chemistry text reading materials. Experiment 1 employed immediate recall. The results of Experiment 1 indicated that students who made and justified decisions about the contents recalled significantly more information than students in any other condition. In addition, students who answered questions that did not require decisions recalled significantly more of the content than students in the control or the statements conditions. No other contrasts reached significance. Experiment 2 employed delayed recall assessed one week after reading. The results confirmed those of Experiment 1. The overall results of the study are discussed in terms of an elaboration perspective on memory.
The necessity of each phase of the learning cycle in teaching high school physics
Authors: Renner John W. , Abraham Michael R. , Birnie Howard H. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractThe learning cycle is a method of teaching—it is also a curriculum organization principle and is derived directly from the mental functioning model invented by Piaget. Although Jean Piaget contributed to the formation of the learning cycle (Piaget, 1973), its present structure has to be attributed to Dr. Robert Karplus and the persons who developed the materials of the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS). It was through the SCIS activities that many of us learned how to develop curricula and teach with the learning cycle. The learning cycle is built upon the premise that three distinct phases are necessary in developing understanding of a concept, that those phases have a definite sequence, and each phase has a definite structure or form. The research done in testing the form variable has already been reported in this journal (Renner, Abraham, & Birnie, 1985). This report explores whether or not each learning‐cycle phase is necessary in learning a concept.
The relationship between cognitive preferences, student background and achievement in science
Authors: Tamir Pinchas 
Published: October 2006

AbstractCognitive preferences of Israeli 12th grade students were studied as part of the Second IEA Science Study. It was found that during the last ten years Israeli students have become more oriented toward application. Higher sociocultural status, higher achievement in science, liking of science studies, more time devoted to science homework, and intentions to study science in college were all associated with a higher preference for principles and critical questioning as well as with a lower preference for recall. Science majors compared with non‐science majors exhibited a higher level of intellectual curiosity. There were no differences between cognitive preferences of boys and girls.