bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Interest enhancements to science experiments: Interactions with student gender
Authors: Martinez Michael E. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractMales are more likely than females to aspire to and enter scientific careers, a pattern that might be attributed to gender differences in the appeal of school science. Differences might arise, in part, from gender‐related interactions with the interest value of school science experiments. If modifiable, the interest value of experiments could influence attitudes toward science and subsequent choices concerning science involvement. In this study, middle school students carried out versions of science experiments designed to vary in their interest value. Experiment modifications, guided by a three‐component model of interest, ranged from introduction of fantasy scenarios to manipulation of the difficulty and social context of the experiments. Subjects were 101 middle school students, 46 males and 55 females. Of primary interest were MANOVA comparisons of self‐reported interest in the experiments, by gender and experimental condition. In general, interest enhancements were more effective for girls than boys. Boys were more attentive to aspects of the experiments that elicit perceptions of control, whereas girls were more attentive to social aspects.
Gender and practical skill performance in science
Authors: Lock Roger 
Published: October 2006

AbstractThe performance of 18 boys and 18 girls on four problem‐solving tasks set in science contexts was compared. The tasks were administered in a one‐to‐one testing situation and assessments were made by direct observation, questioning, and by using written records. The tasks were valid and reliable, and the samples of boys and girls were matched for ability and curriculum background. Past studies have identified gender differences in performance on science tasks; however, this study found little evidence to support these findings. Few significant differences in performance were found. No gender differences were detected in observation, reporting, or planning skills, and there was no differential performance on the use of scientific language. Girls performed less well in relation to self‐reliance, and performance differences on the interpretation skill approached significance with boys' performance superior.
Variable uses of alternative conceptions: A case study in current electricity
Authors: Heller Patricia M. , Finley Fred N. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractRecent research related to the design of science instruction is often based on conceptual change theory and requires assessments of what knowledge students bring to instruction. The premise of this study was that it is also important to understand when and how students apply their knowledge. Fourteen elementary and middle school teachers in an in‐service physics course were asked to solve qualitatively a variety of series and parallel circuit problems and explicate their reasoning. These teachers were found to share a common core of strongly held propositions that formed a coherent, but incorrect and contradictory model of sequential current flow. Yet their predictions about the circuits were highly variable. The variability in predictions resulted from differences and contradictions in additional “protective belts” of propositions, and differences in the ways in which the teachers changed and selectively applied those propositions to different problems. Understanding the variations in not only what teachers knew, but also the differences in when and how they applied their knowledge complicated the task of designing instruction. However, it also made possible the design of more precise instruction in which the teachers were required to recognize, confront, and reconcile specific inconsistencies in their beliefs.
Children's conceptions of color
Authors: Feher Elsa , Meyer Karen Rice 
Published: October 2006

AbstractAn examination of children's notions about light and visual phenomena shows the existence of mental models, that is to say, ways of thinking that are consistent and pervasive. These naive conceptual schemes, used by different children to explain similar phenomena, determine the kinds of responses given by the children in problem‐solving situations. In this article we study children's ideas about colored objects and colored shadows, with special attention to the ways in which these ideas are organized into mental models. The elucidation of these models provides valuable instructional tools that serve to assess and to confront students' naive conceptions. This work was carried out in a science museum at the site of interactive exhibits that show unexpected effects. Children who visited the museum were engaged in problem‐solving situations that involved predictions, explanations, and manipulations of the exhibit.
A curriculum strategy that expands time for in‐depth elementary science instruction by using science‐based reading strategies: Effects of a year‐long study in grade four
Authors: Romance Nancy R. , Vitale Michael R. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractAn integrative curriculum strategy emphasizing science process skills and hands‐on activities expanded the time allocated for in‐depth science instruction by replacing a district‐adopted basal reading program with science‐content reading designed to facilitate applied comprehension skills. This study investigated the combined effect of these curricular components (i.e., in‐depth science, science‐content‐based reading) upon student achievement, attitudes, and self‐confidence in both science and reading over the school year. In doing so, teachers in three fourth‐grade classrooms each incorporated applied reading (and language arts) objectives into science reading activities as part of a daily, expanded, in‐depth science teaching block that encompassed the total instructional time originally allocated to reading and science. Using multivariate covariance analysis, results showed that the students in the experimental group, compared to demographically similar controls, not only displayed significantly greater standardized test achievement as measured by the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills reading subtest and the Metropolitan Achievement Test science subtest, but also displayed a more positive attitude toward science and reading and greater self‐confidence in learning science. Implications of the strategy for future curriculum research in science education are discussed.
Science instruction for the mildly handicapped: Direct instruction versus discovery teaching
Authors: Bay Mary , Staver John R. , Bryan Tanis , Hale James B. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractThe authors' purpose in this study was to compare the effectiveness of two instructional approaches on mildly handicapped and nonhandicapped students' science achievement. Students were assigned at random to one of two conditions: (a) direct instruction, and (b) discovery teaching. The content of the lessons remained constant across conditions and focused on such concepts as displacement, flotation, variable, controlled experimentation, and scientific prediction. The results show that students in both groups learned equally well as measured by an immediate posttest. However, students in the discovery teaching condition outperformed their direct instruction counterparts on a retention test administered two weeks after the posttest. Finally, learning‐disabled students in the discovery condition performed better than their direct‐instruction counterparts on a performance‐based measure designed to assess generalization. Implications for research and for practice are discussed.
Differences in sociocultural environment perceptions associated with gender in science classrooms
Authors: Jegede Olugbemiro J. , Okebukola Peter Akinsola 
Published: October 2006

AbstractAn amount‐of‐learning outcome variable has been attributed to the environment in which teaching and learning are conducted. Studies carried out so far have, however, not focused on the sociocultural aspect of the classroom environment, which has been theorized to have potential influence on students' learning. The intent of this study was to examine the influence of five aspects of the sociocultural environment in science classes with particular reference to how these are perceived by boys and girls. The 30‐item Socio‐Cultural Environment Scale (SCES) developed by Jegede and Okebukola (1988) was used to collect data from 707 Nigerian secondary school students in Classes Four and Five (Grades 10 and 11, respectively). Authoritarianism, goal structure, African worldview, societal expectation, and sacredness of science were the five subscales studied. Sex differences were recorded in the societal expectation subscale. Most of the female subjects are of the opinion that society has a negative or low regard for their ability to do science and this has an effect on their motivation to undertake science‐based careers. The reverse is true for boys. This perception is in agreement with the literature on sex differences in science education and highlights the social pressure that brings about subject preferences. The implications of these findings for science teaching and further research are highlighted.
The effect of a problem solving in‐service program on the classroom behaviors and attitudes of middle school science teachers
Authors: Abell Sandra K. , Pizzini Edward L. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractThis study examines the effect of an in‐service education program emphasizing problem solving on teacher attitudes toward teaching science and on teaching behaviors. Twenty‐two middle school science teachers participated in the program and another 22 served as the control group. The two groups were similar in terms of gender, teaching status, educational background, and professional activity during the treatment period. Before and after the eight‐month project, subjects completed attitude surveys and recorded videotapes of themselves teaching science lessons. No difference was noted between the groups on the attitude measure. The videotapes were analyzed using a coding scheme developed for use in this study. A multivariate analysis of variance performed on the observational data showed a significant difference between the groups on the postworkshop measure. The experimental‐group teachers shifted to more student‐centered classrooms, with less lecture and procedural talk. This study provides evidence that an extended in‐service education program can affect the teaching behaviors of science teachers in the middle grades.
The relationship between students' learning strategies and the change in their misunderstandings during a high school chemistry course
Authors: Boujaoude Saouma B. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractThe purposes of this study are as follows: (a) to investigate the relationship between high school students' learning approaches, prior knowledge and attitudes toward chemistry, and their performance on a misunderstandings test; and (b) to describe and analyze the differences between the responses of students with different learning approaches on the same test. Forty‐nine suburban high school students enrolled in two sections of New York State Regents Chemistry classes participated in the study. The students' performance on a misunderstandings pretest and the students' learning approach both accounted for a statistically significant proportion of the variance on their performance on the misunderstandings posttest. Additionally, the results showed that the relatively meaningful learners performed significantly better than the relatively rote learners on the misunderstandings posttest.
Using reasoning ability as the basis for assigning laboratory partners in nonmajors biology
Authors: Lawson Anton E. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractStudents in a large one‐semester nonmajors college biology course were classified into one of three groups (intuitive—I, transitional—T, reflective—R) based upon a pretest of scientific reasoning ability. Laboratory teams of two students each then were formed, such that all possible combinations of reasoning abilities were represented (i.e., I‐I, I‐T, I‐R, T‐T, T‐R, R‐R). Students worked with their assigned partners during each of the course's 14 laboratory sessions. Gains in reasoning ability, laboratory achievement, and course achievement, as well as changes in students' opinions of their motivation, enjoyment of the laboratory, and their own and their partner's reasoning abilities were assessed at the end of the semester. Significant pre‐ to posttest gains in reasoning ability by the intuitive and transitional students were found, but these gains were not significantly related to the laboratory partner's reasoning ability. Also, course achievement was not significantly related to the laboratory partner's reasoning ability. Students were perceptive of others' reasoning ability; the more able reasoners were generally viewed as being more motivated, having better ideas, and being better at doing science. Additional results also indicated that course enjoyment and motivation was significantly decreased for the transitional students when they were paired with intuitive students. Apparently, for students in transition (i.e., not at an equilibrium state with regard to reasoning level), it is frustrating to work with a less able reasoner. However, some evidence was found to suggest that reflective students may benefit from working with a less able partner.
Conceptual difficulties with isomerism
Authors: Schmidt Hans‐Jürgen 
Published: October 2006

AbstractThe purpose of this descriptive study was to investigate whether students regard isomers as only such compounds as:(1) belong to the same class of compounds, or (2) have the same shape (cross or bar) in graphical representations of their formulas.A sample of 7, 441 senior high school students of Grades 11‐13 completed paper‐and‐pencil tests. Individual classes were interviewed on video while solving the tests. The results of the study support the hypothesis that students are inclined to restrict their concept of isomerism to compounds belonging to the same class. The study focused on ethers and alcohols. In the study the students' restricted concepts were remarkably stable, even if they were made to check in their chemistry books. There was no evidence that students expected the molecular formulas of isomers to be of the same shape. In their view the isomeric molecules should have branched‐chain carbon skeletons. The following hypotheses were used to explain the results: (a) Students' limited concepts are due to a discrepancy between the definition of isomerism and its application in teaching and research; (b) the iso‐nomenclature leads students to identify isomers by branched carbon chains. The results of this study apply directly to practice in the classroom. There is a need for continued research in the sciences to trace similar sources of conceptual difficulties.
A comparison of preservice and in‐service earth and space science teachers' general mental abilities, content knowledge, and problem‐solving skills
Authors: Barba Robertta H. , Rubba Peter A. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to compare in‐service and preservice earth and space science teachers on their general mental abilities, their content knowledge or declarative knowledge of earth and space sciences, the Gagnean levels of their content knowledge or declarative knowledge, and the procedural knowledge used in solving earth and space science problems. This study used a contrast‐group design to compare in‐service (n = 30) and preservice (n = 30) earth and space science teachers. The in‐service earth science teachers (a) bring more declarative knowledge to the problem‐solving situation, (b) use fewer steps while problem solving, (c) generate more subroutines and alternate hypotheses, and (d) possess different structural knowledge than do preservice earth science teachers. Findings from this study support Norman's theory of learning that experts (in‐service teachers) function at the tuning mode of learning, whereas novices (preservice teachers) function in an accreting or structuring mode. In‐service earth science teachers exhibited smoothness, automaticity, and decreased mental effort not exhibited by preservice earth and space science teachers.
Factors influencing environmental attitude: The relationship between environmental attitude defensibility and cognitive reasoning level
Authors: Yount James R. , Horton Phillip B. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between factors believed to contribute to the formation of environmental attitudes by college nonscience majors. Key relationships addressed were the effects of a university environmental studies course on (a) environmental attitudes, (b) the amount of factual information that is brought to bear on an environmental attitude decision (defensibility), and (c) the linkages between the affective and the cognitive domains of freshman and sophomore students. When compared to the control group, the students who attended an environmental studies class did not significantly change their attitudes, but they did exhibit increases in their total [F(3, 132) = 5.91, p < 0.01] and count [F(3, 132) = 4.86, p < 0.01] levels of defensibility. These findings corroborate work performed by Kinsey (1978) and Kinsey and Wheatley (1980, 1984). In addition, students in the environmental studies course who had higher cognitive reasoning scores were more prone to increase defensibility [F(6, 129) = 3.78, p < 0.01]. These data imply a linkage between cognitive and affective domains in the environmental attitude decision‐making process.
Stage theory of the development of alternative conceptions
Authors: Eckstein Shulamith G. , Shemesh Michal 
Published: October 2006

AbstractA systematic study of children's ideas on motion of macroscopic objects was carried out with the participation of 631 subjects in Grades 2–12 (ages 7–8 through 17–18). An open‐ended, four‐part questionnaire was administered to the subjects. The responses were categorized according to the level of sophistication of the answer. The results were analyzed using a mathematical model that was first applied to the development of Piagetian stages (Eckstein & Shemesh, 1992, in press). For three of the questions, the responses change as the children mature, and it appears that the children pass through distinct, successive stages with respect to their conceptual understanding of these questions. The mathematical model predicts that the proportion of subjects at each stage is a linear combination of decreasing exponentials. The model fits the experimental data well. Characteristic times for transition between stages were calculated. If teaching strategies to overcome misconceptions are to be effective, then they must be appropriate to the particular misconception prevalent at each stage.
The development of science process skills in authentic contexts
Authors: Roth Wolff‐Michael , Roychoudhury Anita 
Published: October 2006

AbstractInstructional strategies and curriculum sequences aimed at teaching process skills have received considerable attention in science education. On the other hand, the teaching of domain‐independent, context‐free skills has been subject to criticism on the ground that important aspects of cognitive activities are functions of meaningful contexts. The intent of this study was to examine the development of integrated process skills in the context of open‐inquiry laboratory sessions. The data‐collection approach was qualitative and included videotapes of laboratory sessions, laboratory reports of students, and the reflective journals kept by the two teachers involved in the study. Forty‐eight students from the Grade 11 introductory physics course, 29 students from the Grade 12 physics course, and 60 students from the Grade 8 general science course from an all‐boys private school participated in the study. An interpretive research methodology was adopted for construction of meaning from the data. Students worked in collaborative groups during all of the open‐inquiry laboratory sessions. Findings from the study indicate that students develop higher‐order process skills through nontraditional laboratory experiences that provided the students with freedom to perform experiments of personal relevance in authentic contexts. Students learned to (a) identify and define pertinent variables, (b) interpret, transform, and analyze data, (c) plan and design an experiment, and (d) formulate hypotheses. Findings of this study suggest that process skills need not be taught separately. Integrated process skills develop gradually and reach a high level of sophistication when experiments are performed in meaningful context.
Grade 10 Students' perceptions of and attitudes toward science teaching and school science
Authors: Ebenezer Jazlin V. , Zoller Uri 
Published: October 2006

AbstractGrade 10 students' perceptions of classroom practices and activities, as well as their attitudes toward science teaching and school science, were assessed in the Westend School District (pseudonym) in British Columbia, using both quantitative (statistics of Likert‐type scales) and qualitative (critical interpretive analysis of interview data) methods. The major findings of the study were that students do not appreciate the most prevailing contemporary practices in science classes, perceived by them as mainly the copying of the teacher's notes, and that they prefer science teaching and learning in which they take an active and responsible part. Additionally, teaching style appears to be the major determinant of high school students' attitudes toward science and science teaching. No change in students' perceptions of and attitudes toward science teaching and school science (in 1989 compared with 1986) could be detected in spite of the impact made by the recently advocated constructivist and science‐technology‐society (STS) approaches on science curriculum and science education. It is argued, therefore, that more emphasis must be placed on the science teachers' role and their teaching style if an educational change in the constructivist/STS direction is to be achieved.
Changing middle school students' conceptions of matter and molecules
Authors: Lee Okhee , Eichinger David C. , Anderson Charles W. , Berkheimer Glenn D. , Blakeslee Theron D. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractThe purpose of this study was two‐fold: (1) to understand the conceptual frameworks that sixth‐grade students use to explain the nature of matter and molecules, and (2) to assess the effectiveness of two alternative curriculum units in promoting students' scientific understanding. The study involved 15 sixth‐grade science classes taught by 12 teachers in each of two successive years. Data were collected through paper‐and‐pencil tests and clinical interviews. The results revealed that students' entering conceptions differed from scientific conceptions in various ways. These differences included molecular conceptions concerning the nature, arrangement, and motion of molecules as well as macroscopic conceptions concerning the nature of matter and its physical changes. The results also showed that the students taught by the revised unit in Year 2 performed significantly better than the students taught by the original commercial curriculum unit in Year 1 for 9 of the 10 conceptual categories. Implications for science teaching and curriculum development are discussed.