Investigating student attitudes and achievements in an environmental place-based inquiry in secondary classrooms

Brian T. Gautreau,

Ian C. Binns

Published: April 10, 2012

Student attitudes toward science and content achievements were examined in three secondary Biology I classrooms using an environmentally place-based curriculum as well as a traditional curriculum. Student attitudes were measured using Likert-scale science attitude surveys administered at the beginning of the school year and once again following completion of weeklong ecology curricula. Content achievements were assessed on a pre- and post-test as well as an end-of-unit test. The quantitative results show some attitude measures are correlated with ability-group tracking, and that little change in science attitudes occurred during the course of the study for the three groups. Results also indicate …

Omani pre-service science teachers’ views about global warming: Beliefs about actions and willingness to act

Abdullah Ambusaidi,

Neil Taylor,

Edward Boyes,

Martin Stanisstreet

Published: April 10, 2012

A 44-item questionnaire was employed to determine pre-service teachers’ beliefs about how useful various specific actions might be in helping to reduce global warming, their willingness to undertake these same actions, and the extent to which these two might be related. The instrument was administered to pre-service science teachers (n=104) at the Sultan Qaboos University in the Sultanate of Oman. The findings indicate that the majority of these Omani pre-service science teachers believed that global warming and associated climate change is happening now and they are concerned about it. Furthermore, they are aware of the measures that individuals could take …

Science teachers and the dissection debate: Perspectives on animal dissection and alternatives

Jan Oakley

Published: April 10, 2012

This study investigated Ontario science and biology teachers’ practices and attitudes toward animal dissection and dissection alternatives. The data was collected through a mixed methods approach involving online surveys (n=153) and subsequent telephone interviews (n=9) with secondary school science and biology teachers. The findings indicate that teachers identify strengths and drawbacks to both dissection and alternatives, but the majority continue to strongly favour traditional dissection and see it as vital to biology education. Further, although teachers expressed concerns with dissection, their concerns were overshadowed by an overall dissatisfaction with alternatives. It is argued that teachers need to engage more deeply …

The effectiveness of the brain based teaching approach in enhanching scientific understanding of Newtonian physics among form four students

Salmiza Saleh

Published: Jan. 10, 2012

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of Brain Based Teaching Approach in enhancing students’ scientific understanding of Newtonian Physics in the context of Form Four Physics instruction. The technique was implemented based on the Brain Based Learning Principles developed by Caine & Caine (1991, 2003). This brain compatible strategy involves specific attention and consideration towards seven main steps; (i) Activation, (ii) Clarify the outcome and paint big picture of the lesson, (iii) Making connection, (iv) Doing the learning activity, (v) Demonstrate student understanding, (vi) Review for student recall and retention and (vii) Preview the new topic. …

Improving classroom practices using our knowledge of how the brain works

Oduola O Abiola,

Harkirat S Dhindsa

Published: Jan. 10, 2012

During the last decade of the 20th century (the decade of the brain) large sums of money were spent in researching how the brain works in relation to our day-to-day activities. As a result, we now know to a much greater extent the roles played by various regions of the brain when we are carrying out various activities including learning. We also know that different types of rewards and instruments can stimulate specific parts of the brain which enable individuals to carry out their daily chores efficiently. These findings when applied to a classroom learning situation, which is a step …

Student labs on a university campus as a type of out-of-school learning environment: Assessing the potential to promote students’ interest in science

Ingrid Glowinski,

Horst Bayrhuber

Published: Oct. 10, 2011

Student labs are out-of-school learning environments that are assumed to promote students‟ interest in science. They are characterised by aspects of situated and authentic learning, a prominence of application contexts presented by scientists, and a high amount of practical work. Research has shown the potential for promoting students‟ interest in science for each of these aspects when implemented separately as a teaching approach in science education. This study aims to explore, whether (i) these aspects can be shown to be separately effective on students‟ interest even when realised jointly in the learning environment and, if so, (ii) which reciprocal effects …

Arthropods: Attitude and incorporation in preservice elementary teachers

Dr. Ron Wagler,

Dr. Amy Wagler

Published: July 10, 2011

Invertebrates perform many beneficial and essential ecological services for humans. Despite this, the general public tends to view them negatively. Preservice elementary teachers often find themselves in a tenuous position because they possess the same negativity toward invertebrates as the general public but have been commissioned by United States of America national and state standards to teach their future students about the very invertebrates they distain. This study investigated the effect frequent direct contact with Madagascar hissing cockroaches (Gromphadorhina portentosa) in an educational setting had on preservice elementary teacher‟s arthropod (i.e., a subset of invertebrates) attitude and likelihood of arthropod …

Reliability and validation of a short scale to measure situational emotions in science education

Christoph Randler,

Philipp Mayring,

Eberhard Hummel,

Michaela Gläser-Zikuda,

Franz X. Bogner

Published: Oct. 10, 2011

Research has shown that emotions play a significant role in the learning process and academic achievement. However, the fact that measurement of emotions during or after instruction usually requires written responses on lengthy research instruments has been given as a reason why researchers have tended to avoid research on this topic in classrooms. Consequently, we developed a short Likert-scale instrument which used only three items within the three factors of interest, well-being and boredom to measure adolescent emotions during instruction in science education. We present four different studies in four populations to assess the validity of the scale. In order …

Using interactive whiteboard technology-rich constructivist learning environment to minimize gender differences in chemistry achievement

Harkirat S Dhindsa,

Sharizal-Emran

Published: Oct. 11, 2011

In Brunei, more girls are enrolled at the institutions of higher education than boys. The aim of this study was to evaluate if a constructivist teaching approach, enriched with interactive whiteboard technology could empower males to minimize gender differences in achievement in Chemistry. Two groups of students were taught for six weeks: one group using the constructivist teaching approach enriched with interactive whiteboard technology and the other group using a traditional teaching approach. The results of the study demonstrated statistically significant gender differences in pre-test mean achievement scores of both the groups. There were statistically significant gender differences in post-test …

Interest, attitudes and images related to science: Combining students’ voices with the voices of school Science, teachers, and popular science

Dr. Vasilia Christidou

Published: April 10, 2011

During the last decades students‟ science-related interests, attitudes, and images of science and scientists, and their differentiations according to gender, culture, and socio-economic status have been investigated by a multitude of research studies. These aspects of students‟ voices seem to be interrelated and to also affect students‟ achievement in science and their relevant study and career aspirations. Moreover, school science and teachers, as well as popular science are considered as factors determining students‟ voices. This paper attempts a mapping of relevant literature in order to highlight crucial outcomes and draw educational and research implications. It is suggested that a comprehensive …