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EVOLUTION OF EMOTION IN LEARNING PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY IN SECONDARY EDUCATION
Abstract
Personal development involves both cognitive and affective factors. It is therefore important to take the emotions into account in teaching and learning science. Secondary education is a particularly relevant stage because it is then that subsequent life itineraries, including undergraduate studies, will be decided. Previous research has found emotions to be markedly negative in secondary education pupils learning Physics and Chemistry. It is therefore important to understand clearly the everyday reality of secondary school classrooms in order to eliminate this negative view, and thus improve their motivation in learning these subjects. The objective of the present study was to determine and analyse the emotions experienced by secondary education pupils in learning Physics and Chemistry. The sample consisted of 202 pupils (50.5% boys, 49.5% girls) of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years of Compulsory Secondary Education in two schools of the province of Badajoz (Spain) during the 2013/2014 school year. The pupils' ages ranged from 13 to 19 years, with the average being around 14-15 years old. The most striking result was that there were significant differences in the mean frequencies of the emotions experienced according to which year the pupil was in. In general, positive emotions decreased and negative emotions increased as the academic level rose. In particular, the pupils experienced such positive emotions as joy, confidence, happiness, tranquillity, enthusiasm, and surprise with less frequency from the 2nd to the 4th year. And they experienced such negative emotions as worry, shame, disgust, and anger with greater frequency from the 2nd to the 3rd year.
... Recently, there have been studies on the emotions of secondary education pupils regarding the contents of Physics and Chemistry (Dávila-Acedo, Borrachero, Cañada & Sánchez-Martín, 2016), and on the emotions of prospective Primary and Secondary teachers towards teaching science content (Brígido, Bermejo, Conde & Mellado, 2010;Costillo, Borrachero, Brígido & Mellado, 2013). These studies have shown how the emotions towards science content are mostly negative, especially those towards Physics and Chemistry, while those towards Biology are more positive (Borrachero, 2015). ...
... Table 1 lists the study contents classified in accordance with the different blocks that make up the curriculum. With regard to emotions, after analyzing the classifications made by different authors (Damasio, 2010;Goleman, 1996) and recent studies (Borrachero, 2015;Dávila-Acedo et al., 2016), we set out an emotions classification into positive (i.e., joy, fun, and surprise) and negative (i.e., sadness, fear, boredom, and nervousness). Surprise is sometimes defined as a neutral emotion, but previous studies (Dávila, 2017) have shown it to be associated with positive events. ...
Awakening children’s scientific interest at an early age should be one of the objectives of education systems. To this end, schools need to count on appropriate, engaging, and playful teaching programs in which the pupils’ emotional competencies are taken into account. The objectives of this study were to analyse the emotions experienced by primary education pupils when facing the different content related to “Living Beings” as part of the curriculum of the subject “Nature Sciences,” and to identify and describe the causes of these emotions in relation to the pupil and to the teacher’s methods and attitude. The sample consisted of 327 primary education pupils (10–12 years old) from different schools of the Region of Extremadura (Spain). The study design was non-experimental, using a questionnaire prepared by the authors. Positive emotions such as “joy” and “fun” were identified in the different contents studied, but also the negative emotion of “boredom.” With regard to causes, pupils experienced positive emotions when the teacher used methodological strategies that required greater participation or team work and had the attitudes of stimulating motivation and clarifying doubts.
... In view of the results found for the different comparisons, we can affirm that there were significant differences in adaptability, stress management, and general mood in sciences depending on the year the pupils were in, and that, in the line of the studies of Vázquez & Manassero (2011), there were better results for primary than for secondary pupils, with a progressive descent as the educational level increased. In particular, the present results for the general mood in sciences are concordant with those reported by Dávila, Borrachero, Cañada & Sánchez-Martín (2016) in a study of the emotions of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th We studied the relationship between each pupil's score in the different intelligences and those they assigned to the affective factors (general mood in sciences, adaptability, and stress management). The purpose was to see if there was any relationship between the score obtained in each intelligence and the score given to each of the above factors. ...
... With respect to the pupils' emotional management through how they deal with stress, their adaptability, and their general mood in STEM subjects, this was found to vary according to their course year. This variation followed the line reported in other studies which have found the presence of negative emotions towards the sciences and a worrying increase of these emotions as the pupils advance in level, this being especially visible in secondary education (Solbes, 2011;Vázquez & Manassero, 2011;Dávila et al., 2016). Sánchez-Martín et al. (2017b) describe a strong relationship between pupils' intellectual profiles and the emotional management that they show in a given subject. ...
This chapter investigates whether there is a relationship between emotional management and the prevailing intelligence profile of a sample of pupils in the last year of primary education and two years of lower secondary education with respect to their learning in STEM subjects. A questionnaire was designed to collect information on multiple intelligences and the emotional factor. The sample comprised 143 pupils from the 6th of primary education and 2nd and 4th of secondary education classes in a state school. It was found that the pupils with a predominantly logical-mathematical and/or visual-spatial intelligence also scored better on the items related to the emotional and adaptation factor in science classes.
... To sum up, a decrease has been detected in the mean frequency of all the positive emotions and an increase in all the negative emotions from K-8 to K-10. These results can be compared to the ones obtained by Dávila et al. (2016) with a similar sample in which a decrease in the frequency of positive emotions (joy, confidence, happiness, tranquility, surprise, and excitement), and an increase in the negative emotions (worry, shame, disgust, and anger) was detected from K-9 to K-10. ...
... To sum up, a decrease has been detected in the mean frequency of all the positive emotions and an increase in all the negative emotions from K-8 to K-10. These results can be compared to the ones obtained by Dávila et al. (2016) with a similar sample in which a decrease in the frequency of positive emotions (joy, confidence, happiness, tranquility, surprise, and excitement), and an increase in the negative emotions (worry, shame, disgust, and anger) was detected from K-9 to K-10. ...
... To sum up, a decrease has been detected in the mean frequency of all the positive emotions and an increase in all the negative emotions from K-8 to K-10. These results can be compared to the ones obtained by Dávila et al. (2016) with a similar sample in which a decrease in the frequency of positive emotions (joy, confidence, happiness, tranquility, surprise, and excitement), and an increase in the negative emotions (worry, shame, disgust, and anger) was detected from K-9 to K-10. ...
This Research Topic consists of 15 articles on various aspects and methodologies of active
and sustainable Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education toward educational psychology domain research contributed to by 49 authors. At the time of writing the Research Topic, the articles published have been checked online more than 24,000 times and received abundant citations in the scientific literature.
The topic theme, “STEM education,” is an umbrella term for the approaches and methods from different research disciplines and areas, targeted at the improvement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the cognitive, affective, behavioral, and multidimensional domain in both academic, professional, and industrial personnel who are involved in this field with their everyday work. Here, the various educational psychology domains are getting increased attention in relation to STEM and SDGs. In the same context, it is still challenging and inspiring because this educational psychology domain needs to reflect the current renewable and sustainable situations that are required to follow and achieve the SDGs in STEM education. With various active approaches and methods becoming available, all these ideas and thoughts in the educational psychology domain could be integrated into the area of STEM toward the SDGs that can diagnose and analyze various peoples’ cognitive, affective, behavioral, and multidimensional patterns as well as their peculiarities.
... To sum up, a decrease has been detected in the mean frequency of all the positive emotions and an increase in all the negative emotions from K-8 to K-10. These results can be compared to the ones obtained by Dávila et al. (2016) with a similar sample in which a decrease in the frequency of positive emotions (joy, confidence, happiness, tranquility, surprise, and excitement), and an increase in the negative emotions (worry, shame, disgust, and anger) was detected from K-9 to K-10. ...
The present research arises from the need to identify the emotions that K-7 to K-10 students experience toward the learning of Physics and Chemistry, since it is a fact that there is a decrease in the number of students choosing itineraries related to Science. Different blocks of contents have been considered in each subject in order to identify emotions toward each one of them. The considered sample consisted of 149 K-8 students, 152 K-9 students and 130 K-10 students from several middle and high schools in Badajoz (Spain) during the 2014–2015 school year. Students experienced more positive emotions toward the content of Chemistry than toward those of Physics. A decrease was detected in the mean frequency of positive emotions such as joy, fun, and tranquility from K-8 to K-10, as well as an increase in negative emotions such as boredom, anxiety, disgust, fear, nervousness, worry, and sadness. It has also been found that positive emotions toward Chemistry contents are mainly related to teachers’ methods and attitudes, while negative emotions toward Physics contents are related to the exclusive use of the textbook, solving Physics problems, or giving oral presentations of the topics in class.
RESUMEN: La presenta investigación surge por la necesidad de conocer y detectar las emociones que expe-rimentan los alumnos de Educación Secundaria hacia el aprendizaje de Física y Química, pues se está produciendo una disminución en el número de alumnos en los distintos itinerarios relaciona-dos con las Ciencias. En esta investigación se analiza y compara la evolución de las emociones que experimentan los alumnos de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria hacia el aprendizaje de Física y Química en función del curso, y si existe una relación entre las emociones y el rendimiento acadé-mico. La muestra estaba constituida por 431 alumnos de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria (ESO), distribuidos en tres cursos: 2º, 3º y 4º de ESO; de distintos centros de Badajoz durante el curso esco-lar 2014/2015. Para realizar esta investigación, se elaboró un cuestionario donde el alumno señala-ba con qué frecuencia experimentaba emociones tanto positivas como negativas hacia el aprendi-zaje de Física y Química. Los resultados muestran que existe un descenso en la frecuencia media de emociones positivas al pasar del 2º al 4º curso de ESO. En cambio, se produce un aumento en la frecuencia media de las emociones negativas al pasar de 2º a 4º de ESO.
This study tried to find out about the present situation of the Initial Training (IT) and the prospects to draw up a competencies framework for Adapted Physical Activity (APA) professionals. Interview and non-participant observation were applied, from an interpreting perspective. Seven IT and APA reputable experts, all of them experienced in university activity, took part. In addition, the authors attended a national conference of experts where issues related to the purpose of this study were discussed. The discourses of the experts were examined in line with the categories previously defined. That analysis leads to the conclusion that value judgements on IT are conditioned by perceptions of specific realities. The experts identify basic elements for a competencies framework, including attitudes as an important constituent part, although they are not specific enough about which ingredients would make a fundamental framework of competencies for PE teachers who must apply APA.
Although most individuals pass through adolescence without excessively high levels of "storm and stress," many do experience difficulty. Why? Is there something unique about this developmental period that puts adolescents at risk for difficulty? This article focuses on this question and advances the hypothesis that some of the negative psychological changes associated with adolescent development result from a mismatch between the needs of developing adolescents and the opportunities afforded them by their social environments. It provides examples of how this mismatch develops in the school and in the home and how it is linked to negative age-related changes in early adolescents' motivation and self-perceptions. Ways in which more developmentally appropriate social environments can be created are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This exploratory article forms the background for an empirical study for the Health Education Authority on children, young people, health, well-being and social capital. In terms of morbidity, children tend not to exhibit clear health problems, but obviously engage in activities that have important implications for their health and well-being (West & Sweeting, 1996), and these activities may be influenced by, as well as impact upon, children's social capital. Social capital is an elusive concept and has been defined in various ways, and refers to sociability, social networks and social support, trust, reciprocity, and community and civic engagement. The paper contrasts three interpretations of the concept, by Coleman (1988, 1990), Putnam (1993, 1995) and Bourdieu (1986). It concludes that the concept is currently poorly specified as it relates to children, and that the use of the term is inherently problematic, and needs to be carefully critiqued and empirically grounded before it can usefully be applied in social policy formulations. One possible way forward might be to conceptualise social capital not so much as a measurable 'thing', rather as a set of processes and practices that are integral to the acquisition of other forms of 'capital' such as human capital and cultural capital (ie qualifications, skills, group memberships, etc).
At the beginning of the 21st century, a new social arrangement of work poses a series of questions and challenges to scholars who aim to help people develop their working lives. Given the globalization of career counseling, we decided to address these issues and then to formulate potentially innovative responses in an international forum. We used this approach to avoid the difficulties of creating models and methods in one country and then trying to export them to other countries where they would be adapted for use. This article presents the initial outcome of this collaboration, a counseling model and methods. The life-designing model for career intervention endorses five presuppositions about people and their work lives: contextual possibilities, dynamic processes, non-linear progression, multiple perspectives, and personal patterns. Thinking from these five presuppositions, we have crafted a contextualized model based on the epistemology of social constructionism, particularly recognizing that an individual's knowledge and identity are the product of social interaction and that meaning is coconstructed through discourse. The life-design framework for counseling implements the theories of self-constructing (Guichard, 2005) and career construction (Savickas, 2005) that describe vocational behavior and its development. Thus, the framework is structured to be life-long, holistic, contextual, and preventive.
This study aims to identify constructivist learner roles in acquisitions in the secondary education chemistry curriculum of the province of Québec / Canada. This research used document analysis as a qualitative research method. According to our findings; the “learner roles” in curriculum correspond with the “student roles” emphasized by the program. We found that these overlaps mostly cohere with “constructive learner roles”. These cohering constructive learner roles are i) the individual takes the control of the learning process, ii) the individual is selective, constructive and active in the learning process, iii) the individual carries out his/her responsibilities in constructive learning environments ,iv) the individual, constructs a meaning in his/her mind for knowledge acquired in the construction process and appropriates that knowledge, v) the individual communicates and discusses issues with other learners and teachers. Moreover, a clue indicating that a History-Technology-Society perspective was used as a background framework for generating the special approaches and goals for science learning has been encountered in the assumption of the constructivist learner roles. This clue is a quote from Albert Einstein: “Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving” This clue can be generalized to contribution of education programs to teaching programs / the contribution of chemistry program to the educational program.
This study explores the similarities and differences of relatively newly established tiered intervention models for the support of students with special needs in the United States (response to intervention) and in Finland (learning and schooling support). The current models in both countries consist of several tiers with fairly similar definitions. Despite the similarities, the history and political meaning of the tiered models are different in these countries. However, in both countries, part of the underlying political expectation is that the change to tiered intervention will promote inclusive education, but also diminish the number of special education students, and at the same time decrease the rising costs of special education funding. It is evident that there have been educational as well as political and financial objectives behind the restructuring in both countries. We conclude with a discussion on policy implications.
En la enseñanza de las ciencias, señalar el ámbito afectivo es un aspecto básico que constituye un logro importante, pues reconocer el afecto como una emoción en los actos de conocer, pensar, actuar y relacionarse es fundamental en el proceso de aprendizaje. En este trabajo se pretende conocer y analizar las emociones que experimentan los futuros maestros de Primaria en la asignatura de Didáctica de la Materia y la Energía, antes y después de la realización de los seminarios de prácticas, donde se realizan experiencias relacionadas con conceptos químicos y físicos. La muestra está constituida por 82 estudiantes de segundo del Grado de Maestro en Educación Primaria de la Universidad de Extremadura durante el curso académico 2013/2014. Los resultados muestran una evolución en las emociones experimentadas por los estudiantes antes y después de la realización de los seminarios prácticos.
In science education, pointing out the affective domain is a basic aspect which is an important achievement,
recognize the affection as an emotion in acts of knowing, thinking, acting and relating is fundamental/crucial in
the learning process. This paper aims to understand and analyze the emotions experienced by students in the
subject of Teaching Matter and Energy, before and after performing practical seminars, where the experiments
performed were related to chemical and physical concepts. The sample consisted of 82 students from Second
Grade of Primary Education from the University of Extremadura during the year 2013/2014.The results show an
evolution occurs in the emotions experienced by the students before and after performing seminars.
Response to intervention (RTI) can be considered an everyday practice in many parts of the United States, whereas, in Finland, only recently has a new framework for support in learning taken shape. Choosing Finland as the comparative partner for this policy paper is justified as its educational system has been widely referenced on the basis of good Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results. The results of the present comparative article showed first, that the U.S. RTI was primarily intended for diagnosing and preventing learning disabilities whereas the Finnish RTI is mainly an administrative structure for support. Second, the U.S. RTI includes clear definitions regarding the intensity, duration, and content of support provided within each tier whereas the Finnish version contains no explicit guidelines for support. Third, the U.S. RTI assumes no special educational services in the first two tiers, but the Finnish framework includes special educational services from the onset of support. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.
Given that reforms involving how to deal with the past are extremely difficult, especially when the past involves memories of victimization, death, and destruction so widespread that a high percentage of the population is affected, the main purpose of this article is to describe how the general secondary education (GSE) curriculum in East Timor – an ancient Portuguese colony - is organized in terms of principles and objectives, themes, and methodological guidelines that give priority to assisting students to minimize or manage problems associated with conflict. Subsequently, the current state of GSE will be characterized, in terms of school organization and logistics, and mobilization of teachers and students in using the new curriculum. The empirical results show that, the curricular materials incorporate aspects that can contribute to understand and minimizing or managing problems created by the conflict, as well as, to contribute to avoid new conflicts. Nevertheless, although the textbooks incorporate these aspects and the teachers and students express interest in use them, there are problems with its proper utilization due to numerous factors, such as: logistic; school organization and the poor still preparation of teachers, despite the training that has been given and on what matters continue to invest.
This study investigated students' practice of philosophical thinking through collaborative writing in secondary education. A philosophy course was developed following the rationale of the learning communities in which writing was used as an epistemic tool. 45 students organized into 13 teams participated in the course. In this study, a subsample of six students working in 2 teams during one collaborative argumentative writing activity were analyzed. These groups were selected on the basis of their output (high and medium quality) and because both followed an integrating construction strategy for collaborative writing. Data collected included audio, video and computer screen recordings of both groups' discourse and writing activity during collaborative writing (using Camtasia and Atlas-ti software). Analysis focused on collaborative writing interaction (types of talk; evidence of philosophical competences - problematization, argumentation and conceptualization; regulation of the collaborative writing activity and group dynamics) and the quality of individual and collaborative texts.
Results indicate that quality of the interaction was related to text quality. Collaborative writing helped the students: 1) to transform abstract ideas into more concrete and appropriate philosophical concepts using examples related to their experiences, 2) to use these philosophical concepts in their own discourse and 3) to problematize their own ideas and provide arguments to support them. From these results, the importance of a structured context of learning to promote critical thinking through writing is discussed as well as the need to train students to develop efficient peer discussion for learning through collaborative writing.
En este artículo se ofrece una perspectiva sobre el aprendizaje como cambio en la identidad, tomando como punto de referencia la teoría de la participación periférica legítima (PPL) de Lave y Wenger (1991) y desarrollando la idea del aprendizaje como reconfiguración de agencia. El artículo parte de un contraste entre la PPL y las concepciones conductistas y cognitivas del aprendizaje. Luego, examina algunas acepciones del concepto de identidad en la literatura reciente en psicología y educación.
Finalmente, introduce la noción de agencia como clave para articular los conceptos de identidad, aprendizaje y práctica
This study examines the relationship between teacher knowledge and student learning for 9,556 students of 181 middle school physical science teachers. Assessment instruments based on the National Science Education Standards with 20 items in common were administered several times during the school year to both students and their teachers. For items that had a very popular wrong answer, the teachers who could identify this misconception had larger classroom gains, much larger than if the teachers knew only the correct answer. On items on which students did not exhibit. His research program includes assessment of students' scientific misconceptions, the transition to college of students who wish to pursue STEM careers, and the enhancement of the skills of teachers of science. GERHARD SONNERT is a research associate at. His research interests include gender in science, the sociology and history of science, and science education. HAROLD P. COYLE is a project manager at. His primary research interests are identifying the misconceptions that most significantly impede learning by K-12 students and teachers in the earth and physical sciences, and determining the most effective teaching strategies to address these misconceptions. NANCY COOK-SMITH is a project psychometrician at. Her research interests include the achievement gap in science and engineering between the genders and racial/ethnic groups.
Analizar la influencia que posee la dimensión afectiva en el proceso de aprender y enseñar ciencias, en la eficacia docente y en el desarrollo del profesor de ciencias experimentales, es un ámbito de investigación importante en la formación de los profesores noveles. Primeramente, realizaremos un estudio para conocer las emociones experimentadas hacia las ciencias en Secundaria y sus posibles causas utilizando como muestra a alumnos de primero de Grado de diferentes carreras universitarias de la UEx. Seguidamente, procederemos a analizar las emociones experimentadas, tanto en el aprendizaje como en la enseñanza de las ciencias, de los estudiantes del Máster Universitario de Formación del Profesorado en Educación Secundaria de la UEx, futuros profesores de Educación Secundaria, de las especialidades de Biología/Geología, Física/Química y Matemáticas, durante tres cursos académicos consecutivos. Con los resultados obtenidos, diseñaremos y desarrollaremos un programa de seguimiento y apoyo a las prácticas docentes para estudiantes del Máster, con el que pretendemos determinar y mejorar las emociones en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de asignaturas de ciencias de Secundaria, a través de la autorregulación y la mejora de creencias de autoeficacia docente. Los principales resultados muestran que: las emociones y las causas son diferentes según la materia a aprender; existe una relación entre las emociones experimentadas como aprendices de ciencias y los futuros itinerarios elegidos; los futuros profesores experimentan emociones positivas y negativas y bajas creencias de autoeficacia ante la enseñanza de las ciencias; las estrategias de autorregulación funcionan para fomentar emociones positivas y altas creencias de autoeficacia docente.
A recente Reestruturação Curricular do Ensino Secundário Geral (RCESG) em Timor-Leste, embora aplaudida pelos mais diversos agentes educativos, coloca enormes desafios aos professores, que se constituem peças fundamentais da sua implementação. De facto, para além dos problemas de vária ordem, designadamente, ao nível da estrutura, organização e condições das escolas, defrontam-se com graves lacunas linguísticas em relação ao Português, definida como língua oficial para o ensino e na qual estão redigidos todos os materiais curriculares produzidos. Enfrentam, ainda, disciplinas completamente novas e/ou com uma perspetiva educativa diferente da que estavam habituados, designadamente ao nível – dos princípios que se defendem; dos objetivos que se perseguem; de alguns conteúdos programáticos elencados; das orientações metodológicas e da avaliação das aprendizagens preconizadas. Uma das principais medidas levadas a cabo para se fazer face a constrangimentos enunciados prende-se com a formação contínua de professores, focada nos referidos materiais curriculares. No âmbito desta publicação, pretende-se dar conta das ressonâncias da implementação da RCESG principalmente ao nível do conhecimento dos professores sobre o novo currículo, das suas conceções de ensino e das suas práticas de sala de aula.
The Code of Practice of the Department for Education (1994) establishes the role of special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) to help facilitate the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools. SENCOs, thus, should form an integral part of the culture of all departments, including physical education (PE). This paper draws on the concept of hegemony to examine the processes and practices that shape the experiences and views of SENCOs and ultimately, the extent to which they facilitate an inclusive culture in PE. Our findings, generated via an online survey, suggested that most SENCOs are not a part of the senior management team (SMT) and do not have control of the SEN budget. The majority of SENCOs acknowledge, and often reinforce, the hegemonic status of English, mathematics and science vis-à-vis the prioritisation of SEN resources, which may constrain the ability of teachers to provide meaningful experiences for pupils with SEN in other subjects, such as PE. While 93% of SENCOs did not have PE-specific training for their role, 52% suggested that the learning support assistants (LSAs) in their school are not adequately trained to include pupils with SEN in PE. This is perhaps surprising, given that it is SENCOs themselves who are largely responsible for the training of LSAs. In conclusion, from the evidence provided by SENCOs, PE does not appear to constitute a significant dimension of their training programmes and SENCOs themselves may further subordinate PE, in the process of training LSAs. This may call into question the ability of both SENCOs and LSAs to contribute to the cultivation of an inclusive culture in PE.
Decision Making and Gender in Secondary School
This article examines gender differences in the decision-making process in secondary school students. The influence of gender is explored in the secondary school study options students choose, the decision to work or continue studying, university degree decisions, perceived family support, students’ confidence in their own decisions, personal ambitions and competences. Four hundred and fifty-four pupils in the last two years of secondary education at three schools in the Canary Islands took part in the investigation. A survey was used that contained two scales, the Affective Parental Supported Scale (Figuera, Daria and Forner, 2003) and the Gender Differences Scale, which analyses beliefs about the academic and career aspirations of boys and girls. The focus group technique was used to analyse how students perceive the decision-making process. Statistical analysis shows educational and vocational differences in terms of gender. Boys are more likely to: a) choose the scientific/technological curriculum in secondary school, b) decide to enroll in vocational education, c) pursue degrees in technical studies, d) perceive less parental support, e) perceive gender differences in personal ambitions and f) perceive themselves as less steadily hardworking. The focus groups’ discourses evince the stereotypes that boys and girls attribute to themselves. Counsellors, form teachers and students themselves would be well advised to think long and critically about the differential system of socialization, if they want real, effective social and career guidance that will help eradicate gender discrimination. A curriculum needs to be designed and implemented that educates boys and girls to perceive themselves as equals.
The primary objective of this paper is to propose a mechanism for selecting specific competences for preservice science teacher training, referring to relevant sources for such training. To this end we have used an trans-disciplinary procedure consistent with incorporating critical competences from the following curricular sources: Models of current preservice teacher training in educational literature, the current curriculum of Science in Compulsory Secondary Education in Spain, the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), the views of in-service secondary school teachers (through a survey whose most relevant results are given), teachers’ epistemological conceptions, the professionalization of teaching and the demands it generates and, finally the social dimension of science.
An increasing number of educational institutions and organizations around the world employ online training to address emerging challenges in teacher competence. Research literature, however, showed that few studies have been conducted that followed teachers in their respective schools after training to evaluate their classroom performance. Enthused by this lack of empirical proof, this study was conducted to assess the modifications on pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) – an accepted construct in educational lexicon – of nine non-major science teachers who were given a month-long, fully online training. Using a multi-method assessment procedure (e.g., achievement testing, concept mapping, lesson planning, and demonstration teaching), results disclose substantial alteration in two knowledge-based PCK components in science teaching – knowledge about science curriculum and students' understanding of science. A significant increase in achievement scores, better concept map structure and corrected misconceptions were observed after the training. Contrastingly, only little improvement was noted in the other two skill-based components – knowledge about instructional strategies and assessment in science. Few changes were noticed in teachers' topic-specific strategies and science learning assessment skills. Based on these findings, it appeared that fully online teacher trainings were insufficient in enhancing all facets of the complex nature of science teaching.
The relationship between the socioeconomic status (SES) of peers and individual academic achievement was examined in this study. This question was investigated while a variety of sociodemographic factors were being controlled, including a student's own SES. Student SES was measured by using participation in the federal free/reduced–price lunch program as an indicator of poverty status, and parental educational and occupational background as a measure of family social status. These measures were aggregated to the school level to define the SES of the peer population. Student achievement is a factor score of the three 10th–grade components of the Louisiana Graduation Exit Examination. Peer family social status in particular does have a significant and substantive independent effect on individual academic achievement, only slightly less than an individual's own family social status.
Developing skills and attitudes among students in the sense of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) requires that educators address issues of sustainability in both formal and non-formal education. However, up to now ESD seems to have been insufficiently implemented in secondary science education in many countries in general, and in high school chemistry learning in particular. A lack of suitable experiments, coupled with missing teaching and learning materials and insufficient teacher professional development have been identified as the reasons for this gap. This paper describes a project of innovation and research in the field of ESD for secondary school chemistry education. Within the project both half- and full-day learning environments have been developed for non-formal, laboratory-based learning of secondary level students at the university. The research-based development focuses on teaching-learning modules which link formal and non-formal learning. The pedagogy employed is both learner-centered and inquiry-based. All the modules focus on sustainability issues in chemistry-related contexts. Data was collected by questionnaires from teachers and students both prior and after the visit of the non-formal learning environment. Likert-items were analyzed statistically and the evaluation of the open-ended questions was done by Qualitative Content Analysis. An overview of the project, a case from the non-formal laboratory setting, and findings from accompanying research and evaluation are discussed in this paper. Potential impacts on teacher professional development and curriculum innovation are also outlined.
The purpose of the study was to explore change in children's physical self-concept and self-reported physical activity over a school transition period, as well as motivational and interpersonal influences on these two outcomes. Data were collected from 545 children (mean age = 10.82, SD = 0.39, 51% female) at three time points before and after the United Kingdom secondary school transition. Multilevel modeling revealed that physical self-concept and physical activity showed different patterns of decline over the course of the study. Changes in the extent to which physical education teachers were perceived to provide psychological need support, peer focus on self-referenced learning and mastery, and changes in autonomous motives toward physical education classes were positively associated with these outcome variables. The present study provides novel insight into important motivational and interpersonal factors that may need to be targeted to prevent negative developmental patterns over a potentially challenging period for children.
Purpose
– This paper stems from a study which was conducted as a means to first, find out whether there is a gap between the secondary and tertiary education levels, second identify any existing gap in Science and Technology education, and third, examine the impact of the above upon students’ creativity and innovativeness at university level. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
– As such, a group of teachers and students at both secondary and tertiary levels were selected as the sample of the study. Questionnaires were administered to trained secondary school teachers and to university students. Interviews were also conducted to triangulate data. These enabled an analysis of the current situation in terms of students’ engagement/creativity/innovativeness in Science and Technology at secondary and tertiary levels.
Findings
– The findings reveal a problematic situation arising with respect to beliefs and what truly prevails in the education sector at secondary and tertiary levels. This study has revealed a number of salient issues related to the gap existing between the secondary and tertiary levels of education in Mauritius, with special bearing on creativity and innovation in Science and Technology.
Research limitations/implications
– Only three institutions were involved, with a small sample of students, so that the findings cannot be generalised. Moreover, gender is a variable that has not been taken into consideration.
Practical implications
– The study has proposed a number of recommendations to enable Mauritian students (at secondary and tertiary levels) to develop creativity and hopefully become innovators. This leads us to believe that the recommendations emerging from this study will be beneficial to various stakeholders who wish to understand the gap existing between secondary and tertiary education in Science and Technology education.
Originality/value
– This study takes a case study approach adopting a mixture of interviews, surveys and observations to understand the research problems with regards to the younger generations need to be equipped with scientific and technological advances in acquiring knowledge, new sets of skills and values. Therefore, this study endeavours to document the perceptions of learners and faculty staff.
This article discusses the school engagement literature and offers a conceptual framework with the intention of developing a common terminology to more efficiently organize research and practice. Three distinct perspectives are outlined in relation to school engagement: psychological, educational, and developmental. Four main contexts of school-based engagement are identified, including the student, peers, classroom, and the school environment. Although some researchers have focused on students at risk for negative developmental outcomes, the proposed model postulates that all youth benefit from school engagement. Overall, the intent of this new framework is to support efforts to promote positive student outcomes, increase psychosocial competence and efficacy, and promote life-long learning.
The map presented in this paper depicts relations between different programmes and branches at different upper secondary schools in the Stockholm area. Each educational alternative is characterised by the social recruitment of its pupils, that is by its shares of sons and daughters of civil engineers, lawyers, unskilled workers in the production, and so on. The social classification comprises 34 such social groups. One main finding is that besides the well known social hierarchy significant “horizontal” distances separate the educational alternatives. In particular there is a major “horizontal” polarity separating schools, programmes and branches dominated by groups that posses more cultural than economic capital from those dominated by groups equipped with more economic than cultural capital. There is thus a divide between educational alternatives preferred by children of medical doctors or university teachers on the one hand and by owners and managers of private companies on the other hand. At a some-what lower societal level this polarity separates for example children of schoolteachers or librarians from children of white collar company employees. The growing diversity during the1990’s in the social recruitment to different kinds of upper secondary education did mainly imply sharpened “horizontal” divisions. As a consequence different types of elites gained better opportunities to find a trajectory through the educational system that suited their own offspring.
Based on a careful review of the international evidence, this book aims to provide a clear and practical overview of ways in which mainstream schools can promote the mental, emotional and social health of all those who work and learn there. It outlines the competences that constitute emotional and social health and wellbeing, and examines the evidence that social and emotional learning and academic achievement can go hand in hand, and that the same key factors underlie both emotionally healthy and effective schools. It explores the areas of school life that are key to promoting social and emotional health, including the curriculum, teaching and learning, relationships with families and the community, and school management.
This research project offers a new perspective on post-sixteen transitions. Combing secondary data with narrative accounts it describes how young people in the UK make choices at the end of their compulsory schooling and provides a dynamic model of decision-making and a thorough critique of current research in the area, beyond fashionable concepts.
East Timor is undergoing a profound restructuring of its secondary education. For its success, it is crucial that foreign entities maintain their support regarding in-service training of secondary school teachers. In this context, we defined the following research questions: Under which conditions is in-service teacher training in Mathematics (Maths from this point onwards) being implemented in East Timor? How is it being done, mainly regarding the curricular materials produced - curriculum, syllabus, textbooks and teacher’s guides? What are the trainer's representations of the secondary educational context and of the teachers’ pedagogical practices? We opted for a qualitative case study framed within a constructivist paradigm. Regarding the technique of data collection, we chose the inquiry through a semi-structured interview, informal conversations and the direct observation of training sessions, which were audio recorded. Data collected were submitted to content analysis, which was guided by categories that emerged from the research questions and objectives. As main results, we highlight that resources, beyond those produced in the scope of international cooperation, are still very scarce. The training course is mainly focused on the resolution of the tasks proposed in textbooks, though curricular, didactical and mathematical aspects are also discussed. The pedagogical practices of Timorese teachers are still based on a very traditional paradigm, but some changes are emerging. So, we can corroborate that change is a slow process, especially with regard to the educational context. In-service teacher training can be vital to support an adequate implementation of the restructuring of secondary education. However, many other initiatives need to be developed, from a macro (educational policies) to a micro school level.
The aim of the authors of this article was to find out how much importance Czech pupils and school-leavers who are not professionally engaged in chemistry attach to those topics of Health and Environmental Education included among the obligatory outcomes in Chemistry for Lower Secondary Schools. The research was carried out by means of a questionnaire administrated to 576 pupils aged 14-18 years and 122 school-leavers ( people with finished education). The conclusion was that as for subjective respondents' opinion on the importance of learned skill outcomes, the respondents preferred topics of Health Education to those of Environmental Education. Moreover, the authors have found that the interest in prevention and first aid increases with growing age of the respondents. The pupils' interest in environmental topics is very low. On the contrary, school-leavers show an overwhelming interest in chemistry of nutrition and in environmental protection. This discrepancy should probably be solved by better motivation of pupils in the future.
Is the privatisation of state education defendable? Did the public sector ever provide a fair education for all learners? In Education plc, Stephen Ball provides a comprehensive, analytic and empirical account of the privatisation of education. He questions the kind of future we want for education and what role privatisation and the private sector may have in that future. Using policy sociology to describe and critically analyse changes in policy, policy technologies and policy regimes, he looks at the ethical and democratic impacts of these changes and raises the following questions: Is there a legitimacy for privatisation based on the convergence of interests between business and the 'third way' state? Is the extent and value of private participation in public education misunderstood? How is the selling of private company services linked to the remodelling of schools? Why have the technical and political issues of privatisation been considered but ethical issues almost totally neglected? What is happening here, beyond mere technical changes in the form of public service delivery? Is education policy being spoken by new voices? Drawing upon extensive documentary research and interviews with senior executives from the leading 'education services industry' companies, the author challenges preconceptions about privatisation. He concludes that blanket defence of the public sector as it was, over and against the inroads of privatisation, is untenable, and that there is no going back to a past in which the public sector as a whole worked well and worked fairly in the interests of all learners, because there was no such past. This book breaks new ground and builds on Stephen Ball's previous work on education policy. It should appeal to those researching and studying in the fields of social policy, policy analysis, sociology of education, education research and social economics.
This study tests theoretical and developmental models of the causal ordering between academic self-concept and academic achievement in a multicohort-multioccasion design (i.e., 3 age cohorts, each with 3 measurement waves). Participants were students in Grades 2, 3, and 4 from 10 elementary schools. The structural equation model for the total sample supported a reciprocal-effects model, indicating that achievement has an effect on self-concept (skill-development model) and that academic self-concept has an effect on achievement (self-enhancement model). This pattern was replicated in tests of invariance across the 3 age cohorts and did not support the developmental hypothesis that skill-development and self-enhancement models would vary with age. Discussion centers on the theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of the results.
The present paper describes the project of redefinition of the secondary general education curriculum (grades 10-11-12) in East-Timor, developed within the scope of a development cooperation programme and carried out by a multidisciplinary Portuguese experts team. The project intends to conceive the curricular plan, the syllabus of all its school subjects, as well as student textbooks and teacher guides for all subjects (total 14). In the present study, we explain the curricular proposal adopted for the four disciplines of the area of experimental sciences (biology, physics, geology and chemistry). The conception of the curricular syllabus and didactic resources followed international benchmarks for this level of study. In relation to science subjects, the conceptual framework consisted of a science-technology-society perspective, oriented by education for sustainable development principles. The practical, laboratorial and experimental work is considered a privileged approach for science education. We shall reflect upon international cooperation for curricular development and discuss some of the factors that may influence the implementation of the proposals.
The stigma attached to mental illness is the main obstacle to better mental health care and the better quality of life of people who have the illness, of their families, of their communities and of health service staff that deal with psychiatric disorders. Stigma is pernicious and there are indications that despite advances of psychiatry and medicine it continues to grow and has more and often terrible consequences for patients and families. In 1996, the WPA began an international programme to fight the stigma and discrimination because of schizophrenia. The ‘Open the Doors’ programme has since been implemented in more than 20 countries and involved roughly 200 different anti-stigma interventions. This book details the results of these efforts internationally and provides recommendations and guidance for those seeking to join this international effort or start similar efforts to dispel stigma and discrimination. © Cambridge University Press 2005 and Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Introduction: The interest towards the integration of students with disabilities has increased in the education sector. The attitudes toward this group are one of the most relevant aspects of study. In our country there is a lot of research on this topic, but none of them focused on students at different stages. Our study examines students' attitudes toward students with disabilities depending on their course and formative stage. Also, if we compare the attitude influences meet some students with disabilities. Method. 626 students participated. Of these, 360 of the University of Alicante and 266 from a secondary school in the same locality (España). We designed a questionnaire consisting of a Likert scale of 1 to 6 (1 = Strongly Disagree, 6 = strongly agree) to 8 items which we estimate the attitudes of students. The data were analyzed using various covariance and univariate analysis. Results. The results indicate differences in the attitudes of participating students on the basis of the course, the formative stage and the deal with people with disabilities. Discussion and conclusions. Our results suggest that university students show a more positive attitude than high school students. It also appears that students who interact with disabled peers indicate greater level of awareness of disability.
Although pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has become widely recognized as an essential part of the knowledge base for teaching, empirical evidence demonstrating a connection between PCK and teaching practice or student learning outcomes is mixed. In response, we argue for further attention to the measurement of dynamic (spontaneous or flexible, as opposed to static) aspects of PCK. We identify a set of trade-offs entailed in the measurement of teachers’ PCK and propose two video-based interview methods for eliciting teachers’ PCK. We describe a study in which we used these methods to elicit high-school physics teachers’ PCK for the topic of force and motion. Interview 1 was based on video clips from teachers’ own classroom instruction and elicited the reasoning underlying their instructional decision making. In Interview 2, teachers responded to a standard set of video clips highlighting both typical and unexpected student thinking. Although all six teachers demonstrated the main components of their declarative PCK consistently across the two interviews, Interview 2 allowed us to characterize a more dynamic form of PCK that may underlie teachers’ in-the-moment instructional reasoning. When exhibiting strong dynamic PCK, teachers appeared to rely heavily on their declarative PCK as they reasoned about new examples of student thinking and corresponding instructional responses. In addition, demonstrations of dynamic PCK included features likely to support further PCK development, including a willingness to think critically about evidence of student thinking, physics content, and pros and cons of instructional representations. Although we were able to detect seemingly meaningful differences in teachers’ declarative and dynamic PCK, diversity in and the contextualized nature of the responses demonstrating strong PCK raise questions about the possibility of differentiating between such responses for measurement purposes and, thus, the potential for moving beyond elicitation, to measurement, of dynamic forms of PCK. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach.
Adolescents' supportive relationships with parents, teachers, and peers were examined in relation to motivation at school (school- and class-related interest, academic goal orientations, and social goal pursuit). On the basis of 167 sixth-grade students, relations of perceived support from parents, teachers, and peers to student motivation differed depending on the source of support and motivational outcome: Peer support was a positive predictor of prosocial goal pursuit, teacher support was a positive predictor of both types of interest and of social responsibility goal pursuit, and parent support was a positive predictor of school-related interest and goal orientations. Perceived support from parents and peers also was related to interest in school indirectly by way of negative relations with emotional distress. Pursuit of social responsibility goals and school- and class-related interest in 6th grade partly explained positive relations between social support in 6th grade and classroom grades 1 year later Continued research on the social origins of classroom motivation in early adolescence is needed.
El Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (EEES) y el sistema de transferencia y acumulación de créditos (ECTS) requieren una reconceptualización de la cultura docente universitaria. En este artículo, se presenta una experiencia realizada en el curso 2008-09, en el marco de otras investigaciones iniciadas hace cuatro cursos, en las que se plantea la necesidad de provocar un cambio en los diseños y propuestas metodológicas, así como en los procesos evaluativos, para favorecer el desarrollo de las competencias específicas y transversales.
La utilización del Portfolio se presenta como una metodología de enseñanza, aprendizaje y evaluación que nace como metodología alternativa, convirtiendo al alumnado en parte activa del aprendizaje, potenciando su madurez, compromiso social y ético. El contexto de la investigación es la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM), en el Grado de Maestro, planteándonos como objetivos: potenciar la autonomía del alumnado, el pensamiento reflexivo y crítico, las actitudes colaborativas, las destrezas profesionales y capacidad de auto y coevaluación, procurando llevarlas a la práctica y reflexionando sobre la necesidad de que la evaluación del Portfolio se diseñe con fines formativos, por lo que debe integrarse en dicho proceso. El estudiante se convierte en el organizador de su propio aprendizaje, destacando la importancia dada a las propuestas de mejora y las observaciones que se realizan. En la presente experiencia, el alumnado ha elaborado su ficha de seguimiento, ha utilizado las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TICs), analizado los trabajos realizados y elaborado �y aplicado� diversos cuestionarios.
Es importante destacar que el Portfolio y los Diarios de Aprendizaje se han convertido en una ventana que proporciona información del trabajo del estudiante y permite conocer su forma de pensar y sentir, por lo que su utilización se debe extender progresivamente, incluida su modalidad digital, pues ésta es más flexible y facilita la incorporación y actualización de nuevos elementos, siendo especialmente indicado en el contexto del EEES.
Despite the extensive literature on educational innovations, there is only limited empirical research available into the impact of innovations on student achievement. In this article, the following research questions will be answered: What form do innovations in secondary education take, are there types of innovative schools, and what effect do these innovations have on school quality and student careers? The findings show that types of innovative schools differ significantly on quality assessments aspects of the Inspectorate of Education, quality of "time," and of the "teaching-learning process." Furthermore, the school output data showed that in the lower education tracks the more innovative schools obtain good results with their students, whereas in the higher education tracks the less innovative schools perform significantly better.
El hilo conductor de los capítulos que conforman esta obra es la creencia y la convicción firme de que existen planteamientos económicos, sociales, organizativos y educativos alternativos a la forma convencional, y prácticamente de pensamiento único, que rige la sociedad en la que estamos inmersos.
Su objetivo principal es interpretar la educación, la cultura, el trabajo, la transición a la vida activa y la orientación profesional desde nuevas coordenadas que tengan en cuenta tanto los aspectos sociales como los medioambientales. De esta forma, la acción social y educativa podría ir construyendo el camino hacia una sociedad más consciente de que las exigencias impuestas por una cultura global introducen determinados sesgos a la educación en valores.
Una obra de esta naturaleza pretende contribuir a la formación de un colectivo amplio de profesionales comprometidos con la tarea de mejorar la educación (formal y no formal) y la orientación profesional de nuestros jóvenes en áreas cada día más necesarias para comprender la compleja sociedad contemporánea. La obra, ha sido escrita por prestigiosos profesionales de diferentes universidades y cen-tros de investigación españoles, que han debido robar " tiempo al tiempo " para hacerla posible. Sus trabajos son tan sugerentes que, a buen seguro, movilizarán nuestras múltiples inteligencias hacia la construcción de proyectos educativos más equitativos.
For more than 40 years, the international community has acknowledged the role education might play in environmental awareness and conservation. The last major initiative came when the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed a Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). In the final year of the decade, teachers still struggle to realise education for sustainable development (ESD). One of the challenges teachers face with respect to ESD is the inclusion of even more content into an already overloaded curriculum. In response, it has been suggested that ESD should be introduced as an integrated perspective across the content of all existing subjects. This paper offers a model for how ESD can be realised in chemistry education. The model has been developed to support chemistry teachers in their educational planning and consists of 5 categories: chemical content knowledge, chemistry in context, the distinctiveness and methodological character of chemistry, ESD competences and lived ESD. The ESD model is illustrated through 5 ellipses, visualising the hierarchy of the categories, as they exist in different levels. All 5 ESD categories need to be considered in a holistic ESD approach.
This paper uses Raymond Boudon’s model of educational expansion to examine the relationship between education and social mobility, paying particular attention to post-compulsory education – an important site of social differentiation in England. The paper shows how Boudon focuses explicitly on the consequences of educational expansion, and argues that his work helps us understand why widening access to post-compulsory education does not necessarily lead to higher rates of social mobility. We investigate Boudon’s key theoretical insights and assess the contemporary relevance of his model. The paper argues that the fundamental assumptions of Boudon’s model not only remain valid, but have been intensified by systemic changes in English post-compulsory education, and its articulation with the labour market.