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Why Is It So? Interest and Curiosity in Supporting Students Gifted in Science

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... Then, we resumed working on math projects that are slightly integrated with language arts. Moreover, we chose the projects he would want to work on together; these projects were devised according to his interest (Watters, 2021). ...
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An inclusive classroom accommodates learners with learning disabilities (LDs) or gifted learners (GLs). As part of the 1997 curriculum reform, Lebanon recognized one type of these learners-the LD. It provided the LD community with well-deserved support and the opportunity to be included in regular classroom settings, but nothing was done for the GL community. There has been an increase in interest in GL in Lebanon in recent years. Some private schools made a few attempts to accommodate GL. Two-exceptional learners (2e): those who are gifted and have at least one learning disability, were not catered for in these attempts. Schools and teachers are not equipped to handle the unique challenges faced by 2e learners. Consequently, these learners may experience anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and even behavioral problems. This paper presents the plan developed for a 2e learner (Khalil) that addressed his interests. Khalil had learning difficulties in reading and writing as well as giftedness in math, especially numerical math. Being 2e, Khalil received special lessons that made use of his math skills to improve his language arts. These lessons were project-based, which assisted Khalil in enhancing his mathematical talents while developing his writing and comprehension skills.
... Even when they feign seeking a common good, they in all likelihood are actually seeking to benefit themselves, often at others' expense (Nehrlich et al., 2019). Giftedness, on the other hand, is commonly associated with high levels of curiosity (Watters, 2021), self-reflection (Rimm et al., 2018), and empathy (Chowkase, 2022), all characteristics of wisdom (Sternberg & Glück, 2022). Thus, gifted narcissists may be able to cultivate certain aspects of wisdom through self-reflection, empathy-building exercises, emotional regulation exercises, and other forms of personal development focused on promoting wisdom to help compensate for some of the challenges typically associated with a narcissistic personality disorder. ...
... Another issue relevant to the provision of extension learning for HAS is that these students might prefer to be not identified as HAS. Bahar et al. (2016) and Watters (2021) noted that some HAS prefer extension at their own pace, with novel and independent learning, but also prefer not to stand out. Being identified as a HAS means for many HAS that they must therefore help the weaker students. ...
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Australia’s national and international performance scores for highly able students (HAS) are decreasing. The present study explored differences between teachers’ and students’ perceptions of how HAS think about extension education. Examined in the first survey were teachers’ and students’ perceptions of HAS’ states of mind during extension activities. In a second survey, teachers and students were asked how HAS might think that specific curriculum differentiation strategies were important in extension activities, and how frequently provided these strategies were. Two hundred and sixteen students, including n44 HAS and n14 teachers, were surveyed from junior secondary mixed-ability science classes in Melbourne, Australia. HAS were anonymously nominated as such by their science teachers. Findings showed that significant differences occurred between how teachers perceived that HAS typically thought about extension education, compared to the responses from the students nominated as HAS. This research suggested that incongruities between HAS’ and their teachers’ thinking is a foundational issue underlying HAS’ increasing underachievement. Teachers are not providing adequately challenging learning for HAS. Student voice must be heard on this issue. Extensive gifted education teacher-training, and associated school-wide extension programs are needed to advance the achievement levels of HAS.
... However, these field exercises are highly distinct from taught theories which are characterized by hearkening to presentations and re- cording what is presented [54]. As students are made to partake in significant exercises and testings in the laboratory, their passions are aroused [55]. Science is not only about yield or procedures but laboratory duties equip students with fundamental proficiencies and knowledge of dealing with situations using the scientific procedure [56]. ...
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Previous research supporting differentiated instruction (DI) has led to its adoption in different countries as a promising pedagogical framework for addressing diverse learners’ needs. To date, there exists little information on DI from Tanzania especially when competence-based education and inclusion are being embraced. To address this gap, this study explored how Tanzanian teachers perceived DI in their working with academically high-achieving secondary school students. The study was strongly informed by a constructivist research tradition, adopting a multiple case study design. Focus group discussions and interviews were used as data sources and thematically analyzed. The analysis revealed teachers’ limited perceptions of DI, although consonance with the existing literature on DI practices for high-ability learners. After discussing the findings, as conclusion, the article stresses the importance of training teachers on DI to enhance their instructional practices for high-ability learners in Tanzania, along with setting the grounds for future research.
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Internationally it is debated whether gifted children are resilient or emotionally vulnerable; therefore, to understand how Australian gifted primary school children fare, this study explored their social-emotional well-being and the social support provided by parents and teachers. The results revealed gifted children may experience difficult peer relationships, have a need to control emotions and feel different from their peers. Furthermore, gifted children sought more time with parents and an engaging learning environment with improved teacher behaviour management. Parents and teachers need to work together, acknowledging both strengths and weaknesses, to better accommodate the needs of the gifted child.
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Gifted students possess potential for advanced intellect that accelerates learning from an early age. By adolescence, a knowledge gap emerges between gifted adolescents and their peers, which presents challenges that potentially influence wellbeing. This research reports a case study of a compaction intervention program. It draws on data from six consecutive middle years cohorts to explore student wellbeing. The two-phase study used archives to inform retrospective interviews. Evidence revealed value in using a balanced approach to address student needs. Influences on wellbeing highlighted the necessity for systemic support beyond gifted program interventions. A Health Promoting school framework (WHO, 2013) was recommended to improve sustainability and outcomes.
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This article begins with a brief survey of the recent update of the Differentiating Model of Giftedness and Talent (DMGT). The DMGT defines talent development as the transformation of outstanding natural abilities (called gifts-G) into outstanding knowledge and skills (called talents-T). Two types of catalysts, intrapersonal (I) and environmental (E), actively moderate the talent development process (D). These causal components of talent development have biological underpinnings; I propose here a way to integrate these biological roots to the DMGT in the form of 'basements' that exert their influence upwards to moderate the development of natural abilities, as well as many intrapersonal catalysts like temperament, needs, interests, and volition. This new tri-dimensional approach to the structure of talent development leads to two hitherto unpublished proposals. The first one is a Developmental Model for Natural Abilities (DMNA), in which biological building blocks create a diversity of natural abilities, through a developmental process based on maturation and informal learning, and with the necessary contribution of both sets of I and E catalysts. The second one integrates the new DMNA and the DMGT into an Expanded Model of Talent Development (EMTD) that begins with the biological foundations and ends with high level expertise. © 2013 International Research Association for Talent Development and Excellence.
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This author provides reflections on the last 25 years of his work, focusing on the evolutions of models designed to help identify and meet the needs of gifted and talented students. The cited models include the Three Ring Conception of Giftedness, the Enrichment Triad Model, and the Schoolwide Enrichment Model. Summaries focus on the rationale supporting each model, including practical applications of the model in various school situations and underlying research. Also included are insights related to potential modifications and future developments of the models.
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Research over a long period of time has continued to demonstrate problems in the teaching of science in school. In addition, declining levels of participation and interest in science and related fields have been reported from many particularly western countries. Among the strategies suggested is the recruitment of professional scientists and technologists either at the graduate level or advanced career level to change career and teach. In this study, we analysed how one beginning middle primary teacher engaged with students to support their science learning by establishing rich classroom discussions. We followed his evolving teaching expertise over three years focussing on his communicative practices informed by socio-cultural theory. His practices exemplified a non-interactive dialogical communicative approach where ideas were readily discussed but were concentrated on the class acquiring acceptable scientific understandings. His focus on the language of science was a significant aspect of his practice and one that emerged from his professional background. The study affirms the theoretical frameworks proposed by Mortimer and Scott (Meaning making in secondary science classrooms, 2003) highlighting how dialogue contributes to heightened student interest in science.
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The relationship that exists between students and science and technology (S&T) is a complex and important one. If it is positive, then social, economic and environmental consequences are to be expected. Yet, many problems of interest/motivation/attitude (I/M/A) towards S&T have been recorded. A lot of research has been conducted on this topic and a certain number of syntheses have been proposed, but very few of them have followed sufficiently systematic procedures. In this article, we offer a synthetic and systematic description of 228 research articles that were published between 2000 and 2012 and indexed in the ERIC database under I/M/A for S&T at K-12 levels. We focus on the origin of these articles, on the constructs they use and define, on the instruments, and finally on the results they provide, whether correlative or causal. Conclusions and recommendations for future research and interventions are formulated.
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Positive socioemotional outcomes and developments represent important educational goals. Full-time ability grouping of gifted students has been criticized for potentially detrimental socioemotional effects. Therefore, in the present longitudinal study, we investigated whether or not social self-concepts and school-related attitudes and beliefs are affected by full-time ability grouping of the gifted. Students in regular classes and students in special classes for the gifted were paralleled for cognitive ability, sex, socioeconomic status, and school. By doing so, we studied 99 ―statistical twins‖ (N = 198) from the beginning of fifth grade to the middle of sixth grade. Data were analyzed through repeated-measures multivariate analysis of covariance (within-subject factor: time; between-subject factors: class type—gifted vs. regular—and cognitive ability as covariate). Cognitive ability had hardly any effect on the variables under study. Attending a gifted class had initially positive effects on students’ social self-concept of acceptance but no effects on social self-concept of assertiveness. Moreover, children in gifted classes exhibited more interest in school and reported better student–teacher relationships than their counterparts in regular classes.
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This study aims to integrate the current proliferation of motivation theories in a Unified Model of Task-specific Motivation (UMTM). According to this model readiness for action results from an interaction between four relatively independent types of valences that can be classified as affective or cognitive, and positive or negative. Affective valences are expectations about feelings while doing an activity; cognitive valences are expectations about the value of the consequences of an activity. In current theories these types of valences are designated as intrinsic, respectively extrinsic motives. Valences, furthermore, can be positive, but also negative. Positive valences give rise to approach motivation, negative valences to avoidance motivation. Important factors that influence valences are autonomy, feasibility expectation, and relatedness, each of which can be distinguished in a personal and a contextual facet, and subjective norm. In conclusion, some theoretical and practical implications are suggested and some issues for future research are proposed.
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This study aimed to investigate the effects of inquiry-based laboratory activities on high school students’ understanding of electrochemistry and attitudes towards chemistry and laboratory work. The participants were 62 high school students (average age 17 years) in an urban public high school in Turkey. Students were assigned to experimental (N = 30) and control groups (N = 32). The experimental group was taught using inquiry-based laboratory activities developed by the researchers and the control group was instructed using traditional laboratory activities. The results of the study indicated that instruction based on inquiry-based laboratory activities caused a significantly better acquisition of scientific concepts related to electrochemistry, and produced significantly higher positive attitudes towards chemistry and laboratory. In the light of the findings, it is suggested that inquiry-based laboratory activities should be developed and applied to promote students’ understanding in chemistry subjects and to improve their positive attitudes.
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This study investigated the factors which had influenced the role of motivation in the high levels of achievement of a sample of fifteen gifted students, aged 14/15 years, in five secondary schools in England. The students were interviewed individually, and their parents and teachers were also interviewed for validation of the students' comments. The results indicated the influences of teaching and learning provision, of support and of social and emotional factors on the students' motivation. The role of motivation in the realisation of the students' high ability, in achievement of personal goals and in maintaining the progress and achievements of those who had problems was also clear. Evidence of the importance of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in the students' achievement was also shown.
Book
Today's students need to be fully prepared for successful learning and living in the information age. This book provides a practical, flexible framework for designing Guided Inquiry that helps achieve that goal. Guided Inquiry prepares today's learners for an uncertain future by providing the education that enables them to make meaning of myriad sources of information in a rapidly evolving world. The companion book, Guided Inquiry: Learning in the 21st Century, explains what Guided Inquiry is and why it is now essential now. This book, Guided Inquiry Design: A Framework for Inquiry in Your School, explains how to do it. The first three chapters provide an overview of the Guided Inquiry design framework, identify the eight phases of the Guided Inquiry process, summarize the research that grounds Guided Inquiry, and describe the five tools of inquiry that are essential to implementation. The following chapters detail the eight phases in the Guided Inquiry design process, providing examples at all levels from pre-K through 12th grade and concluding with recommendations for building Guided Inquiry in your school. The book is for pre-K–12 teachers, school librarians, and principals who are interested in and actively designing an inquiry approach to curricular learning that incorporates a wide range of resources from the library, the Internet, and the community. Staff of community resources, museum educators, and public librarians will also find the book useful for achieving student learning goals.
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Two second-order meta-analyses synthesized approximately 100 years of research on the effects of ability grouping and acceleration on K–12 students’ academic achievement. Outcomes of 13 ability grouping meta-analyses showed that students benefited from within-class grouping (0.19 ≤ g ≤ 0.30), cross-grade subject grouping (g = 0.26), and special grouping for the gifted (g = 0.37), but did not benefit from between-class grouping (0.04 ≤ g ≤0.06); the effects did not vary for high-, medium-, and low-ability students. Three acceleration meta-analyses showed that accelerated students significantly outperformed their nonaccelerated same-age peers (g = 0.70) but did not differ significantly from nonaccelerated older peers (g = 0.09). Three other meta-analyses that aggregated outcomes across specific forms of acceleration found that acceleration appeared to have a positive, moderate, and statistically significant impact on students’ academic achievement (g = 0.42).
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It is argued that interest is central in determining how we select and persist in processing certain types of information in preference to others. Evidence that shows that both individual and text-based interest have a profound facilitative effect on cognitive functioning and learning is reviewed. Factors that contribute to text-based interest are discussed, and it is suggested that interest elicits spontaneous, rather than conscious, selective allocation of attention. It is further proposed that the psychological and physiological processes associated with interesting information have unique aspects not present in processing information without such interest. Current advances in neuro-cognitive research show promise that we will gain further knowledge of the impact of interest on cognitive functioning and that we will finally be in a position to integrate the physiological and psychological aspects of interest.
Chapter
This chapter introduces the history and development of inquiry-based learning (IBL) and describes how teaching and learning strategies over several decades in P-12 and higher education have built upon the ideas of John Dewey. Though personal reflection, uncertain learning paths and outcomes, and mindful inquiry have been central foundations undergirding IBL, the approach now stands upon the shoulders of theoretical and research giants such as Piaget, Vygotsky, and Bruner. Over 100 years, modern IBL proponents like Gruenewald, have implemented and experimented, contributing to cognitive and social science pedagogy, for instance, by attempting to make contemporary teaching and learning relevant, thoughtful, and action-oriented. Dewey’s work continues to dominate educational landscapes and inquiry-based approaches to teaching and learning have, in contemporary forms, withstood the test of time. Two case studies in this chapter illustrate how IBL has materialized as problem-based and place-based methodology, reflecting influences of social and cognitive constructivism, humanistic psychology, and eco-feminism. Those who embrace IBL continue to improve teaching and learning strategies in order to find more effective methods of immersing themselves and their students in globally critical conversations about essential life issues – inside and outside of classrooms – a central and enduring tenet of Dewey’s experiential learning.
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A decisive factor in the determination of effective gifted education is the fit between the individual cognitive and noncognitive (e.g., motivational and other personality) factors of the developmental and learning processes on the one hand and the environmental influences that are mainly from the social settings of family, school, and peers on the other hand. This chapter is based on multidimensional conceptions of giftedness and talent, such as the Munich Model of Giftedness (MMG), as well as on interaction models, such as the Aptitude-Treatment Interaction (ATI) by Cronbach and Snow (1977) and Corno and Snow (1986). When considering the MMG as an example of a multifactorial conception of giftedness, along with the recently developed dynamic process approach to this model (Munich Dynamic Ability-Achievement Model of Giftedness [MDAAM]), the following questions arise: How should gifted individuals be identified and instructed? And how should their learning outcomes or excellent performance be assessed? These and other questions will be answered according to the MMG and the MDAAM, respectively. giftedness and talent from a theoretical point of view Our knowledge regarding giftedness and talent is supplied by different sources of information and research paradigms. Approaches that are particularly relevant to conceptualizing giftedness or talent are the psychometric approach, the expert-novice paradigm, explanatory approaches from the field of cognitive science or cognitive psychology, and social psychology, as well as retrospective and prospective (longitudinal) studies.
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Encouraging Student Interest in Science and Technology Studies examines overall trends in higher education enrolments and the evolution of S&T compared with other disciplines. The results suggest that although absolute numbers of S&T students have been rising as access to higher levels of education expands in OECD economies, the relative share of S&T students among the overall student population has been falling, The report shows that encouraging interest in S&T studies requires action to tackle a host of issues inside and outside the education system, ranging from teacher training and curriculum design to improving the image of S&T careers. Numerous examples of national initiatives are used to complement the analyses to derive a set of practical recommendations.
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This study explored the social affiliations of students in three mainstream classrooms containing students receiving general education services, students characterized as academically gifted, students with learning disabilities, and students with emotional and behavioral disorders. The study provided an in-depth description of the classrooms' social networks, focusing on the social and demographic characteristics that distinguished clusters of students. Findings showed that students formed distinct peer clusters around shared characteristics; particular social characteristics were associated with a student's level of centrality in the classroom; and students with exceptionalities were well integrated into the classroom's social structure. Affiliations of students with exceptionalities suggest topics for future research.
Chapter
This chapter reviews four decades of research within the burgeoning field of classroom learning environments. One major thrust is a review of the development, validity and use of several frequently-used and extensively-validated learning environment questionnaires such as the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory, Constructivist Learning Environment Survey and the What Is Happening In this Class?, as well as some recent questionnaires such as the Technology-Rich Outcomes-Focused Learning Environment Inventory and Constructivist-Oriented Learning Environment Survey. Another purpose of this chapter is to review several lines of past learning environment research, including associations between student outcomes and the learning environment, evaluation of educational innovations, teachers’ action-research attempts to improve their classroom environments, links between educational environments, and cross-national studies.
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Attention in recent years has turned to the key role talk plays in mediating students’ learning when they work cooperatively together. There is no doubt that talk, albeit by the teacher or peers, has the capacity to stimulate and extend students’ thinking and advance their learning. Teachers do this when they encourage students to engage in reciprocal dialogues where they exchange information, explore issues, interrogate ideas, and tackle problems in a cooperative environment that is supportive of these discussions. In turn, students learn to listen to what others have to say, consider alternative perspectives, and engage critically and constructively with each other's ideas by learning how to reason and justify their assertions as they cooperate together. This study involved three Year 7 teachers and 17 groups of students (3–5 students per group) from their classes. The teachers had agreed to teach two units of cooperative, inquiry-based science across two school terms. All three teachers had been trained to use a dialogic approach to teaching designed to challenge children's thinking and learning. This paper presents examples of both teachers’ and students’ dialogic interactions and discusses the complementarity of these discourses even though the teachers used slightly different dialogic approaches in interacting with their students.
Article
In order to develop students' capacities to "do mathematics," classrooms must become environments in which students are able to engage actively in rich, worthwhile mathematical activity. This paper focuses on examining and illustrating how classroom-based factors can shape students' engagement with mathematical tasks that were set up to encourage high-level mathematical thinking and reasoning. The findings suggest that when students' engagement is successfully maintained at a high level, a large number of support factors are present. A decline in the level of students' engagement happens in different ways and for a variety of reasons. Four qualitative portraits provide concrete illustrations of the ways in which students' engagement in high-level cognitive processes was found to continue or decline during classroom work on tasks.
Article
In a study of the relationship between high-stakes testing and the teaching of science, we conducted pilot case studies of two school districts, and then interviewed and observed a larger number of teachers in Grades 8, 10, and 12 drawn from 10 districts in British Columbia. We also interviewed principals, students, and district personnel. The data showed a decrease in the variety of instructional approaches from Grade 8 to Grade 12. Teachers' comments suggested that high-stakes examinations at Grade 12 were a major factor in the instructional differences we observed. We concluded not only that the examinations discouraged teachers from using strategies which promoted enquiry and active student learning, but also that this impoverishment affected the language of classroom discourse. /// Voulant éclaircir la relation entre les examens décisifs et l'enseignement des sciences, les auteurs ont effectué des études de cas dans deux circonscriptions scolaires, puis ils ont interviewé et observé un grand nombre d'enseignants du secondaire (Grades 8, 10 et 12) dans dix circonscriptions en Colombie-Britannique. Ils sont aussi interviewé les directeurs d'école, les élèves et le personnel. Les données colligées indiquent qu'il y a de moins en moins de diversité dans les approches pédagogiques du Grade 8 au Grade 12. Les commentaires des enseignants donnent à penser que les examens décisifs au niveau du Grade 12 sont un facteur clé dans les différences observées entre les approches pédagogiques. Les auteurs concluent que non seulement les examens dissuadent les enseignants d'utiliser des stratégies qui favorisent la recherche et l'apprentissage actif, mais aussi que cet appauvrissement affecte le discours en classe.
Article
Gifted students are a diverse minority group with high intelligence and talent whose needs are often unrecognised and unmet. It is believed that this group of students, from a range of backgrounds, socio-economic statuses and abilities, may experience a range of social-emotional difficulties, including peer exclusion, isolation, stress, anxiety, depression and destructive perfectionism. Literature also reveals that gifted and talented students are underachieving at school. Many educators do not recognise or meet the needs of gifted students as there is a false perception that they can look after themselves (Neihard, Reis, Robinson, & Moon, 2002). As research indicates, there is a positive correlation between poor social-emotional development and scholastic underachievement in gifted students (Australian Council for Educational Research, 2010; Queensland Government, 2013). While this may be true, there is limited understanding of how these variables influence one another. Many researchers believe that social-emotional difficulties cause school underachievement, whereas others argue that school underachievement results in social and emotional problems. Furthermore, many researchers dispute these arguments altogether, and believe that these problems are a result of external factors, including family, school, and community environments. Given these contrasting viewpoints, critical investigation is necessary in order to develop a more conclusive understanding of this relationship. This article aims to critically analyse the scope of the current literature, and provides recommendations for further research, as this may result in better development of programs to further support the social-emotional and academic needs of gifted students.
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This unique and ground-breaking book is the result of 15 years research and synthesises over 800 meta-analyses on the influences on achievement in school-aged students. It builds a story about the power of teachers, feedback, and a model of learning and understanding. The research involves many millions of students and represents the largest ever evidence based research into what actually works in schools to improve learning. Areas covered include the influence of the student, home, school, curricula, teacher, and teaching strategies. A model of teaching and learning is developed based on the notion of visible teaching and visible learning. A major message is that what works best for students is similar to what works best for teachers - an attention to setting challenging learning intentions, being clear about what success means, and an attention to learning strategies for developing conceptual understanding about what teachers and students know and understand. Although the current evidence based fad has turned into a debate about test scores, this book is about using evidence to build and defend a model of teaching and learning. A major contribution is a fascinating benchmark/dashboard for comparing many innovations in teaching and schools.
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Building on and extending existing research, this article proposes a 4-phase model of interest development. The model describes 4 phases in the development and deepening of learner interest: triggered situational interest, maintained situational interest, emerging (less-developed) individual interest, and well-developed individual interest. Affective as well as cognitive factors are considered. Educational implications of the proposed model are identified.
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Debates continue about how high-stakes testing regimes influence schools at all levels: their impact on teaching practices, distribution of resources and curriculum provision, and whether they achieve the intended increases in student achievement in targeted areas. In 2008, the Australian government introduced a national testing scheme, the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), in which all Australian students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are required to participate, and a national website, MySchool, was established in 2010 to publish the results of all schools. This paper reports on the first national study of educators’ views on the impact of NAPLAN on Australian schools and students. Over 8000 educators from all states and territories participated in the study, and the findings indicate that the testing regime is leading to a reduction in time spent on other curriculum areas and adjustment of pedagogical practice and curriculum content to mirror the tests. The findings suggest that the modification of teaching and curricular practices is in response to concerns regarding the use and reporting of NAPLAN data and the potential impact on schools. This confirms findings of researchers in other countries on the capacity of high-stakes regimes to distort teaching practices, constrain the curriculum and narrow students’ educational experiences.
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This is a mix methods follow-up study in which we reconfirm the findings from an earlier study [Vedder-Weiss & Fortus [2011] Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 48(2), 199–216]. The findings indicate that adolescents' declining motivation to learn science, which was found in many previous studies [Galton [2009] Moving to secondary school: Initial encounters and their effects. Perspectives on Education, 2(Primary-secondary Transfer in Science), 5–21. Retrieved from www.wellcome.ac.uk/perspectives; Osborne, Simon, & Collins, [2003] International Journal of Science Education 25(9), 1049–1079], is not an inevitable phenomenon since it appears not to occur in Israeli democratic schools. In addition to reinforcing previous results in a different sample, new results show that the differences between the two school types are also apparent in terms of students' self-efficacy in science learning, students' perceptions of their teachers' goals emphases, and students' perception of their peers' goals orientation. Quantitative results are accompanied by rich verbal examples of ways in which students view and articulate their own and their teachers' goal emphases. Content analysis of students' interviews showed that students in traditional schools are directed more towards goals that are external and related to the outcome of learning in comparison to democratic school students who are motivated more by goals that are internal and related to the process of learning. Structure analysis of these interviews suggests that democratic school students experience a greater sense of autonomy in their science learning than traditional school students do. Implications for research on students' motivation are discussed, such as considering not only the teacher and the classroom but also the school culture. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 1057–1095, 2012
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The issue of high school dropout has long concerned policy makers, educational professionals, and the general public. In the gifted literature, this concern is no less pressing. Student engagement is becoming an increasingly discussed construct for conceptualizing the dropout phenomenon and designing appropriate interventions to prevent this phenomenon. The purpose of this literature review was to review prior findings in the gifted underachievement and dropout literature within the framework of student engagement. Specifically, academic, behavioral, affective, and cognitive indicators of student engagement are examined. Findings of the review and implications for research and practice are presented. Student engagement may prove to be an essential construct in understanding, predicting, and preventing dropout behavior among gifted students.
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This column expresses ideas on curriculum, instruction, and assessment that provide assistance to practitioners responsible for planning and implementing programs for the gifted. The article featured here addresses the author’s perspective on the biggest curriculum problems in the field and offers ideas for resolution of those problems. It is written, using a problem-based learning format, to highlight one of the highly effective approaches that gifted educators may use to organize and carry out curriculum for the gifted.
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ABSTRACT There is ongoing public and parental concern about the number,of students who,are choosing to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics,(STEM) subjects. This article explores some,of the possible reasons for students’ interest or lack of interest in science to make,the point that the value of science lies not principally in its value for any future career but rather in the amazing,success,it has had – both in its methods,and outcomes,– at generating explanations of the material world and in providing a source of solutions to many human problems. It is this vision that is central to why science matters. Hardly a week ,seems ,to go ,by without ,some conversation about young people’s lack of interest instudying science. For those of us who have been around a while and remember,the Dainton report of 1968, which sounded similar alarm bells, the question asked is one of whether the scientific community,is simply crying wolf. Getting politicians worried about the future state of the economy, on which their futures rest, is a good way of generating investment in both science and technology and science education. The
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The purpose of this study was to explore the contributions of subject-matter knowledge, strategic processing, and interest to college students' educational psychology learning. The model of domain learning, or MDL (Alexander, 1997), guided our instrument development and served as the framework for multivariate analyses and path modeling. In general, the study's results upheld the MDL predictions. For example, students' subject-matter knowledge, strategic processing, interest, and interactive knowledge significantly increased after a semester of domain instruction. In addition, path analyses revealed that posttest subject-matter knowledge was both directly and indirectly predicted by pretest subject-matter knowledge, surface- and deep-level processing, interactive knowledge, and pretest interest Predicted interrelations among subject-matter knowledge also emerged, as did interest and interactive knowledge at pretest, and subject-matter knowledge at posttest Finally, it appears that the nature of the tasks used in this investigation differentially affected students' reported strategy use from the outset of the course to its conclusion.
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This paper reviews the remarkably similar experiences of school science reported by high school students in Sweden, England, and Australia. It compares student narratives from interpretive studies by Lindahl, by Osborne and Collins, and by Lyons, identifying core themes relating to critical contemporary issues in science education. These themes revolve around the transmissive pedagogy, decontextualized content, and unnecessary difficulty of school science commonly reported by students in the studies. Their collective experiences are used as a framework for examining student conceptions of, and attitudes to, school science more generally, drawing on an extensive range of international literature. The paper argues that the experiences of students in the three studies provide important insights into the widespread declines in interest and enrolments in high school and university science courses.