An Investigation Into Objective Testing in Science in a Scottish Secondary School

This thesis surveys the literature on objective testing with particular reference to work done in the area of multiple choice testing. The history of the Objective Testing movement is traced from the intelligence tests constructed by Binet in France to the present day and includes a survey of the use of multiple choice tests in Science examinations in British schools today. The experimental work in the thesis was carried out on first and second year pupils in a comprehensive school who were following the Integrated Science Syllabus. Several aspects of the use of multiple choice tests were investigated beginning with an examination of the effect of changing initial responses on multiple choice tests. It was found that pupils gained marks by making these changes more often than they lost marks. This was found to be true for both boys and girls. To investigate the effect of rearranging the responses within a multiple choice test three rearrangements of items were made and the results of the rearranged test compared with the original test. The following rearrangements were investigated (a) Reversing the order of the distractors while keeping the key in the same position; (b) Placing the key in one of the last two positions in a five choice item, when previously it had been in one of the first three positions; (c) Altering the position of the most plausible distractor to a position immediately before the key. No significant results were obtained except when the most plausible distractor was placed immediately before the key. To investigate the effect of item arrangement within multiple choice tests, two forms of the same test were constructed, one having the items arranged in the easy to difficult order and the other having the items arranged in the difficult to easy order. The marks were slightly higher for the difficult to easy form of the test. A preliminary investigation, into a scoring method which allowed for partial knowledge, was carried out and the results suggested that it may he possible to adopt it for use in schools

Instructional technology adoption at the University of Tennessee : perceived influences of select faculty members

Instructional technology can help transform college teaching from a teacher-centered instructional paradigm to a learner-centered paradigm. However, any educational change must begin with the faculty because only they can make a personal commitment to use technology in their teaching. This study focused on faculty members who have adopted the computer as an educational innovation seemingly in spite of the barriers. The purpose of the study was to identify how selected university faculty members are integrating instructional technology into their teaching practices and to determine the primary intrinsic and extrinsic rewards and incentives that influenced them to do so. Investigating what rewards and incentives were deemed as important to faculty who have already adopted instructional technologies can assist higher education in creating conditions that will influence more faculty to adopt the new instructional technologies. Data were gathered using a survey instrument, which was completed by 41 faculty members from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, who were identified as integrating instructional technologies into their teaching practices. In addition, 12 of these respondents were selected to participate in a semistructured interview. In summary, email was reported as being used more than any other computer-driven instructional technology followed by using web-based materials that support course content; showing computer-projected visuals while lecturing; and, providing a web-based syllabus. This study found that the participating faculty members were overwhelmingly influenced to start using instructional technologies by intrinsic rewards and incentives, primarily because they wanted to increase their teaching effectiveness and improve their instruction. Additionally, the most influential extrinsic rewards and incentives were related to receiving work-related support and recognition or encouragement. It can be concluded from this study\u27s findings that instructional technology will be adopted by faculty who want to improve their instruction and perceive technology use as beneficial to the teaching/learning process. Recommendations based on the findings included suggestions to increase satisfaction in teaching, encourage instructional technology adoption, address facilities and equipment, and conduct further research

The Study of Concepts, Growth and Attainment in School Science

The decades of the fifties and the sixties witnessed an unparalleled growth in the development of new curricula. Because of this, syllabuses in physics contained not only too much content but also some of it was conceptually difficult for the stage of the development of the children being taught. Difficulty in understanding physics was reported by many authorities. One of them was Scottish Certificate of Education Examination Board. This agency, from 1972 till now, in its annual reports, has been mentioning this factor of difficulty, encountered by the pupils in physics and has pointed out certain topics and concepts which were proving troublesome and were not properly understood by many pupils even at the higher levels of study. Many science educationists drew attention to another important factor which was creating difficulty and that was 'age' at which the topics and concepts were being taught. These views and reports indicated the need to study the difficulty and growth of topics and concepts in physics. Up to this time, nothing was reported regarding the pupils' views about this study. It was thought that the views and information given by the pupils would be useful and as important as the views given by various authorities and agencies. The study followed here is empirical in nature and was planned to find out about: (i) difficult topics and concepts in the course, (ii) the age level at which these become clear to the pupils, (iii) the growth of some of the concepts and (iv) the most appropriate order for the presentation of some topics. The survey of the literature was made at the beginning of the investigation. In this it was found that not such work of this nature had been done in this field in Britain before or after implementation of new syllabuses in physics which came into force in the late sixties. To fulfil the first three objectives of the research, the work was carried out for a period of more than two years and in different educational institutions and various classes. The beginning of the study was made with the general survey of difficult topics and concepts at various levels. This unit of work was applied in two consecutive years with the objectives to find out the topics and concepts which were: (i) understood first time or with a little effort, (ii) difficult but were mastered after considerable efforts, (iii) not clear, never understood and so needed to be taught again and, (iv) not covered by pupils in their course. For achieving these objectives, the work in first year consisted of a questionnaire having 41 items. This was applied to first year university students and pupils of 'H' and 'O' grades in five schools. In second year, a modified questionnaire having 23 items and a test were prepared for subjective and objective assessments. This material was also applied in the same way. To find out about (i) the age level at which some of the concepts become clear and (ii) the growth of these concepts, three concepts - density, heat and temperature and, electrical resistance were selected, one from each of the main areas of the study, mentioned above. Density was selected to study the 'natural' development of the concept; heat and temperature for confusion in normal everyday language usage and electrical resistance for it does not come often into normal use or conversation. The experimental techniques for investigating these concepts were similar although they differed considerably in detail. For each concept, the material prepared consisted of (i) a working net called a 'path diagram', (ii) an interview schedule and (iii) a diagnostic test. This material was also applied over two years in four schools. For the concept of density, the interview was conducted in SI to SIII classes and the test was applied to SI to SV classes. For the concepts of heat and temperature, and resistance, the interviews were conducted in SII to SIV classes and the tests were applied to SII to SV classes. There are two main features of the experimental technique. (i) The tests were prepared on the basis of the interview information and were validated against the interview results and (ii) new types of diagnostic tests were prepared and novel ideas were introduced in the test construction. The general survey of the syllabus revealed that there were certain topics and concepts which were difficult and were proving troublesome and, the troubles were carried by the pupils into their undergraduate careers. The study of the selected concepts revealed that the concept of density became clear to the pupils at the age of about 15 years and, in third year classes, there was fast growth of the concept. At the age of about 16 years, the concepts of heat and temperature were becoming clear to the pupils and the concepts were growing fast in fourth year classes. The concept of resistance became clear to half of the pupils at the age of about 17 years and the growth rate started improving in fifth year classes. The work embodied in this entire investigation is now actively being considered by the Consultative Committee on the Curriculum in its planning of the syllabuses for the 1980s

The hidden curriculum of the video teleconference (VTC) classroom and its implications for the university of the twenty-first century

Old Dominion University\u27s Peninsula Center, in Hampton, Virginia, was the location for an ethnographic case study about the urban distributed university centers that provided instruction via video teleconference (VTC). Graduate engineers attended VTC classes at the Peninsula Center originating from five Virginia universities as part of the Commonwealth Graduate Engineering Program.;The purpose of this study was to describe VTC instruction and identify aspects that impacted on student learning, faculty teaching, and the socio-cultural environment. Fifty-one interviews and two months of observations were conducted during the Spring term, 1993.;Benson Snyder\u27s (1971) ethnographic case study at MIT, described in The Hidden Curriculum, provided a model from which to start. Based on a systematic comparative analysis of Snyder\u27s (1971) study at MIT with that of the Peninsula Center, findings showed that socio-cultural characteristics and traditions in the VTC graduate engineering classes followed Snyder\u27s (1971) model and affected student learning. This conclusion was evident, given the variables of elapsed time, different instructional formats such as large lecture hall and VTC, and student characteristics that varied from undergraduate to graduate, full-time to part-time, and traditional-age to adult students. This conclusion reflected higher education\u27s resistance to change due to its hidden curriculum that includes its socio-cultural norms, values, and traditions.;Eight socio-cultural constancies were described that existed at both MIT and at the Peninsula Center. They included: environmental characteristics; student-faculty communication; the student-faculty relationship; faculty work; dissonance and gamesmanship; methods of student learning; student sub-cultures; and the engineering culture. Additionally, eight new twists of VTC instruction were described.;Recommendations include researching and understanding socio-cultural trends when planning for educational reform, and improving student-faculty dialogue, characterized by discussion of truth, that is reduced in VTC instruction. These are challenges for the University of the 21st Century

Building the New Babel of Transnational Literacies: Preparing Education for World Citizens

The transnational diasporas in a technological world that is postmodern and posthuman mean both exciting diverse communities and challenging problems. On the one hand, globalization brought human beings the convenience of exchanging ideas, doing business, and building a better world together. On the other hand, the political economy of nation states that shaped non-translational ideologies, created at the same time conflicts and misunderstandings among citizens from different parts of the world. Responding to the current transnational clashes in flow (information dissemination) and contra flow (surveillance and control of information flow) of our information age, this dissertation builds up a transnational rhetoric and communication model that can be used to examine the curriculum design, teaching materials, and pedagogy in communication and writing studies, especially in technical communication. In addition, this study investigates the present state of curriculum design, teaching materials, and pedagogies in a southeastern higher education institution. Empirical data was collected from students, instructors, and administrators from different departments of this institution to determine whether and how do curriculum design, teaching materials, and pedagogies frame and teach transnational literacy. Further, to engage the conversation with a national audience, major introductory technical communication textbooks were analyzed based on both the empirical data and the transnational rhetoric and communication model using content analysis. The findings indicate that although curriculum design, textbooks, and pedagogies have transnational components, they generally reply on traditional models and stereotypical examples that cannot meet with students’ needs in order for them to become genuine world citizens with transnational awareness and competence. The transnational rhetoric and communication model helps to fill the gaps in curriculum design, textbook revision, and pedagogies in cultivating world citizens

EBook proceedings of the ESERA 2011 conference : science learning and citizenship

This ebook contains fourteen parts according to the strands of the ESERA 2011 conference. Each part is co-edited by one or two persons, most of them were strand chairs. All papers in this ebook correspond to accepted communications during the ESERA conference that were reviewed by two referees. Moreover the co-editors carried out a global reviewing of the papers.ESERA - European Science Education Research Associatio

Student Expectations: The effect of student background and experience

CONTEXT The perspectives and previous experiences that students bring to their programs of study can affect their approaches to study and the depth of learning that they achieve Prosser & Trigwell, 1999; Ramsden, 2003). Graduate outcomes assume the attainment of welldeveloped independent learning skills which can be transferred to the work-place. PURPOSE This 5-year longitudinal study investigates factors influencing students’ approaches to learning in the fields of Engineering, Software Engineering, and Computer Science, at two higher education institutes delivering programs of various levels in Australia and New Zealand. The study aims to track the development of student approaches to learning as they progress through their program. Through increased understanding of students’ approaches, faculty will be better able to design teaching and learning strategies to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student body. This paper reports on the first stage of the project. APPROACH In August 2017, we ran a pilot of our survey using the Revised Study Process Questionnaire(Biggs, Kember, & Leung, 2001) and including some additional questions related to student demographics and motivation for undertaking their current program of study. Data were analysed to evaluate the usefulness of data collected and to understand the demographics of the student cohort. Over the period of the research, data will be collected using the questionnaire and through focus groups and interviews. RESULTS Participants provided a representative sample, and the data collected was reasonable, allowing the questionnaire design to be confirmed. CONCLUSIONS At this preliminary stage, the study has provided insight into the student demographics at both institutes and identified aspects of students’ modes of engagement with learning. Some areas for improvement of the questionnaire have been identified, which will be implemented for the main body of the study

CuDAS: An interactive curriculum combining pedagogic composition with interactive software for the teaching of music technology

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Within the framework of education of Music Technology for 16-18 year olds there exists a lack of thorough teaching and learning resources sufficient for a broad understanding of the basics of audio and electronic synthesis. This PhD submission outlines the role of the composer in the classroom in addressing this fundamental issue through the development of a curriculum containing pedagogic composition and interactive software. There will be a discussion of the principles of pedagogic methodologies developed by various composers and of the current model of learning provided in Music Technology Alevel. The programming tools used to develop the software are investigated, as well as an exploration into the current learning psychology that informed the curriculum development. This submission consists of a written thesis that accompanies a set of compositions and a multimedia DVD, which includes the software for the CuDAS curriculum. Within this software is contained a presentation of a series of interactive tutorials alongside compositions in the form of scores, recordings and interactive exercises. There is also include written supporting documentation and sound files of techniques and recordings from contrasting genres of music history