The modelling ability of non-major chemistry students and their understanding of the sub-microscopic level

This case study examined the ability of three first year non-major chemistry students to understand chemical concepts according to Johnstone&rsquo;s three levels of chemical representations of matter. Students&rsquo; background knowledge in chemistry proved to be a powerful factor in their understanding of the submicroscopic level. The results show that modelling ability is not necessarily innate, but it is a skill to be learnt. Each of the students&rsquo; modelling abilities with chemical representations improved with instruction and practice. Generally, as modelling skills improved so did students&rsquo; understanding of the relevant chemical concept. Modelling ability is described according to Grosslight et al.&rsquo;s three&ndash;tiered level and the ability to traverse the three levels of chemical representation of matter.<br /

Development of a Constructivist Model for Teacher Inservice.

In this paper, we consider a model for teacher inservice that is informed by constructlvlsm. Initially, we consider the criteria for identifying conceptual change, briefly examine research on the roles which teachers engage in when implementing innovations, and describing different knowledge bases needed m usmg teaching approaches informed by constructivist referents. Secondly, we describe an inservice programme for science teachers in one high school, and thirdly show how a five-stage model to introduce teaching/learning approaches informed by constructivism was developed

Science Teachers’ Understanding of Creative Thinking and How to Foster It as Mandated by the Australian Curriculum

Developing students’ creativity is an important educational goal in many countries. The Australian Curriculum Authority has mandated that all teachers teach creative thinking across all subjects and grades. However, after more than 10 years working within this mandate, how do science teachers see their role in promoting creativity in the classroom? This study reports interviews with 13 Australian science teachers, from three jurisdictions, about how they understand creativity, the activities that they use and barriers to supporting creative thinking in classrooms. The findings showed that, although teachers were able to identify many of the elements of creativity and creative thinking described in the literature, many still felt unsure of what creative thinking entails. For class activities that foster creative thinking most teachers focused on project-based or inquiry learning which require long periods of class time to complete. Less emphasis was given to the importance of developing creative thinking skills in making hypotheses by supporting construction of meaning, providing personal insights and explanations through the use of possibility thinking, mental images, analogies when teaching curriculum content. The Australian Curriculum documents themselves give guidance suggesting that creative thinking in science is mainly developed through inquiry-based activities. It is imperative that schools give more support to teachers to understand and develop creative thinking tasks, including time, resources, professional learning, and accountability systems

The productive interplay between student-student and teacher-student dialogic interactions and the affordances of student generated explanatory drawings to understand plate tectonics

Understanding mechanisms underpinning formation of convection currents is pivotal for developing explanations of plate tectonics when teaching Geoscience topics. While student generated diagrams explaining convection currents may be used to evaluate student conceptual understanding and alternative conceptions in this topic, students may need support to produce elaborated explanatory diagrams. This study investigates the affordances of dialogue with peers and knowledgeable others as students construct explanatory diagrams of convection current formation and plate movement. Grade 8 students (n = 37) participated in small group and whole class discussions to construct explanations of plate movements at divergent boundaries and then drew diagrams to elaborate their understanding of this phenomenon. Throughout the process students were encouraged to mentally engage with the drawing process through discussions with peers and teachers. The drawing process provided opportunities for teachers to identify alternative conceptions that were not evident in teacher-student dialogic interactions but were evident in diagrams and to encourage consideration of scientific explanations through use of probing questions about what students were representing. The drawing process also elicited discussions between peers about complex interactions occurring within the mantle, during which some students became aware of inconsistencies within their explanations which led to adoption of more scientifically accurate conceptions

Some Ethical Considerations Concerning the Use of Live Animals in Biology Experiments

As biology teachers we are continually faced with decisions regarding the use of experiments in order to identify, investigate, clarify or illustrate a particular concept or concepts. If an experiment is to be performed we frequently have to decide whether to use live animals, preserved animal specimens, preserved animal organs, fresh animal organs (from, say, the butcher), tissue cultures, audio-visual simulations or even class members as the subjects. Many students, and indeed many teachers, have been reticent about their acceptance of experimenting with live, or freshly killed animals; frequently the issue is settled by reference to such work being in the interests of science or knowledge

Diagnostic assessment in science as a means to improving teaching, learning and retention

The nature and extent of students’ understanding of scientific concepts and phenomena are key components of any science curriculum. In order to gauge the effectiveness of classroom instruction to facilitate students’ understanding of scientific concepts, appropriate assessment tools have to be readily available for use by classroom teachers. This paper addresses the importance of assessment in science learning and presents a review of the development, in particular, of two-tier multiple-choice diagnostic instruments that have been reported in the science education research literature and suggests that their development and use can make an important contribution to improving teaching, students’ learning and maintaining student interest in the science concepts with which they are engaged

The Presentation Sequence of Gas Properties by Physics Textbooks and Science Teachers\u27 Reports

In this paper, the presentation of the sequence of gas laws is examined to identify cognitive gaps which can hinder student understanding of the concepts involved. Analysis of 14 physics textbooks used in Australian secondary schools and questionnaires from 104 science teachers provided the data for the study. Analysis of the teachers\u27 reports reveals features of the gas law sequence which are inconsistent with the textbook analysis; namely, a low usage of the historical sequence for the gas laws, the use of a sequence which is not necessarily logical, and the use of a simple to complex sequence with no cognitive gaps. The manner in which textbooks can constrain teachers\u27 presentation of concepts and exercises is discussed

Sources of Students’ Difficulties in Learning Chemistry

Chemistry is a difficult subject to teach and to learn at both secondary and tertiary levels. Major learning difficulties are due to the particular views of chemistry phenomena that in many ways contradict intuitive and everyday views of the learners. As a result, major misunderstandings occur when students try to comprehend chemical explanations within the framework of their pre-instructional conceptions. This paper describes research findings on students’ pre-instructional conceptions in the domain of chemistry and on attempts to guide students from their conceptions to the core ideas of chemistry. Rather than providing an overview of students’ conceptions in various topics, we review learning difficulties from the perspectives of the challenge of multiple representations and the relation of chemistry to everyday experiences, including understanding the special language of chemistry. We believe that these perspectives contribute substantially to the limited success of teaching and learning chemistry

An action research in science: Providing metacognitive support to year 9 students

© 2016 Wagaba et al. An action research study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of providing metacognitive support to enhance Year 9 students’ metacognitive capabilities in order to better understand science concepts related to light, environmental health, ecosystems, genetics, ecology, atoms and the Periodic Table. The study was conducted over three years involving 35, 20 and 24 students in each year. The interventions included providing students with clearly stated focused outcomes about the relevant science concepts, engaging in collaborative group work, reading scientific texts and using concept mapping techniques. The data to evaluate the effectiveness of the metacognitive interventions were obtained from pre- and posttest results of the Metacognitive Support Questionnaire (MSpQ). The results showed gains in the MSpQ