The constructivist view in science education - what it has to offer and what should not be expected

There is certainly something fashionable about constructivism in science education nowadays. It is further true that constructivism is by no means a consistent movement, there are many variants of this view in use. Furthermore, it appears that constructivism, for some science educators, in any case, has become the new ideology of science education that provides a cure for every problem of teaching and learning science. But without any doubt constructivism has become also a most valuable guideline for science education -- for science teaching and learning as well as for research in these fields. This paper attempts to review the myths, the misunderstandings, the polemics and the serious critiques concerning constructivism. It will be argued in favor of a consistent and "moderate" constructivist view in science education that in fact may provide substantial progress in our field and which major features will be among the valuable views of science education even after the term constructivism will have gone out of fashion

Lehr-Lernprozesse im Physikunterricht - eine Videostudie

[Der Beitrag berichtet aus einem Projekt des DFG-Schwerpunktprogramms Bildungsqualität]. Hintergrund für dieses Projekt sind ... die Befunde aus internationalen Vergleichsstudien (TIMSS, PISA). Die Studie untersucht den deutschen Physikunterricht und die Lernprozesse, die in diesem Unterricht ermöglicht werden. Ziel ist es, eine erste Bestandsaufnahme der "didaktischen Orchestrierung" von Physikuntericht vorzunehmen und insbesondere die Möglichkeiten für verständnisvolles Lernen zu untersuchen ... . Mit theoriegeleiteten Analysen von Unterrichtsbeobachtungen und von ergänzenden Daten aus Befragungen und Tests soll geklärt werden, wie sich Bedingungen bzw. Muster des Physikunterrichts auf Lernprozesse und Bildungsergebnisse auswirken. Der Beitrag konzentriert sich auf die Zielorientierung und die Lernbegleitung. (DIPF/Orig.

Mobile monitoring application to support sustainable behavioural change towards healthy lifestyle

We describe the development of body area networks (BANs) incorporating sensors and other devices to provide intelligent mobile services in healthcare and well-being. The first BAN applications were designed to simply transmit biosignals and display them remotely. Further developments include analysis and interpretation of biosignals in the light of context data. By including feedback loops, BAN telemonitoring was also augmented with teletreatment services. Recent developments include incorporation of clinical decision support by applying techniques from artificial intelligence. These developments represent a movement towards smart healthcare, making health BAN applications more intelligent by incorporating feedback, context awareness, personalization, and decision support.\ud The element of decision support was first introduced into the BAN health and well-being applications in the Food Valley Eating Advisor (FOVEA) project. Obesity and overweight represent a growing threat to health and well-being in modern society. Physical inactivity has been shown to contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality rates, and this is now a global trend bringing huge costs in terms of human suffering and reduction in life expectancy as well as uncontrolled growth in demand on healthcare services. Part of the solution is to foster healthier lifestyle. A major challenge however is that exercise and dietary programs may work for the individual in the short term, but adherence in the medium and long term is difficult to sustain, making weight management a continuing struggle for individuals and a growing problem for society, governments, and health services. Using ICT to support sustainable behavioral change in relation to healthy exercise and diet is the goal of the FOVEA monitoring and feedback application. We strive to design and develop intelligent BAN-based applications that support motivation and adherence in the long term. We present this healthy lifestyle application and report results of an evaluation conducted by surveying professionals in related disciplines

Teaching energy conservation as a unifying principle in physics

In this work we present the design and assessment of a teaching sequence aimed at introducing the principle of energy conservation at post-compulsory secondary school level (16-18 year olds). The proposal is based on the result of research into teaching-learning difficulties and on the analysis of the physics framework. Evidence is shown that this teaching sequence, together with the methodology used in the classroom, may result in students having a better grasp of the principle of energy conservation. Keywords Physics education · Energy conceptions · Teaching activitie

Conceptual Development About Motion and Force in Elementary and Middle School Students

Methods of physics education research were applied to find what kinds of changes in 4th, 6th, and 8th grade student understanding of motion can occur and at what age. Such findings are necessary for the physics community to effectively discharge its role in advising and assisting pre-college physics education. Prior to and after instruction the students were asked to carefully describe several demonstrated accelerated motions. Most pre-instruction descriptions were of the direction of motion only. After instruction, many more of the students gave descriptions of the motion as continuously changing. Student responses to the diagnostic and to the activity materials revealed the presence of a third “snapshot” view of motion not discussed in the literature. The 4th and 6th grade students gave similar pre-instructional descriptions of the motion, but the 4th grade students did not exhibit the same degree of change in descriptions after instruction. Our findings suggest that students as early as 6th grade can develop changes in ideas about motion needed to construct Newtonian-like ideas about force. Students’ conceptions about motion change little under traditional physics instruction from these grade levels through college level

Novel insights into hair structure and the effects of chemical stressors on hair and skin using label-free advanced light microscopy

There is a need for a better method to image hair as the current methods involve embedding the hair in resin, which may produce artefacts, or using dyes which are limited in their depth of penetration into the hair. The research performed in this thesis endeavours to characterise the cellular structure of human hair with label-free imaging using autofluorescence and fluorescence lifetime imaging. Wavelengths were shown to selectively excite the hair cuticle, cortex and medulla, and subcellular compartments. Development of an optical transverse imaging method enabled discoveries including different fluorescence lifetimes across the cuticle cell layers and suggests the cuticle layers possess differing chemical environments. A new method was developed to distinguish between eumelanin and pheomelanin using 405nm and 633nm wavelengths. The newly developed methods were additionally used in the characterisation of an unidentified hair and skin disorder, which found poorly differentiated cuticle cells and showed differences in the fluorescence lifetimes of the hair compared to control hairs. The hair care industry needs more efficacious chemical depilatories and information into their action. This was elucidated using the developed methods and a new dynamic imaging method. Potassium thioglycolate was shown to cause drastic expansion of the hair which was amplified by the addition of guanidine carbonate, creating fissures through the cuticle and into the cortex. Other experimental depilatory formulations were tested and were found to have varying effects upon the structure of the hair. New chemical depilatories require development because existing depilatories can cause irritation in the skin. Potassium thioglycolate and guanidine carbonate were tested on HaCaT cells, isolated cornified envelopes, and HEKn cells in a 3D epidermal model. An investigation into the differentiation, proliferation and acute stress response of the cells showed that the treatments had no significant effect on these markers. However, the chemicals negatively affected HaCaT cell viability and damaged the cornified envelopes. Despite this, the viability and structural integrity of the living cells of the epidermal model were maintained through the protection provided by the stratum corneum

Using resource graphs to represent conceptual change

We introduce resource graphs, a representation of linked ideas used when reasoning about specific contexts in physics. Our model is consistent with previous descriptions of resources and coordination classes. It can represent mesoscopic scales that are neither knowledge-in-pieces or large-scale concepts. We use resource graphs to describe several forms of conceptual change: incremental, cascade, wholesale, and dual construction. For each, we give evidence from the physics education research literature to show examples of each form of conceptual change. Where possible, we compare our representation to models used by other researchers. Building on our representation, we introduce a new form of conceptual change, differentiation, and suggest several experimental studies that would help understand the differences between reform-based curricula.Comment: 27 pages, 14 figures, no tables. Submitted for publication to the Physical Review Special Topics Physics Education Research on March 8, 200

From teaching physics to teaching children : beginning teachers learning from pupils

This paper discusses the development of beginning physics teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in the context of teaching basic electricity during a one-year Professional Graduate Diploma in Education course (PGDE) and beyond. This longitudinal study used repeated semi-structured interviews over a period of four-and-a-half years. The interview schedule followed a line of development through the secondary school electrical syllabus in Scotland. Fifteen student teachers were interviewed during the PGDE year. Six of them were followed up at the end of the Induction Year (their first year as a newly qualified teacher), and again two-and-a-half years later. Thematic analysis of the interviews showed that before the beginning teachers had taught any classes, their initial focus was on how to transform their own subject matter knowledge (SMK) about electricity into forms that were accessible to pupils. As the beginning teachers gained experience working with classes, they gave vivid descriptions of interacting with particular pupils when teaching electricity which showed the development of their pedagogical knowledge. This played a significant role in the teachers' change of focus from teaching physics to teaching children as they transformed their SMK into forms that were accessible to pupils and developed their general pedagogical knowledge