Secondary Students’ Visual-Spatial Ability Predicts Performance on the Visual-Spatial Electricity and Electromagnetism Test (VSEEMT)

This study examines the relationship between students’ general visual-spatial ability and their understanding of electricity and electromagnetism, a topic that requires imagining many invisible, 3-dimensional phenomena. Participants (N = 428 Singaporean secondary students) completed the Visual- Spatial Ability Test (VSAT) and the Visual-Spatial Electricity and Electromagnetism Test (VSEEMT). Results reveal that students’ visual-spatial ability is significantly, positively correlated with their achievement in the VSEEMT; this relationship was highest for students with previously lower ability. Thus, visual-spatial ability is an asset to students in mastering the concepts of electricity and electromagnetism, especially for students of lower ability. The findings support a need for visualization instruction that can support students’ visual-spatial ability, which may help them visualize the abstract phenomena and deepen their understanding of the concepts.Peer Reviewe

Middle school student attitudes toward science, and their relationships with instructional practices: a survey of Chinese students’ preferred versus actual instruction

This study explored relationships between students\u27 attitudes toward science and their preferred versus actual experience of cooperative, constructivist-oriented, or direct instruction. The sample consisted of 1334 Chinese middle school students in physics and chemistry classrooms. Results showed that students report experiencing more direct instruction, very little constructivist-oriented instruction, and a moderate amount of cooperative instruction. Attitudes toward science were positively related to cooperative teaching strategies like group work in class or developing small-group projects. There was no significant effect of constructivist-oriented instruction or of direct instruction on students\u27 attitudes. Whereas previous studies demonstrated positive impacts of constructivist teaching on student understanding of science concepts, student attitude toward school science appears to be more related to social interaction or cooperation. Lack of any statistically significant differential effect from constructivist-oriented instruction might also be related to the overall low incidence of such instruction experienced by our sample

Analyzing the FCI based on a Force and Motion Learning Progression

In this paper, we bring together a well-established and often-studied instrument assessing students’ understanding about force and motion, the Force Concept Inventory (FCI), and a proposed description of how students develop in understanding of the force concept, the Force and Motion Learning Progression (FM-LP). We report on two phases of content analysis of the FCI and the FM-LP. In the first phase, findings indicate that 17 FCI items address aspects consistent with the FM-LP. In the second phase, our findings show that these 17 items have responses that can be coded to fit the levels of the proposed FM-LP. Implications for future research on both the FCI and the FM-LP are described.Peer Reviewe

Action research on the effect of descriptive and evaluative feedback order on student learning in a specialized mathematics and science secondary school

Abstract We investigated the effect of feedback order—teachers’ written, descriptive comments followed by evaluative scores—on students’ performance and learning for chemistry and mathematics in a Singapore mathematics and science specialized secondary school. This action research adopted an explanatory mixed-methods design with an intervention, with interviews, student survey, and assessments. The participants were 60 secondary school students: 33 students from secondary-one and 27 students from secondary-four. Repeated measures ANOVA results from the four-week study period indicated that there was no significant difference (p > 0.10) between the performance of the participants who received comments only (C group) and participants who received comments followed by evaluative scores (CS group) for both chemistry and mathematics, indicating there was no negative effect on receiving evaluative scores after the written descriptive comments. Qualitative findings indicated students could recognize the goals of the feedback and the score delay. The study shows that feedback order is important to consider in comparing effects of different forms of feedback, with implications for future research and for practice

Refinement of an instrument measuring science teachers’ knowledge of language through mixed method

Abstract Teachers must know how to use language to support students in knowledge generation environments that align to the Next Generation Science Standards. To measure this knowledge, this study refines a survey on teachers’ knowledge of language as an epistemic tool. Rasch modelling was used to examine 15 items’ fit statistics and the functioning of a previously-designed questionnaire’s response categories. Cronbach’s alpha reliability was also examined. Additionally, interviews were used to investigate teachers’ interpretations of each item to identify ambiguous items. The results indicated that three ambiguous items were deleted based on qualitative data and three more items were deleted because of negative correlation and mismatched fit statistics. Finally, we present a revised language questionnaire with nine items and acceptable correlation and good fit statistics, with utility for science education researchers and teacher educators. This research contributes a revised questionnaire to measure teachers’ knowledge of language that could inform professional development efforts. This research also describes instrument refinement processes that could be applied elsewhere

International Conference on Science Education 2012 ProceedingsScience Education: Policies and Social Responsibilities /

XXIX, 222 p. 50 illus., 25 illus. in color.onlin