Global patterns in students’ views of science and interest in science

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.International studies have shown that interest in science and technology among primary and secondary school students in Western European countries is low and seems to be decreasing. In many countries outside Europe, and especially in developing countries, interest in science and technology remains strong. As part of the large-scale European Union funded ‘Science Education for Diversity’ project, a questionnaire probing potential reasons for this difference was completed by students in the UK, Netherlands, Turkey, Lebanon, India and Malaysia. This questionnaire sought information about favourite courses, extracurricular activities and views on the nature of science. Over 9,000 students aged mainly between 10 and 14 years completed the questionnaire. Results revealed that students in countries outside Western Europe showed a greater interest in school science, in careers related to science and in extracurricular activities related to science than didWestern European students. Non-European studentswere also more likely to hold an empiricist viewof the nature of science and to believe that science can solve many problems faced by the world. Multilevel analysis revealed a strong correlation between interest in science and having such a view of the Nature of Science.This publication received funding from the European Union Science in Society Framework 7 Programme (FP7/2007/2013) under grant agreement 244717. We would like to thank the following people for collecting data and contributing to this research project: Roel Janssen, Huseyin Bag, Lindsay Hetherington, Alun Morgan, Keith Postlethwaite, Rupert Wegerif, Ng Swee Chin, Choy Siew Chee, Oo Pou San, Chin Fui Chung, Teh Lee Wah, Sugra Chunawala, Chitra Natarajan and Beena Chok

Somatosensory System Deficits in Schizophrenia Revealed by MEG during a Median-Nerve Oddball Task

Although impairments related to somatosensory perception are common in schizophrenia, they have rarely been examined in functional imaging studies. In the present study, magnetoencephalography (MEG) was used to identify neural networks that support attention to somatosensory stimuli in healthy adults and abnormalities in these networks in patient with schizophrenia. A median-nerve oddball task was used to probe attention to somatosensory stimuli, and an advanced, high-resolution MEG source-imaging method was applied to assess activity throughout the brain. In nineteen healthy subjects, attention-related activation was seen in a sensorimotor network involving primary somatosensory (S1), secondary somatosensory (S2), primary motor (M1), pre-motor (PMA), and paracentral lobule (PCL) areas. A frontal–parietal–temporal “attention network”, containing dorsal- and ventral–lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC and VLPFC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), superior parietal lobule (SPL), inferior parietal lobule (IPL)/supramarginal gyrus (SMG), and temporal lobe areas, was also activated. Seventeen individuals with schizophrenia showed early attention-related hyperactivations in S1 and M1 but hypo-activation in S1, S2, M1, and PMA at later latency in the sensorimotor network. Within this attention network, hypoactivation was found in SPL, DLPFC, orbitofrontal cortex, and the dorsal aspect of ACC. Hyperactivation was seen in SMG/IPL, frontal pole, and the ventral aspect of ACC in patients. These findings link attention-related somatosensory deficits to dysfunction in both sensorimotor and frontal–parietal–temporal networks in schizophrenia

Teachers' Understanding the Nature of Science in Biology

Vee diagrams have been a metacognitive tool to help in learning the nature and structure of knowledge by reflecting on the scientific process and making knowledge much more explicit to learners during the practical work. This study aimed to assess pre-service science teachers. understanding some aspects of NOS by analyzing their reflections on the Vee diagrams constructed during the general biology laboratory course. In this single case study, elementary pre-service science teachers who cited mainly "the cell theory" in their Vee diagrams while building around the cell concepts were asked to participate in focus group reflective interviews. These interviews compared the patterns of the nature of scientific knowledge to the ways their constructed the cell related concepts. The content analysis of transcripts revealed that pre-service teachers gained a superficial understanding of history of scientific ideas in the development of the cell biology, not a deeper epistemological understanding in conceptualizing a contemporary understanding of the aspects of NOS. The emergent categories of naive understandings and misconceptions held by the participants were demonstrated and discussed in the light of NOS related literature

Teachers' Understanding the Nature of Science in Biology

Vee diagrams have been a metacognitive tool to help in learning the nature and structure of knowledge by reflecting on the scientific process and making knowledge much more explicit to learners during the practical work. This study aimed to assess pre-service science teachers. understanding some aspects of NOS by analyzing their reflections on the Vee diagrams constructed during the general biology laboratory course. In this single case study, elementary pre-service science teachers who cited mainly "the cell theory" in their Vee diagrams while building around the cell concepts were asked to participate in focus group reflective interviews. These interviews compared the patterns of the nature of scientific knowledge to the ways their constructed the cell related concepts. The content analysis of transcripts revealed that pre-service teachers gained a superficial understanding of history of scientific ideas in the development of the cell biology, not a deeper epistemological understanding in conceptualizing a contemporary understanding of the aspects of NOS. The emergent categories of naive understandings and misconceptions held by the participants were demonstrated and discussed in the light of NOS related literature

teaching and their beliefs about classroom management

The purpose of this study was to explore Turkish preservice science teachers' science teaching efficacy and classroom management beliefs. Data in this study were collected from a total number of 584 preservice science teachers utilizing the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument and the attitudes and beliefs on classroom control (ABCC) inventory. Data analysis indicated that preservice science teachers generally expressed positive efficacy beliefs regarding science teaching. In addition, results revealed that participants were interventionist on the instructional management dimension, whereas they favored non-interventionist style on the people management dimension of the ABCC inventory. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Supplier evaluation and selection: a review of the literature since 2007

Supplier selection is currently a subject of great importance to companies. Numerous articles have been published recently, recommending different methods and/or procedures for evaluating and selecting the suppliers with whom the purchasing company will work. The present article reviews a total of 39 articles dealing with this subject, published between 2007 and the present day, in magazines indexed by Journal Citation Reports (in ISI Web of Knowledge). They will be analyzed in order to determine: (i) procedures used in determining criteria, (ii) identification and structure of the criteria under consideration, (iii) methods used to evaluate and select the suppliers and (iv) aims in the selection of suppliers