Assessing students’ epistemic beliefs related to professional and school science

The school context, like other influences, affects the development of students’ epistemic beliefs (EBs), with theoretical conceptualizations suggesting a distinction between EBs related to professional and school science. However, empirical studies rarely address this distinction, and instruments separately assessing these EBs are not available. We address this research gap by providing a new questionnaire that is based on the established instrument by Conley et al. (2004) and which uses pairs of analogous items referring to the contexts of professional and school science. We succeeded in simultaneously assessing students’ EBs with reliable scales that allow for direct comparisons. Cross-sectional data is reported from a cohort study (N = 405) in grades 6 (n = 132), 8 (n = 167) and 10 (n = 106) that showed higher agreement with the scales related to professional science as well as higher agreement in higher grade levels. We further discuss methodological aspects of scale-formation, and highlight promising implementations of our questionnaire that future research could benefit from

Edge states in a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice of massive magnetic skyrmions

We study the collective dynamics of a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice of magnetic skyrmions. By performing large-scale micromagnetic simulations, we find multiple chiral and non-chiral edge modes of skyrmion oscillations in the lattice. The non-chiral edge states are due to the Tamm-Shockley mechanism, while the chiral ones are topologically protected against structure defects and hold different handednesses depending on the mode frequency. To interpret the emerging multiband nature of the chiral edge states, we generalize the massless Thiele's equation by including a second-order inertial term of skyrmion mass as well as a third-order non-Newtonian gyroscopic term, which allows us to model the band structure of skrymion oscillations. Theoretical results compare well with numerical simulations. Our findings uncover the importance of high order effects in strongly coupled skyrmions and are helpful for designing novel topological devices.Comment: 6 pages,4 figures,accepted by Physical Review B as a Rapid Communicatio

Herausforderungen und Potenziale interdisziplinärer Forschung

Auf der Tagung der Fachsektion Didaktik der Biologie (FDdB) im VBio 2017 in Halle (Saale) wurden im Rahmen eines World Cafés zwei Tische zum Thema „Herausforderungen und Potenziale interdisziplinärer Forschung” angeboten. Hier diskutierten Professoren, Doktoranden und Lehrer der Biologiedidaktik und des Biologieunterrichts über die aktuelle Thematik. Der Artikel soll unter den Aspekten „Forschungskooperationen“, „Nutzung von Methoden“ und „Themenschwerpunkte“ Hürden und Chancen für die Weiterentwicklung disziplinübergreifender Forschung berichten, die im Rahmen der Diskussion aufgeworfen wurden. Zusätzlich sollen ausgewählte Aspekte nochmals ausgeführt werden, um den im World Café geäußerten Bedarfen zu begegnen und diese theoretisch einzuordnen. (Autor)At the conference for Biology Education of FDdB 2017 in Halle (Saale), Germany, the topic “Challenges and potentials of interdisciplinary research” was discussed at two tables during the world café session. With regard to the aspects “research-cooperations”, “use of methods” and “central topics” the article summarizes the discussions with respect to barriers and opportunities for the enhancement of interdisciplinary research. Furthermore, aspects in need for further clarification are addressed and elaborated in more detail. (DIPF/Orig.

An international collaborative investigation of beginning seventh grade students' understandings of scientific inquiry : establishing a baseline

Although understandings of scientific inquiry (as opposed to conducting inquiry) are included in science education reform documents around the world, little is known about what students have learned about inquiry during their elementary school years. This is partially due to the lack of any assessment instrument to measure understandings about scientific inquiry. However, a valid and reliable assessment has recently been developed and published, Views About Scientific Inquiry (VASI; Lederman et al. [2014], Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 51, 65–83). The purpose of this large‐scale international project was to collect the first baseline data on what beginning middle school students have learned about scientific inquiry during their elementary school years. Eighteen countries/regions spanning six continents including 2,634 students participated in the study. The participating countries/regions were: Australia, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Mainland China, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United States. In many countries, science is not formally taught until middle school, which is the rationale for choosing seventh grade students for this investigation. This baseline data will simultaneously provide information on what, if anything, students learn about inquiry in elementary school, as well as their beginning knowledge as they enter secondary school. It is important to note that collecting data from all of the approximately 200 countries globally was not humanly possible, and it was also not possible to collect data from every region of each country. The results overwhelmingly show that students around the world at the beginning of grade seven have very little understandings about scientific inquiry. Some countries do show reasonable understandings in certain aspects but the overall picture of understandings of scientific inquiry is not what is hoped for after completing 6 years of elementary education in any country.http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/tea2020-04-01hj2020Science, Mathematics and Technology Educatio