84 research outputs found
Pupils' attitudes towards art teaching in primary school: an evaluation tool
Pupilsâ attitudes are influencing both learning and teaching processes and are affecting the way pupils will engage with art as adults. This paper introduces an attitude scale, ASAES (Attitude Scale for Art Experienced in School), which measures factors that may influence the formation of pupilsâ attitudes, from pupilsâ perceived abilities in art to teachersâ art specialisation. This newly developed instrument is a Likert- scale comprising four subscales: enjoyment, confidence, usefulness, and support needed. The support needed dimension is an essential component in the learning process because it represents the pupilâs perception of teacherâs feedback on how well they are coping with the task. The ASAES was administered to 420 primary school pupils in Cyprus and its psychometric properties are evaluated by Confirmatory Factor analysis
Qualitative doctoral research in educational settings: reflecting on meaningful encounters
In qualitative doctoral research the methodological approach, and the research design are extremely important when ensuring the rigorousness of the work. This is particularly significant for all researchers, and even more for doctoral students who are still developing their research and analytical skills. This paper aims to support doctoral students in their research journey by highlighting some of the tensions involved in conducting qualitative research by unpicking the experiences of two doctoral students to learn from the concerns, questions and reflections on the use of qualitative methodology in their doctoral research projects. The findings reveal challenges and insights with regards to reflection, educational research and the developing identity of being a researcher. The paper discusses these reflections to support and guide doctoral students as early career researchers when planning and conducting qualitative research in educational settings
Investigating early years teachersâ understanding and response to childrenâs preconceptions
This paper focuses on young childrenâs scientific preconceptions and discusses teachersâ identification of these preconceptions when teaching science in the early years, on which research is still limited. This paper is based on the theoretical framework of constructivism and it defines preconceptions as childrenâs erroneous concepts prior to formal education. A two phase case study approach was employed, facilitating in-depth investigation though the use of questionnaires, interviews and observations. The results indicate that the teachers did not dedicate time to identify childrenâs preconceptions when planning and teaching science, even when acknowledging preconceptionsâ possible existence. This indicates a possible lack of appreciation of the importance of childrenâs preconceptions of the consequences when ignoring them. The results also indicate the need for further training and professional development in relation to the teaching of early-years science, especially since only a very small percentage of early years teachers tend to study science during their years compulsory education. A number of suggestions are also provided for practice and policy that can be useful for other subjects as well
Early-years teaching of science in Cyprus : appreciation of young children's preconceptions
The goal of this study is to investigate the area of young childrenâs
preconceptions in science. The research focuses on teachers working in public and
private kindergartens, and children attending these kindergartens, aged from three
to five and a half years old. The area of the childrenâs preconceptions, has been
extensively investigated by other researchers in the past but research focusing on
early-years teachers and childrenâs preconceptions is still almost untouched,
especially when talking about Cyprus. Inspired mostly by other countriesâ
literature and the importance of foreign research results, this study aims at
identifying the Cypriot teachersâ appreciation of the childrenâs preconceptions by
discovering whether teachers identify and take into account the childrenâs
preconceptions when planning and teaching a Natural Sciences lesson. It also
aims at giving suggestions and implications on how teachers can respond to the
preconceptions that children might have. To do this, a case study has been applied
to facilitate the utilization of a number of different methods, like questionnaires,
interviews, focus groups, observations and a minor document analysis. The results
indicate that teachers tend to avoid identifying the childrenâs preconceptions when
teaching Natural Sciences. This indicates that there is lack of appreciation of the
childrenâs preconceptions and their consequences when not acknowledged. It also
indicates that teachers in Cyprus are not aware of the constructivist theory and its
importance in childrenâs learning. As a result, teachers in Cyprus need to be better
trained and informed in regard to the childrenâs preconceptions and to Natural
Sciences in general. To help teachers respond to the childrenâs preconceptions, the
study develops a list of childrenâs common preconceptions and a number of
different ideas and suggestions for proper methods which can be used to help
teachers identify the childrenâs preconceptions and guide children to overcoming
them
Gender issues in the university research environment
Recruiting and retaining females within science, engineering and technology continues to challenge many European Higher Education Institutions. This study looks at female self-perceptions relating to effective research work and career progression. Focus groups are used to examine the attitudes and experiences of females, and a questionnaire used to explore perceptions in four main skills areas: group work; communication; personal awareness; and project planning and management. The study indicates consistent female concerns on issues pertaining to effective female role models, negative work-role stereotypes and the work-life balance of an academic career. For all four skills areas, the average confidence scores of the female participants fell below that of males, but these differences were only statistically significant for perceptions on group work and communication skills, and prior to an intense skills development course. Based on these findings, a student workshop on gender issues has been developed, an outline of which is presented
ICT and adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL
Mellar, H., Kambouri, M., Sanderson, M., and Pavlou, V. (2004) ICT and adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL. London: NRDC. Available at: http://www.nrdc.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_258.pdfResearch report for NRDCThis project set out to obtain a picture of present teaching practice in the use of ICT in adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL within formal provision. (http://www.nrdc.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_258.pdf
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