Finland, A Package Deal: Disciplinary Climate in Science Classes, Science Dispositions and Science Literacy

Finland’s educational prowess, though tempered by recent international assessments, has remained intact. This report focused on lessons that could be learned regarding secondary-level science education from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015, science-focused assessment. That PISA iteration included not only science literacy but also students’ science dispositions (epistemology, enjoyment, interest, and self-efficacy) and the schools’ science climate measures (disciplinary climate and teaching support). Due to the hierarchical nature of the PISA data, multilevel models were employed in this Finnish study, involving 5582 students from 167 schools. Science dispositions (as outcome measures) were differently associated with teaching support and disciplinary climate (epistemology with neither; enjoyment and interest, with both). Science literacy (as an outcome measure) was associated with all four science dispositions, whether modeled with each science disposition separately or all four simultaneously. Science literacy was also associated with the disciplinary climate in science classes for all tested models. We concluded that, in the Finnish context, science dispositions and the disciplinary climate were predictive of science literacy. Furthermore, we presented evidence from the literature indicating that these conclusions may well extend to other international contexts

Finland, A Package Deal: Disciplinary Climate in Science Classes, Science Dispositions and Science Literacy

Finland’s educational prowess, though tempered by recent international assessments, has remained intact. This report focused on lessons that could be learned regarding secondary-level science education from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015, science-focused assessment. That PISA iteration included not only science literacy but also students’ science dispositions (epistemology, enjoyment, interest, and self-efficacy) and the schools’ science climate measures (disciplinary climate and teaching support). Due to the hierarchical nature of the PISA data, multilevel models were employed in this Finnish study, involving 5582 students from 167 schools. Science dispositions (as outcome measures) were differently associated with teaching support and disciplinary climate (epistemology with neither; enjoyment and interest, with both). Science literacy (as an outcome measure) was associated with all four science dispositions, whether modeled with each science disposition separately or all four simultaneously. Science literacy was also associated with the disciplinary climate in science classes for all tested models. We concluded that, in the Finnish context, science dispositions and the disciplinary climate were predictive of science literacy. Furthermore, we presented evidence from the literature indicating that these conclusions may well extend to other international contexts

What kinds of innovations do we need in education?

Peer reviewe

Knowledge creation and management in the five LHC experiments at CERN: implications for technology innovation and transfer

The present study analyses knowledge creation, acquisition and transfer in the five LHC physics experiments at CERN: ALICE, ATLAS, CMS, LHCb, and TOTEM. A questionnaire was provided during collaboration meetings and a total of 291 replies were obtained and analysed. The results of this research study provide evidence that the social process of participation in meetings, acquisition of skills in different areas, and the development of interests by interaction with colleagues are key elements of the learning process. Furthermore, the results indicate that knowledge acquisition in a multicultural environment plays a mediating role in the interaction between social capital constructs (social interaction, relationship quality, and network ties) and competitive advantage outcomes (invention development and technological distinctiveness). Social interaction, relationship quality, and network ties are connected to greater knowledge acquisition, and also contribute to innovation and transfer of the knowledge to industry. The fertile environment of the five LHC experiments building and managing multiple processes, involves a dynamic, interactive,and simultaneous exchange of knowledge both inside and outside their organization

Teacher's reflection of inquiry teaching in finland before and during an in-service program: Examination by a progress model of collaborative reflection

In inquiry-based science education, there have been gradual shifts in research interests: the nature of scientific method, the debates on the effects of inquiry learning, and, recently, inquiry teaching. However, many in-service programs for inquiry teaching have reported inconsistent results due to the static view of classroom inquiries and due to the partial perspective between individual and collaborative reflections. Thus, by means of a theoretical progress model of collaborative reflection, this qualitative research aims to investigate reflections of four participant teachers before and during a half-year in-service teacher program. The model captures the following four interactions for each individual teacher and among the teacher cohort: belief to practice, practice to belief, stimulation, and reinforcement. The audio-video data and their quantification allowed identification of the teachers' consistent prior beliefs and practices as a multiplicity of inquiry teaching and their interwoven progress during the program. The findings are further discussed in terms of the implicit development and the richer repertoire. © 2012 National Science Council, Taiwan

PTFE Bypass or Thrupass for Superficial Femoral Artery Occlusion? A Randomised Controlled Trial

AbstractEarly results of a thrupass endograft in the treatment of femoral lesions are promising. Less morbidity and better cost-effectiveness are suggested to be achieved in the treatment of chronic lower limb ischaemia with endovascular treatment compared to surgical treatment.Patients and methodsThis randomised multicentre trial aimed to enroll a group of 60+60 patients for the treatment of 5–25-cm occlusions of superficial femoral artery (SFA) to be followed up for 3 years. Patients were treated either with endoluminal PTFE thrupass (WL Gore & Ass) or with surgical polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) bypass to proximal popliteal artery. Primary patency at 3 years was scheduled to be the primary end-point and secondary patency, functional success, costs and quality of life the secondary end-points.ResultsA sample of 100 consecutive SFA occlusions in one of the centres revealed that only 4% of the lesions were amenable for the study. The trial was prematurely terminated due to the results of an interim analysis at the time when 44 patients were recruited: the 1-year primary patency (excluding technical failures) was 48% for thrupass and 95% for bypass (p=0.02). The patency difference in favour of surgical bypass over endovascular thrupass was also sustained after completion of 1-year follow-up, the primary patencies being 46% and 84% at 1 year with grossly equilinear life-table curves thereafter (p=0.18), respectively. The corresponding secondary patencies were 63% and 100% (p=0.05) when excluding technical failures and 58% and 100% (p=0.02) according to intention-to-treat analysis. Secondary outcomes were thus not analysed.ConclusionTreatment of SFA occlusions (TASC IIB and C or Imelda Ia and II) should be done by PTFE bypass rather than by PTFE thrupass, as thrupass is connected with worse early outcome. These results represent only a small category of femoral disease

Teachers as Educational Innovators in Inquiry-Based Science Teaching and Learning

This chapter describes inquiry-based science teaching and learning (IBST/L) pilots designed by teachers during a professional development programme. There is research-based evidence that IBSL/T may promote students’ learning and their motivation to learn science, and therefore it is beneficial to familiarise the teachers with this approach. Building on teachers’ existing expertise in designing their teaching, the programme introduced theoretical aspects of the IBST/L approach and its research-based benefits for students’ motivation, interest and science learning. The course aimed to support teachers as educational innovators in the process of designing and testing IBST/L pilots, during which they collaboratively reflected on and revised their existing practices. The data of this piece of research consists of the teachers’ poster presentations of their IBST/L pilots and a video recording of the reflection session. The content analysis revealed that the pilots’ structure seemed traditional but encompassed some IBST/L features. It is concluded that teacher educators need to understand teachers’ views of IBST/L in order to more effectively support planning and reflection.This chapter describes inquiry-based science teaching and learning (IBST/L) pilots designed by teachers during a professional development programme. There is research-based evidence that IBSL/T may promote students’ learning and their motivation to learn science, and therefore it is beneficial to familiarise the teachers with this approach. Building on teachers’ existing expertise in designing their teaching, the programme introduced theoretical aspects of the IBST/L approach and its research-based benefits for students’ motivation, interest and science learning. The course aimed to support teachers as educational innovators in the process of designing and testing IBST/L pilots, during which they collaboratively reflected on and revised their existing practices. The data of this piece of research consists of the teachers’ poster presentations of their IBST/L pilots and a video recording of the reflection session. The content analysis revealed that the pilots’ structure seemed traditional but encompassed some IBST/L features. It is concluded that teacher educators need to understand teachers’ views of IBST/L in order to more effectively support planning and reflection.Peer reviewe

Simultaneous Planck, Swift, and Fermi observations of X-ray and gamma-ray selected blazars

We present simultaneous Planck, Swift, Fermi, and ground-based data for 105 blazars belonging to three samples with flux limits in the soft X-ray, hard X-ray, and gamma-ray bands. Our unique data set has allowed us to demonstrate that the selection method strongly influences the results, producing biases that cannot be ignored. Almost all the BL Lac objects have been detected by Fermi-LAT, whereas ~40% of the flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) in the radio, soft X-ray, and hard X-ray selected samples are still below the gamma-ray detection limit even after integrating 27 months of Fermi-LAT data. The radio to sub-mm spectral slope of blazars is quite flat up to ~70GHz, above which it steepens to ~-0.65. BL Lacs have significantly flatter spectra than FSRQs at higher frequencies. The distribution of the rest-frame synchrotron peak frequency (\nupS) in the SED of FSRQs is the same in all the blazar samples with =10^13.1 Hz, while the mean inverse-Compton peak frequency, , ranges from 10^21 to 10^22 Hz. The distributions of \nupS and of \nupIC of BL Lacs are much broader and are shifted to higher energies than those of FSRQs and strongly depend on the selection method. The Compton dominance of blazars ranges from ~0.2 to ~100, with only FSRQs reaching values >3. Its distribution is broad and depends strongly on the selection method, with gamma-ray selected blazars peaking at ~7 or more, and radio-selected blazars at values ~1, thus implying that the assumption that the blazar power is dominated by high-energy emission is a selection effect. Simple SSC models cannot explain the SEDs of most of the gamma-ray detected blazars in all samples. The SED of the blazars that were not detected by Fermi-LAT may instead be consistent with SSC emission. Our data challenge the correlation between bolometric luminosity and \nupS predicted by the blazar sequence.Comment: Version accepted by A&A. Joint Planck, Swift, and Fermi collaborations pape

International collaborative follow - up investigation of graduating high school students’ understandings of the nature of scientific inquiry: is progress Being made?

Understandings of the nature of scientific inquiry (NOSI), as opposed to engaging students in inquiry learning experiences, are included in science education reform documents around the world. However, little is known about what students have learned about NOSI during their pre-college school years. The purpose of this large-scale follow-up international project (i.e. 32 countries and regions, spanning six continents and including 3917 students for the high school sample) was to collect data on what exiting high school students have learned about NOSI. Additionally, the study investigated changes in 12th grade students’ NOSI understandings compared to seventh grade (i.e. 20 countries and regions) students’ understandings from a prior investigation [Lederman et al. (2019). An international collaborative investigation of beginning seventh grade students’ understandings of scientific inquiry: Establishing a baseline. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 56(4), 486–515. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21512]. This study documents and discusses graduating high school students’ understandings and compares their understandings to seventh grade students’ understandings of the same aspects of scientific inquiry for each country. It is important to note that collecting data from each of the 130+ countries globally was not feasible. Similarly, it was not possible to collect data from every region of each country. A concerted effort was made, however, to provide a relatively representative picture of each country and the world