Trainee teachers’ developing values and practice in relation to assessment

AbstractThis study uses a survey methodology to examine trainee teachers’ developing values and practice in relation to assessment during their initial teacher education and training. It examines whether the factors underpinning trainees’ values and practice change during their ITET year, how the model fit between secondary trainees’ practice and qualified teachers’ practice develops during trainees’ ITET year, and how the model fit between secondary trainees’ values and qualified teachers’ practice develops during trainees’ ITET year

Teaching secondary biology

The third edition of the ASE’s Teaching Secondary Biology sets out a vision for teaching and learning biology. Learning biology is not about learning the contents of a textbook. It is about conceptual learning, learning what it means to do biology and learning what it means to be a biologist. Our hope is that Teaching Secondary Biology helps teachers of biology to achieve these aims. The author team with whom we worked kept in mind a secondary teacher confronted with the task of teaching a specific topic, e.g., photosynthesis or evolution, and the preparation they would need to undertake. This article provides an overview of the book, which has sister volumes in chemistry and physics, and discusses ways in which teaching biology has much in common with teaching the other sciences, yet is distinctive too

Children's Gender Stereotypes in STEM Following a One-Shot Growth Mindset Intervention in a Science Museum.

Women are drastically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and this underrepresentation has been linked to gender stereotypes and ability related beliefs. One way to remedy this may be to challenge male bias gender stereotypes around STEM by cultivating equitable beliefs that both female and male can excel in STEM. The present study implemented a growth mindset intervention to promote children's incremental ability beliefs and investigate the relation between the intervention and children's gender stereotypes in an informal science learning site. Participants (n = 143, female n = 77, male n = 66, 5-12-years-old, M age = 8.6, SD = 1.7) were visitors to a science museum who took part in an interactive space science show. Participants who were exposed to a growth mindset intervention, compared to the participants in the control condition, reported significantly less gender stereotyping around STEM by reporting equitably in the stereotype awareness measure. Relatedly, participants in the control condition reported male bias gender stereotype in the stereotype awareness measure. Further, children between 5 and 8-years-old reported greater male bias stereotypes awareness and stereotype flexibility in space science compared to children between 9 and 12-years-old. Lastly, children demonstrated in-group bias in STEM ability. Male participants reported gender bias favoring males' ability in stereotype flexibility and awareness measures, while female participants reported bias toward females' ability in stereotype flexibility and awareness measures. These findings document the importance of a growth mindset intervention in buffering against STEM gender stereotyping amongst children, as well as the significant role a growth mindset intervention can play within an informal science learning site

Effectiveness of Study Centres in Supporting Open and Distance Learning at Makerere University

In open and distance learning (ODL), the teacher and student are separated in time and space for most of the time. To ensure continuity of teaching and learning, learner support mechanisms are required. Rumble (1992) contends that for effective support these mechanisms should be decentralized and accessible to students. It is with this understanding that this study examined the effectiveness of Makerere University’s study centres in supporting teaching and learning in its ODL programmes. Following a survey design, data was elicited from 422 respondents who included students and staff of the University. This was done using questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussions and documentary analysis. The findings were that the centres are relevant to offering remote learner support, especially given the low level of technological advancement in Uganda. However, due to a number of factors, the centres are not offering satisfactory support to the students. These include the centres’ indistinct status and mandate; gaps in the University’s policies and understanding of ODL; inadequate funding of the centres; communication gaps between the centres and their coordinating unit at the University’s main campus; inadequacy of study, ICT and human resources at the centres; and unconducive location and opening hours of the centres. Recommendations for the better performance of the centres are discussed

Pattern formation with a conservation law

The evolution of many pattern-forming systems is strongly influenced by the presence of a conserved quantity. Diverse physical phenomena such as magnetoconvection, rotating fluid convection, binary fluid convection, vibrated granular and fluid layers, filament dynamics and sandbank formation, all possess a conservation law which plays a central role in their nonlinear dynamics. In this thesis, this influence of a conserved quantity is examined through analyses of three distinct pattern-formation problems. Firstly, the consequences of conservation of mass are investigated in a phenomenological model of a vibrated granular layer. A new weakly nonlinear analysis is performed that reveals the existence of modulational instabilities for patterns composed of either stripes and squares. The nonlinear evolution of these instabilities is numerically studied and a plethora of patterns and localised arrangements are exhibited. The second component of this work concerns an oscillatory bifurcation in the presence of a conserved quantity. Building upon existing theory for the corresponding stationary bifurcation, universal amplitude equations are constructed through symmetry and asymptotic considerations. Subsequently, the stability properties of travelling and standing waves are found to be significantly altered and new modulational instabilities are uncovered. Numerical simulations reveal that, in the presence of a conserved quantity, travelling and standing waves lose stability to spatially localised patterns, either coherent, time-periodic or chaotic. Finally, wave-like behaviour of large-scale modes is examined through an analysis of a model for Faraday waves, that has been modified to account for flnite fluid depth. Several approaches to the weakly nonlinear analysis are considered and two sets of amplitude equations are derived that account for the unusual wave-like behaviour of large-scale modes. Numerical simulations reveal amplitude-modulated and localised patterns away from the small-amplitude, weak-viscosity limit

A Cross-National Study of Students’ Understanding of Genetics Concepts: Implications from Similarities and Differences in England and Turkey

This research is aimed at exploring 16- to 19-year-old students’ understanding of fundamental genetics concepts, which has considerable importance for developing conceptual understanding of genetics related phenomena. A cross-national descriptive research method was used to explore English and Turkish students’ understandings of genetics concepts. Data were collected by a two-tier multiple choice diagnostic instrument, The Two-Tier Genetics Concept Test, which required students to justify their choice of option by giving a reason. The results indicate that there are some differences between the English students’ and Turkish students’ understanding of fundamental concepts of genetics; however, there are some notable similarities between the alternative conceptions held by students in the two samples. The common alternative conceptions seen in both of the groups indicate that understanding the concepts occurred regardless of contextual factors. Nevertheless different proportions of the common alternative conceptions and different levels of understanding suggest that conceptualisations develop under the influence of different educational contexts.The authors gratefully acknowledge help of Chris Graham (Thurston Community College, Cambridge, UK), who provided the English data and helpful comments.This work was made possible in part by time spent by the first author as a visiting academic at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, through the support of The Council of Higher Education in Turkey.Peer Reviewe

STEM gender stereotypes from early childhood through adolescence at informal science centers.

Stereotypes about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are associated with reduced STEM engagement amongst girls and women. The present study examined these stereotypes from early childhood through adolescence within informal science learning sites (ISLS; science museums, zoos, aquariums). Further, the study explored whether interactions with male or female educators influenced STEM stereotypes. Participants (n = 997, female = 572) were ISLS visitors in the UK and USA who either interacted with an educator, or no educator. With age participants were more likely to report that "both boys and girls" are "usually", "should" be, and "can" be good at STEM. Independent of age, male participants reported that their own gender group "should" be good at STEM. Educator interactions did not influence stereotype responses. These results highlight early childhood as a key developmental window in which to challenge ideas about who can and should be proficient in STEM

Understanding Parents' Roles in Children's Learning and Engagement in Informal Science Learning Sites.

Informal science learning sites (ISLS) create opportunities for children to learn about science outside of the classroom. This study analyzed children's learning behaviors in ISLS using video recordings of family visits to a zoo, children's museum, or aquarium. Furthermore, parent behaviors, features of the exhibits and the presence of an educator were also examined in relation to children's behaviors. Participants included 63 children (60.3% female) and 44 parents in 31 family groups. Results showed that parents' science questions and explanations were positively related to children observing the exhibit. Parents' science explanations were also negatively related to children's science explanations. Furthermore, children were more likely to provide science explanations when the exhibit was not interactive. Lastly there were no differences in children's behaviors based on whether an educator was present at the exhibit. This study provides further evidence that children's interactions with others and their environment are important for children's learning behaviors

Assessing adolescents' critical health literacy: How is trust in government leadership associated with knowledge of COVID-19?

This study explored relations between COVID-19 news source, trust in COVID-19 information source, and COVID-19 health literacy in 194 STEM-oriented adolescents and young adults from the US and the UK. Analyses suggest that adolescents use both traditional news (e.g., TV or newspapers) and social media news to acquire information about COVID-19 and have average levels of COVID-19 health literacy. Hierarchical linear regression analyses suggest that the association between traditional news media and COVID-19 health literacy depends on participants' level of trust in their government leader. For youth in both the US and the UK who used traditional media for information about COVID-19 and who have higher trust in their respective government leader (i.e., former US President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson) had lower COVID-19 health literacy. Results highlight how youth are learning about the pandemic and the importance of not only considering their information source, but also their levels of trust in their government leaders

Learning hand in hand: Engaging in research-practice partnerships to advance developmental science.

Developmental science research often involves research questions developed by academic teams, which are tested within community or educational settings. In this piece, we outline the importance of research-practice partnerships, which involve both research and practice-based partners collaborating at each stage of the research process. We articulate challenges and benefits of these partnerships for developmental science research, identify relevant research frameworks that may inform these partnerships, and provide an example of an ongoing research-practice partnership