Research in Science Education最新文献

As introductory physics courses increasingly focus on student engagement, the use of Learning Assistants (LAs) has increased. LAs and other instructors need to have sufficient PCK to effectively guide student learning. Our goal was to research LAs observed PCK in the classroom and to develop a set of questions to assess LAs’ PCK. Our research question was: Is it possible to assess LAs’ observed PCK with open-ended written questions? We video-recorded student-LA interactions in the introductory physics classrooms, developed rubrics to describe the interactions between LAs and students, and developed free-response questions based on the authentic interactions from the videos. Our results are (1) a rubric to assess LAs PCK in video recordings or free response written assessments and (2) a set of open-ended written questions that assess LAs PCK. The LAs were dominant in one or two categories in both the written and video coding, making it possible to draw conclusions about their PCK. We answered our research question by demonstrating the development and validation of a set of questions to assess LA’s PCK. Our rubric can be used to analyze both videos and written questions by supervisors who are interested in assessing their LAs’ PCK.

This exploratory study, framed by the Contextual Model of Learning, sought to define the personal context of autistic visitors and their families attending a sensory-friendly natural history museum event as a science learning experience. The study focused on the motivations and expectations for visiting the museum, as well as how the inclusion of a VR tour could promote inclusivity by better meeting the needs of these visitors and their social support groups. A single case study design encompassing five family participant groups that varied in age, family composition, and diagnoses was employed. Data collection involved a pre- and non-identical post-visit survey, complemented by a post-visit interview. Results indicate that important features of the user experience with the VR museum tour included clarity of exhibit text, lack of audio, the ability to measure exhibit features, easy navigation, and enhanced museum accessibility. Autistic family groups used the virtual tour in three main ways: (1) to prepare for specific exhibits, (2) to prepare for sensory experiences, and (3) to build anticipation and set expectations. Two key features of the virtual tour supported users’ preparation for their museum visit: the absence of crowds and noise and the ability to zoom in and see exhibit text and details. The results highlight the positive impact of a VR museum tour on autistic individuals and their families and offer crucial insights into the personal and sociocultural contexts of autistic museum visitors and the potential for promoting unique, inclusive, and collaborative forms of science learning.

The underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields limits their development, their career opportunities, and societal progress. This study used social cognitive career theory to explore the relationship between informal STEM learning activities and STEM career intention in female high-school students. Using a mixed-methods approach, we surveyed 58 students participating in school–enterprise collaborative informal STEM activities and then conducted semistructured interviews with 11 randomly selected students. The results revealed a significant positive correlation between the frequency of participation in various informal STEM learning activities and the STEM career intention of the female high-school students. Informal learning experiences significantly positively affected the female students’ interest in STEM, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and fulfillment of social needs, thereby promoting their STEM career intention. This study enhances our understanding of the needs of female students in STEM and offers targeted recommendations for educators and policymakers.

Throughout the world scientific reasoning (SR) is a valuable and desirable ability to gain deeper understanding of science in all grade level. In the current study, we first adapted the SPR-I (7) which consists of seven items with three sub-dimensions as the experimentation, the understanding the nature of science (NOS) and the data interpretation, based on the guidelines of the International Testing Commission. Then, we explored several individual differences in SR scores. We gathered data from 533 elementary students in 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. The Rasch analysis results showed that the model-data fit was acceptable and was exactly the same reliability (EAP/PV = 0.48) as the original SPR-I (7). In addition, the test-retest reliability results (Cronbach’s α = 0.77) showed an acceptable reliability. Furthermore, the results regarding individual differences, it was found that there was no statistically significant difference in terms of gender and region. However, there was a significant difference in the total SR scores and sub-dimension of NOS between 4th and 6th, and 5th and 6th graders in favor of 6th. According to parental education levels, a statistically significant difference was found in favor of those with higher level in the total SPR-I (7) and the sub-dimension of experimentation. In conclusion, the current study shows that the Turkish version of the SPR-I (7) is a valid and reliable measurement instrument that can be used to measure SR in 4th, 5th, and 6th graders and contributes to the literature in terms of addressing the individual differences affecting SR at the elementary education level.

Students’ success in physics problem-solving extends beyond conceptual knowledge of physics, relying significantly on their mathematics skills. Understanding the specific contributions of different mathematics skills to physics problem-solving can offer valuable insights for enhancing physics education. Yet such studies are rare, particularly at the high school level. This study addresses the underexplored area of this topic in secondary education by investigating the associations between physics problem-solving performance using a robust methodological framework. We applied exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to identify latent sub-mathmetics skills relevant to physics problem-solving and employed structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the causal impact of these skills on students’ performance in physics. The study analyzed data from a municipal-wide assessment involving 1,878 grade 12 students in Southern China. The results demonstrate that mathematics skills impacting high school students’ physics problem-solving performance can be categorized into two sub skills, algebraic skills and geometric skills. It also indicates that algebraic skills have a stronger direct effect on physics problem-solving performance compared to geometric skills in high school setting. These findings suggest that integrating focused algebraic training within physics education can significantly improve student outcomes in STEM fields. We recommend that educators design curricula and instructional strategies that emphasize the development of algebraic skills necessary for solving complex physics problems. Additionally, these findings have important implications for policymakers, who should consider integrating targeted mathematics training within physics curricula to foster interdisciplinary learning and better prepare students for challenges in STEM education.

There is a well recognised desire to encourage enterprise and entrepreneurial thinking in university students, however core or mandatory provision has the potential to dilute the enthusiasm or engagement in enterprise. This paper reflects on the choice to offer optional (elective) enterprise modules to STEM students at Undergraduate (level 6) and Masters level (level 7). In STEM programmes, enterprise or entrepreneurship subjects are often elective options alongside their core academic studies, with much variability in delivery methods and source materials used throughout undergraduate and postgraduate education. This means appealing to a self-selecting cohort with either interest in an alternative direction to ‘pure-science’, or individuals with an aim of creating an impact. With high levels of interaction between educators, industry case studies and learners, a dynamic learning environment is created, with positive outcomes for satisfaction and employability. A qualitative longitudinal study and ethnographic consideration of the individuals who have chosen to engage in enterprise-based elements indicates that initial exposure to curriculum-based enterprise can deepen their understanding of ideation, commercial bioscience, and innovation, leading to discipline-based recognition of value. Although a limited proportion of students go on to be entrepreneurs in the form of company founders, they often cite their enterprise education experience as impactful and frequently allude to skills or experience as intrinsic to their intrapreneurial activities and roles with the organisations they end up working with.

This study investigates the progression of students’ meaning-making of epigenetic phenomena while discussing multiple visual representations depicted at different levels of biological organization. Semi-structured focus group sessions involving ninth-grade students (aged 15-16) from a Swedish lower secondary school were video recorded. Students’ meaning-making with regard to form, function and transfer of scientific ideas was explored by analyzing students’ physical pointing and verbal utterances while interacting with and discussing the epigenetic visual representations. The study uncovered four phases of progression in students’ meaning-making. In phase 1, students’ focus is on unpacking scientific ideas within a single representation. In phase 2, students apply and transfer scientific ideas between different visual representations at the same organizational level. In phase 3, their meaning-making develops into linking between various levels of organization. Here, downward linking, from higher to lower levels, relies on form descriptions that limit the transfer of scientific ideas. In contrast, upward linking, from lower to higher organizational levels, relies on both descriptions of form and functional explanations, which facilitates the transfer of scientific ideas. Finally, in Phase 4, and manifested as “yo-yo reasoning”, students engage in a dynamic and repeated process of downward and upward linking that expresses a coherent understanding of epigenetics. The study findings underscore the significance of recognizing progression phases in facilitating students’ meaning-making of multiple representations of epigenetic phenomena. Future research could expand on these insights by investigating students’ meaning-making across other science education domains.

This study provides insights into the use of metaphors in protein synthesis descriptions in upper secondary chemistry and biology textbooks. Data were collected from seven Swedish textbooks and analyzed with the Metaphor Identification Protocol and categorized within the framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory. The results reveal two main parallel metaphor systems of construction-based metaphors and information-based metaphors. Five sub-systems with different emphasis on the usage of construction and information related metaphors emerged in the analysis: the location, translocation, transportation, cryptography and publishing sub-metaphor systems. These metaphors can function as double-edged swords for students’ learning. On the positive side, the construction-based metaphors (location, translocation and transportation) meet the educational need to describe where the processes of the protein synthesis occur and how these take place, while the information-based metaphors (cryptography and publishing) describe how the different sub-processes of the protein synthesis are linked via the interflow of information between them. On the negative side, the identified metaphors are presented implicitly without explanations, thus making it difficult for the students to identify them. Also, textbook sentences often contain metaphors drawn from several of the five sub-systems, requiring students not only to differentiate between them, but also to connect the source and target domain of the different metaphors correctly. The results highlight the important role of the teacher in supporting students’ learning by explaining what metaphors are and how they are used in textbooks. To further this end, authors of biology and chemistry textbooks are recommended to introduce metaphors early and explicitly.

Intellectual demands of learning outcomes in the intended curriculum have always been a concern across the field of science education. In particular, the representation of those learning outcomes stipulated by the intended curriculum in science textbooks has become a big issue for both science curriculum studies and science teaching practice. To address this issue, the concepts of semantic gravity (SG) and semantic density (SD), as part of the dimension of Semantics from Legitimation Code Theory (LCT), were employed in this study with the purpose of examining the degrees of abstraction and complexity of chemical knowledge under the topic “common substances” in four series of chemistry textbooks, which were compiled in compliance with the national chemistry curriculum of the compulsory education (Grades 1–9) in China. Based on the principles of LCT (Semantics), a new scheme for differentiating the strengths of SG and SD was developed in the current study to analyze the representation of 34 knowledge points in the four series of chemistry textbooks. Results show that these knowledge points are embodied with less complexity and avoid more abstraction in the four series of chemistry textbooks. Specifically, it was found that the overwhelming majority of the knowledge points are represented with strong semantic gravity and weak semantic density. Uniqueness was also identified with individual series of chemistry textbooks. The implications of the results of this study are discussed for the effective representation of science (chemistry) knowledge in textbooks.