Different countries, same science classes: Students’ experiences of school science in their own words

This paper reviews the remarkably similar experiences of school science reported by high school students in Sweden, England, and Australia. It compares student narratives from interpretive studies by Lindahl, by Osborne and Collins, and by Lyons, identifying core themes relating to critical contemporary issues in science education. These themes revolve around the transmissive pedagogy, decontextualized content, and unnecessary difficulty of school science commonly reported by students in the studies. Their collective experiences are used as a framework for examining student conceptions of, and attitudes to, school science more generally, drawing on an extensive range of international literature. The paper argues that the experiences of students in the three studies provide important insights into the widespread declines in interest and enrolments in high school and university science courses.

The potentials of student initiated netspeak in a middle primary science-inspired mutliliteracies project

There is no denying that the information technology revolution of the late twentieth century has arrived. Whilst not equitably accessible for many, others hold high expectations for the contributions online activity will make to student learning outcomes. Concurrently, and not necessarily consequentially, the number of science and technology secondary school and university graduates throughout the world has declined substantially, as has their motivation and engagement with school science (OECD, 2006). The aim of this research paper is to explore one aspect of online activity, that of forum-based netspeak (Crystal, 2006), in relation to the possibilities and challenges it provides for forms of scientific learning. This paper reports findings from a study investigating student initiated netspeak in a science inspired multiliteracies (New London Group, 2000) project in one middle primary (aged 7-10 years) multi-age Australian classroom. Drawing on the theoretical description of the Five phases of enquiry proposed by Bybee (1997), an analytic framework is proffered that allows identification of student engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration and evaluation of scientific enquiry. The findings provide insight into online forums for advancing learning in and motivation for science in the middle primary years.

Microblogging as a literacy practice for educational communities

Microblogging is an emergent adolescent and adult literacy practice that has become popularized through platforms such as Twitter, Plurk and Jaiku, in the rise of Web 2.0 – “the social web”. Yet the potentials of microblogging for literacy learning in educational contexts is currently underexplored in the research and literature. This article draws on new research with 150 adolescent and adult participants in school and university contexts, which was made possible through cross-disciplinary collaboration between specialists English and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) educators. Strategies are provided for teachers to establish their own microblogging networks, with suggested activities to enhance the literacy learning of adolescents in educational contexts.

Learning science through real-world contexts

Curriculum developers and researchers have promoted context based programmes to arrest waning student interest and participation in the enabling sciences at high school and university. Context-based programmes aim for connections between scientific discourse and real-world contexts to elevate curricular relevance without diminishing conceptual understanding. Literature relating to context-based approaches to learning will be reviewed in this chapter. In particular, international trends in curricular development and results from evaluations of major projects (e.g. PLON, Salters Advanced Chemistry, ChemCom) will be highlighted. Research projects that explore context-based interventions focusing on such outcomes as student interest, perceived relevance and conceptual understanding also will feature in the review. The chapter culminates with a discussion of current context-based research that interprets classroom actions from a dialectical socio-cultural framework, and identifies possible new directions for research.

Unwrapping an Egyptian mummy

It is difficult to get school and university students interested in physics. Many students place physics in the ‘too hard basket’. In many cases this is because physics is perceived to contain a lot of mathematics, which many students also find hard. Another barrier to the study of physics is that there is no easily identifiable career as a physicist, as for example there is for a chemist, engineer, nurse, lawyer, doctor, dentist etc. Physics touches many aspects of life. All electronic equipment, phones, computers etc contain semiconductor chips that were developed by physicists. A result of this very diverse application of physics is that physicist end up working all over the place. For example, physicists end up in private and government research laboratories, as teachers in schools and as medical physicists in hospitals.

Methods for sociological inquiry on emotion in educational settings

Sociological approaches to inquiry on emotion in educational settings are growing. Despite a long tradition of research and theory in disciplines such as psychology and sociology, the methods and approaches for naturalistic investigation of emotion are in a developmental phase in educational settings. In this article, recent empirical studies on emotion in educational contexts are canvassed. The discussion focuses on the use of multiple methods within research conducted in high school and university classrooms highlighting recent methodological progress. The methods discussed include facial expression analysis, verbal and non-verbal conduct, and self-report methods. Analyses drawn from different studies, informed by perspectives from microsociology, highlight the strengths and limitations of any one method. The power and limitations of multi-method approaches is discussed.

Understanding declining science participation in Australia : a systemic perspective

In this chapter we describe the substantial declines in student participation in senior high school physics, chemistry and biology classes in Australia over the last two decades. We outline some of the explanations commonly offered to account for these declines, focusing on two contrasting positions: first, that they are due to today’s students holding less positive attitudes towards science classes and careers than their predecessors, and second, that the declines are related to policy and structural changes at the upper secondary and tertiary education levels which have affected the relative status of subjects and the dynamics of choice. We describe how the Choosing Science study investigated the extent to which the two hypotheses were supported by empirical evidence, and discuss our findings in the light of a third result from the study concerning the role of self-identity in subject choice. We conclude that the declines in high school science enrolments are most likely related to changes in school and university curriculum options and that within this expanded curriculum marketplace, identity becomes a very important reference point in students’ decisions about whether to take science in the final years of high school.

Evolution of self-reporting methods for identifying discrete emotions in science classrooms

Emotion researchers have grappled with challenging methodological issues in capturing emotions of participants in naturalistic settings such as school or university classrooms. Self-reporting methods have been used frequently, yet these methods are inadequate when used alone. We argue that the self-reporting methods of emotion diaries and cogenerative dialogues can be helpful in identifying in-the-moment emotions when used in conjunction with the microanalysis of video recordings of classroom events. We trace the evolution of our use of innovative self-reporting methods through three cases from our research projects, and propose new directions for our ongoing development and application of these methods in both school and university classrooms.

I know what you did this summer: Users' behavior on internet

Human age is surrounded by assumed set of rules and behaviors imposed by local culture and the society they live in. This paper introduces software that counts the presence of a person on the Internet and examines the activities he/she conducts online. The paper answers questions such as how "old" are you on the Internet? How soon will a newbie be exposed to adult websites? How long will it take for a new Internet user to know about social networking sites? And how many years a user has to surf online to celebrate his/her first "birthday" of Internet presence? Paper findings from a database of 105 school and university students containing their every click of first 24 hours of Internet usage are presented. The findings provide valuable insights for Internet Marketing, ethics, Internet business and the mapping of Internet life with real life. Privacy and ethical issues related to the study have been discussed at the end. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010.

Digital Storytelling within a Service-Learning Partnership: Technology as Product and Process for University Students and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse High School Youth

This chapter describes a university/high school partnership focused on digital storytelling. It also explains the multi-stage process used to establish this successful partnership and project. The authors discuss the central role that technology played in developing this university/high school partnership, a collaboration that extended the impact of a digital storytelling project to reach high school students, university students, educators, high school administrators, and the local community. Valuing a reflective process that can lead to the creation of a powerful final product, the authors describe the impact of digital storytelling on multiple stakeholders, including the 13 university students and 33 culturally and linguistically diverse high school youth who participated during the fall of 2009. In addition, the chapter includes reflections from university and high school student participants expressed during focus groups conducted throughout the project. While most participants had a positive experience with the project, complications with the technology component often caused frustrations and additional challenges. Goals for sharing this project are to critically evaluate digital storytelling, describe lessons learned, and recommend good practices for others working within a similar context or with parallel goals.

Identities and transformational experiences for quantitative problem solving : gender comparisons of first-year university science students

Women are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) areas in university settings; however this may be the result of attitude rather than aptitude. There is widespread agreement that quantitative problem-solving is essential for graduate competence and preparedness in science and other STEM subjects. The research question addresses the identities and transformative experiences (experiential, perception, & motivation) of both male and female university science students in quantitative problem solving. This study used surveys to investigate first-year university students’ (231 females and 198 males) perceptions of their quantitative problem solving. Stata (statistical analysis package version 11) analysed gender differences in quantitative problem solving using descriptive and inferential statistics. Males perceived themselves with a higher mathematics identity than females. Results showed that there was statistical significance (p<0.05) between the genders on 21 of the 30 survey items associated with transformative experiences. Males appeared to have a willingness to be involved in quantitative problem solving outside their science coursework requirements. Positive attitudes towards STEM-type subjects may need to be nurtured in females before arriving in the university setting (e.g., high school or earlier). Females also need equitable STEM education opportunities such as conversations or activities outside school with family and friends to develop more positive attitudes in these fields.

Contextualizing a university-school STEM education collaboration : distributed and self-activated leadership for project outcomes

Implementing educational reform requires partnerships, and university-school collaborations in the form of investigative and experimental projects can aim to determine the practicalities of reform. However, there are funded projects that do not achieve intended outcomes. In the context of a new reform initiative in education, namely, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, this article explores the management of a government-funded project. In a university school partnership for STEM education, how can leadership be distributed for achieving project outcomes? Participants included university personnel from different STEM areas, school teachers and school executives. Data collected included observations, interviews, resource materials, and video and photographic images. Findings indicated that leadership roles were distributed and selfactivated by project partners according to their areas of expertise and proximal activeness to the project phases, that is: (1) establishing partnerships; (2) planning and collaboration; (3) project implementation; and (4) project evaluation and further initiatives. Leadership can be intentional and unintentional within project phases, and understanding how leadership can be distributed and selfactivated more purposefully may aid in generating more expedient project outcomes.