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Descriptors:
Accidents; Accident Prevention; Legal Responsibility; Science Instruction; School Safety; Elementary School Science; Teacher Responsibility; Human Body; Hazardous Materials; Foreign Countries

Abstract:
This article discusses where teachers stand from a legal point of view when pupils, who have been told to wear eye protection, take it off during the practical lesson, and an accident happens. It also discusses the disposal of dissection and other waste from animal parts used in school science. (Contains 1 footnote.)

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Student Attitudes; Botany; Zoology; Biology; Foreign Countries; Grade 4; Elementary School Students; Science Instruction; Student Interests; Generational Differences; Grade 3; Elementary School Science; Questionnaires; Attitude Change

Abstract:
A decline in biology interest has often been claimed but seldom with an empirically substantiation. This study was based on a sample of 3rd and 4th grade pupils within the same geographical area as Lowe's (1987, 1992) previous results from southwest Germany from the year 1983. We used a four-point Likert-type questionnaire to assess interest with 30 items (zoology, botany, human biology). Here we show for the first time, that elementary school pupils have lower interest in biology than one generation before. This decline between 1983 and 2011 was about 10%, with only 3% in zoology and 12% in botany. As interest is an important variable, programs should be developed to foster pupils' interest already on the primary school level. (Contains 2 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Pedagogical Content Knowledge; Science Instruction; Biology; Heredity; Botany; Science Curriculum; Secondary School Teachers; Classroom Observation Techniques; Semi Structured Interviews; Lesson Plans; Instructional Materials; Science Teachers; Assignments; Educational Strategies; Grounded Theory; Integrated Activities; National Standards; State Standards; Data Analysis

Abstract:
This study explored the nature of the integration of the five components of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK): (a) Orientations toward Teaching Science, (b) Knowledge of Student Understanding, (c) Knowledge of Instructional Strategies and Representations, (d) Knowledge of Science Curriculum, and (e) Knowledge of Assessment of Science Learning. Given the topic and context specificity of PCK, this investigation was conducted in the context of the photosynthesis and heredity instruction of four teachers who were working at the same high school with the same curricular materials. Data sources included classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, lesson plans, instructional materials, and students' work samples. Data were analyzed through three different approaches: (a) in-depth analysis of explicit PCK, (b) enumerative approach, and (c) the constant comparative method. Data analysis indicated five salient features of the integration of the PCK components: (a) the integration of the components was idiosyncratic and topic-specific; (b) Knowledge of Student Understanding and Knowledge of Instructional Strategies and Representations were central in the integration; (c) Knowledge of Science Curriculum and Knowledge of Assessment of Science Learning had most limited connection with other components; (d) Knowledge of Assessment of Science Learning was more often connected with Knowledge of Student Understanding and Knowledge of Instructional Strategies and Representations than with the other components; and (e) Didactic Orientations toward Teaching Science directed Knowledge of Instructional Strategies and Representations inhibiting its connection with other components. This study highlights that the quality of PCK depends on the coherence among the components as well as the strength of individual components. From a methodological perspective, this study demonstrates the possibility to make PCK more visible and accessible by using a PCK Map, a pictorial representation of the interactions of the PCK components. (Contains 3 tables and 3 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Instructional Materials; Teaching Methods; Feedback (Response); Learning Experience; Science Teachers; Elementary School Teachers; Pedagogical Content Knowledge; Scientific Principles; Science Instruction; Science Education; Teaching Guides; Professional Development; Workshops; Outcomes of Education; Focus Groups; Educational Change; Beliefs; Elementary School Science; Pretests Posttests; Scores; Scoring Rubrics

Abstract:
Although researchers have achieved some success in effective nature of science (NOS) teaching, helping teachers teach NOS continues to be a great challenge. The development of an educative teachers' guide would provide support for NOS teaching. In this study, we explored the effects that a research-based guide had on affording elementary school teachers' NOS teaching and on improving their students' understanding of NOS, and investigated key features for designing a NOS teachers' guide. The design of the teachers' guide was based mainly on (1) criteria pertaining to educative curriculum materials, (2) previous research concerning teachers' guides as facilitators of science teachers, and (3) feedback from participants of NOS professional-development workshops. Our study sampled 10 teachers who implemented the NOS-curriculum material. Six of them (Group A) had NOS-learning experience, while the other four teachers (Group B) did not. Data sources included student outcomes on NOS, teachers' teaching performance of NOS instruction, an open-ended questionnaire, and transcripts of a focus-group interview. The results indicate that the teachers' guide enables teachers to perceive changes in their beliefs, knowledge, and intention with regard to integrating NOS into the curriculum. Group B exhibited NOS-teaching performance similar to that exhibited by Group A. Group B teachers are capable of improving students' understanding of NOS through the use of the guide. Three key features for designing NOS teachers' guides are: (1) explicitly indicating NOS teaching practice, (2) building pedagogical knowledge for NOS teaching, and (3) guiding teachers' reflection and learning. (Contains 7 tables and 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Environmental Education; Elementary School Students; Constructivism (Learning); Elementary School Science; Natural Resources; Inquiry; Outdoor Education; Science Instruction; Teaching Methods; Comparative Analysis; Observation; Field Trips; Interpersonal Communication; Learning Strategies; Competition; Games; Journal Writing; Notetaking; Measurement Techniques

Abstract:
There has been an increased use of authentic practices in both science and environmental education in recent years. Such practices can utilize social constructivist frameworks to consider the learning that may be taking place as students become engaged in tool use. The current study focuses on a group of elementary school students studying the Everglades in the field and in a classroom setting during one academic year. In particular, we observed students' use of tools (identified as tool-conventions to include both artifacts and conventions) and compared their use in both settings. We found that in the field, students spent considerable amount of time engaged in data collection activity such as taking observations and measurements that resembled what scientists might be doing and included the invention of new tools to facilitate data gathering. In this context, students generally worked more independently from the teacher, collaborated in small work groups, and engaged in more self-directed inquiry. In the classroom, while some of the scientific field tools were practiced in anticipation of their use in the field, activity included more teacher direction, often resembling what might be found in other types of classroom work and the tools used there often supported this work. Models of tool use based on Yrjo Engestrom's activity approach were constructed for both settings. Implications of the results include the importance of viewing tool use in authentic learning with a sociocultural and activity perspective to reflect the socially constructed nature of such learning. (Contains 5 figures, 1 table, and 3 endnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Foreign Countries; Video Games; Teaching Methods; Botany; Barriers; Science Instruction; Secondary School Science; Science Education; Educational Technology; Educational Games; Computer Games; Instructional Effectiveness; Curriculum Implementation; Mixed Methods Research; Interviews; Pretests Posttests; Web Browsers; Web Based Instruction

Abstract:
Simulations and games are not new artifacts to the study of science in secondary school settings (Hug, Kriajcik and Marx 2005), however teachers remain skeptical as to their value, use and appropriateness (Rice 2006). The difficulty is not only the design and development of effective play environments that produce measurable changes in knowledge and/or understanding, but also in their on-the-ground use (Jaipal and Figg 2010). This paper reports on the use of a science-focused video game in five very different secondary school settings in Ontario, Canada. A mixed-methods approach was used in the study, and included data gathered on general gameplay habits and technology use, as well as informal interviews with teachers and students who played the game. In total, 161 participants played a series of games focused on the "life of a plant", and were given both a pre and post quiz to determine if the game helped them retain and/or change what they knew about scientific processes like plant cell anatomy and photosynthesis. Participants showed statistically significant improvement on quizzes that were taken after playing the game for approximately one-hour sessions, despite difficulties in some cases both accessing and playing the game for the full hour. Our findings also reveal the ongoing challenges in making use of technology in a variety of school sessions, even when using a browser-based game, that demanded very little other than a reliable internet connection. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Concept Mapping; Elementary School Science; Junior High Schools; Textbooks; Educational Change; Foreign Countries; Science Teachers; Answer Keys; Teaching Guides; Science Instruction; Science Education; Science Curriculum; Questionnaires; Surveys; Elementary Schools; Elementary School Teachers; Secondary School Teachers

Abstract:
The processes of curricula, textbooks and student resources development have been broadly surveyed and studied while teachers' guides have received comparatively little consideration throughout recent reforms in science education. Ideal curriculum materials align instruction with the goals of reform. Well-designed teachers' guides contribute to communicating and supporting reform-based teaching. The purpose of this study was to investigate the functions and assistance that guides provide science teachers. A questionnaire was developed and administered to science teachers from a stratified sample of elementary and junior high schools in Taiwan. The findings indicated that the guides were of greater benefit to elementary school science teachers than they were to junior high teachers. These groups of teachers perceived the guides' usefulness differently, but they believed that a clear, concise presentation of the purpose, reminders, answer keys, concept maps of the main topics and learning progression provided the most helpful and preferred layout. Teachers felt that the function of a teachers' guide is to provide teaching resources rather than to guide teacher thinking. This study discusses design suggestions that can engage teacher thinking. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
School Safety; Laboratory Safety; Safety; Safety Education; Health Promotion; Hazardous Materials; Risk; Risk Management; Class Size; Accident Prevention

Abstract:
The tendency for the press and public to over-react on safety. The need to balance risk against benefit. The difference between hazard and risk. Preventative or protective steps (control measures) to reduce the risk from particular hazards. Examples in school science, including the use of eye protection and alternative strategies, if eye protection is not available. The ability of teachers to supervise a class dependent on the size of the class. The need for supervision dependent on the nature of the practical activity and the risk involved in it, as well as the nature of the class, and the skills and behaviour of the students. (Contains 1 footnote.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Science and Society; STEM Education; Predictor Variables; Use Studies; Teaching Methods; Citizenship Education; Activity Units; Ecology; Field Trips; Novices; Citizenship; Video Games; Role Playing; Expertise; Multiple Literacies; Curriculum Implementation; Classroom Environment; Science Instruction; Science Education; Environmental Education; Educational Technology; Educational Games; Computer Games; Computer Assisted Instruction; Instructional Effectiveness; Learning Activities; Mediation Theory; Water; Earth Science

Abstract:
Research has shown that video games can be good for learning, particularly for STEM topics. However, in order for games to be scalable and sustainable, associated research must move beyond considerations of efficacy towards theories that account for classroom ecologies of students and teachers. This study asks how a digital game called "Citizen Science", built using tropes and conventions from modern games, might help learners develop identities as citizen scientists within the domain of lake ecology. We conducted an expert-novice study, revealing that games literacy was a mediating variable for content understanding. In a follow-up classroom implementation, games literacy also operated as a variable, although students drove the activity, which mediated this concern. The teacher devised a number of novel pedagogies, such as a field trip, in response to the unit. We found evidence for the most powerful learning occurring through these activities that were reinforced via the curriculum. Students were most engaged by Citizen Science's most "gamelike" features, and learners took up the core ideas of the game. Users also reported the experience was short of commercial gaming experiences, suggesting a tension between game cultures for learning and schools. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Prior Learning; Curriculum Development; Learning Processes; Learning Experience; Science Curriculum; Community Resources; Science Education; Science Instruction; College Science; Science Teachers; Science Careers; Field Trips; Speech Communication

Abstract:
Establishing relevant applications for the science curriculum can be a challenge. However, the key that opens science for students is within a teacher's grasp: It is as simple as bringing science connections into his or her classroom through community resources and taking the students to the science that is available. The author encourages teachers to reach out to science professionals in their community to explore how science is used in a variety of careers. She suggests that community experiences should always be given in the context of curricular connections. The experience can occur at any phase of inquiry, depending on the overall design of the larger learning cycle. Furthermore, it is important to prepare students and the community resource regarding the purpose of the experience and work, both to tailor and maximize the learning that occurs. It is best not to think of the learning experience as a single event in the lesson. Prior learning experiences and follow-up are critical for maximum effectiveness. (Contains 1 resource.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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