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This study focused on K–12 students attending outreach activities (i.e. activities from STEM-based industry emphasizing applications of STEM content in the STEM field), with the main objective being to motivate students for a future career in STEM. Outreach activities can be regarded as environments that extend the regular in-class learning environment and that differ from regular environments in terms of several dimensions, such as autonomy, relevance and learning resources. To date, little research has been conducted on these types of learning environments. We followed a person-centred approach in identifying students' motivational profiles and corresponding student groups in outreach activities, and in evaluating whether students with different profiles differ in their STEM-related attitudes and experience of outreach activities. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. Latent-profile analyses revealed four different motivational profiles: good-quality motivation, moderate-motivation, high-quantity motivation and low-quantity motivation. Students with a good-quality motivation reported significantly more favorable-attitudes towards a future career in STEM compared with the other groups, with content and personal relevance being key factors for students with this profile. This study provided support for adding outreach activities to the school learning environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated teachers' perceptions of an online inservice teacher course in China and its outcomes, as well as connections between these two types of perceptions. Data were collected from a sample of 251 teachers following a course on Information and Communication Technology in education using a questionnaire survey and interviews. Teachers were generally satisfied with the setup and content of the course, but considered that interaction during training and motivation were not optimal. A correlation analysis showed that teachers' perceptions of the course were significantly and positively related to their perceptions of training outcomes. Regression analyses revealed that the connection of training content with teachers' daily practice contributed most positively to teachers' perceptions of the training outcomes. Suggestions for optimizing online inservice teacher courses are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovative educational approaches in the sciences have emphasized inquiry in the classroom but it is not self-evident that inquiry instruction leads to conceptual understanding. A design research cycle was conducted to investigate how physics instruction aimed at creating a classroom culture of inquiry can contribute to Grade 9 students' understanding of theoretical concepts in direct current electric circuits. A hypothesized local instruction theory and classroom pedagogy were created in cooperation with 3 physics teachers, emphasizing (a) establishing classroom norms of inquiry, (b) providing a theoretical starting point, (c) using targeted experiments guided by conceptual questions, and (d) theory-oriented, whole-class discussions. After data collection, retrospective analysis of 1 class showed that the enactment of the local instruction theory and the development of classroom norms of inquiry had led to the expected learning processes and increased student conceptual understanding. Science education promoting the nature of science as inquiry might consider the importance of an effective local instruction theory and the social classroom processes that require science-oriented classroom norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many students in secondary schools consider the sciences difficult and unattractive. This applies to physics in particular, a subject in which students attempt to learn and understand numerous theoretical concepts, often without much success. A case in point is the understanding of the concepts current, voltage and resistance in simple electric circuits. In response to these problems, reform initiatives in education strive for a change of the classroom culture, putting emphasis on more authentic contexts and student activities containing elements of inquiry. The challenge then becomes choosing and combining these elements in such a manner that they foster an understanding of theoretical concepts. In this article we reflect on data collected and analyzed from a series of 12 grade 9 physics lessons on simple electric circuits. Drawing from a theoretical framework based on individual (conceptual change based) and socio-cultural views on learning, instruction was designed addressing known conceptual problems and attempting to create a physics (research) culture in the classroom. As the success of the lessons was limited, the focus of the study became to understand which inherent characteristics of inquiry based instruction complicate the process of constructing conceptual understanding. From the analysis of the data collected during the enactment of the lessons three tensions emerged: the tension between open inquiry and student guidance, the tension between students developing their own ideas and getting to know accepted scientific theories, and the tension between fostering scientific interest as part of a scientific research culture and the task oriented school culture. An outlook will be given on the implications for science lessons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By applying the self-to-prototype matching theory to students' academic choices, this study links the unpopularity of science in many industrialized countries with the perceived gap between typical persons representing science (e.g. physics teachers) on the one hand and students' self-image on the other. A sample of N = 308 Dutch and German students described both themselves and typical teachers representing different school subjects using 65 trait adjectives. The following hypotheses were tested: The typical hard sciences teacher and the typical languages teacher will be perceived as differing in their personal characteristics. The typical physics teachers will be perceived as being less similar to students' own self-image than teachers representing languages. Actual choices students make during secondary school should correlate with the perceived fit between students' self-image and the prototype of teachers representing different school subjects, especially in the less frequent and less popular choices of a math or physics major/profile. The findings supported these hypotheses. The discussion stresses that students acquire not only knowledge about science but also about science culture (sensu Aikenhead) in their science classes and that students' image of science teachers can influence their academic choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teacher knowledge guides a teacher's behaviour in the classroom. Teacher knowledge for technology education is generally assumed to play an important role in affecting pupils' learning in technology. There are an abundant number of teacher knowledge models that visualise different domains of teacher knowledge, but clear empirical evidence on how these domains interact is lacking. Insights into the interaction of teacher knowledge domains could be useful for teacher training. In this study, the hypothesised relations between different domains of teacher knowledge for technology education in primary schools were empirically investigated. Subject matter knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy were measured with tests and questionnaires. Results from a path analysis showed that subject matter knowledge is an important prerequisite for both pedagogical content knowledge and self-efficacy. Subsequently, teachers' self-efficacy was found to have a strong influence on teachers' attitude towards technology. Based on the findings in this study, it is recommended that teacher training should first of all focus on the development of teachers' subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. This knowledge will positively affect teachers' confidence in teaching and, in turn, their attitude towards the subject. More confidence in technology teaching and a more positive attitude are expected to increase the frequency of technology education, which consequently increases teaching experience and thereby stimulates the development of teachers' pedagogical content knowledge. This circle of positive reinforcement will eventually contribute to the quality of technology education in primary schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purposes of this study were to examine how Turkish students perceived their biology classroom environment, how their perceptions compared to those of students in other countries, and what classroom learning environment profiles could be discerned in Turkish high school biology classrooms. Data were gathered from 1,474 high school students in four inner city schools, in Bursa, Turkey. A total of 11 biology teachers participated in the study with 52 of their classes. Data on students' perceptions of their learning environment were collected with the What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire. Results indicated that Turkish classrooms were perceived as being low in terms of Teacher Support and high in terms of Task Orientation. Six distinct classroom learning environment profiles were found: the 'self-directed learning classroom', 'task-oriented cooperative learning classroom', 'mainstream classroom', 'task-oriented individualised classroom', 'low-effective learning classroom' and 'high-effective learning classroom'. The most common profile was the 'mainstream classroom' for which all WIHIC scales had medium-high scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This literature review reports on the assumed relations between primary school teachers’ knowledge of technology and pupils’ attitude towards technology. In order to find relevant aspects of technology-specific teacher knowledge, scientific literature in the field of primary technology education was searched. It is found that teacher knowledge is essential for stimulating a positive attitude towards technology in pupils. Particularly, teachers’ enhanced Pedagogical Content Knowledge is found to be related to pupils’ increased learning and interest in technology. Six aspects of technology-specific teacher knowledge that are likely to play a role in affecting pupils’ attitude are identified and schematically presented in a hypothetical diagram. It is concluded that more empirical evidence on the influence of technology-specific teacher knowledge on pupils’ attitude is needed. The hypothetical diagram will serve as a helpful tool to investigate the assumed relations between teacher knowledge and pupils’ attitude empirically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the changes in mathematical problem-solving beliefs and behaviour of mathematics students during the years after entering university. Novice bachelor students fill in a questionnaire about their problem-solving beliefs and behaviour. At the end of their bachelor programme, as experienced bachelor students, they again fill in the questionnaire. As an educational exercise in academic reflection, they have to explain their individual shifts in beliefs, if any. Significant shifts for the group as a whole are reported, such as the growth of attention to metacognitive aspects in problem-solving or the growth of the belief that problem-solving is not only routine but has many productive aspects. On the one hand, the changes in beliefs and behaviour are mostly towards their teachers’ beliefs and behaviour, which were measured using the same questionnaire. On the other hand, students show aspects of the development of an individual problem-solving style. The students explain the shifts mainly by the specific nature of the mathematics problems encountered at university compared to secondary school mathematics problems. This study was carried out in the theoretical framework of learning as enculturation. Apparently, secondary mathematics education does not quite succeed in showing an authentic image of the culture of mathematics concerning problem-solving. This aspect partly explains the low number of students choosing to study mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication plays an important role in many professional contexts. This is especially true for students in the field of social work. The aim of this study was to develop formative, self-regulated multimedia self-assessment of social-communicative competencies for social work students. First, a pilot study was conducted to gain insight into the students' specific characteristics. This insight was used to design guidelines for the development of the assessment instrument in order to tune these to the students' perceptions, instructional preferences, and personalities and thus enhancing the students' enthusiasm to use the self-assessment instrument. This might increase the chance for successful implementation of this new form of assessment. A first version of a multimedia test was developed. A quality expert meeting was organised to gain insight into expert judgements on the quality of the test and to obtain indications for improvement of the assessment. A second version of the test was constructed and put on the Internet. Nearly 400 students completed the assessment and expressed their opinions on this new way of communication assessment. We found it was possible to test social-communicative competence by means of multimedia, with the help of digital video. The use of Internet makes assessments available at any time to fit curriculum needs and also resolves time and space constraints. Our conclusion was that the multimedia test is reasonably valid. All students reported having liked the multimedia assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem-solving skills and understanding of domain, knowledge (e.g., fighting misconceptions) are important goals in both secondary and tertiary science education. A prototype of an instructional task is presented which aims at improved problem-solving skills based on understanding of domain knowledge. In this task, comparing carefully selected solved problems by groups of students is utilised as a learning activity for the acquisition of adequate problem schemata. The task is designed as a part of the so-called UBP-program (UBP=Understanding Based Problem solving) currently being developed, for education in science. The result of an evaluative study for the field of mechanics is presented. The UBP-task appears apt to improve problem-solving skills at a less advanced level of physics education (e.g., 10th grade), especially for students normally performing poorly—who are often girls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]