Search results for "Science education"
showing 10 items of 139 documents
A quantitative analysis of university student reasoning lines in the field of thermally activated phenomena
2018
In this contribution we present a research aimed at studying the effectiveness of two workshops in improving reasoning skills in undergraduate students. Both the workshops are based on the Feynman Unifying Approach. A questionnaire containing six open-ended questions on the temperature dependence of evaporation of a liquid and of a chemical reaction was administered to the students of both groups before instruction. A second one, similar to the first but focused on a physical content different from both the pre-instruction test one and the content dealt with during the workshops, was administered after instruction. The responses to the pre- and post-instruction questionnaires are analyzed b…
Energy exchange by thermal radiation: hints and suggestions for an Inquiry Based lab approach
2014
In this paper we present some laboratory activities developed in the framework of an inquiry-based, context-to-content teaching/learning approach to the study of energy exchange by thermal radiation. These activities have been developed in the context of “Establish”, a FP7 European Project aimed at promoting and developing Inquiry Based Science Education in European Secondary Schools. By starting from real life, meaningful situations, students are engaged in designing and carrying out laboratory activities by collecting, processing and analysing data. Particular attention is paid in building data interpretation by taking into account the effects of parameters like the environmental temperat…
Teaching energy conservation as a unifying principle in physics
2009
In this work we present the design and assessment of a teaching sequence aimed at introducing the principle of energy conservation at post-compulsory secondary school level (16-18 year olds). The proposal is based on the result of research into teaching-learning difficulties and on the analysis of the physics framework. Evidence is shown that this teaching sequence, together with the methodology used in the classroom, may result in students having a better grasp of the principle of energy conservation. Keywords Physics education · Energy conceptions · Teaching activities
Open inquiry-based learning experiences: a case study in the context of energy exchange by thermal radiation
2013
An open inquiry (OI)-based teaching/learning experience, regarding a scientific investigation of the process of energy exchange by thermal radiation, is presented. A sample of upper secondary school physics teachers carried out this experience at the University of Palermo, Italy, in the framework of ESTABLISH, a FP7 European Project aimed at promoting and developing inquiry-based science education. The teachers had the opportunity to personally experience an OI-based learning activity, with the aim of exploring the pedagogical potentialities of this teaching approach to promote both the understanding of difficult concepts and a deeper view of scientific practices. The teachers were firstly …
The challenge of contemporary society on science education: The case of global warming.
2014
The big problems that contemporary society needs to address (e.g. climate change) challenge our traditional idea of education and require to revise the goals of science education research. Such problems are indeed so complex as to require a wide range of competencies to be engaged in producing and implementing solution strategies. Science education is forced to take into account the many dimensions that characterize contemporary science and to face the task of bringing together the potential of all the different perspectives (Tasquier & Nonni, 2011). An example of this kind of research, concerning environmental problems, will be briefly described and its first encouraging results illustrate…
Teacher Talk Patterns in Science Lessons: Use in Teacher Education
2006
This paper presents an innovative and useful methodology to analyze instructional talk. In teacher education, there is a lack of practical methods that the tutor teacher can use to discuss and reflect on student teachers’ lessons. The student teacher cannot remember what actually happened during the lesson, and the feedback and discussions are based on memory and are, therefore, unstructured. The purpose of this explorative and descriptive case study was to characterize the teacher talk used in the process of a teacher’s guidance of secondary school students’ acquisition of knowledge about physics. First, a classification method for classroom talk was developed. Then, using this method, the…
PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT AND PRE-SERVICE PHYSICS TEACHER EDUCATION: A CASE STUDY
2005
Abstract. This paper addresses the question of how to develop prospective teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in science teacher education. The main focus is on the knowledge transformation process and on the cognitive strategies used to shift prospective teachers’ explanations within the domain of modelling thermal physical phenomena. This study investigates the development of PCK within a group of 28 pre-service physics teachers during the first semester of their two-year post-graduate teacher education program. It focuses on the central issue of the relationships between observable phenomena, like macroscopic thermal properties of matter and their interpretation and /or explanat…
Enriching gender in physics education research: A binary past and a complex future
2016
[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Gender in Physics.] In this article, we draw on previous reports from physics, science education, and women’s studies to propose a more nuanced treatment of gender in physics education research (PER). A growing body of PER examines gender differences in participation, performance, and attitudes toward physics. We have three critiques of this work: (i) it does not question whether the achievements of men are the most appropriate standard, (ii) individual experiences and student identities are undervalued, and (iii) the binary model of gender is not questioned. Driven by these critiques, we propose a conception of gender that is more up to date…
Effects of Scientific Information Format on the Comprehension Self-Monitoring Processes: Question Generation
2013
RESUMEN: Formular preguntas es una de las acciones asociadas con procesos metacognitivos de regulación durante tareas de comprensión: los sujetos pueden generar preguntas destinadas a obtener información para salvar obstáculos de comprensión. Se realizaron dos experimentos para estimular, clasificar y analizar las preguntas de los estudiantes en tres condiciones diferentes: leer sobre el funcionamiento de dispositivos científicos experimentales, observarlos en un DVD o manipularlos en el Laboratorio. Las preguntas fueron clasificadas usando una taxonomía sencilla. Teniendo en cuenta los principios multimedia de aprendizaje, las ventajas de imágenes realistas animadas para el aprendizaje de …
Strategien bei Problemen mit rekursiver Lösung
1989
Recursion is not only a means for describing mathematical concepts, it is also an important problem solving tool in both mathematics and computer sciences. Recursion is the object of interest in our research project. In this article, we are going to report on an investigation aiming at the identification of strategies 7th and 8th graders use while coping with the recursive TOWER OFHANOI problem. Our hypothesis is that there are preliminary concepts for the concept of recursion which may vary for different students. We will describe some preliminary concepts in this paper.