Joanne K. Olson

The Nature of Technology

The Nature of Technology introduces students to understanding technology and how to adapt to an ever-changing world. Humans utilize technologies to modify the world around them to meet their needs and wants. Technology extends human potential by allowing people to do things they could not otherwise do. Technological activity is purposeful and directed towards desired and predictable goals, but sometimes the results are unintended or undesired.

University Evolution Education: The Effect of Evolution Instruction on Biology Majors' Content Knowledge, Attitude Toward Evolution, and Theistic Position

Issues regarding understanding of evolution and resistance to evolution education in the United States are of key importance to biology educators at all levels. While research has measured student views toward evolution at single points in time, few studies have been published investigating whether views of college seniors are any different than first-year students in the same degree program. Additionally, students choosing to major in biological sciences have largely been overlooked, as if their acceptance of evolution is assumed. This study investigated the understanding of evolution and attitude toward evolution held by students majoring in biological science during their first and fourth years in a public research university. Participants included students in a first-year introductory biology course intended for biological science majors and graduating seniors earning degrees in either biology or genetics. The portion of the survey reported here consisted of quantitative measures of students’ understanding of core concepts of evolution and their attitude toward evolution. The results indicate that students’ understanding of particular evolutionary concepts is significantly higher among seniors, but their attitude toward evolution is only slightly improved compared to their first-year student peers. When comparing first-year students and seniors, students’ theistic position was not significantly different.

Science Teacher Preparation in a North American Context

This article provides a description of science teacher education policy in Canada and the USA. We focus on qualifications and procedures to obtain an initial teaching license, requirements for license renewal, and trends in our respective countries. In both countries, science teacher education is the responsibility of the province or state, rather than the federal government. Because these countries are composed of many provinces/states, each with its own unique characteristics, we focus on general trends, recognizing that exceptions to these trends exist. Our review indicates that science teacher education in Canada and the USA consists of a highly diverse array of licenses, requirements, and programs. While this variability provides flexibility for programs to meet local needs and to create innovative programs, it also creates the potential for teachers to enter classrooms with insufficient preparation. In both countries, multiple pathways lead to certification, many of which have very few science content or science pedagogy requirements. The science content knowledge required of elementary teachers is of concern in both countries. Secondary science teachers have multiple ways to teach with insufficient preparation in science content and pedagogy. The nature of science is notably absent from most science teacher education state and provincial requirements. Innovative program structures with high requirements for science content and pedagogy exist in both countries. Research is needed that compares program structures and requirements to determine their relative impact on teachers’ practices. Additionally, much remains to be done to improve the extent to which existing research influences policy.

Impact of a Nature of Science and Science Education Course on Teachers’ Nature of Science Classroom Practices

Science education reform documents have for some time emphasized the need for accurate and effective nature of science (NOS) instruction. However, efforts to encourage teachers to consistently and effectively address the NOS have had mixed results. The first author developed a NOS course that promoted and modeled explicit and reflective NOS instruction, emphasizing the importance of incorporating NOS activities along a decontextualized to highly contextualized continuum and extensively scaffolding between those contexts (Clough, 2006). This study determined the quantity and quality of NOS instruction participants implemented during the following semester. Six teachers were observed on three occasions and interviewed afterwards. Their students completed a questionnaire indicating the kind and frequency of NOS instruction they experienced. Structured interviews were conducted with each teacher following the school year. Four of the six teachers consistently implemented NOS when teaching science content, and the remaining two teachers implemented NOS decontextually. While teachers at low levels of implementation cited institutional constraints hindering their efforts, high-level implementation teachers faced the same constraints. High implementation teachers are committed to teaching the NOS, exhibited risk-taking behaviors and a conscious awareness they were “bucking” the system. These teachers valued learning how to integrate NOS instruction within the science content they already teach, rather than adding numerous decontextualized NOS activities to an already overburdened curriculum.

Association Between Experienced Teachers’ NOS Implementation and Reform-Based Practices

The assertion that general reform-based science teaching practices (GRBSTPs) can facilitate nature of science (NOS) instruction has been mentioned in the literature, but rigorous and transparent empirical substantiation for this claim has not been made. This investigation empirically demonstrates an association between thirteen experienced teachers’ NOS implementation practices and their GRBSTPs. While effectively implementing GRBSTPs does not ensure the NOS will be taught, the findings show that these practices are associated with high levels of NOS instruction. In this study, teachers who implemented higher levels of reform-based practices were also observed to enact more instances of planned and spontaneous effective NOS instruction. Furthermore, these teachers were more likely to recognize and capitalize on NOS teaching opportunities when they unexpectedly arose in the context of their GRBSTPs. Just as NOS understanding must be assessed when determining factors associated with teachers’ NOS implementation, teachers’ GRBSTPs should also be empirically and transparently established to ensure they do not mask or confound other factors associated with NOS implementation.

University faculty and their knowledge & acceptance of biological evolution

BackgroundMisconceptions about biological evolution specifically and the nature of science in general are pervasive in our society and culture. The view that biological evolution explains life’s origin(s) and that hypotheses become theories, which then become laws are just two examples of commonly held misconceptions. These misconceptions are reinforced in the media, in people’s personal lives, and in some unfortunate cases in the science classroom. Misconceptions regarding the nature of science (NOS) have been shown to be related to understanding and acceptance of biological evolution.Previous work has looked at several factors that are related to an individual’s understanding of biological evolution, acceptance of biological evolution, and his/her understanding of the NOS. The study presented here investigated understanding and acceptance of biological evolution among a highly educated population: university faculty.MethodsTo investigate these variables we surveyed 309 faculty at a major public Midwestern university. The questions at the core of our investigation covered differences across and between faculty disciplines, what influence theistic position or other demographic responses had, and what model best described the relationships detected.ResultsOur results show that knowledge of biological evolution and acceptance of biological evolution are positively correlated for university faculty. Higher knowledge of biological evolution positively correlates with higher acceptance of biological evolution across the entire population of university faculty. This positive correlation is also present if the population is broken down into distinct theistic views (creationist and non-creationist viewpoints). Greater knowledge of biological evolution also positively correlates with greater acceptance of biological evolution across different levels of science education. We also found that of the factors we examined, theistic view has the strongest relationship with knowledge and acceptance of biological evolution.ConclusionsThese results add support to the idea that a person’s theistic view is a driving force behind his or her resistance to understanding and accepting biological evolution. We also conclude that our results support the idea that effective science instruction can have a positive effect on both understanding and acceptance of biological evolution and that understanding and acceptance are closely tied variables.

Student Teachers' Use of Learning Theories to Diagnose Children's Learning Difficulties.

Understanding how people learn is the foundation of informed teaching, yet it is difficult for teachers to articulate and effectively use. This study investigated how two preservice teachers’ conceptions of learning theories transferred to their decisionmaking during student teaching. This paired-sample case study examined Research-Based Framework papers, oral defenses, student teaching practices, and reflection on-action. Findings indicate that knowledge from a video case analysis assignment given in the science methods course can transfer to classroom decisions during student teaching; however, perceived institutional constraints can override such knowledge, resulting in decisions that meet district requirements yet are knowingly detrimental to students.

Developmental perspectives on reflective practices of elementary science education students

Instructors of elementary science methods classes have long lamented the significant difficulties their students exhibit when trying to understand the many complexities of teaching science. As noted by some researchers and practicing teachers, preservice teachers often fail to developmentally function at desired levels with respect to constructivism and constructivist practices. Many reasons exist for continuing to consider developmental perspectives when trying to understand student learning, or lack thereof. Developmental learning theories have matured substantially from Piaget’s (1969) original four stage model of child development, or the model later proposed by Kohlberg (1984). However, neither is ideal for understanding the development of perspectives in teacher education students. A model proposed by Perry (1970) examined adult development within the context of college students’ thinking and its progression throughout the college experience. In this study, Perry’s scheme has been applied to the development of constructivist perspectives in a group of preservice elementary education majors. Results revealed 28 of the 38 students held perceptions in the lowest level (dualism) of Perry’s scheme. This calls into question the efficacy of science methods instruction premised on the basis of students functioning at stages above that of dualism.

Final Commentary: Connecting Science and Engineering Practices: A Cautionary Perspective

While including the teaching and learning of engineering concepts and practices in the science curriculum has potential to aid in achieving often-stated goals for science education, significant and legitimate concerns do exist with the kind and level of emphasis being placed on engineering practices. Generally speaking, the science education community has been remiss in its uncritical adoration of engineering and the inclusion of engineering concepts and practices in the science curriculum. Important concerns exist about K-12 engineering education in general and its inclusion in the science curriculum in particular. Raising these concerns is not an effort to maintain the status quo or a negative view of engineering and technology, but rather a thoughtful and scholarly effort to ensure students receive the best possible science and engineering education. Considerable thought and caution ought to occur in light of the marked changes being proposed regarding the content of the science curriculum in order to infuse engineering concepts and practices. Our cautionary perspective challenges simplistic rationales and strategies for integrating engineering in the science curriculum, and raises issues that need considerable thought and action for reform efforts to successfully promote a meaningful STEM education.

Humanitas Emptor: Reconsidering Recent Trends and Policy in Science Teacher Education

We are facing a plethora of educational mandates, trends and policies in science teacher education. Such issues are intricately connected, are arguably synergistic with one another though not necessarily in an educative desirable manner, and appear to be the result of STEM-related initiatives including national reform documents such as the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013). This editorial examines significant deleterious issues that have emerged unchecked, and seemingly embraced unwittingly, by the greater science education community, the public at-large, and even segments of the international science education community. Our claims are grounded in three main cases that are distinct, yet intertwined with one another. Collectively, they serve as a warning shot across the bow of those disregarding the sociocultural roots of education. Left unchecked, the issues we raise may at best deny a progressive understanding of schooling, or at worst, contribute to a kind of dominant subjective educational hegemony. We have selected three cases that serve as indicators of recent trends and issues in science education in general, and science teacher education in particular that have become, arguably, problematic. In the first case, we claim that the science education