Martin Goedhart

The influence of student characteristics on the use of adaptive e-learning material

Adaptive e-learning materials can help teachers to educate heterogeneous student groups. This study provides empirical data about the way academic students differ in their learning when using adaptive e-learning materials. Ninety-four students participated in the study. We determined characteristics in a heterogeneous student group by collecting demographic data and measuring motivation and prior knowledge. We also measured the learning paths students followed and learning strategies they used when working with adaptive e-learning material in a molecular biology course. We then combined these data to study if and how student characteristics relate to the learning paths and strategies they used. We observed that students did follow different learning paths. Gender did not have an effect, but (mainly Dutch) BSc students differed from (international) MSc students in the intrinsic motivation they had and the learning paths and strategies they followed when using the adaptive e-learning material. Highlights? Adaptive e-learning materials can help teachers to educate heterogeneous student groups. ? Students differ in the learning paths they follow and strategies they use when working with adaptive e-learning materials. ? University graduate and undergraduate students participated in the study. ? Results from traces, test scores, intrinsic motivation inventory responses and student self-reports were analysed.

Development and validation of the ACSI: measuring students’ science attitudes, pro-environmental behaviour, climate change attitudes and knowledge

This article describes the development and validation of the Attitudes towards Climate Change and Science Instrument. This 63-item questionnaire measures students’ pro-environmental behaviour, their climate change knowledge and their attitudes towards school science, societal implications of science, scientists, a career in science and the urgency of climate change. The results from the pilot and the final study show the questionnaire meets validity and reliability criteria. A total number of 671 secondary school students from five European countries (France, Norway, Italy, The Netherlands and Spain) completed the questionnaire. The results of the principal components factor analysis show that all scales were unidimensional. Internal reliability using Cronbach’s alpha varies between 0.71 and 0.87. Concurrent validity was shown by younger students, females and students with high science grades scoring higher on several attitudes than respectively older students, male students, or students with low science grades. Overall, correlations show weak but significant relationships between science-related attitudes on the one hand and climate change- and environment-related attitudes on the other. Based on our findings, our instrument is useful for understanding the ways in which students think about science, scientists, climate change and the environment.

Students Overcoming Blockages While Building a Mathematical Model: Exploring a Framework

In the Netherlands, modelling is a compulsory topic for all pre-university science-stream students. Nevertheless, these students have difficulties in building a mathematical model. Our research aims at identifying the occurrence and removal of blockages when students create mathematical models. By means of a pilot study, we looked for an appropriate framework to identify students’ obstacles and opportunities during this process. The results show that the initially chosen framework, which describes modelling as a cyclic process, needs addition from frameworks referring to problem solving, metacognition and beliefs.

A web-based adaptive tutor to teach PCR primer design

When students have varying prior knowledge, personalized instruction is desirable. One way to personalize instruction is by using adaptive e‐learning to offer training of varying complexity. In this study, we developed a web‐based adaptive tutor to teach PCR primer design: the PCR Tutor. We used part of the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (the three cognitive processes: remember, understand, and apply) to design exercises of varying complexity. Using this method, we demonstrated that we were able to systematically categorize exercises. There was also a good learning effect and a positive student perception when using the PCR Tutor.

Evaluation of Authentic Science Projects on Climate Change in Secondary Schools: A Focus on Gender Differences.

Background and purpose This study examines secondary-school students’ opinions on participating in authentic science projects which are part of an international EU project on climate change research in seven countries. Partnerships between schools and research institutes result in student projects, in which students work with and learn from scientists about the global carbon cycle. This study focuses in particular on differences between male and female students, as female students normally like traditional school science less than male students. Sample and design Data, drawn from 1370 students from 60 secondary schools across Europe, were collected through questionnaires taken at the end of the projects. The evaluated aspects were: organization; enjoyment; difficulty; and impact of the projects. Results The findings suggest that authentic science education is appreciated very much by both male students and even more by female students. The projects had positive impacts on climate change ideas, in particular for female students. Female students felt that they had learned many new things more often than male students. Conclusions Both male and female students have positive opinions about the authentic science projects. The results further point to positive effects of activities in which students have an active role, like hands-on experiments or presentation of results. The findings are placed in the international context of science education and their implications for policy are discussed.

A Three-Phase Design for Productive Use of Analogy in the Teaching of Entropy

Gentner has described analogy as a mapping of terms from a base (better known) domain to a target domain. She asserts that use of analogy can lead to new conclusions in the target domain. This ‘structure mapping’ theory, though useful, does not yet describe the process of analogical reasoning. We will argue that an analogy can be used productively in a process that has two phases: first, constructing the analogy using existing knowledge of base and target domains, and second, extrapolating the analogy within the target domain. In the first phase object mapping is motivated by the recognition of mappable relations. In the second phase, the productive use of the analogy can involve creation of both new terms and relations, as a result of mapping existing terms and relations from the base domain. If analogies are to be understood critically, then a third phase might be the testing of new relations against learners’ experience. This three-phase process description of analogy has been tried out in a teaching experiment that aimed at an understanding of entropy, by an analogy to falling water. We conclude that this three-phase description is useful.

On the Methodology of ‘Phenomenography’ As A Science Education Research Tool

The contributors to this symposium have performed phenomenographic research in different projects. Their epistemology as well as their philosophy of science did more or less differ. It was the scope of this symposium to discuss whether this can be an obstacle or may lead to fruitful debates. After brief descriptions on the methodology of the research performed, 3 questions were discussed: (a) Is it appropriate to“borrow” and use phenomenography methods in non-phenomenological research contexts? (b) Is it justifiable to substitute the term ‘experience’ used in phenomenography by ‘understanding’, or ‘conception’? (c) How can we secure validity of phenomenographic research?

The impact of peer collaboration on teachers’ practical knowledge

Due to changes in Dutch mathematics education, teachers are expected to use new teaching methods such as enquiry-based teaching. In this study, we investigate how teachers design, implement and evaluate new methods for statistics teaching for 7th-graders during a professional development trajectory based on peer collaboration. We monitored teachers’ development in a network of four mathematics teachers from the same school. By using a mixed-methods approach in which we combined data from interviews, concept maps and classroom observations, we describe changes in teachers’ practical knowledge. We found how the nature of these changes highly depends on teachers’ personal concerns that emerge during the trajectory. Some teachers considered their concerns as challenges stimulating their learning, while other teachers experienced their concerns as a reason to fall back to previous teaching methods. Based on our results, we give some recommendations for organising teacher networks.

Logging the heart with Microcomputer-Based Labs

A single heartbeat is a complicated process. In Dutch upper secondary biology textbooks this process is illustrated by the classical Wiggers diagram, which usually shows different heart-related quantities, like voltage (ECG), blood pressure, and the heart sounds. It may help students to understand the nature of the Wiggers diagram if they perform comparable measurements of heart-related quantities in the classroom by themselves. We highlight some features of recent developments in Microcomputer-Based Laboratories (MBL) that make such measurements possible. Based on findings of classroom experiments we show how MBL may thus be applied in teaching the working of the heart.

Tell me a Story: the use of narrative as a learning tool for natural selection

Abstract Grounded within literature pointing to the value of narrative in communicating scientific information, the purpose of this study was to examine the use of stories as a tool for teaching about natural selection in the context of school science. The study utilizes a mixed method, case study approach which focuses on the design, implementation, and evaluation of narrative-based curriculum materials. The data consisted of questionnaires, classroom observations, and interviews with the students and teachers. The analysis of the data showed that most of the students developed adequate scientific understandings about natural selection and they perceived the narrative as easier to comprehend than the textbook. The findings speak to the need for examining ways of blending narrative effectively into science lessons.