Norman Reid

Thoughts on attitude measurement

Attitude measurement has had a somewhat chequered history since the possibility of achieving it successfully was demonstrated by Thurstone in 1929. It has been an important area in science education, particularly in the context of falling uptakes in the physical sciences in many countries, and there have been many attempts to measure learner attitudes to explore why they were deserting studies in such subjects. This paper explores the place of attitude measurement in science education and traces the main approaches that have been developed. The place and nature of attitude scaling techniques is analysed and it is demonstrated that such techniques have many fundamental flaws. These weaknesses make such approaches unlikely to offer the kind of precision needed to take our understanding of attitude development forward in the context of science education. Alternative approaches are outlined and it is strongly suggested that science education research rejects such scaling techniques and moves forward to develop new approaches that can give the kind of detailed analysis which will prove to be positive and useful. This paper seeks to bring evidence from many sources together, to challenge many of the unquestioned assumptions behind the metholodogies used in many attitude‐related studies today and to make a positive contribution in encouraging more appropriate methodologies to be adopted more widely.

The role of laboratory work in university chemistry

The place of experimental work in laboratories has always assumed a high profile at all levels of chemical education. This paper seeks to review the main strands of evidence available today and argues that the place of experimental work needs to be reconsidered at higher education levels. There is a need for a clarification of aims and objectives, and these need to be communicated to learners. It argues that higher education needs to be acutely aware of what goes on at school and to build on these skills. Pre-laboratory exercises are strongly supported by the evidence, while there needs to be a radical re-thinking of the use of laboratory manuals, with assessment being explored afresh. In addition, seeing the laboratory experience in the context of what goes on before and after, as well as other learning, will enhance the learning potential of this time. Examples of some ways forward are presented. Overall, it is argued that much more could be gained by the students if the laboratory experience, using similar experiments, was radically re- thought. [Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2007, 8 (2), 172-185]

Some strategies to improve performance in school chemistry, based on two cognitive factors

The background to this study are the difficulties facing the majority of Greek pupils in understanding chemistry concepts and, therefore, performing well in the National Examinations. The aim was to explore the problems and to suggest ways in which the situation might be improved. Working with 105 Greek pupils aged 15 to 16, the first stage of the enquiry confirmed that both working memory space and extent of field dependency were two psychological factors affecting performance. This is at least part of the nature of the problem. In the second stage, an attempt was made to explore how the problems might be reduced. New teaching materials were constructed to minimize any limitations to learning caused by working memory space and problems associated with being field dependent. The use of the new materials was compared to the normal teaching process working with 210 Greek pupils aged 15 to16. It was found that there was a significant difference in the average improvement of the experimental group and the control group, in favour of the experimental group. This result was independent of the effect of the teacher, and of the interaction of teaching method and teacher. It is suggested that approaches to learning must take into account cognitive factors in the learners in the context of information processing understandings of learning. If this is done, learning is much more effective.

Cognitive factors that can potentially affect pupils’ test performance

The two cognitive styles, ‘field dependent/field independent’ and ‘convergent/divergent’, were explored in relation to three formats of assessment (multiple choice, short answer and structural communication grid) in five classroom chemistry tests. The study was conducted in Greece with the participation of Grade-10 (upper secondary school) pupils (age 15-16). The field dependent/independent characteristic correlated with pupils’ performance in all the tests, and in almost all the formats of assessment. The convergent/divergent characteristic correlated with pupils’ performance in assessment where language was an important factor, but not in algorithmic types of questions or in questions where there is a greater use of symbols and less use of words. It seems that, in relation to the convergent/divergent characteristic, the chemistry content and presentation of the test is a factor affecting the type of questions being asked. This study suggests that some of the factors that affect pupils’ performance might be: (a) the content and presentation of the test, (b) the format of the test, (c) the psychology of the individual. [Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2006, 7 (2), 64-83]

Towards a Model for Attitude Change

Summaries English The place of attitude growth in the educational process is assuming an increased importance today in our schools. A broad definition of ‘attitude’ is proposed, and various types of attitude are discussed. The relationship between cognition and attitude growth in an educational setting is explored, reference being made to a number of recent empirical studies in relation to science education. Before building up a possible model for attitude change, the main strands of evidence from previous research are listed. The proposed model attempts to account for attitude stability in normal life as well as the possibility of attitude change brought about experimentally. It also attempts to account for the variable ease of attitude modification, the variation being related to the nature of the attitude. The model is considered to be useful in rationalizing a wide range of experimental data, as well as generating further lines of research.

The Solving of Problems in Chemistry: The more open-ended problems

Most problem solving in chemistry tends to be algorithmic in nature, while problems in life tend to be very open ended. This paper offers a simple classification of problems and seeks to explore the many factors which may be important in the successful solving of problems. It considers the place of procedures and algorithms. It analyses the role of long-term memory, not only in terms of what is known, but how that knowledge was acquired. It notes the great importance of the limitations of working memory space and the importance of confidence which comes from experience. Finally, various psychological factors are discussed. This paper argues that solving open-ended problems is extremely important in education and that offering learners experience of this in a group work context is a helpful way forward.

A scientific approach to the teaching of chemistry. What do we know about how students learn in the sciences, and how can we make our teaching match this to maximise performance?

Around 1960, there were quite radical changes in emphasis in many countries in school chemistry education, with subsequent changes in many university courses. Considerable research was undertaken to explore the learning problems students were reporting and the common thread underlying became apparent: it related to the way humans process new information. From this research evidence, a model of learning was developed. This new model explained and interpreted the data but it also was used to predict how to bring about considerable improvements. All humans learn in essentially the same way and learning can be highly efficient and effective. If learning situations are not consistent with the way students learn, then problems can be expected. The curriculum revolutions of the 1960s had inadvertently brought about such inconsistencies. Many students were losing confidence and many countries reported a drop off in numbers choosing chemistry. The model of learning has been used to predict how improvements can be made in lecture type learning, laboratory learning, problem solving, and in curriculum construction and presentation. The research results have been quite remarkable, with quite dramatic improvements in performance being reported along with large changes in student attitudes. This paper summarises some of these results and to show how great improvements in learning (defined in terms of understanding) can be achieved simply by changing teaching approaches in line with the predictions from the model.

THE PRESENTATION OF CHEMISTRY LOGICALLY DRIVEN OR APPLICATIONS-LED?

The chemistry curriculum in both school and higher education tends to be based on the logic of the subject, with applications of chemistry added as footnotes. This paper seeks to look more closely at the nature of the content to be taught and suggests that it is useful to consider an applications -led approach rather than an approach which is based on the traditional logic of the discipline. By an applications-led approach, it is meant that the chemistry to be taught is determined by applications from life and NOT by the logic of the discipline of chemistry. The paper will look at both school and university chemistry and give examples of materials that have been used successfully. This paper is based on a plenary workshop offered at the 5th ECRICE, 1999. [Chem. Educ. Res. Pract. Eur.: 2000, 1, 381-392]

Assessment formats: do they make a difference?

This study has explored the relationships between the results of various formats of paper-and-pencil classroom assessments in five classroom chemistry tests. The formats of assessment that have been used were: multiple choice, short answer, and structural communication grid. The study was conducted in Greece with the participation of first year upper secondary public school pupils (Lykeio, Grade 10, age 15-16). The correlations between the different formats of assessment tended to be between 0.30 and 0.71. This is a wide range but even the highest value is well short of 1.0. This suggests that the best student found by one method is not necessarily the best student by another method. This raises questions about the validity of the formats of the assessment and what different formats of assessment are testing. [Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 2005, 6 (4), 204-212]

Working memory, performance and learner characteristics

A range of characteristics of learners is described and their relationship to working memory discussed in the context of teaching and learning in the sciences. The characteristics are extent of field dependency, visual spatial abilities, divergency and convergency. These learner characteristics were measured for a large sample of school pupils aged about 13 along with the working memory capacity of the pupils. The relationships between all these measures are discussed and also related to performance in science in national examinations. Most of the work is set in Kuwait, with some data from Saudi Arabia. It is found that working memory capacity correlates highly significantly with all the learner characteristics and this is interpreted in terms of the way information is processed in the brain. Some implications for learning in the sciences are discussed.