Saouma BouJaoude

Relationships between selective cognitive variables and students' ability to solve chemistry problems

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A Macro–Micro–Symbolic Teaching to Promote Relational Understanding of Chemical Reactions

The purpose of this research is threefold: (1) to identify the difficulties that Grade 10 students in a Lebanese school have that hinder their conceptual understanding at the micro–macro–symbolic interface in chemistry, (2) to investigate the effect of a macro–micro–symbolic teaching approach on students’ relational understanding of chemical reactions, and (3) to characterize students’ conceptual profiles regarding their understanding of chemical reactions in terms of macro, micro, symbolic levels and the relations among them, at the end of the teaching sequence. Forty six 10th graders from two sections participated in the study. A student-centered approach was followed in both sections based on constructivist pedagogy. Hence the teacher played the role of a facilitator who guided students in a meaning making inductive learning process, through questioning, monitoring, validating, and clarifying ideas. Instruction in the experimental group was characterized by macro–micro–symbolic teaching that focuses on the interplay between the levels, integrates various representations, and engages students in an epistemic discourse about the nature of knowing in chemistry. Data sources for the study included a pre-test and two post-intervention tasks: a post-test and a concept map task, in addition to interviews with selected students from both sections. Findings indicated that macro–micro–symbolic teaching enhanced students’ conceptual understanding and relational learning of chemical reactions. Besides, four assertions related to students’ conceptual and epistemological thinking in response to the different teaching approaches are presented. Implications for instruction and for teacher education programs, as well as recommendations for further research, are discussed in light of these findings.

Biology Professors’ and Teachers’ Positions Regarding Biological Evolution and Evolution Education in a Middle Eastern Society

This study investigated three questions: (1) What are Lebanese secondary school (Grade 9–12) biology teachers’ and university biology professors’ positions regarding biological evolution?, (2) How do participants’ religious affiliations relate to their positions about evolutionary science?, and (3) What are participants’ positions regarding evolution education? Participants were 20 secondary school biology teachers and seven university biology professors. Seventy percent of the teachers and 60% of the professors were Muslim. Data came from semi‐structured interviews with participants. Results showed that nine (Christian or Muslim Druze) teachers accepted the theory, five (four Muslim) rejected it because it contradicted religious beliefs, and three (Muslim) reinterpreted it because evolution did not include humans. Teachers who rejected or reinterpreted the evolutionary theory said that it should not be taught (three), evolution and creationism should be given equal time (two), or students should be allowed to take their own stand. Two professors indicated that they taught evolution explicitly and five said that they integrated it in other biology content. One Muslim professor said that she stressed ‘the role of God in creation during instruction on evolution’. It seems that years of studying and teaching biology have not had a transformative effect on how a number of teachers and professors think about evolution.

Science education in Arab states: bright future or status quo?

This paper describes the current state of science education in Arab states and anticipates some of the challenges faced by those states as they reform their science education. After discussing problems of illiteracy, access and quality we provide contextual information about the structure of the educational systems and describe recent efforts to reform them. We focus on issues pertaining to science curriculum and textbooks, language, religion, student learning in science, science teacher education and science education research and summarise the challenges and opportunities for research faced in each area. We conclude the paper by proposing a set of policy and research recommendations that could aid in the development of lasting solutions for recurring problems.

The Effect of Using Drama in Science Teaching on Students’ Conceptions of the Nature of Science

This study investigated the effect of using drama as a supporting learning strategy on students’ conceptions of the nature of science (NOS). Participants were 32 grade 10 and 11 students from a private all-girls’ school in Beirut, Lebanon. Fourteen students chose to participate in the extracurricular drama activity. The remaining 18 students were considered the control group and required only to attend the culminating performances. The drama group met for 36 hours over the course of 12 weeks to write scripts about the development of the concept of light using the work of four scientists. Data sources included open-ended questions about the tentative, empirical, and theory-laden NOS, group discussions, interviews, and researchers’ field notes and reflections. Results showed that the drama group students exhibited more informed views than the control group about the targeted aspects of NOS.

Careful! It is H2O? Teachers’ Conceptions of Chemicals

A concept commonly used by both teachers and students is the term “chemical.” Many students and teachers think of chemicals as artificial, poisonous, and dangerous. The purpose of the study was to investigate science teachers’ ideas about “chemicals,” along with their awareness of students’ alternative conceptions and teaching practices that attempt to address alternative conceptions. Two main data sources were used: chemical surveys completed by 43 science teachers and interviews with nine chemistry teachers. Both surveys and the interviews were analyzed qualitatively to discern themes in teachers’ conceptions of “chemicals” and its teachability. Survey analysis yielded four categories for teachers’ conceptions: (a) sound understanding; (b) coherent alternative conception; (c) inconsistent views; or (d) vague ideas. A most prominent finding from interviews was that, except for one teacher, all chemistry teachers either provided a correct definition of the term “chemical” from the beginning or eventually articulated it as the interview progressed, with three teachers changing their statements during the interview. All of the teachers except one were aware that their students have some kind of alternative conceptions. The teachers suggested a few possible sources of students’ alterative conceptions, such as lack of relevancy of material in chemistry courses, insufficient expositions to chemistry courses, and faulty usage of the term in everyday language and the media. The teachers’ suggestions for addressing alternative students’ conceptions were varied. The nature of teachers’ conceptions is discussed as dynamic. Implications such as the use of dialog and word reflection for problematic scientific terms by teachers are presented and discussed.

Science Teacher Preparation in Lebanon

The purpose of this study was to answer the following questions: (a) What are the theoretical perspectives driving science teacher preparation programs in Lebanon? (b) What are the requirements of Lebanese science teacher preparation programs? and (c) What are the similarities and differences among the variety of science teacher preparation programs offered in Lebanon? Data sources for this study included: official governmental documents and mandates related to teacher preparation; institutional catalogues and syllabi of courses; and interviews with science education professors. Results of the study showed that teacher preparation programs in Lebanon are characterized by: (a) post-graduate programs that prepare secondary teachers with significant amount of science background; (b) three and 4-year programs that prepare elementary classroom teachers or science/mathematics teachers; (c) the absence of university level programs for the preparation of intermediate school science teachers; (d) the requirement of a thesis in many of the programs; (e) a lack of emphasis on field work; and (f) the adoption of an orientation that has some characteristics of the academic and technological orientations to teacher Preparation.

Students’ understandings of nature of science and their arguments in the context of four socio-scientific issues

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine students understandings about nature of science (NOS) and their arguments in context of controversial socio-scientific issue (SSI). A total of 74 11th graders in six schools in Saudi Arabia participated in the study. The instrument used was a questionnaire consisting of four scenarios addressing SSI about global warming, genetically modified food, acid rain, and human cloning. The scenarios were followed by questions relating to argumentation and NOS. Quantitative and qualitative measures were employed to analyze the data related to participants understandings of three NOS aspects (subjective, tentative, and empirical) and their arguments components (argument, counterargument, and rebuttal). Results showed no significant correlations between argument components and the NOS aspects. On the other hand, qualitative data showed that participants who generated well-developed arguments across the four SSI also exhibited more informed understandings of the NOS aspects, especially for female participants. Further, the chi-square analyses did not show significant differences in participants arguments and NOS understandings across the four scenarios. Again, the qualitative data from questionnaires showed differences in participants responses to the different scenarios. The results were interpreted along contextual factors, emotional factors, and cultural factors. Implications for the teaching of NOS and arguments were discussed.

Gender and Science in the Arab States: Current Status and Future Prospects

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the status of science education in the Arab states and to analyze problems of access and quality with a focus on the status of women in science education and the sociocultural factors that constrain their ability to go beyond a certain stage in development and role in society. This analysis adopts a sociocultural perspective which maintains that behavior and mental processes are shaped not only by prior learning experiences and other internal psychological processes but also by the prevailing social and cultural context. Finally, the analysis is conducted in light of the pressing need in Arab states to prepare all citizens – not only the fortunate ones who receive quality education – to be scientifically and technologically literate in order for them to succeed in a world that is becoming a global village, where competition is extremely high and knowledge is being produced at such a high rate that catching up is extremely difficulty even for people who are highly educated.

Evolution Education in the Arab States: Context, History, Stakeholders’ Positions and Future Prospects

While evolution education does not present itself as a public issue in the Arab states, it is seemingly controversial in education circles in general and science education more specifically, because of the perception that it is anti-religion. Within this context, the purpose of the chapter is to analyze the current status of evolution education in the Arab states and discuss possible ways of addressing the controversy within the educational system. The chapter begins by examining the relationship between Islam and science as a background for the potential effect of this relationship on positions regarding evolution and evolution education in the Arab states in which Islam predominates. This is followed by reviewing research that has investigated the status of evolution in science curricula at the school and university levels and in teacher preparation programs in Arab states. Then, we review research that has investigated the positions of high school and college students, biology teachers, and biology university faculty members toward evolution and evolution education and the relationships of these positions with religious affiliation and religiosity in the multi-religious context of a number of Arab states. The chapter concludes by discussing the possibility of including the teaching of evolution in the science curriculum while taking into consideration the contextual factors and the experiences of Islamic countries such as Iran in teaching evolution at the pre-college level.