scholarly journals Upper secondary students’ thinking pathways in cell membrane biology – an evidence-based development and evaluation of learning activities using the Model of Educational Reconstruction

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Leonie I. Johann ◽  
Fredrik K. H. Rusk ◽  
Michael J. Reiss ◽  
Jorge Groß
Keyword(s):  
Cell Membrane ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Membrane Biology ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Evaluation Of Learning ◽  
Educational Reconstruction

scholarly journals Content-Based and Cognitive-Linguistic Analysis of Cell Membrane Biology: Educational Reconstruction of Scientific Conceptions

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 151
Author(s):  
Leonie Johann ◽  
Jorge Groß ◽  
Denis Messig ◽  
Fredrik Rusk
Keyword(s):  
Cell Membrane ◽  
Cell Biology ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Membrane Function ◽  
Membrane Biology ◽  
Molecular Aspects ◽  
Physical And Chemical ◽  
Educational Reconstruction

By means of their pivotal role in the outbreak of a variety of diseases, such as, recently, COVID-19, the molecular aspects of cell membrane function have gained considerable attention from researchers in recent decades. The resulting information explosion and the growing interdisciplinary character of cell biology seems, however, to not be represented in science classrooms. Hence, there appears to be a gap between what is scientifically known and what is actually taught in classrooms. Framed by the model of educational reconstruction (MER), the aim of our study is therefore to identify scientific core ideas of cell membrane biology from an educational point of view. This is achieved by conducting qualitative content analysis of relevant cell biology literature. By using Conceptual Metaphor as a theory of understanding, we additionally illuminate the experiential grounding of scientific conceptions. Our results propose that cell membrane biology can be structured into three core ideas, comprising compartmentalisation, physical and chemical properties, and multicellular coordination interrelated by evolution as a key aspect. Our results show that scientists conceive these ideas metaphorically. Embodied part-whole relations seem, for example, to lay the grounds for their understanding of biological function. The outcomes of the study may inform future cell membrane teaching.

scholarly journals Ethical and Moral Competences of Upper Secondary Students: A Comparative Study

2020 ◽  
pp. 209653112097395
Author(s):  
Zhengmei Peng ◽  
Dietrich Benner ◽  
Roumiana Nikolova ◽  
Stanislav Ivanov ◽  
Tao Peng
Keyword(s):  
Moral Judgment ◽  
Moral Education ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
Moral Knowledge ◽  
Moral Action ◽  
Action Plans ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Moral Competences

Purpose: This article presents the theoretical framework, research design, methodology, and main findings of the comparative measurement of ethical–moral competences of 15-year-old upper secondary students in Shanghai, under the ETiK-International-Shanghai project. Design/Approach/Methods: By dividing the ethical–moral competences into the categories of basic ethical–moral knowledge, ethical–moral judgment competence, and competence in developing ethical–moral action plans, a survey of 2,036 students was conducted, using a reliable and valid testing instrument. Findings: In general, 15-year-olds from homes with more educational resources perform higher in all three scales across all countries taken under consideration in our study. Furthermore, school practices, teaching, as well as quantity and quality of instruction play a very important role in the moral education process and especially in developing students’ proficiency levels of ethical–moral knowledge, reasoning competence, as well as students’ high abilities in developing moral action plans. When relevant educational background factors are held constant, Chinese students show lower average scores on basic ethical–moral knowledge and moral judgment competence. With exception of the tested Vienna students, all other European samples scored better than the Chinese students—also on the test for developing ethical–moral action plans. However, Chinese students are especially able to display outstanding empathy when dealing with suffering, misfortune, and sorrow, as well as in their willingness to help others. Originality/Value: The findings of this article can foster thinking about which topics should be further discussed to improve the ethical–moral knowledge and competences of Chinese students and highlight requirements for the further development of moral education in China at the levels of teaching, curriculum, teacher education, and research.

Using partial knowledge to inform the creation of learning progressions

2021 ◽  
pp. 000494412110374
Author(s):  
Joan Burfitt
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Students ◽  
Conceptual Understanding ◽  
Rasch Analysis ◽  
Mathematics Assessment ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Learning Progressions ◽  
Partial Knowledge ◽  
Partial Credit ◽  
Logical Order ◽  
To Receive

The aim of this study was to show that some of the errors made by students when responding to mathematics assessment items can indicate progress in the development of conceptual understanding. By granting partial credit for specific incorrect responses by early secondary students, estimates of the difficulty of demonstrating full and partial knowledge of skills associated with the development of proportional reasoning were determined using Rasch analysis. The errors were confirmed as indicators of progress, and hence partial knowledge, when the thresholds of achievement followed a logical order: The greater the proficiency of the students, the more likely they were to receive a higher score. Consideration of this partial knowledge can enhance the descriptions of the likely behaviours of students at the various levels of learning progressions and this can be informative for teachers in their planning of learning activities.

scholarly journals EFL Textbook Analysis: A Case Study

2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harison Mohd Sidek
Keyword(s):  
Instructional Design ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
Textbook Analysis ◽  
Secondary Curriculum ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Below Grade Level

The purpose of the present study was to determine how well Malaysian EFL Secondary Curriculum prepares upper secondary students for tertiary reading in English. This study is explorative in nature. The data for this study were acquired from a Malaysian national EFL upper secondary textbook. The data were in the form of comprehension reading passages in the selected EFL textbook. In this case study, reading instructional design in the EFL textbook was analyzed in terms of types and the grade-level length of passages used in the textbook. The findings show that reading instructional design in the EFL textbook significantly emphasizes the use of narrative passages with the majority of the passages being below grade-level texts.

scholarly journals Carrot or stick?: an investigation into motivation orientations in learning English among Hong Kong Chinese students

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-87
Author(s):  
Ruth Wong
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Intrinsic Motivation ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Hong Kong Chinese ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Learning English

This paper publishes the results of a study of Hong Kong Chinese upper secondary students (Form 4 and Form 6) regarding their motivation orientations for learning English. The study analysed male and females student groups using Gardner and Lambert's (1972) 'extrinsic and intrinsic motivation' theoretical framework in order to elicit the most revealing results from the data. Findings will have meaningful implications for pedagogy, helping educators identify strategies more appropriate to distinct Chinese-speaking second-language student groups.

scholarly journals TEACHING UPPER-SECONDARY STUDENTS ABOUT CONSERVATION OF MECHANICAL ENERGY: TWO VARIANTS OF THE SYSTEM APPROACH TO ENERGY ANALYSIS

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-236
Author(s):  
Asila Halilović ◽  
Vanes Mešić ◽  
Elvedin Hasović ◽  
Andrej Vidak
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Students ◽  
System Approach ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Life Problems ◽  
Conventional Teaching ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Level Of Understanding ◽  
Quasi Experiment

Conventional teaching about the law of conservation of mechanical energy (LCME) often results with students trying to solve problems by remembering similar problems they already covered in classes. Consequently, many students fail to transfer their knowledge to simplest real-life problems. Therefore, a pre-test – post-test quasi-experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of an alternative, system-based approach to teaching about LCME. The study included 70 upper-secondary students from the First Bosniak Gymnasium Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Firstly, all students learned about energy in a conventional way. Then they wrote a test on LCME and had three additional hours of teaching about this topic, where one group of students learned in line with the forces-variant of the system approach (e.g., discussing conservative and non-conservative forces) and the other group with the process-variant of the same approach (e.g., discussing system’s states and processes like in thermodynamics). For both variants, only three hours of system-based teaching proved to substantially improve the students’ level of LCME understanding compared to the level of understanding they had after conventional teaching. It follows that the system approach may work well at the upper-secondary level, if it is introduced through the scaffolding-and-fading technique. Keywords: quasi-experiment, mechanical energy, teaching materials, teaching strategies

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document