scholarly journals What can student-generated animations tell us about students’ conceptions of evolution?

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Orraryd ◽  
Lena A. E. Tibell

Abstract Background A large body of research has investigated students’ conceptions of evolutionary changes and emphasizes that students have alternative conceptions about their causes. A conventional way to monitor students’ conceptions is through inventories where researchers analyse their written answers. However, textbooks are being increasingly complemented with, or even replaced by, various multimedia materials where multiple modes are used to communicate evolutionary processes. This has profound implications for students’ learning, and highlights that allowing different modes of expression may influence which knowledge they present. Therefore, the goal of this exploratory study is to expand the understanding of students’ conceptions of evolution through natural selection by applying student-generated stop-motion animations to reveal their conceptions. Forty-seven Swedish upper secondary school students generated 18 animations concerning evolution through natural selection. We analysed these animations qualitatively using content analysis to reveal key concepts, alternative conceptions and connections between organizational levels and time. This analysis is related to findings from previous studies on students’ conceptions of evolutionary change. Results Our study highlights some of the benefits and limitations of using these two assessment methods. In terms of identifying alternative conceptions, a clear difference between the results of the two methods of assessment was observed. In particular, the alternative conception of essentialism appeared to a lesser extent in the student’s animations than in their written responses, while natural selection as an event was more prevalent. Conclusions These findings support the view that students’ expression of different misconceptions is influenced by the context and representational form. The work also reveals that generating stop-motion animations to explain scientific concepts is an engaging approach that stimulates students to explore their understanding in a creative and personal manner. This is potentially positive for engagement and learning. The potential for complementing standard paper-and-pen tests with tasks that encompass stop-motion animations is also discussed.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Orraryd ◽  
Lena A. E. Tibell

Abstract Background A large body of research investigate student´s conceptions and emphasizes that students have alternative conceptions about causes of evolutionary changes. The conventional way to monitor students’ conceptions are through inventories where researchers analyze their written answers. However, textbooks are being increasingly complemented with, or even replaced by, various multimedia materials and multiple modes are used to communicate evolutionary processes. This has profound implications for students’ learning, and the test format may influence which knowledge they present. The goal of this exploratory study is therefore to expand the understanding of students’ conceptions of evolution through natural selection by applying student-generated stop-motion animations to disclose students’ conceptions. Forty-seven Swedish upper secondary school students generated eighteen animations concerning evolution through natural selection. We analysed the animations qualitatively using content analysis recording key concepts, alternative conceptions and connections in organizational levels and time. This analysis was related to the analysis of the students written explanations of a case of evolutionary change. Results Our study highlights some of the benefits and limitations of using these two assessment forms. Concerning alternative concepts, a clear difference between the results of the two methods of assessment was observed. In particular, the alternative conception essentialism was show to a lesser extent in the student’s animations than in their written responses, while natural selection as an event became more prevalent. ConclusionsThese findings support the view that students’ expression of different misconceptions is influenced by the context and representational form. The work also reveals that generating stop-motion animations to explain scientific concepts is an engaging approach that stimulates students to explore their understanding in a creative and personal manner, which potentially is positive for engagement and learning. The potential for complementing standard paper and pen tests with tasks that encompass stop-motion animations is discussed further.


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kinga Orwat ◽  
Paweł Bernard ◽  
Anna Migdał-Mikuli

Reactions in aqueous solutions are an important part of chemistry education. As experience shows, they are particularly difficult for students to understand. Hydrolysis is one such reaction. It occurs in organic and inorganic compounds with either covalent and ionic structures, but salt hydrolysis is a special example. Salt hydrolysis is complex, and to understand it, students must consider the reaction equilibrium, dissociation process, and acid-base properties of reactants and products. Additionally, in the upper-secondary-school curriculum, hydrolysis is described only qualitatively, which can lead students to misinterpret hydrolysis and solution equilibrium. In this study, 235 upper-secondary-school students answered questions about the acidity of common salt solutions and tried to justify their responses by writing appropriate chemical equations. An analysis of the answers revealed the students’ alternative conceptions and misconceptions. The character of the misconceptions showed that they are school-based and largely caused by excessive simplification of the process as well as the usage of inappropriate analogies. Key words: salt hydrolysis, acids and bases, alternative and misconceptions, chemical education research.


2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katariina Salmela-Aro ◽  
Katja Upadaya

This study introduces the Schoolwork Engagement Inventory (EDA), which measures energy, dedication, and absorption with respect to schoolwork. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the validity and reliability of the inventory among students attending postcomprehensive schools. A total of 1,530 (769 girls, 761 boys) students from 13 institutions (six upper-secondary and seven vocational schools) completed the EDA 1 year apart. The results showed that a one-factor solution had the most reliability and fitted best among the younger students, whereas a three-factor solution was most reliable and fit best among the older students. In terms of concurrent validity, depressive symptoms and school burnout were inversely related, and self-esteem and academic achievement were positively associated with EDA. Boys and upper-secondary-school students experienced lower levels of schoolwork engagement than girls and vocational-school students.


Author(s):  
Tun Zaw Oo ◽  
Andrea Magyar ◽  
Anita Habók

AbstractThis study investigates the effectiveness of the reflection-based reciprocal teaching (RBRT) approach for Myanmar upper secondary school students’ reading comprehension in English. In the RBRT approach, the main frame is based on the reflective teaching model for reading comprehension (Oo and Habók in Int Electron J Elementary Educ 13(1):127–138, 2020), in which the reciprocal teaching method (involving questioning, clarifying, summarizing, and predicting) was applied. This study used cluster randomized trials. Two groups participated in the research: the experimental group, who were taught with the RBRT approach, and the control group, who were taught with traditional methods. Results showed that the RBRT approach has a strong effect on students’ English reading comprehension achievement. The experimental group increased its achievement on the posttest significantly, and the students’ results showed high effect size. It was also found that teachers’ reflection on the instructional context had a considerable impact on raising students’ reading comprehension achievement. The RBRT approach can be successfully applied in the classroom environment to develop students’ reading comprehension in English in Myanmar.


2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konrad Piotrowski

Abstract In the processual approach to identity, the role of the interaction between subjective and contextual factors in the process of its development is emphasized. Based on the model of Luyckx et al. (2008) relationships between identity and educational context, as well as the tendency to experience shame and guilt were analyzed.. 821 people aged from 14-25 and belonging to six educational groups: (1) lower secondary school, (2) basic vocational school, (3) technical upper secondary school, (4) general upper secondary school, (5) post-secondary school (medical rescue, massage therapy, cosmetology, occupational therapy) and (6) university, took part in the research. Two questionnaires were used: The Dimensions of Identity Development Scale (DIDS), to allow the measurement of the five dimensions of identity postulated by Luyckx et al (2008) and The Personal Feelings Questionnaire-2 (PFQ-2, Harder, Zalma, 1990) to measure of the shame and guilt proneness. The results show that general upper secondary school students in terms of the dimensions of identity are closer to lower secondary school students rather than to their peers from technical and vocational schools. Among general upper secondary school students not only was a higher intensity of an identity crisis observed, but also a strong tendency to experience shame and guilt. Among lower secondary school students and general upper secondary school students, people with diffusion and moratorium as identity statuses prevailed, while in the remaining groups the achievement and foreclosure identity were observed more frequently. A general relationship was also observed, namely, a greater tendency to experience shame was associated with a higher intensity of an identity crisis.


2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 445-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stine Frydendal Nielsen ◽  
Lone Friis Thing

In this paper we present results concerning how students in a Danish upper secondary school negotiate between sports culture and the prevailing norms of youth culture in a local school context. The study shows that it can be rather difficult for young people to combine sports culture with the local youth culture, because living a healthy and physically active life doesn’t fit very well with the prevailing norms of youth culture, which involve a dominant social arena characterized by parties and alcohol. By applying the figurational sociology of Norbert Elias, this article shows that being included in a sports figuration can result in exclusion from the youth figuration. Young athletic students are therefore in a constant process of negotiation, where they struggle to fit into both sport and non-sport related contexts, because it is important to belong within both. The study is based on 16 focus group interviews [N=120] conducted over four years in one Danish upper secondary school.


Author(s):  
Enni Paul ◽  
Camilla Gåfvels

This study explores vocational judgement, which is discernible in the assessment actions of a supervising childminder directed towards upper secondary school students – while interacting with the children – during work-based learning in Sweden. The research aims to identify the characteristics of vocational knowing in terms of judgement, as exhibited in everyday interactions with children, by applying multimodal interaction ana-lysis to two video sequences from different Swedish preschools. The study findings show how vocational judgement – in the form of embodied discernment – is a central aspect of a childminder’s vocational knowing. Vocational judgement becomes discernible, for instance, in how supervising childminders are consistently one or several steps ahead of both children and upper secondary school students


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