scholarly journals The relevance of non-formal Biology Olympiad training for upper secondary school students

Author(s):  
Justus Mutanen ◽  
Maija Aksela

Science competitions, such as the International Biology Olympiad, are non-formal education targeted to upper secondary school students with high abilities. However, there is little knowledge about what is the relevance of training for a science competition. In this study, Finnish Biology Olympiad training participants were researched in the context of relevance of science education. In total, 28 students filled in questionnaires and participated in interviews. It was found out that the students experienced the training to be especially individually relevant for them, and there was no significant difference between genders. Based on the results, vocational and societal topics should be taken into more account in designing Olympiad trainings.

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 811-826
Author(s):  
Yu Lan ◽  
Shaohui Chi ◽  
Zuhao Wang

Science educators have highlighted the need to develop students to integrate knowledge across science disciplines to address real-world issues. However, there has been little research about the development of interdisciplinary assessment instruments. In this research, the instrument that measures the level of upper-secondary school students’ interdisciplinary understanding of environmental issues was developed and validated based upon Wilson’s Construct Modeling framework. After a pilot testing, the revised assessment instrument of interdisciplinary understanding covering five typical environmental problems comprised 14 multiple-choice questions and four constructed-response questions. Five hundred twenty-three eleventh graders, including 279 boys and 244 girls from mainland China, made up the research sample. The partial credit Rasch analysis has verified the reliability and validity of the interdisciplinary understanding instrument. In addition, the results of cluster analysis revealed that over half of the students could use some partially accurate scientific concepts and principles from two or more disciplinary perspectives to deal with a specific environmental issue. The validated instrument can provide insights for assessing and developing upper-secondary school students’ interdisciplinary understanding in science education. Keywords: Environmental Issues, Interdisciplinary Assessment, Interdisciplinary Understanding, Rasch Measurement Model, Science Education


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.


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


2019 ◽  
pp. 174-182
Author(s):  
Louise Maddens ◽  
Fien Depaepe ◽  
Annelies Raes ◽  
Jan Elen

In today’s complex world, the acquisition of research skills is considered an important goal in (upper secondary) education. Consequently, there is a growing body of literature that recognises the value of well-designed (online) learning environments for effectively supporting the development of this complex set of skills. However, a clear consensus on how these research skills can be facilitated is currently lacking. Furthermore, interventions aiming to foster these skills are often implemented in specific domains, mostly in physics, biology and chemistry. In addition, current approaches to facilitation often refer to only a few epistemic activities related to research skills. Because of the broad and (mainly) domain-specific character of research skills, the purpose of this paper is to articulate the instructional design considerations for an online learning environment for upper secondary school students’ (broad set of) research skills in a(n) (underrepresented) behavioural sciences context.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Jasińska-Maciążek ◽  
Anna Hawrot ◽  
Paulina Marchlik ◽  
Hanna Tomaszewska-Pękała ◽  
Tomasz Żółtak

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