scholarly journals Nature Experiences in Science Education in School: Review Featuring Learning Gains, Investments, and Costs in View of Embodied Cognition

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa Schilhab
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Embodied Cognition ◽  
Science Teaching ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Pilot Studies ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
Academic Achievements ◽  
Content Understanding ◽  
Local Engagement ◽  
The Individual

This review examines the didactic use of nature experiences in science education, in primary and secondary school (7–16 years) globally. From the perspective of embodied cognition the review explores the types of nature experiences used in science teaching. Focus is on returns when we invest in nature-based science learning, such as specific academic achievements in the form of long-term effects on learning and memory and how we maximize those returns. The review also addresses challenges and barriers, such as costs and labour involved when using nature experiences in science teaching. Initially, 3,659 articles were selected, with the initial screening leading to the inclusion of 159 studies. Of these articles, 34 studies forming the corpus in this review investigated the effect of using nature experiences as an intervention. These studies are divided into four themes: content understanding, environmental education, teaching scientific methods, and costs and challenges to teaching science outdoors. Informed by the perspective of embodied cognition, the review addresses the returns in terms of learning and academic achievements, the mode of action of the intervention, the investment, costs in the form of labour, challenges, and gaps in the theoretical underpinning of the field. Based on the review, using nature experiences in science education seems promising regarding increasing content knowledge, insight into science methodologies and pro-environmental behaviours. Interventions exploiting the schoolyard, school gardens, or nearby park areas are particularly promising due to the simultaneous strengthening of local engagement at low costs. However, using nature experiences as an alternative to traditional in-class teaching depends on profound didactic deliberations and preparations, which are difficult for the individual teacher to address single-handedly. The review also reveals an urgent need for research that thoroughly explores the connections between teaching practices and theoretical foundations to consolidate the field. To that end, it is noteworthy that a few studies also reported on prior pilot studies demonstrating the need for testing the entire design before conducting the actual research. Teachers seldom experience the opportunity to preview their teaching strategies before performing in front of their students.

scholarly journals Confronting repressive ideologies with critical pedagogy in science classrooms

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilton Lodge
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Science Education ◽  
Critical Pedagogy ◽  
Science Teaching ◽  
Classroom Discourse ◽  
Science Learning ◽  
Educational Practice ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Science Classrooms ◽  
Free Process

AbstractThe focus of this response to Arthur Galamba and Brian Matthews’s ‘Science education against the rise of fascist and authoritarian movements: towards the development of a Pedagogy for Democracy’ is to underpin a critical pedagogy that can be used as a counterbalancing force against repressive ideologies within science classrooms. Locating science education within the traditions of critical pedagogy allows us to interrogate some of the historical, theoretical, and practical contradictions that have challenged the field, and to consider science learning as part of a wider struggle for social justice in education. My analysis draws specifically on the intellectual ideas of Paulo Freire, whose work continues to influence issues of theoretical, political, and pedagogical importance. A leading social thinker in educational practice, Freire rejected the dominant hegemonic view that classroom discourse is a neutral and value-free process removed from the juncture of cultural, historical, social, and political contexts. Freire’s ideas offer several themes of relevance to this discussion, including his banking conception of education, dialog and conscientization, and teaching as a political activity. I attempt to show how these themes can be used to advance a more socially critical and democratic approach to science teaching.

scholarly journals Ideas, politics and practices of integrated science teaching in the global Cold War

BJHS Themes ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 167-189
Author(s):  
KRISTIAN H. NIELSEN
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Science Teaching ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
The United States ◽  
Integrated Science ◽  
Interest In Science ◽  
Scientific Disciplines ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Curriculum Reforms

AbstractDuring the Cold War, UNESCO played a major role in promoting science education across the world. UNESCO's Programme in Integrated Science Teaching, launched in 1969, placed science education at the heart of socio-economic development in all nations. The programme planners emphasized the role of science education in the development of human resources necessary to build a modern nation state, seeking to build a scientific and engineering mindset in children. UNESCO's interest in science education drew inspiration from early Cold War curriculum reforms in the United States, where scientists, psychologists and teachers promoted science education as a way to enhance the scientific and technical workforce and to counteract irrational tendencies. While US curriculum reformers were concerned about the quantity and quality of science teaching in secondary school, UNESCO wanted to introduce science as a topic in primary, secondary and vocational schools, promoting integrated science teaching as the best way to do this. From the outset, the term ‘integrated’ meant different things to different people. It not only entailed less focus on scientific disciplines and scientific method strictly defined, but also more on teaching children how to adopt a curious, experimental and engineering approach in life. By the end of the Cold War, UNESCO abandoned the idea of integrated science teaching, but it has a lasting legacy in terms of placing ways of teaching science to children at the heart of modern society.

scholarly journals Brief Training and Intensive Mentoring Guide Postdoctoral Scholars to Student-Centered Instruction

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Price ◽  
C. J. Self ◽  
W. C. Young ◽  
E. R. Klein ◽  
S. Al-Noori ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Science Teaching ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Brief Training

The Science Teaching Experience Program-Working in Science Education (STEP-WISE) provides mentorship, practice, and feedback for research postdocs who are learning and applying inclusive, evidence-based pedagogies. The program is successful and sustainable for institutions. Its salient components are outlined here.

scholarly journals Team Resilience Training in the Workplace: E-Learning Adaptation, Measurement Model, and Two Pilot Studies (Preprint)

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel B Bennett ◽  
Michael Neeper ◽  
Brittany D Linde ◽  
Gale M Lucas ◽  
Lindsay Simone
Keyword(s):  
Intervention Group ◽  
Measurement Model ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Pilot Studies ◽  
Working Model ◽  
Team Resilience ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Program Efficacy ◽  
E Learning ◽  
The Individual

BACKGROUND The majority of resilience interventions focus on the individual. Workplace resilience is a growing field of research. Given the ever-increasing interconnectedness in businesses, teamwork is a guarantee. There is also growing recognition that resilience functions at the team level. OBJECTIVE The objective of our work was to address three shortcomings in the study of workplace resilience interventions: lack of interventions focusing on group-level or team resilience, the need for brief interventions, and the need for more theoretical precision in intervention studies. METHODS The authors took an established evidence-based program (Team Resilience) and modified it based on these needs. A working model for brief intervention evaluation distinguishes outcomes that are proximal (perceptions that the program improved resilience) and distal (dispositional resilience). A total of 7 hypotheses tested the model and program efficacy. RESULTS Two samples (n=118 and n=181) of engineering firms received the Web-based training and provided immediate reactions in a posttest-only design. The second sample also included a control condition (n=201). The findings support the model and program efficacy. For example, workplace resilience was greater in the intervention group than in the control group. Other findings suggest social dissemination effects, equal outcomes for employees at different stress levels, and greater benefit for females. CONCLUSIONS This preliminary research provides evidence for the capabilities of e-learning modules to effectively promote workplace resilience and a working model of team resilience.

The Declining Effects of Family Stressors on Antisocial Behavior From Childhood to Adolescence and Early Adulthood

1996 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 408-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
HEE-OG SIM ◽  
SAM VUCHINICH
Keyword(s):  
Antisocial Behavior ◽  
Marital Conflict ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Family Stressors ◽  
Parent Child Relations ◽  
Child Exposure ◽  
Family Disruption ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Parent Child

This study tests the hypothesis that the influences of family disruption, marital conflict, and disengaged parent-child relations on antisocial behavior decline as the individual moves from childhood to adolescence and early adulthood. The study examines the three waves of the National Survey of Children, which includes assessments in childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. The results show declines in the influence of family disruption, marital conflict, and parent-child relations. However the pattern of decline was not the same for all three family stressors. The analysis specifies the developmental period when the declines occurred and distinguishes decreases due to adaptation (time since exposure to the family stressor) from those due to maturation (age of the child). The results and conceptual framework of the study provide an approach to reconciling some previous inconsistent findings regarding the long-term effects of child exposure to family stressors.

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