There is a gap between the facts learned in a science course and the higher-cognitive skills of analysis and evaluation necessary for students to secure scientific knowledge and scientific habits of mind. Teaching science is not just about how we do science (i.e., focusing on just "accumulating undigested facts and scientific definitions and…

Evaluation theories can be tested in various ways. One approach, the experimental analogue study, is described and illustrated in this article. The approach is presented as a method worthy to use in the pursuit of what Alkin and others have called descriptive evaluation theory. Drawing on analogue studies conducted by the first author, we…

This article presents an argument and commentary about the concomitant effects of codification, meritocracy and performativity in the academic performance of a cohort of black African Foundation Phase Bachelor of Education degree students at a previously predominantly white institution of higher learning. The objective of this paper is to…

One aim of school science instruction is to help students become adaptive problem solvers. Though successful at structuring novice problem solving, step-by-step problem-solving frameworks may also constrain students' thinking. This study utilises a paradigm established by Heckler [(2010). Some consequences of prompting novice physics students to…

In the ten years since the Modern Language Association published their report, "Foreign Languages and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World" (2007) dissatisfaction with the "two-tiered configuration" of US foreign language departments has become increasingly vocal. While the target of the criticism is often the…

The authors report on three students' argumentative knowledge construction in an asynchronous online graduate level geometry course designed for in-service secondary mathematics (ISM) teachers. Using Weinberger and Fischer's framework, they analyzed the ISM teachers' (a) geometry autobiography and (b) discussion board posts (both comments and…

The present case study explored the teaching belief systems of pre-service science teachers (PSTs), including epistemological beliefs, self-efficacy beliefs, conceptions of science learning and teaching and pedagogical content knowledge. Based on their epistemological scores, three PSTs who were categorised as exhibiting naïve, moderately…

Despite the recommended didactic strategy to teach Adolescent Reproductive Health in Cameroon using Competency Based Approach with entry through problem situations, a lot of resistance is till observed within biology teachers in this multicultural and linguistic country. This cross sectional study uses Structural Equation Modelling (SEM)…

Pollution phenomena are complex systems in which different parts are integrated by means of causal and temporal relationships. To understand pollution, children must develop some cognitive abilities related to system thinking and temporal and causal inferential reasoning. These cognitive abilities constrain and guide how children understand…

The authors examined whether students' epistemic and learning beliefs varied across different knowledge types in physics. On the basis of various beliefs frameworks, the authors predicted that individuals' beliefs would vary within a domain across the same content when presented conceptually versus procedurally. Participants were 81 high…

Introduction: This paper explains the development and testing of a novel paper-and-pencil measure designed to support inferences of five epistemological belief dimensions based on three forms of evidence. The three evidence types are anticipated to converge at a single theoretical level, permitting better-supported inferences than existing survey…

This article reports findings from a discourse analysis, informed by a discursive psychology (DP) perspective, of pre-service teachers' beliefs about teacher effectiveness as constructed in reflective papers. DP treats beliefs as discursive productions that are occasioned by an interactional task and are made visible through discursive features.…

Public land-grant universities have historically engaged with the public through knowledge extension in the agricultural sciences, which later grew into other forms of outreach. Given the important mission of land-grant institutions to positively impact agricultural sciences, this inquiry focuses on the role of agricultural extension and the…

We report on a mixed-method study that compared students' perceptions of summative assessment across two distinct disciplines--education and mathematics, at two research-intensive institutions in the UK. The disciplines chosen represent opposing positions in Biglan's classification of academic disciplines, as well as having very different…

To complete any academic tasks using information from the Internet, undergraduate students first have to select the appropriate sources. However, the types of justifications that undergraduates provide for source selection and how these justifications may be impacted by task characteristics have been underexamined. This study explored…