Browsing by Author "She, HC"

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Concepts of a higher hierarchical level require more dual situated learning events for conceptual change: a study of air pressure and buoyancy
(2002-09-01)
She, HC
;
教育研究所
;
Institute of Education
This article examines the process of students' conceptual changes in respect of air pressure and buoyancy as a result of instructing with the Dual Situated Learning Model. The dual situated learning events of this model were designed according to the students' ontological viewpoint on the science concepts as well as on the nature of these concepts. Results demonstrated that the notion of buoyancy required more dual situated learning events for conceptual change to occur than that for air pressure. Instead of attributing the difficulty involved in conceptual change to the mismatch of ontological category of the concepts, the author proposes that the hierarchical level of the scientific concepts would determine how easy or difficult it is to bring out a conceptual change. Concepts of higher hierarchical level subsume more essential underlying concepts, thus making it more difficult for conceptual changes to occur.
Facilitating changes in ninth grade students' understanding of dissolution and diffusion through DSLM instruction
(2004-12-01)
She, HC
;
教育研究所
;
Institute of Education
This study examines the nature and process of ninth grade students' conceptual change regarding their mental model of dissolution and diffusion as a result of instructions using the Dual Situated Learning Model (DSLM). The dual situated learning events of this model are designed according to the students' ontological viewpoint of the science concepts as well as the nature of these cancepts. Moreover, these events serve two functions by creating dissonance with the pre-existing knowledge and providing new schema for constructing a more scientific view of the concept. The concepts of dissolution and diffusion were chosen to examine students' conceptual change process bemuse they involve the understanding of both invisible and process attributes. Results indicate that about 76%-90% of the students successfully underwent a change in their understanding of the cones of dissolution and diffusion after instruction using dual situated learning events. Moreover, about 75%, of the students successfully applied their previous mental sets into the challenging situated learning event. This current study demonstrates that DSLM indeed facilitates the processes of conceptual change and knowledge acquisition involving concepts of dissolution and diffusion, clarifying the nature of conceptual change involving science concepts of both an invisible and a process nature.
Fostering radical conceptual change through dual-situated learning model
(2004-02-01)
She, HC
;
教育研究所
;
Institute of Education
This article examines how the Dual-Situated Learning Model (DSLM) facilitates a radical change of concepts that involve the understanding of matter, process, and hierarchical attributes. The DSLM requires knowledge of students' prior beliefs of science concepts and the nature of these concepts. In addition, DSLM also serves two functions: it creates dissonance with students' prior knowledge by challenging their epistemological and ontological beliefs about science concepts, and it provides essential mental sets for students to reconstruct a more scientific view of the concepts. In this study, the concept "heat transfer: heat conduction and convection," which requires an understanding of matter, process, and hierarchical attributes, was chosen to examine how DSLM can facilitate radical conceptual change among students. Results show that DSLM has great potential to foster a radical conceptual change process in learning heat transfer. Radical conceptual change can definitely be achieved and does not necessarily involve a slow or gradual process. (C) 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Promoting students' learning of air pressure concepts: The interrelationship of teaching approaches and student learning characteristics
(2005-09-01)
She, HC
;
教育研究所
;
Institute of Education
The author explored the potential to promote students' understanding of difficult science concepts through an examination of the interrelationships among the teachers' instructional approach, students' learning preference styles, and their levels of learning process. The concept "air pressure," which requires an understanding of invisible, abstract, and process attributes, is classified as a difficult science concept. The results indicate that students' posttest and retention test scores were significantly affected by their levels of learning process. In addition, results indicate that meaningful learners performed better on the posttest after receiving procedural learning instruction, whereas rote learners performed better after receiving internal learning instruction. Students who were meaningful learners with procedural learning preference styles performed better than did others on both the posttest and retention test, whereas rote learners with external learning preference performed better on both the posttest and retention test than did other learners. Although this study did not show that matching students' learning styles with instructional style would bring successful learning for all, it did show that students with procedural learning preference styles performed better on a posttest than did others after receiving procedural learning instruction.
Students' knowledge construction in small groups in the seventh grade biology laboratory: Verbal communication and physical engagement
(1999-10-01)
She, HC
;
師資培育中心
;
Center of Teacher Education
Same- and mixed-gender small groups of middle school, seventh grade, students were observed gathering data on knowledge construction in terms of verbal communication and physical engagement in the biology laboratory. Video cameras with wireless receivers were used to record interactions between students in groups of four (36 target subjects in total). Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed to examine how students exchange ideas, construct scientific concepts and perform laboratory work during laboratory sessions. Results indicated that gender differences exist in several verbal communication and physical engagement behaviour measures regardless of the same-gender or mixed-gender groups. However, one or two students in either all-boy or all-girl groups were dominant in their small groups' verbal communication and physical engagement, which suggested that individual differences also existed in the same-gender groups. It also showed girls working in the mixed-gender groups appeared to participate on a par with boys in the majority of engagement and verbal communication behaviours. However, more detailed analysis revealed that verbal communication and physical engagement patterns varied widely within the three mixed-gender groups. This study strongly suggested that girls have the potential to perform equally well as boys in the science laboratory and both individual and gender differences contribute to the students' differential verbal communication and laboratory engagement.
Teacher communication behavior and its association with students' cognitive and attitudinal outcomes in science in Taiwan
(2002-01-01)
She, HC
;
Fisher, D
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教育研究所
;
Institute of Education
In the study described in this article a questionnaire was employed that can be used to assess students' and teachers' perceptions of science teachers' interpersonal communication behaviors in their classroom learning environments. The Teacher Communication Behavior Questionnaire (TCBQ) has five scales: Challenging, Encouragement and Praise, Non-Verbal Support, Understanding and Friendly, and Controlling. The TCBQ was used with a large sample of secondary science students in Taiwan, which provided additional validation data for the TCBQ for use in Taiwan and cross-validation data for its use in English-speaking countries. Girls perceived their teachers as more understanding and friendly than did boys, and teachers in biological science classrooms exhibited more favorable behavior toward their students than did those in physical science classrooms. Differences were also noted between the perceptions of the students and their teachers. Positive relationships were found between students' perceptions of their teachers' communication behaviors and their attitudes toward science. Students' cognitive achievement scores were higher when students perceived their teacher as using more challenging questions, as giving more nonverbal support, and as being more understanding and friendly. The development of both teacher and student versions of the TCBQ enhances the possibility of the use of the instrument by teachers. (C) 2002 John Wiley Sons, Inc.
The development of a questionnaire to describe science teacher communication behavior in Taiwan and Australia
(2000-11-01)
She, HC
;
Fisher, D
;
師資培育中心
;
Center of Teacher Education
Teachers contribute enormously to a positive social climate in science classes, particularly through their communication with students. This article describes the development and validation of a questionnaire, the Teacher Communication Behavior Questionnaire (TCBQ) (see pp. 723-726), which assesses student perceptions of the fallowing five important teacher behaviors: Challenging, Encouragement and Praise, Non-Verbal Support, Understanding and Friendly, and Controlling. The TCBQ was administered to 1202 students from 30 classes in Taiwan and to 301 students from 12 classes in Australia. The reliability and factorial validity of the TCBQ were found to be satisfactory for both the Taiwanese and Australian data. To further validate the questionnaire and understand the differences in teacher behavior according to the perceptions of students from the two countries, a qualitative approach was used. Students were interviewed (two from each of five classes) in both Taiwan and Australia. The interview questions focused on these students' responses to selected questionnaire items. The results obtained from the interviews supported and helped explain the quantitative results. In an application of the TCBQ in both countries, students' perceptions on four of the scales of the TCBQ were associated with their attitudes to their science classes. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons. Inc.
The interplay of a biology teacher's beliefs, teaching practices and gender-based student-teacher classroom interaction
(2000-03-01)
She, HC
;
師資培育中心
;
Center of Teacher Education
Cross-relationships among a Taiwanese seventh-grade biology teacher's beliefs, practices and classroom interaction with either male or female students were qualitatively and quantitatively analysed. Results show that the teacher's classroom-practices reflect her reaching philosophy, which she described in interviews held before and throughout the class observation period. Gender-based characteristics clearly play an important role in establishing and maintaining differences in interactions between male or female students and their reacher in this particular classroom. Data collected from classroom observations show that the subject teacher's beliefs concerning boy/girl differences in learning style and classroom participation are reinforced or sustained by her behaviour, which includes unequal distribution of direct questions, unbalanced feedback and encouragement, and a lack of restrictive controls on calling out answers.