290 leaves : ill., diags., tables ; 31 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Education, 1980

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of frequent versus conventional testing on Chemistry achievement test anxiety, and attitudes toward science of students enrolled in general chemistry classes at the University Technology of Malaysia. The subjects consisted of 278 students taking first year Chemistry at the University Technology of Malaysia. The students were given a pretest and posttest in achievement, test anxiety, and attitudes toward science. The instruments included an achievement test in chemistry made up of selected items from previous American Chemical Society Cooperative Examinations and translated versions of the State Trait Anxiety Inventory and Science Attitude Questionnaire. Pretest scores were used to assign students randomly into experimental and control groups. The experimental group was subjected to frequent testing, while the control group was subjected to conventional testing. The data were analyzed using one-way and three-way analysis of covariance. The analysis revealed significant difference between the experimental and control groups in student (a) achievement in chemistry with the experimental group achieving at higher levels and (b) test anxiety with the experimental group having lower test anxiety than the control group. No significant difference was found in students attitudes toward science between the experimental and control groups. It was concluded that first year Chemistry students at the University Technology of Malaysia achieve significantly higher in chemistry when they are subjected to frequent rather than conventional testing. It was further concluded that frequent testing was significantly more effective than conventional testing in lowering student test anxiety. / Graduation date: 1989

Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences identifies linguistic, spatial and logical-mathematical intelligences as necessary for learning in the physical sciences. He has identified nine intelligences which all persons possess to varying degrees, and says that learning is most effective when learners receive information in formats that correspond to their intelligence strengths. This research investigated the importance of the multiple intelligences of students in first-year college chemistry to the learning of chemistry concepts. At three pre-selected intervals during the first-semester course each participant received a tutorial on a chemistry topic, each time in a format corresponding to a different one of the three intelligences, just before the concept was introduced by the class lecturer. At the end of the experiment all subjects had experienced each of the three topics once and each format once, after which they were administered a validated instrument to measure their relative strengths in these three intelligences. The difference between a pre- and post-tutorial quiz administered on each occasion was used as a measure of learning. Most subjects were found to have similar strengths in the three intelligences and to benefit from the tutorials regardless of format. Where a difference in the extent of benefit occurred the difference was related to the chemistry concept. Data which indicate that students' preferences support these findings are also included and recommendations for extending this research to other intelligences are made. / text

This study examined the design and process of how students’ reflective assessment promoted collaborative metacognition for conceptual and epistemic changes, mediated by Knowledge Forum, a computer-supported knowledge building environment. Premised on the theories of knowledge building, conceptual change and epistemic beliefs, the study aimed to (1) design and evaluate the effects of collaborative knowledge building environment augmented with reflective, transformative assessment on conceptual change and epistemic beliefs change; (2) characterize the socio-cognitive dynamics of knowledge building on conceptual and epistemic changes; and (3) explore the interplay among knowledge building, conceptual change and epistemic beliefs about science. Two empirical studies were conducted with different cohorts of Grade 10 Chinese students from a regular high school in Hong Kong. Both studies employed quasi-experimental pre-posttest design. The participants of Study One consisted of 79 girls from two chemistry classes, one was instructed with knowledge building inquiry and the other with teacher-centred instruction. Study Two included 80 girls from two chemistry classes, one was instructed with knowledge building inquiry and the other with ‘scaffolded’ knowledge building inquiry emphasizing more on knowledge creation and scaffolds uses in the reflection assessment. The knowledge building environment was designed in ways that aligned with the principles of knowledge building and conceptual change. It included four phases − developing collaborative classroom culture, problem-centred knowledge building inquiry, deepening knowledge building discourse and assessment for knowledge building. The design of reflective assignments allowed students to reflect and assess their own prior beliefs, conceptions, and trajectories of growth toward scientific understanding. Quantitative and qualitative data were drawn from conceptual written tests, Science Learning Questionnaire as a measure of epistemic beliefs, and Analytic Toolkit indices, reflections and written discourse in the Knowledge Forum database. Study One demonstrated the positive instructional effects of knowledge building inquiry in promoting conceptual and epistemic beliefs changes over the teacher-centred instruction. Results showed that knowledge building reflection and inquiry contributed to conceptual understanding over and above prior knowledge. Path model suggested that prior epistemic beliefs exerted a significant indirect effect on conceptual understanding mediated by knowledge building reflection, inquiry and forum participation. Study Two further examined the role of knowledge building reflection on conceptual and epistemic changes. Results indicated stronger effects for the ‘scaffolded’ knowledge building class compared to the control class. Qualitative analyses showed how students’ reflective assessment and collaboration helped them to develop metaconceptual and epistemic awareness for conceptual change. Path analysis revealed that students’ engagement on Knowledge Forum predicted collaborative reflection that in turn exerted effects on their conceptual and epistemic beliefs changes. Inquiry thread analysis on theme-based discursive discourse and students’ epistemic reflections in interviews further provided evidence on the development of metaconceptual and epistemic awareness in the collaborative knowledge building inquiry. The study contributes to the literature on how knowledge building dynamics interact with the intentional conceptual change, demonstrating the role of socio-cognitive, metacognitive and epistemic dynamics of knowledge building on conceptual and epistemic beliefs changes. Pedagogical implications of knowledge building for developing epistemic beliefs and metaconceptual awareness for conceptual change are discussed. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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This thesis offers a detailed socio-historical exploration of the practice of molecular modelling in chemistry and allied disciplines. This exploration leads to observations and conclusions that are of relevance to the sociology of science in general and to the issue of representation in scientific practice, in particular. After a general introduction in chapter one, chapter two offers a review of the science studies' literature relevant to the topic, namely the literature on representation and on experimental practices in the sciences. The lack of sources dealing with the issue of physical modelling is highlighted. Chapter three, through specific cases studies, presents the argument that the circulation of structural concepts and accounts in chemistry has been historically associated with the circulation not only of graphical representations, but also of physical models. Implications of this argument for a semiotically-centred view of scientific practice are discussed. Chapter 4 discusses the role of models as a research tool. Through various historical cases, it shows how physical models have been central in the process of defining, exploring and intervening on the domain of molecular-structures as accessed through laboratory manipulations. The work of molecular modelling is presented in particular as the experimental articulation of structural constraints within clearly defined research settings. Chapters five and six analyse the development of three specific modelling systems from the late 1930s to the mid-1960s. These chapters show these developments as contingent processes based on the involvement of elite researchers and both private and public institutions. It shows in particular how these modelling systems were made relevant across individual research sites by providing not only a technical solution to the problem of assembling model structures, but also by incorporating specific structural constraints. Finally, it is argued that these systems are one of

This creative project consisted of the development of a workbook entitled, Building a Chemical Background for the Study of Biological Sciences. The workbook has been created for use in advanced high school level science classes or as a reference in undergraduate college biology courses. The workbook covers the following subject: atomic structures, covalent bonding, acids and bases, energy, water, hydrocarbons, functional groups, carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids.Field-testing was done on the workbook by one advanced high school chemistry class and two college freshman level biology classes. The percent gain for the high school field-testing was 68.9%, while the percent gain for the college experimental group was 22.7% and the percent gain for the college control group was 20.9%.

Este estudo parte da problematização sobre as possibilidades de se ensinar em sala de aula, o conteúdo químico de Soluções, relacionado ao cotidiano dos alunos, de forma a proporcionar a Alfabetização Científica e Tecnológica (ACT) por meio do enfoque Ciência-Tecnologia-Sociedade (CTS). O objetivo geral desta pesquisa consiste em desenvolver e analisar o ensino do conteúdo químico Soluções relacionando-o ao cotidiano dos alunos por meio do enfoque CTS contribuindo para a Alfabetização Científica e Tecnológica (ACT). O estudo foi desenvolvido com 55 alunos, da 2ª série do Ensino Médio, do curso Técnico em Agropecuária de um Centro Estadual de Educação Profissional, da cidade de Rio Negro, no Paraná. A abordagem metodológica foi a qualitativa de natureza interpretativa, com observação participante. A coleta de dados se deu por meio de fotos e vídeos das atividades, observação das próprias atividades realizadas pelos alunos, arguições orais, relatórios e anotações em diário de campo. As atividades desenvolvidas nesta pesquisa foram organizadas em quinze (15) momentos, nos quais se buscou discutir e contextualizar as relações sociais da Ciência e da Tecnologia por meio do estudo de Soluções químicas, de forma interdisciplinar. Os principais resultados evidenciaram que o enfoque CTS no ensino de Soluções, contribuiu para a apropriação dos conceitos químicos, pelos alunos, sendo possível transpor questões que os envolvem dia a dia. No decorrer das aulas os alunos se mostraram mais críticos e reflexivos acerca das implicações sociais em relação às questões científicas e tecnológicas. Outro resultado obtido neste estudo consistiu na elaboração de um guia didático, que poderá ser utilizado como sugestão metodológica pelos professores de Química do Ensino Médio. / This study is the questioning about the possibilities of teaching in the classroom, the chemical content of solutions, related to the daily life of students, to provide the Scientific and Technological Literacy (ACT) by focusing Science-Technology-Society (CTS). The overall goal of this research is to develop and analyze the chemical content of education solutions relating to the daily lives of students by focusing CTS contributing to the Scientific and Technological Literacy (ACT). The study was conducted with 55 students from 2nd grade of high school, the course of an Agricultural Technician in State Center for Professional Education, the city of Rio Negro, Parana. The methodological approach was qualitative interpretative, with participant observation. Data collection occurred through photos and videos of activities, observation of activities performed by the students themselves, Pleas oral reports and notes in a field journal. The activities developed in this research were organized into fifteen (15) times in which it was sought to discuss and contextualize the social relations of science and technology through the study of chemical solutions, in an interdisciplinary way. The main results showed that the CTS approach in teaching Solutions, contributed to the appropriation of chemical concepts, students, and can transpose issues that involve day to day. During the classes students were more critical and reflective about the social implications in relation to science and technology issues. Another result obtained in this study consisted of developing a teaching guide that can be used as a methodological suggestion by teachers of high school chemistry.

Orientador: Roberto Nardi / Banca: Silvia Regina Quijadas Aro Zuliani / Banca: Mario Roberto Quintanilla Gatica / Banca: Otávio Aloisio Maldaner / Banca: Odete Pacubi Baierl Teixeira / Resumo: Uma problemática bastante conhecida, mas pouco estudada pela pesquisa em educação em ciências, é a falta de consideração de aspectos históricos, filosóficos e sociológicos na formação inicial de professores de Ciências, fato que pode criar uma visão distorcida das ciências entre os futuros professores. Argumentamos que uma abordagem que forneça estes subsídios seria importante para atingir os objetivos do Ensino de Ciências que atenda os anseios de uma sociedade contemporânea. Desta forma, esta pesquisa defende que a população deve "saber ciência" e "saber sobre a ciência", com a finalidade de estar capacitada para tomar decisões informadas sobre assunto de política, tecnologia e ambiente. Assim, compreende-se que ensinar ciências significa, primeiramente, elaborar um sistema de representações estruturadas, interpresetadas e modeladas pelo professor, dependendo de como ele entende a ciência, suas teorias e modelos, para interpretar e recriar os fenômenos científicos, recorrendo ao saber disciplinar e ao saber disciplinar e ao saber pedagógico do conteúdo. Com estes pressupostos foi elaborada e desenvolvida uma proposta de ensino que procurou construir o "saber" e o "saber fazer" de professores em formação inicial de Química da Universidade Distrital (Bogotá-Colômbia), mediantea vivência de uma experiência docente em sala de aula em uma escola pública da cidade de Bogotá. Foram analisados os discursos dos futuros professores para compreender como os domínios e as manifestações do conhecimento lhes permitiram trabalhar as suas "representações científicas", ou seja, transformar o conhecimento científico em representações e ações pedagógicas e desenvolver habilidades como pensar, atuar e comunicar a ciência, ao mesmo tempo procurando promover atitudes e valores nos estudantes durante os processos... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: A question sufficiently know but little studied by the science education researchers is the lack of consideration of historical philosophical and sociological aspects in the scientific practice and education in the teachers' initial education, which could create a distorted vision of the sciences among the future teachers. An approach taking into consideration these subsidies would be important to reach the aims of science education for the society. In this sense, this research stands up that the population is able in taking decisions informed on subjects of politics, technology and environment, which depends on the kind of scientific education is received by the citizens. In this way, it is understood that teaching sciences means, first of all to elaborate a system of representations that are structured, interpreted and shaped for the teachers, depending on how they understand science, their theories and models, to interpret and to recreate scientific phenomena appealing to the disciplinary knowledge and the pedagogical knowledge content. With these pressuppositions it was elaborated and developed a proposal of teachers education that aimed to construct the "knowledge" and the "knowledge making" for Chemistry teachers initial education at the "District University" (Bogota-Colombia), by means of a teaching experience in the classroom at public schools in Bogota City. The future teachers discourses were analyzed in order to undestand how their domains and knowledge manifestations allowed them to work their "scientific representations", in order to turn the scientific knowledge in pedagogical representations and actions and to develop abilities as to think, to act and to communicate science, and, at the same time, to look for promoting attitudes and values in the students during the processes of teaching and learning Chemistry. The... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor