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The emphasis in mathematics and science education on children actively constructing their own knowledge, collaborating with each other and in contexts that are technologically rich is resulting in new classroom dynamics. Often portrayed as a series of polite exchanges, this study aims to advance our understanding of the collaborative learning process. It does this by looking at a less frequently reported event, children's disagreements while learning science. Following a proposal for conceptually advancing the field the research questions addressed include: (a) Looking at the importance and nature of children's disagreements during a design and construction task using LEGO/Logo and (b) Using the proposed analytic framework to see what it tells us about the collaborative process during children's disagreements. The findings suggest that looking at a disagreement from a social and cognitive move perspective provides an effective framework for looking at the collaborative process. It revealed that disagreements can be a legitimate form of collaboration and elementary school children's disagreements, while on task, can be both extensive and constructive.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

This study on tinkering evolved out of a review of literature on females and science. A review of this literature revealed a consistent conjecture raised by researchers to explain why females underachieve and also why they are underrepresented in the physical sciences field. The conjecture was that females do not tinker. Prior to undertaking an investigation into the nature of tinkering and how it might be related to this conjecture, it was necessary to clarify the nature of tinkering and how it might be related to the development of an understanding and interest in science. The present study offers this clarification by the way of proposing a model of tinkering. A children's science perspective was chosen as a theoretical framework for the interpretation of tinkering. Osborne & Freyberg (1985) describe children's science by noting that some children's views of the world and meanings for words are unexpectedly different from those of adults in general and scientists in particular. Those views and different word meanings influence children's subsequent learning in science. Most studies investigating children's science have focused on children's conceptualization of scientific phenomena. The present study however brought a wider perspective to children's science by seeking to describe it as the intuitive methods which children learn from everyday experience. The findings therefore add a new dimension to the study of children's science by providing insight into the methods by which some children may acquire their intuitive knowledge of selected science concepts. Based on the results from preliminary and pilot studies ten target students were selected for the purpose of data collection. Subsequently six target subjects, representing a variety of levels of tinkering, were selected for final analysis. The analysis utilized a variety of data sources (survey, interview, and classroom observation) collected over a three-month period. The model of tinkering which was constructed conceptualizes tinkering as consisting of three general sets of characteristics. These characteristics were described in terms of the different types of tinkering observed, the different phases entailed in the tinkering process, and finally the different types of knowledge generated by this activity. The first characteristic, called the "a typology of tinkering", maps out the "purpose" and the "proficiency" of tinkering as it was observed in the target subjects. Four purposes were described: utilitarian, technological, scientific and pragmatic. The proficiency of tinkering was described in terms of categories: master, professional, amateur and novice. The second characteristic focussed on the nature of the process of tinkering. Since tinkering was conceptualized as a form of problem-solving, four different phases of tinkering activity were identified. A third characteristic identified the kinds of knowledge bases that appear to be constructed from tinkering activity. These were described in terms of verbal and actional knowledge. This study also constructed three sets of factors which influence tinkering: experiential, social and personal. These factors were metaphorically described as an apprenticeship. The experiential factors were noted as ranging from low to high levels. The social factors were described as having three levels of influence, namely mentor, family and friends, and school and other agencies. The personal factors were described as ranging from low to high levels of interest. Since the problem initially arose from the literature on females and science a discussion of gender differences in tinkering was also undertaken. This discussion utilized "women's ways of knowing" (Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger and Tarule, 1986) to interpret the extensive data. The focus of the discussion was that tinkering is "disconnected knowing" for females and "connected knowing" for males. On the basis of this argument tinkering can be viewed as an activity which favors males. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine the effect of Witkin's construct of cognitive style on children's performance on salient elementary science competencies. These competencies involved the ability to use science processes and the acquisition of specific attitudes. During the development of the study (see Appendix A), it was first necessary to determine the measurable objectives of the Elementary Science Study (E.S.S.). The Test of Science Processes was used to measure those E.S.S. objectives which pertained to science processes. In order to measure the attitudinal objective of the E.S.S. programme, the author developed four attitude scales, utilizing proper attitude measuring techniques. The four scales measured children's attitudes towards the following beliefs: children will feel that "Messing about in Science" is fun (Fun Scale); children will follow-up phenomena encountered during E.S.S. experiences (Pursue Scale); children will impose a structure on their play to find out more (Structure Scale); children will themselves initiate their own investigations (Independent Investigation Scale). The development of these scales is reported intact in Appendix B. Good reliability and factoral validity were established for these scales. It was hoped that the four attitude scales would prove to be useful tools for elementary science educators. A natural experiment in a small city school district was utilized to determine the effect of years of E.S.S. experience, the effect of Witkin's construct of cognitive style, and the interaction effect of years of experience with cognitive style -- on children's performance on measures of elementary science competencies. Utilizing a three by three factorial design, the test scores of 184 grade seven pupils were compared. The independent levelling variable used to determine cognitive style was based upon performance on the Children's Embedded Figures Test (C.E.F.T.). Years of E.S.S. instruction (one year, two years and three years) comprised the independent blocking variable. Groups were compared on fourteen dependent variables ( nine process variables and five attitudinal variables). Hotellings T² statistic was computed prior to analysis of variance in order to determine if the global group (C.E.F.T. score 0-15) would achieve significantly lower scores than the analytical group (C.E.F.T. score 20-25) on the sets of elementary science competencies (processes and attitudes). The predicted inferior performance of the global group was confirmed on the set of attitudinal dependent variables and on the set of dependent variables concerning processes. The predicted effect of superior performance of students who had received more E.S.S. experience than other students was not generally supported by the statistical tests. The predicted interaction effect was not generally significant either, although their appeared to be a trend which might indicate that the global group did less well when this group had more and more E.S.S. experience. Limitations of the cross-sectional design, however, made it difficult to come to any firm conclusions regarding the interaction effect and the effect of years of instruction. Analyses of variance confirmed the findings that the children with a more global cognitive style achieved significantly lower scores on elementary science competencies than children with more analytical cognitive styles. Based on these findings, the implications of the construct of cognitive style on elementary science education was discussed in terms of methodological reform and curricular reform. Finally, a plan for further research was proposed. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

The teaching of science is a continuous process. It is closely related to every activity of the school day. The elementary teacher with little or no scientific background may utilize these wide and varied daily experiences in the teaching of the concepts of space, time, change, variety, adaptation, and interrelationships. The numerous opportunities for science study in the surrounding community may be correlated with the text as a means of gathering reliable scientific information. Contributing to the setting up of more purposeful science --learning situations are the following five major aims in the teaching or science. / Typescript. / "August, 1951." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: W. Edwards, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 44-49).

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The purpose of this study was to evaluate the current status of the implementation of Benin's new elementary science curriculum. The study used the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM), a model designed to evaluate the implementation of educational innovations. Specifically the study attempted to ascertain teachers' concerns about the science curriculum, the levels of use of the curriculum and the degree to which the curriculum components were implemented. The CBAM Stages of Concerns questionnaire and structured Levels of Use interview were used to collect data respectively on teachers' concerns and level of use. An Innovation Configuration checklist was developed to measure teachers' patterns of use with respect to each of the curriculum key components. The study was directed toward 57 third and fourth grade teachers involved in the implementation of the new curriculum. Findings of the study indicated that teachers have their most intense concerns in the information, personal, and collaboration areas. Regarding teachers' level of use of the science curriculum, the majority of teachers were still trying to solve mechanical problems such as material gathering, lesson planning, and time management. With respect to curriculum components, fundamental components, such as teaching methodology and evaluation technique, were not implemented at the acceptable level. These findings have implications for research and staff development programs for a successful implementation of the science curriculum. Specific plans for improvement include structuring training programs to meet individual teacher needs and concerns, establishing an efficient support system, and providing resources and materials. / Graduation date: 1997