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This article presents a critical and systematic review of the science education research literature that explores the response of learners to contradicting information (anomalous data). The review ...

Il est aujourd’hui reconnu que les stratégies d’enseignement privilégiées par les enseignants dépendent de leurs systèmes de croyances (Buehl et Beck, 2014 ; Driel et al., 1998 ; OCDE, 2014). Puisque de tels choix auront nécessairement des conséquences sur les apprentissages, la réussite et la motivation des élèves, il apparaît crucial de mieux connaître leur nature. Nous avons conséquemment élaboré et validé un questionnaire visant à mieux comprendre les croyances relatives à la nature de la science, à l’enseignement et à l’apprentissage des enseignants de science technologie (ST), avec l’objectif d’éventuellement établir les liens indirects qu’elles peuvent entretenir avec la motivation de leurs élèves. Basé sur d’autres questionnaires existants, cet outil a permis d’inférer les croyances entretenues à partir de 30 items distribués en trois axes selon le modèle Sujet-Objet-Agent-Milieu (Legendre, 2005). Une analyse typologique a notamment permis de regrouper les réponses des enseignants (N = 25) en deux classes : d’un côté les « subjectifs, réfractaires à la technologie et directifs » et de l’autre les « objectifs, technophiles et participatifs ». Nous discutons finalement des implications possibles de ces résultats pour la formation continue des enseignants de ST., It is recognized that teachers’ beliefs system influence their teaching strategies (Buehl et Beck, 2014 ; Driel et al., 1998 ; OCDE, 2 014). Since these strategies might have consequences on student learning, success and motivation, it is crucial to better understand the nature of these beliefs. We have thus developed and validated a questionnaire to probe the beliefs held by science and technology (ST) teachers, as well as to eventually establish the links that these beliefs may have with their students’ motivation toward ST. Based on other existing tools, our 30-items questionnaire was designed according to the three axes of the SOMA model (Legendre, 2005). A subsequent cluster analysis made it possible to group teachers (N = 25) into two clusters : the “subjective, resistant to technology and directive” on the one hand and the “objective, technophile and participative” on the other. Finally, we discuss the possible implications of these results for teacher education and in-service teacher development.

This article focuses on the attitude of practicing teachers toward teaching science and technology (S&T). It reports the results of a study conducted with 110 late-elementary school teachers in ord...

Pour son premier numéro, la revue Didactique explore les différentes déclinaisons du concept de Didactique à travers les contributions les plus importantes du champ et la publication d’articles préparés par des experts du domaine.

This article presents the results of a quasi-experimental research that has been conducted by the (Infrastructure of the authors) for two years. This research aimed at increasing student’s interest for science and technology (ST) by enhanced pedagogical interventions, designed by their teachers in the context of a learning community. It also aimed at measuring this possible increase. Results show that three of the four intervention types (scientific inquiry, context-based and project-based learning) had positive effects of various strengths on students’ interest, but that collaborative teaching did not. Hypotheses to explain these results and recommendations are formulated.

We conducted an unprecedented analysis of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) primary school science curriculum. The research question focuses on the general scientific quality of the five documents examined, the integration of religious content and the possible tensions between science and religion that result from including such material in the corpus. This content analysis also focuses on the ideological/political agenda that supports its content and structure. Conclusions argue that the ISIS science curriculum appears to be committed to an absolutist/theocratic ideological program that, among other things, promotes a very inadequate concept of scientific activity and content. Recommendations about secularization and the reconstruction of post-ISIS education systems are formulated.

Serious games have become increasingly available to educators. Empirical studies and meta-analyses have examined their impact on learning achievement. However, natural sciences could have a special...

A central challenge in developing conceptual understanding in science is overcoming naive ideas that contradict the content of science curricula. Neuroimaging studies reveal that high school and university students activate frontal brain areas associated with inhibitory control to overcome naive ideas in science, probably because they persist despite scientific training. However, no neuroimaging study has yet explored how persistent naive ideas in science are. Here, we report brain activations of 25 scientists with a Ph.D. in physics assessing the scientific value of naive ideas in science. Results show that scientists are slower and have lower accuracy when judging the scientific value of naive ideas compared to matched control ideas. fMRI data reveals that a network of frontal brain regions is more activated when judging naive ideas. Results suggest that naive ideas are likely to persist, even after completing a Ph.D. Advanced experts may still rely on high order executive functions like inhibitory control to overcome naive ideas when the context requires it.

Although a growing number of studies indicate that simple strategies, intuitions, or cognitive shortcuts called heuristics can persistently interfere with scientific reasoning in physics and chemistry, the persistence of heuristics related to learning biology is less known. In this study, we investigate the persistence of the "moving things are alive" heuristic into adulthood with 28 undergraduate students who were asked to select between two images, one of which one represented a living thing, while their electroencephalographic signals were recorded. Results show that N2 and LPP event-related potential components, often associated with tasks requiring inhibitory control, are higher in counterintuitive trials (i.e., in trials including moving things not alive or nonmoving things alive) compared with intuitive ones. To our knowledge, these findings represent the first neurocognitive evidence that the "moving things are alive" heuristic persists into adulthood and that overcoming this heuristic might require inhibitory control. Potential implications for life science education are discussed.

Using mental chronometry and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), 17 pre-university and university professors were tested with a cognitive task that required distinction of true or false statements about chemistry. These were prepared in pairs of similar statements, which differed only by congruency: while congruent stimuli involved no plausible interference of misconceptions, the incongruent match did. Results show longer response times and more activation in brain areas related to inhibitory control for incongruent compared to congruent statements, thereby supporting the hypothesis that misconceptions interfere in the production of scientific answers, even by experts. Possible educational implications are discussed.

Intuitive conceptions represent common obstacles to conceptual learning in science. A growing number of studies demonstrate that when learning occurs, these intuitive conceptions are not replaced by scientific conceptions but rather coexist with them and thus need to be inhibited to prevent systematic errors. However, to date no study has demonstrated that the increasing ability to mobilize a given scientific conception is rooted in the increasing ability to inhibit the intuitive conception that interferes with it. In the current study, we investigated whether the increasing ability from childhood to adulthood to solve a scientific problem regarding the buoyancy of marbles of different sizes and densities is rooted in the increasing ability to inhibit the “bigger objects sink more” intuitive conception. To do so, we designed a negative priming paradigm in which 11-year-old children, 17-year-old adolescents, and 24-year-old adults were asked to choose which of two marbles of various sizes and densities sinks more. Negative priming effects reported in children and adolescents suggest that, unlike adults, they must inhibit the “bigger objects sink more” intuitive conception to determine, for instance, that a small marble with high density (e.g., small lead marble) will sink more than a bigger marble with a lower density (e.g., big wooden marble). We also found that the amplitude of negative priming effects decreased with age, suggesting that the level of exposition to the scientific knowledge of buoyancy (increasing with age) may decrease the need to inhibit the “bigger objects sink more” intuitive conception.

The research presented in this paper answers the question: What factors are most related to students’ perception of learning during outdoor science lessons occurring in schools’ immediate surroundings? Twenty-six science teachers, as well as 71 classes of seventh (51 classes) and eighth (20 classes) graders participated in our study (n = 2007). All 26 teachers agreed to plan and carry out five outdoor lessons in their schools’ immediate surroundings for each class they decided to include in the study. The 11 influencing factors we examined in this quantitative study were: the duration of the outdoor lesson, the students’ level of preparation, the students’ opportunity to make choices, the outdoor environment, the position in the lesson sequence, the presence of a laboratory technician, the scientific discipline, the grouping of the students, the teacher’s outdoor teaching experience, the type of activity, and the weather conditions. To identify the factors most related to students’ perception of learning, we ran a bivariate correlation analysis and then used a three-level hierarchical linear model (HLM) with the significant factors from the bivariate correlation. Our results showed that students’ perception of learning was significantly and positively correlated with the factors listening to scientific explanations, being grouped with the entire class, students’ level of preparation, and students’ opportunity to make choices, and negatively correlated with observing. We conclude this paper by arguing that students’ perception of learning is really a perception that is based on their anticipated success on school assessments.

Following a series of reviews every 5 years since 1998, this fourth study presents the research trends in science education based on 1,088 research articles published in Science Education, Journal ...

This longitudinal study (N = 540, grades 7 and 8) was conducted over 2 years (four measurement points) with a perceptual construct questionnaire and access to students’ report cards. The changes in interest, self-concept, and the intention to pursue studies and a career in science and technology were explored as well as the reciprocal causal links between them, while also integrating four exogenous variables: achievement, perceived easiness, gender, and pedagogical novelty. Structural equation modeling was used with the partial least squares (PLS) regression technique. The findings indicate that interest and self-concept do not appear to be mutually dependent and that interest mostly depends on pedagogical novelty, perceived easiness, and the intention to pursue while self-concept depends on achievement and perceived easiness. Easiness was identified as a potentially strong predictor of most constructs about the students’ relationship with the topic and even of the intention to pursue.

Nine secondary school teachers participated in a five day training program where they developed inquiry-based pedagogical interventions for their science classes. Student interest and self-concept in school science and technology were measured before and after the interventions. Increases in interest and self-concept were compared with the results obtained from control groups. Results show a significant increase interest of moderate magnitude compared with the control condition, but no effect on self-concept. Our interpretation supports the use of inquiry based interventions for science classes but also presents some of the challenges faced when developing them.

This research aimed at identifying student profiles of perceptions by means of a clustering method using a validated questionnaire. These profiles describe students’ attraction to science and technology (S&T) studies and careers as a variable driven by school S&T self-concept and interest in school S&T. In addition to three rather predictable student profiles (confident enthusiast, average ambitious, and pessimistic dropout), the fourth fairly well-populated profile called confident indifferent was produced. Our second and third research questions allowed us to describe each profile in terms of the instructional methods to which their population was exposed (including the degree to which they were actively involved) and the instructional methods to which they would like more exposure. An analysis of the evolution of the profiles’ population over time is also presented. The results suggest that pedagogical variety and active involvement in the decision to pursue S&T are important. The perception of the utility and importance of S&T both in and out of school may also play an important role in these decisions. Minor pedagogical preferences were also found in certain age groups.

While the majority of published research on conceptual change has focused on how misconceptions can be abandoned or modified, some recent research findings support the hypothesis that acquired scientific knowledge does not necessarily erase or alter initial non-scientific knowledge but rather coexists with it. In keeping with this “coexistence claim,” this article presents an analysis of scientific understanding in four groups of individuals with varying degrees of expertise (preschoolers, elementary students, secondary students, and science teachers) using a cognitive task on buoyancy. This task allowed us to determine the prevalence of certain conceptions and the interference caused by two possible conceptual distractors with regard to producing accurate answers. Results describe the progression of the desired (scientific) conception with age/expertise as well as the evolution or regression of the statuses of two misconceptions. Results also show that misconceptions continue to interfere with performance even when there is a higher degree of scientific expertise, and that patterns of such interference can be studied. In keeping with these conclusions, we argue for the use of a model of conceptual learning called “conceptual prevalence.” © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Research in Science Teaching Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54:1121–1142, 2017

Various multiple-disciplinary terms and concepts (although most commonly “interdisciplinarity,” which is used herein) are used to frame education, scholarship, research, and interactions within and outside academia. In principle, the premise of interdisciplinarity may appear to have many strengths; yet, the extent to which interdisciplinarity is embraced by the current generation of academics, the benefits and risks for doing so, and the barriers and facilitators to achieving interdisciplinarity, represent inherent challenges. Much has been written on the topic of interdisciplinarity, but to our knowledge there have been few attempts to consider and present diverse perspectives from scholars, artists, and scientists in a cohesive manner. As a team of 57 members from the Canadian College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada (the College) who self-identify as being engaged or interested in interdisciplinarity, we provide diverse intellectual, cultural, and social perspectives. The goal of this paper is to share our collective wisdom on this topic with the broader community and to stimulate discourse and debate on the merits and challenges associated with interdisciplinarity. Perhaps the clearest message emerging from this exercise is that working across established boundaries of scholarly communities is rewarding, necessary, and is more likely to result in impact. However, there are barriers that limit the ease with which this can occur (e.g., lack of institutional structures and funding to facilitate cross-disciplinary exploration). Occasionally, there can be significant risk associated with doing interdisciplinary work (e.g., lack of adequate measurement or recognition of work by disciplinary peers). Solving many of the world’s complex and pressing problems (e.g., climate change, sustainable agriculture, the burden of chronic disease, and aging populations) demands thinking and working across long-standing, but in some ways restrictive, academic boundaries. Academic institutions and key support structures, especially funding bodies, will play an important role in helping to realize what is readily apparent to all who contributed to this paper—that interdisciplinarity is essential for solving complex problems; it is the new norm. Failure to empower and encourage those doing this research will serve as a great impediment to training, knowledge, and addressing societal issues.