The effect of hands-on activities on children’s knowledge and disgust for animals

Research has shown that hands-on activities in biology/science education tend to improve children’s attitudes towards science. These hands-on activities can influence children’s interest in various ways, perhaps because they invoke varying emotions. We used a sample of 10–12-year-old children (n = 142) to examine the effect of hands-on activities with living snails on children’s achievements and disgust sensitivity. Children with living snails received significantly higher knowledge scores about snails measured with both a knowledge test and with analyses of drawings as compared with control children who received a traditional lecture without living snails. Disgust sensitivity was significantly lower in the experimental group and children who scored higher on the disgust scale received a lower knowledge test score. It would seem that the emotion of disgust negatively correlates with achievement.     

中国苜蓿育种取得的成就及展望

综述了我国苜蓿育种取得的成就及展望。到目前为止,已审定登记育成新品种23个,国外引进品种15个,野生驯化品种3个,整理地方品种19个。育成品种具有抗寒、抗病、耐盐、耐牧、高产、早熟等特点。我国苜蓿育种大多采用常规育种技术,生物技术应用相对较少。苜蓿育种工作存在的主要问题有:育成品种少,抗性育种进程缓慢,育种原始材料较少,育种技术单一;提出改进苜蓿育种方法、培育特色品种、加强苜蓿种质资源保护与利用是缩小我国与国外苜蓿育种进程的有效途径。     

Improving achievement through problem-based learning

In this study, the effect of problem-based learning on students' academic achievement and performance skills in a unit on he human excretory system was investigated. Sixty-one 10th grade students, from two full classes instructed by the same iology teacher, were involved in the study. Classes were randomly assigned as either the experimental or the control group and were pre- and post-tested to determine their academic achievement and performance skills before and after the treatment. The experimental group was taught with problem-based learning while the control group received traditionally-designed biology instruction. Results showed that although there was no pre-existing difference between two groups, students instructed with problem-based learning earned significantly higher scores than those instructed with traditionally-designed biology instruction — in terms of academic achievement and performance skills. Students in the experimental group appeared to be more proficient in the use and organisation of relevant information, in constructing knowledge and moving toward better conclusions.     

DIASPORIC GENERATIONS. MEMORY,POLITICS AND NATION AMONG CUBANS IN SPAIN

Both national and international studies of education often show that the performance of immigrant students is substantially lower than that of non-immigrant students. This article investigates the contribution of socio-economic, sociocultural and school factors to the relative performance of first- and second-generation immigrant students in twenty countries using data from the OECD's 2000 Program for International Student Assessment. In most countries, socio-economic factors substantially account for the weaker performance of immigrant students, whereas sociocultural factors contribute little and school factors are important in only a limited number of instances. Altogether, these factors account for the bulk of the difference in achievement between immigrant and non-immigrant students in almost all the countries examined.     

Unquiet Evolution: Consideration of a Previous Synthesis

The mathematics in school biology is investigated by means of an analysis of the questions in examination papers set over a period of time in biological subjects by the University of London Examinations Board. Throughout, the incidence of questions requiring mathematics changes but remains low, while the range of mathematics topics called upon remains both restricted and unchanging. However, the various biological examination subjects differ markedly with respect both to the changes in the incidence of such questions and to the range and frequency with which the topics are used.

Certain difficulties associated with the mathematics of school biology are identified, and biology teachers are encouraged to discuss these with their colleagues who teach mathematics.     

In-school arts education and academic achievement: A child fixed effects approach

The aim of this study was to estimate the within-child associations of in-school arts education and achievement in reading and mathematics, using four waves of data (kindergarten, 1^st-grade, 3^rd-grade, and 5^th-grade) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. Fixed effects techniques were applied to adjust for the confounding effects of all stable child characteristics. Arts education (minutes per week of art and music instruction) positively predicted academic achievement and growth in reading and mathematics from kindergarten to 5^th-grade. Moreover, the positive associations increased in strength as students progressed to later grades.