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Children with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) are arguably one of the highest at-risk groups for dropping out before graduating high school. They are the group of students with disabilities who are most likely to be educated in residential facilities. Residential facilities such as Green Chimneys have incorporated animals into the treatment milieu with success. Animals have been used in various settings to improve the quality of life as well as the emotional and physical needs of people served by these facilities. This article describes the requirements for using animals in residential treatment, the limitations of such programs, and the research findings for the use of animal-assisted therapy or activities (AAT/AAA). Using Gardner’s (1999) iteration of his theory of multiple intelligence, the authors proposed an understanding of how these treatments might be improve the intelligence of a child with EBD. Requirements for effective treatment of special needs children were discussed.
Koh, Myung-sook; Shin, Sunwoo.2015.Korean education in cultural context,Article,[South Carolina]The University of South Carolina,10
This article discusses the theoretical context of the education of American Indian children. The unique needs of American Indian children and the lack of ECI provided, as well as the major theoretical approaches used by the dominant society in ECI program development are discussed. The linear model of time and human development – the view that the dominant society traditionally holds; and the nonlinear perspective of most American Indian communities is presented.
The purpose of this study is to determine to what extent the understanding of assessment adopted in the renewed Primary Education 4 th and 5 th grade Science and Technology Curriculum is reflected in textbooks ‐ student course books, student workbooks and teachers’ books- prepared by the related publishers and approved for use by the Turkish Republic of Ministry of National Education. The research is a qualitative study based on a document analysis. The analysis in the curriculum revealed that the understanding of assessment of the curriculum focused on “diversity in measurement techniques”, “multi-purpose use of measurement results” and “continuity in measurement practices and process evaluation”. In this context, the analysis of the textbooks revealed that i) the understanding of assessment adopted in the curriculum is not completely reflected in the related textbooks in terms of “diversity in measurement techniques” and “multi-purpose use of measurement results” while ii) it is reflected in the textbooks in terms of “continuity of measurement practices and process evaluation”. The importance of the findings was discussed with regard to assessment practices required by the curriculum and some suggestions were put forward for possible solutions of the determined problems.
Turkish middle school students’ understanding of the nature of matter was examined and compared to those of US counterparts. Sixteen Turkish middle school students were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. The interview explored students’ understanding of the particulate nature of matter in three areas: (1) the composition of the substances; (2) the relationship between particulate structure and macroscopic properties; (3) the relationship between particulate structure and processes. The results indicated that many of the middle school students interviewed could state that matter was composed of atoms. However, the majority of them were not able to use this understanding to explain macroproperties or processes of matter. Compared to the US students, the Turkish students could use terms more appropriately in describing the microparticulate nature of matter. However, when students tried to explain the macroproperties or processes of matter, the US students offered more complex and detailed explanations. Significance of the Study In this study, Turkish students' ideas about the nature of matter were investigated. The conceptual content of the students’ ideas was analyzed and these ideas were examined for accuracy, coherence and internal consistency. One purpose of the current study was to provide data for a cross cultural comparison of Turkish and US middle school students in order to see what were the similarities and differences in their understanding. In our prior research with US elementary and middle school students, we found that students had significant misconceptions about the nature of matter (Nakhleh & Samarapungavan, 1999; Nakhleh, Samarapungavan, & Saglam, 2005). For example, US elementary schools students typically did not recognize that all states of matter were particulate (composed of atoms and molecules) and did not explain phenomena at the particulate level (Nakhleh & Samarapungavan, 1999). The US middle school students were more likely to recognize that matter was particulate, but they had difficulty in providing 1 Nakhleh et al.: Middle School Students' Beliefs about Matter Published by OpenRiver, 2008 Essays in Education Special Edition 101 acceptable microscopic explanations for such macroscopic properties as rigidity, fluidity and malleability. The US middle school students in particular, seemed to invoke many ad hoc and inconsistent explanations for such phenomena as dissolving and phase transition. By comparing the results of the US middle school study with the current study of Turkish middle school students, we hope to increase our understanding of students’ chemistry learning across cultures. As Carey and Spelke (1994) suggested, cross-cultural comparisons of conceptual development can inform theories of conceptual change by providing data on universal and culture specific aspects of development in students’ knowledge representations. Second, this study provides important information about the challenges that all students face in building their conceptual understanding of matter and what alternative conceptions they commonly hold. Ultimately, this research will help teachers in all cultures develop appropriate instructional strategies to facilitate student learning. In this study, macro refers to observable and micro refers to invisible characteristics of matter. For example, when students described the properties of matter by statements such as ‘it is sweet’, ‘round’, ‘white’, ‘a big piece’ and ‘made of small particles but can be seen by the naked eye’, we categorized these statements as describing macroproperties of matter. In contrast, when students talked about ‘invisible particles’ or use the terms ‘atom’ or ‘molecule’, we categorized those statements as describing microproperties or molecular level properties of matter. Theoretical Perspective The process of acquiring knowledge about the natural world is viewed as one in which even before the onset of formal instruction, students construct initial understandings of the observed world based on their everyday experience. This everyday experience is not merely direct or ‘sensory’ in nature and is itself culturally mediated, especially by everyday language, and lay or folk models both explicit and implicit or enacted, of the natural world (Cole, 1990; Vygotsky, 1978; Wertsch, 1985a, 1985b) With the onset of formal education, students are exposed to the adult culture’s formal or scientific theories of the natural world and must restructure their naive beliefs in ways that take the new information into consideration. This general approach is supported by a variety of studies on naive beliefs about the physical world (McKloskey & Kargon, 1988; Samarapungavan, Vosniadou, & Brewer, 1996; Wiser, 1988; Vosniadou & Brewer, 1992, 1994). Prior Research on Students’ Understanding of the Nature of Matter Some studies have examined young children’s beliefs about matter (Au et al., 1993; Rosen & Rozin 1993). Both these studies indicated that children ranging from 3 to 5 years of age believed that dissolved substances continue to exist as tiny invisible particles that influenced the macro properties of the solution, such as taste. In an earlier study, our research group examined US elementary school students’ understanding of the particulate nature of matter (Nakhleh and Samarapungavan, 1999). This research investigated a wider spectrum of substances by including substances in all three states of matter and by including such world examples of matter as granular sugar, solid wood, solid copper wire, liquid water, and a helium-filled balloon. We probed 2 Essays in Education, Vol. 24 [2008], Art. 9 https://openriver.winona.edu/eie/vol24/iss1/9 Essays in Education Special Edition 102 students’ understanding of several concepts related to the particulate nature of matter, including their understanding of the solid, liquid, and gas states of matter, phase changes, and their understanding of the dissolving process. It is found that the US elementary school students tended to use descriptive rather than explanatory frameworks. In other words, they often described phenomena rather than explained them. However, these frameworks did tend to cohere at an ontological level, in that when explanations were provided for phenomena, they tended to be in terms of external forces, such as ‘pushing’ and ‘crushing’, that operated on matter. Further, we found that many students seemed to have macroparticulate frameworks. In other words, they believed that matter could be broken down into tiny, even invisible particles by human action. However, they believed that the smallest particles of a substance, such as sugar, still possessed all its macroscopic qualities, such as taste and color. A follow-up study with US middle school students (Nakhleh, Samarapungavan, and Saglam, 2005) showed that while 67% of the students believed that all matter was made up of atoms and molecules, 33% of the middle school students had not completed the conceptual transition from macroparticulate to microparticulate frameworks. Additionally, even the 67% of students who believed that matter was comprised of atoms and molecules could not provide microparticulate explanations for a wide range of macroscopic phenomena. For example, while these students typically provided microparticulate explanations of phase transition and dissolving, they treated macroscopic material properties such as fluidity and rigidity as intrinsic properties of matter and did not explain them at the microparticulate level. Gable (1998) has noted that coordinating macroscopic (observable properties and behavior of substances) and microscopic (atomic and molecular) levels of representation and explanation in chemistry is a challenge even at the college level. McRobbie and his associates (McRobbie, 1998; Thomas & McRobbie, 2002) have also found that secondary school students frequently explain material phenomena at a macroscopic rather than a microscopic level. By 8 grade, students have typically been introduced to the concepts of atoms and molecules that constitute the microscopic level. They have also been taught to explain the states of matter and phase transitions in terms of the microscopic level. Therefore, in order to better understand the scope and generalizability of these findings, it is important to collect data on students’ understanding of the nature of matter from a variety of cultures. The current research contributes to this endeavor by examining the beliefs of Turkish middle school students. Design and Procedures Sample Description The present study was conducted with 8 graders at an urban middle school in Izmir, Turkey. The fourth author interviewed 16 volunteer students, 10 of whom were female and 6 of whom were male, drawn from four different classes. The semi-structured interviews probed students’ understanding of the nature of matter. The school enrolled students with a mix of 3 Nakhleh et al.: Middle School Students' Beliefs about Matter Published by OpenRiver, 2008 Essays in Education Special Edition 103 socioeconomic levels that we found to be similar to the US school. The students were all Turkish. Methodology The 4 author individually interviewed the students, using a Turkish-language semistructured interview guide similar to the one used by Nakhleh and Samarapungavan (1999) with elementary students and in their study of US middle school students (Nakhleh, Samarapungavan, & Saglam, 2005) (see Appendix). The English-language interview guide was translated into Turkish by the 3 author. Some of the substances were also changed as discussed below. The interview guide consisted of three sections: (1) questions on properties and particulate nature of pure substances; (2) questions on macroproperties of pure substances; and (3) questions on phase changes and dissolving processes. The 4 author asked questions and took notes. The interviews were audio taped and later transcribed and translated
