89 research outputs found
Student teachers views on the nature of science: do they change during a one year pre-service programme?
No full textThe nature of science (NOS) remains a central issue of pre-service teacher education. We considered the student teacher as a scientist, their background from undergraduate, previous postgraduate and life experiences as well as monitoring changes in their responses to a short questionnaire derived from McComas et al (1998). The study aimed to map the students' understanding of (NoS) with a view to developing their pedagogical content knowledge as well as establishing baseline data to measure the effect of future interventions during the pre-service programmes (such as teaching about NoS or the Philosophy of Science) It is also anticipated that we will be well placed to promote ACfE aspirations as well as informing our programme in relation to developing Responsible Citizens and Effective Contributors who can contribute meaningfully to debates about controversial scientific issues
Statistical description of wetland hydrological connectivity to the River Murray in South Australia under both natural and regulated conditions
No full textAvailable online 17 October 2015Abstract not availableSean J. Robinson, Nicholas J. Souter, Nigel G. Bean, Joshua V. Ross, Richard M. Thompson, Kjartan T. Bjornsso
Fig. 2 in Spatial interactions between sympatric partridges in the Cardamom Mountains, Southwest Cambodia
No full textFig. 2. Pearson's correlation matrix of environmental covariates showing r values. Descriptions of covariate abbreviations can be found in Table 1.Published as part of Chhin, Sophea, Souter, Nicholas J., Ngoprasert, Dusit, Browne, Stephen J. & Savini, Tommaso, 2020, Spatial interactions between sympatric partridges in the Cardamom Mountains, Southwest Cambodia, pp. 308-318 in Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 68 on page 312, DOI: 10.26107/RBZ-2020-0024, http://zenodo.org/record/534447
FIGURE 6 in A new species of wolf snake (Colubridae: Lycodon Fitzinger, 1826) from Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary, Cardamom Mountains, southwest Cambodia
No full textFIGURE 6. Striking position of (CBC02238) Lycodon zoosvictoriae sp. nov. during defensive behavior. Photo: Thy Neang.Published as part of Neang, Thy, Hartmann, Timo, Hun, Seiha, Souter, Nicholas J. & Furey, Neil M., 2014, Zootaxa 3814 (1), DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3814.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/23023
Raising river level to improve the condition of a semi-arid floodplain forest
No full textAbstract not availableNicholas J. Souter, Todd Wallace, Mark Walter and Richard Watt
Podcasting, pupils and pre-service-teachers
No full textThis Action Research conforms to Cohen's definition (2000) as "small scale intervention in the functioning of the real world and a close examination of the effects of such an intervention." It is a pilot study that uses a small, but representative group of students with a view to establishing generalisations about the wider applicability of the methods explored. (Burns, 2000, pp. 460-461) The authors examine the use of podcasting - a popular contemporary method of delivering audio content through computers and portable media players. Many rationales for their use in education can be advanced, for example Freedman (2006) lists sixteen reasons including the potential for students to access the podcasts at their own convenience. See also Maag (2006) and Kollar (2006). The study group included six undergraduate, pre-service science teachers who were completing a BSc (Honours) in Bioscience with Teaching. They had previously undertaken course assessments which incorporated presentations to peers and tutors. The pre-service science teachers had already completed block and serial school placements and were considered as being skilled in planning and delivering short presentations as part of their classroom practice. Their presentations had invariably been supported with well constructed and illustrated PowerPoint presentations. The Benchmark Standards for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) (General Teaching Council for Scotland & Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, 2006) relate to classroom to whole school standards for ITE in Scotland. They make specific reference to the significance and the expectations for Information and Communication Technology (ICT). ICT is viewed (paragraph 3.1) as a "Core professional interest" and student teachers should be "undertaking a range of approaches to teaching to facilitate the learning of pupils, including the appropriate use of information and communications technology". Also, ICT provides the potential "to contribute to a process of change". Boud (2000) was critical of assessment practices in higher education institutions and suggested "The purposes of assessment should be extended to include the preparation of students for sustainable assessment". Draper and Maguire (2006) explored the use of podcasts in campus based teaching with first year undergraduates in the Re-engineering Assessment Practices (REAP) project. These considerations helped motivate the authors to explore podcasts as a means of promoting sustainable assessment with fourth year undergraduates and consider their potential within professional graduate courses. The research explored the following questions: - Did the process of preparing podcasts extend their professional learning? - Can pre-service teachers deliver a well planned, coherent and well organised presentation to demonstrate their understanding of principles of learning and teaching? - Can pre-service teachers prepare a podcast to describe their own action research findings? Pre-service science teachers found the process challenging and rewarding. Pre-service teachers prepared podcast presentations that described their own action research findings. Pre-service teachers delivered well planned, coherent and well organised presentations to demonstrate their understanding of principles of learning and teaching. The process of preparing podcasts extended their professional learning in a variety of ways - base level technical competence in managing the software; pedagogically in identifying and supporting a teaching and learning resource; and professionally in relation to the Benchmark Standards for ITE. The approach is transferable to further study with a larger group of PGDE pre-service teachers
Climate change, collaboration and pre-service teachers' emergent professional identity
No full textThe study group included 74 graduate, pre-service science teachers who were following the Professional Graduate Diploma of Education Secondary (PGDES) in all science subjects, biology with science, chemistry with science and physics with science. The strong tradition of integrated science in Scotland is reflected (Inspectorate of Schools (Scotland) 1994) in the structure of PGDES programmes (The Scottish Office Education and Industry Department 1998). Scottish School science departments are organised in a variety of ways and a strong collaborative element is often present in providing a common programme of study in science during the early years of secondary schooling. Collaborative coursework on climate change was selected due to its contemporary interest; consultation on the detail of a 'Curriculum for Excellence' (The Curriculum Review Group 2004) and the absence of reported depth of experience in this content area in Scottish school science. Issues associated with climate change conform to all ten qualities of socio-scientific issues (Ratcliffe M. and Grace M. 2003. ) p. 2-3. The purpose was to simulate the collaborative working environment (Watters J.J. and Ginns I.S. 2000); to establish a 'community of practice' as suggested by the (Lave J. and Wenger E. 1991)model of situated learning; involved aspects of problem based learning (Savin-Baden M. and Howell C.M. 2004) as well as authentic assessment (Wiggins G.P. 1993); and to initiate the formation of identities as science teachers rather than 'subject specialists'. The task was based on a constructivist framework. We sought to explore aspects relating to attitudes and knowledge in the context of climate change, to collaboration and the use of ICT. Students were allocated to mixed subject groups and expected to produce reading materials for 12-14 year olds and an associated teachers' guide on a given aspect of climate change over a seven week period. The product and collaborative aspects of the task were assessed using a combination of tutor and peer assessment, including two group debriefing sessions. Students' knowledge and confidence about global warming and information relating to their experiences of collaboration were assessed using a simple pre- and post-task questionnaire developed for this task. We found that the students experienced a number of benefits and frustrations of group work task. Overall, they found the process beneficial and collectively produced a high quality resource which is available as a basis for their own teaching. The resource could be adapted for use by other teachers. The students have become more knowledgeable about aspects of climate change. They may also have considered the challenges in teaching complicated socio-scientific issues in relation to their own professional attitudes and values. A generally positive attitudinal movement took place during the period and some variation was observed between students from different subject areas
Adding burrows to enhance a population of the endangered pygmy blue tongue lizard, Tiliqua adelaidensis
No full textThe endangered pygmy blue tongue lizard, Tiliqua adelaidensis, occupies spider burrows in a population near Burra, South Australia. In each of twelve 20 x 20 m plots at that population, we added 36 artificial burrows, providing about a ten fold increase in suitable burrows for lizards. Over three surveys during the spring and summer of 2001/2002 there were significant increases in lizard numbers in the experimental plots relative to the controls, both for adult lizards and for new recruits after clutches were produced. This local increase in population density may be due to lizards locating suitable burrows more easily where burrow numbers were supplemented. The increased availability of high quality burrows may also reduce mortality among lizards searching for suitable burrows. Additional burrows also led to an increase in local density of a burrow-dwelling centipede that is a potential predator of lizards, but there was no evidence of predation, and any negative predation impact was outweighed by the beneficial effect of providing more burrows. Overall the results suggest that adding artificial burrows could enhance local population density and recruitment success, and that this could be a valuable tool in the conservation management of this endangered species. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Nicholas J. Souter, C. Michael Bull, Mark N. Hutchinso
Applying the environmental flow components approach to the River Murray in South Australia
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