Student Generated Recommendations for Enhancing Success in Secondary Science and Mathematics

Abstract

One frequently overlooked approach to improving academic success is the simple technique of listening to the students. Students are uniquely positioned to understand the nature of school problems, and their perceptions can be useful in forming solutions to problems of academic failure and school leaving. In this study, science-tracked secondary school students in Portugal (N=346) responded to open-response questions regarding what schools and teachers can do to improve success in the 10th grade in general, and specifically in Mathematics and Physics/Chemistry. Content analysis revealed specific dimensions of student recommendations including (a) teacher strategies, (b) teacher affect and (c) curriculum. Student recommendations emphasized diversifying teaching methods, permitting greater student input, making clear connections between class material and reallife applications. Students indicated the importance of developing a positive classroom environment and urged more time for the learning of complex concepts. While their implementation may not be appropriate in all cases, student suggestions can be useful in identifying problem areas, and in some instances may offer sound advice to teachers and educational leaders. We discuss these suggestions, including just what it means to teach with a "real-life" orientation. We propose a distinction between authentic events that are learning relevant and those that are goal relevant.

Changing Teachers’ Feedback Practices: A Workshop Challenge

“…Several of the participant teachers also reported having observed greater involvement, active participation and better content understanding on the part of their students as a result of the careful and systematic use of feedback. This outcome supports such claims made in the literature (Carvalho et al, 2011;Conboy & Fonseca, 2009;Fonseca & Conboy, 2006;Fredricks et al, 2004;Kluger & Denisi, 1998;Salema, 2005;Schussler, 2009;Valente, 1997;Verkuyten & Thijs, 2009;Zimmerman & Schunk, 2007).…”

“…Teachers play a key role in student engagement with the school and in the construction of student academic trajectories (Carvalho et al, 2011;Conboy & Fonseca, 2009;Fonseca et al, 2011;Fonseca & Conboy, 2006;Schussler, 2009;Veiga, 2009). One important aspect of the teacher's role in the classroom is to relate to their students through the use of feedback (Black & Wiliam, 1998;Black et al, 2002;Ponte, Paek, Braun & Powers, 2009).…”

“…In addition to influencing student understanding and performance (Kluger & DeNisi, 1996, 1998Ponte, Paek, Braun & Powers, 2009;Salema, 2005;Valente, 1997; Zimmerman & Schunk, 2001, teacher feedback plays a key role in student engagement with the school (Carvalho, Freire, Conboy, Baptista, Freire, Azevedo, & Oliveira, 2011;Conboy & Fonseca, 2009;Fonseca, Valente, & Conboy, 2011;Fonseca & Conboy, 2006;Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004;Schussler, 2009;Veiga, 2009;Verkuyten & Thijs, 2009). It also impacts the construction of student identity and academic trajectories (Cornelius & Herrenkohl, 2004; Solomon, in press component of the quality of the relationship that teachers develop with their students, feedback − along with the types of tasks and activities teachers propose − will affect the contexts of participation and can act to reify perceptions of identity (Carvalho & Solomon, 2012;Freire, Carvalho, Freire, Azevedo, & Oliveira, 2009.…”

Teacher Empathy and Science Education: A Collective Case Study

“…On one hand researchers agree on a teachers' role in improving student learning (Conboy & Fonseca, 2009), on the other hand to date, there has been limited systematic research on the role of teacher empathy in science education (Barr, 2011) especially in teaching context. Teacher empathy has been examined in contexts such as bullying (Bauman & Del Rio, 2006), predicting student enrollment in science subjects (Zeyer, 2010), and even attitude towards environmental education (Kilinc, Boyes, & Stanisstreet, 2011).…”

Identifying Students' Interests in Biology Using a Decade of Self-Generated Questions

“…Listening to the students is still a frequently overlooked approach to improving academic success (Conboy & Fonseca, 2009). Many scholars have pointed to the importance of relevance to curriculum development (e.g.…”