The
Electronic Journal
of Science Education

ISSN 1087-3430

Volume 1, No. 2 -- December 1, 1996

University of Nevada, Reno

John R. Cannon, Editor
David T. Crowther, Associate Editor

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An Ordinary Summer Field Trip for Middle School Students to the Minnesota River Starts an Interesting Chain of Events Drawing National Attention!

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Such was the headline in the newspaper that read from an Associated Press release about mutated frogs in Minnesota. The article continued:

Cindy Reinitz, now known as "The Frog Lady" since her middle school students made the discovery,. . . and her students from the Minnesota New Country School in Le Sueur, (http://www.mncs.k12.mn.us/) in the heart of the state's farm country, first reported the deformed leopard frogs during a field trip to a wetland last year. They reported their findings to the pollution control agency, then to state lawmakers, and finally went worldwide by putting their information and pictures of the frogs on the Internet (http://www.mncs.k12.mn.us/frog/frog.html).

"When somebody caught a frog without one leg,"
13-year-old Jack Bovee told a state House committee this year, "I thought, 'Houston, we have a problem.' "

Science education has taken a huge leap in the past few years with the help of electronic resources and the Internet. Probably the most fascinating issue that stems from Cindy Reinitz and her students' research is that a regular teacher with her students made a discovery that has had incredible outcomes. Two major universities have taken up research in that specific area studying the mutations of frogs, but even more so, through the use of electronic means have set up a data base for collecting and distributing information about frog deformities across all 50 states. Many researchers and interested people have united in this endeavor and now people can inquire and receive information about the frogs and research from this one middle level classroom.

Another example which has had more popularity is the tracking of the Monarch Butterfly migrations across the U.S. into Mexico. In its fourth year of an outreach program called the Monarch Watch (http://monarch.bio.ukans.edu/), An entomology professor, Dr. Orley R. "Chip" Taylor, from the University of Kansas along with professors and colleagues from across the united states are involving thousands of students and adults in a cooperative study of the monarch's fall migration.

These are just two, of many examples, of how the Internet has changed and improved science and science education by the use of the Internet for students, teachers, scientists and the education community. In this second issue we are proud to have Dr. William Kyle, the distinguished Desmond Lee Family Professor of Science Education, University of Missouri, St. Louis and Editor of the Journal of Research in Science Education (JRST) offer our editorial in conjunction with Charles D. Schmitz, Dean of the School of Education, and Elizabeth A. Schmitz, Director of Assessment, Technology, and Planning for the Public Schools of Clayton, Missouri. Their editorial Possible Lives or Shattered Dreams? is an excellent commentary regarding the current state of science education and technology in our public schools.

After reading about the frog discovery from the students in Minnesota, I couldn't help but make a few comparisons with frogs to what we are trying to accomplish here with the Electronic Journal of Science Education. We are currently going through a metamorphosis, changes which will benefit both the readers and the researchers. A frog goes through many changes before entering its adult form. Incomplete metamorphosis going from an egg through several changes from polliwog to an adult is not dissimilar to what the journal is experiencing. Frogs are an indicator of the health of our environment. Many ecological hazards and pollutants will show up in the water systems thusly effecting many of the aquatic and amphibious species therein. In addition to the ecological factors are the pressures of natural selection and the evolution of species. Frogs have changed to adapt to their environment and, as all species, are making those gradual changes to better adapt to their surroundings. As far as an indicator of the science education environment, we hope to continue to evolve and reflect the needs of the science education community and the technology that is available. We will continue to evolve as the technology and needs require us to do so. We invite everyone to join us in this exciting time to take advantage of the technology and evolutionary progression in how research is presented to the science education community.

Some of those changes have already taken place since the first issue. The Electronic Journal of Science Education (EJSE) goes beyond the printed page and allows for the use of technology and collective information to be shared both in context of research as it is presented in the articles by allowing for links to other home pages and research areas on the Internet and by utilizing the technology of the Internet and the EJSE mailing list to provide an interactive discussion about the research that is presented. By clicking on the highlighted areas one could immediately E-mail the author, respond to the EJSE list, or be taken to another location on the World Wide Web.

For the first time, EJSE readers will be able to respond through the newly created EJSE mailing list about the research presented in the articles. EJSE readers are encouraged to join the mailing list and then respond in both an academic and scholarly fashion to present research and references that discuss, support or evaluate the research presented. This is in no way to be an emotional outlet for personal biases, but a scholarly discussion of research and ideas which stem from the ideas presented. We invite all to participate in the discussions. (Learn how to subscribe to the EJSE mailing list.)

Finally, we would like to encourage all readers to consider submitting a manuscript to EJSE. This is an opportunity to tap into your technological creativity as manuscripts can be submitted in HTML format with full color graphics, links, short run video, etc. In addition to submitting a non-HTML manuscript, any GIF, JPEG, or PIC files can be included to accompany your article including a photo of yourself. The options are wide open for exploring publication in this unlimited format. Please see our basic and somewhat fluid publications guidelines at the end of the issue for submitting procedures. We look forward to involving you in the future of scholarly publication and discussion.

David T. Crowther, Associate Editor
Electronic Journal of Science Education
University of Nevada - Reno
E-mail: crowther@unr.edu

Table of Contents and Abstracts

Guest Editorial. . .

by Dr. William Kyle, Dr. Charles D. Schmitz, and Dr. Elizabeth A. Schmitz, University of Missouri, St. Louis.

To go to this editorial, click here .

Article 1

Students' Sense Of Academic Efficacy And Achievement In Science:
A Useful New Direction For Research Regarding Scientific Literacy?

A general study that compared the academic efficacy beliefs of seventh and eighth graders from an inner city K-8 school with those from a suburban junior high school has produced data that may speak to enhancing children's achievement in science. The Morgan-Jinks Student Efficacy Scale (MJSES) was developed to gain information about student efficacy beliefs that might relate to school success and makes use of self report grades as a variable. The scale was administered to a total of 570 students from the two schools. Factor analysis revealed two subscales (talent and effort) that are consistent with the literature regarding self efficacy beliefs. The reliability coefficient as a result of using Cronbach's Alpha was .78 for the talent subscale, .66 for the effort subscale and .82 for the overall scale. Correlations between self reported science performance and the subscales of talent and effort were both positive and significant as was the correlation with the scale as a whole. Although preliminary in scope, these results suggest that understanding more about students' sense of academic efficacy and the role those beliefs may play in science achievement may have important implications for both curriculum and instruction.

To go to this article, click here.

Article 2

Student teachers on LabNet:
Linking preservice teachers with a professional community

This article describes our preliminary exploration of a use for telecommunications in preservice teacher education. During the 1993 to 1994 school year, eleven student teachers at Tufts University participated in LabNet, a project at TERC to develop a community of science and mathematics teachers who share an interest in "project enhanced learning" and who communicate with each other through bulletin boards and electronic mail (Spitzer & Wedding, 1995). This article reviews the student teachers' involvement in LabNet to suggest it benefited them in several ways. In particular, it provided them specific, practical ideas and advice, with respect to student projects and otherwise; a sympathetic and appreciative forum in which to discuss their own ideas and experiences; and the general support of a progressive, active group of teachers for experimenting with innovative methods. The student teachers' participation seemed to benefit the LabNet community as well, stimulating topics of conversation veteran teachers might not otherwise have explored. Finally, we suggest, this form of contact among intern and practicing teachers has further potential to provide continuity between preservice and inservice community and professional development.

To go to this article, click here.

This new feature is dedicated to recognize the efforts of our colleagues and associates
on the World Wide Web. Feel free to browse at your leisure and submit links to the editors.

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