I recently became acquainted with a relatively “young” journal of research devoted to helping us understand science teaching: The Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education (EJSMT). EJSMTE has its headquarters in Turkey. It’s editor, Hüseyin BAG, is professor at Pamukkale Universitesi, TURKEY, and the Associate Editor, Mehmet Fatih TASAR, is professor at Gazi Universitesi, TURKEY.
One can feel the exuberance of the editorial team by reading the Editorial in the most recent issue. In a very short time (the journal was launched in 2005), the journal has grown (more than 10, 000 hits to its most recent issue, according to Dr. Tasar), and has received more than 400 manuscripts since its inception in 2005.
In the February 2007 issue there are 8 articles on various topics in science education. If you are a teacher, you will find these interesting because they will give you a different perspective on science teaching since most of them are written by researchers from countries including Germany, Turkey, Malaysia, Kenya, and the USA. I was particularly interested in Effandi Zakaria and Zanaton Iksan’s article, Promoting Cooperative Learning in Science and Mathematics Education: A Malaysian Perspective. As the authors pointed out “incorporating cooperative learning in science and mathematics classrooms is not without challenges.” They went on to identify some of the problem areas such as fear of loss of content coverage, do not trust students in acquiring knowledge by themselves, lack of familiarity (of teachers) with cooperative learning methods, and student lack of skills to work in groups.
Cooperative learning is a powerful teaching tool and if teachers have the background and education in how to implement collaborative methods, and if they help students learn how to collaborate in learning teams, it can be an effective method. Cooperative learning is an example of an active learning methodology, and can not only help students learn to work collaboratively, but can help students cognitively and affectively.
Cooperative learning is tool of inquiry. In the scientific community, most research is done collaboratively within the same institution, or across institutions and locations, especially with the use of the Internet. Science has always advocated itself as a community of learning, and modeling that form of learning in the classroom is another reason for using cooperative learning. Teachers can enhance their ability to implement cooperative learning by becoming aware of cooperative learning structures as well as other interactive techniques.
Cooperative learning was only one of many important issues discussed in the February issue of the Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education. Other topics included the status of science education research internationally, web-based versus paper-based homework, reform-based curriculum, environmental activism, and problem-based active learning. I recommend that you navigate to their website and read what is interesting to you. It’s an excellent journal.
