Public understanding of plant biology: Voices from the bottom of the garden

Many household gardeners accumulate considerable knowledge of plant biology through a range of informal learning sources. This knowledge seldom relates to school biology and is driven by interest, keen motivation and what is termed here ‘vital relevance’. A small opportunity sample of 12 gardeners (6 M, 6 F) is interviewed in terms of their knowledge of plant biology and their motives for learning. They are largely self-educated, their knowledge is quite specific though piecemeal and their motivation has a strong affective dimension

School settings

The nature of primary education and the availability of an inclusive basic education worldwide are introduced and some key aspects of contemporary primary school settings outlined. These include the organisation of compulsory education at national and school level, school enrolment, class size and the grouping of students. The cultural background of student populations and the linguistic diversity arising from migration are also considered as are curriculum and learning approaches, the school year and the school day. Topics relating to the physical amenities available, the impact of digital technology on school settings and virtual schools are also introduce

NCES Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)

TIMSS Advanced available for 1995 and 2015. Grade 4 and 8 SAS Control files, Codebooks available. eTIMSS and bridgeTIMSS available for 201

Who likes math where? Gender differences in eighth-graders' attitudes around the world

Some of the most male-dominated science, technology, engineering and mathematics occupations and degree programmes are found in the world's most affluent societies. This article assesses whether gender gaps in attitudes follow similarly surprising patterns. Multivariate analysis of eighth-graders' affinity for mathematics and aspirations for mathematically related jobs in 53 countries shows that the attitudinal gender gap is indeed larger in affluent 'postmaterialist' societies. Moreover, both girls and boys view mathematics more negatively in these societies. The authors suggest that cultural ideals of individual self-expression, highly prevalent under conditions of broad-based existential security, operate to reduce girls' and boys' interest in pursuits thought to be economically practical but personally non-expressive. Girls may be particularly susceptible to this negative effect, because taken-for-granted cultural beliefs about core female personality traits (and girls' gendered understandings of their own authentic inner selves) are often at odds with dominant representations of mathematical and technical work. © 2014 Taylor & Francis