Consistent with international trends, there is an active pursuit of more engaging science education in the Asia-Pacific region. The aim of this book is to bring together some examples of research being undertaken at a range of levels, from studies of curriculum and assessment tools, to classroom case studies, and investigations into models of teacher professional learning and development. While neither a comprehensive nor definitive representation of the work that is being carried out in the region, the contributions—from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand—give a taste of some of the issues being explored, and the hopes that researchers have of positively influencing the types of science education experienced by school students. The purpose of this book is therefore to share contextual information related to science education in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as offering insights for conducting studies in this region and outlining possible questions for further investigation. In addition, we anticipate that the specific resources and strategies introduced in this book will provide a useful reference for curriculum developers and science educators when they design school science curricula and science both pre-service and in-service teacher education programmes. The first section of the book examines features of science learners and learning, and includes studies investigating the processes associated with science conceptual learning, scientific inquiry, model construction, and students’ attitudes towards science. The second section focuses on teachers and teaching. It discusses some more innovative teaching approaches adopted in the region, including the use of group work, inquiry-based instruction, developing scientific literacy, and the use of questions and analogies. The third section reports on initiatives related to assessments and curriculum reform, including initiatives associated with school-based assessment, formative assessment strategies, and teacher support accompanying curriculum reform. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315717678, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Sections include: Engaging with public engagement, Researching public engagement, Studying science in popular media, Mediating science news, Communicating science in popular media and Examining audiences for popular science.

Simplified Signs presents a system of manual sign communication intended for special populations who have had limited success mastering spoken or full sign languages. It is the culmination of over twenty years of research and development by the authors. The Simplified Sign System has been developed and tested for ease of sign comprehension, memorization, and formation by limiting the complexity of the motor skills required to form each sign, and by ensuring that each sign visually resembles the meaning it conveys. Volume 1 outlines the research underpinning and informing the project, and places the Simplified Sign System in a wider context of sign usage, historically and by different populations. Volume 2 presents the lexicon of signs, totalling approximately 1000 signs, each with a clear illustration and a written description of how the sign is formed, as well as a memory aid that connects the sign visually to the meaning that it conveys. While the Simplified Sign System originally was developed to meet the needs of persons with intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, autism, or aphasia, it may also assist the communication needs of a wider audience – such as healthcare professionals, aid workers, military personnel , travellers or parents, and children who have not yet mastered spoken language. The system also has been shown to enhance learning for individuals studying a foreign language. Lucid and comprehensive, this work constitutes a valuable resource that will enhance the communicative interactions of many different people, and will be of great interest to researchers and educators alike.

Robert Stenberg once said, “There is no Recipe to be a Great Teacher, That’s what, is unique about them”. Every teacher has their own way of teaching who delicately shapes impressionable minds and molds it into a vessel that defines perceptions and ambitions that impact to the large part the society Central Teaching Eligibility Test or CTET is the national level examination that is conducted to recruit the most eligible candidates as teachers at Primary and Upper Primary Levels. It is held twice in a year in the month of July and December. The exam is divided into 2 Papers, As per the CTET 2020 Exam Pattern, Paper -1 is for the Classes 1-5 whereas Paper – 2 is meant for those who want to become a teacher of classes 6–8. To teach the students of Class 6-8 one has to appear for both the exams. The current edition of “Social Science & Pedagogy for classes VI to VIII” is the complete study guide that has been developed on the basis of the syllabus prescribed in the CTET & other State TETs related examination. The book is divided into 4 Sections and sub divided into chapters, giving the Chapterwise coverage to the text of the syllabus, Practice Exercise with previous years’ Question asked in the exam. 5 Practice sets including 2019 Solved paper have been provided in this text book that are designed exactly based on the latest pattern of the examination that help aspirants to know the trends. Housed with more than 1500 MCQs, it gives robust study material useful for CTET, UPTET, HTET, UTET, CGTET, and all other states TETs. TABLE OF CONTENTS Solved Paper 2019 (Dec), Solved Paper 2018 (Dec), Solved Paper 2016 (Sept), Solved Paper 2016 (Feb), History: When, Where and How, The First Cities, New Ideas, The Early State and First Empire, Contacts with Distant Land and Political Development, Culture and Science, New Kings and Kingdoms, Delhi Sultanate and Its Architecture, Mughal Empire, Social Change, Regional Culture, The Establishment of Company Power, Rural Life and Society Under Colonialism, Revolt of 1857, Peasant Labour and Tribal Movement, Social and Woman Reforms, National Movement and India after Independence, Geography: Geography as a Social Study and Science, Planet: Earth in the Solar System, Globe, Nature and Human Environment, Air, Water, Human Environment, Resources: Human and Natural, Agriculture, Civics: India: Unity in Diversity, Democracy and Constitution, Government: Local and State Government, Parliamentary Government, The Judiciary, Marginalisation and Social Justice, Understanding Media, Making Living, Pedagogy: Concept and Nature of Social Science, Classroom Processes Activities and Discourse, Developing Critical Thinking, Enquiry / Empirical Evidence, Problems of Teaching Social Science / Studies, Sources: Primary and Secondary, Project Work, Evaluation, Practice Sets (1-5).