Where do you come from,where do you go? Assessing skills gaps and labour market outcomes for young adults with different immigration backgrounds

Using PISA and PIAAC data from twelve OECD countries, we examine the gap in cognitive skills among immigrants and natives and evaluate how those differences have evolved over time. We also consider how demographics, family background and school quality explain the development of cognitive skills of young people with immigrant backgrounds. The results show, first, that some convergence in skills occurs between second-generation immigrants and natives over time. Second, demographics, family background and school quality variables all contribute to the achievement gaps across different groups.     

Individual and cultural factors in teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion: A meta-analysis

The success of inclusive education is dependent upon classroom teachers implementing adaptations for children with disabilities. Given that willingness to make such adaptations is influenced by teacher attitudes, the current study examined teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education through a meta-analysis of 64 samples that were found via a systematic literature search. The results indicated that teachers hold a positive attitude towards inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream schools and that these attitudes are moderated by an interplay of cultural and demographical factors. The findings offer a renewed basis for intervention research into improving educational opportunities for children around the world.     

Modelling the long-run learning impact of the Covid-19 learning shock: Actions to (more than) mitigate loss

This paper uses a calibrated “pedagogical production function” model to estimate the potential long-term losses to children’s learning from the temporary shock of Covid-19 related school closures. It then models possible gains from two mitigation strategies. Without mitigation, children could lose more than a full year’s worth of learning from a three-month school closure because they will be behind the curriculum when they re-enter school and will fall further behind as time goes on. Remediation when children return to school reduces the long-term learning loss by half, but still leaves children more than half a year behind where they would have been with no shock. Remediation combined with long-term reorientation of curriculum to align with children’s learning levels fully mitigates the long-term learning loss due to the shock and surpasses the learning in the counterfactual of no shock by more than a full year’s worth of learning. Systems need to begin planning now for remediation programmes, and as they do so they should build programmes and train teachers in ways that can continue to produce benefits beyond the period immediately following reopening.     

Discrete Choice Modeling in Education: An Innovative Method to Assess Teaching Practices

Self‐reported measures are an easy, time‐efficient, and low‐cost way to collect research data compared to other assessment methods. They are, however, characterized by several limitations regarding the quality and the clarity of the data they produce, especially when they are implemented in education. The main purpose of the current study was to use a method called discrete choice modeling (DCM) in education, in order to develop a self‐reported instrument that will reduce the bias for socially desirable responses and to assess teachers’ practices in physical activity. DCM method has the ability to overcome the respondents’ tendency to answer in a socially desirable way. A nationally representative sample of 531 Greek early educators participated in this study and were administered a self‐assessment questionnaire based on DCM. Results showed that the DCM based newly developed instrument manages to assess effectively educators’ practices and provided evidence of the applicability of the method in education. Further implications and future recommendations regarding the effective application of DCM in education are discussed.     

Evaluating the international dimension in an undergraduate curriculum by assessing students’ intercultural sensitivity

This formative, outcome-oriented, theory-based evaluation research study assessed the effectiveness of requiring an international (‘I’) course by measuring students’ intercultural sensitivity (IS) at the start and end of a semester. Findings revealed that students’ IS scores did not change regardless of the type of class in which the student was enrolled and were not significantly different based on gender, age, ethnicity, undergraduate classification, or number of ‘I’ courses taken. There were significant differences in IS based on religion, traveling outside the US, participating in a study abroad course, and the number of cultural events in which the student had participated. Regression analysis confirmed that religious affiliation and number of times traveled outside the US were significant predictors of IS. This study is an example of the use of theory-based evaluation in an educational system and provides important insights into what experiences affect college students’ IS.     

高职院校顶岗实习管理机制构建探析

顶岗实习是实现高职人才培养目标的重要途径。鉴于当前高职顶岗实习中学校、学生及教师各层面都存在的问题,重新设计了顶岗实习的流程体系,通过校、企、师、生、家五方联动,构建了五途径保障实习岗位、两维度驱动实习成效、四层次规范实习管理、三主体强化实习评价的“五二四三”顶岗实习模式,实现学生、企业、教师、家长、导师和学校的六方共赢。     

图书馆科普教育现状与发展路径探究——基于25个省市88家科普教育基地调查

[目的/意义] 图书馆肩负着实施科普教育的法定职责，拥有品种多样、内容丰富的科普文献与信息资源的图书馆，在开展科普教育方面具有得天独厚的优势。图书馆科普教育起步比较早，2005年，中国图书馆学会成立科普与阅读指导委员会；但在图书馆业界，科普教育只是零星的点缀式服务创新探索，尚未成为常态化服务项目。在依法治馆、创新发展的新时代，寻求图书馆科普教育发展路径具有较强理论和实践意义。[方法/过程] 通过互联网、微信等社交网络平台，对图书馆科普教育基地建设的状况进行调研，从基地等级、基地类型、基地数量、区域分布、有效期限以及认定依据等方面进行深入分析，并对图书馆实施科普教育提出发展路径以供选择。[结果/结论] 图书馆科普教育应坚持基地建设与科普服务相结合、阅读推广与全民科普相融合、科普与游学并举等策略，走设施、资源、服务"三位一体"的持续稳健协调发展之路。     

基于二模复杂网络的隐性知识发现方法研究——以潜在药物靶点挖掘为例

[目的/意义] 通过构建二模复杂网络模型，揭示隐藏在海量文献中的隐性知识。[方法/过程] 通过NetworkX复杂网络工具包，依据任意两个节点的共现关系构建二模复杂网络模型；对网络模型中节点的共现关系进行加权，计算网络的拓扑信息并进行AP聚类，提取节点间的直接关系；采用AUC方法对AA、JC、加权改进的wAA和wJC等4种链路预测算法进行评价，遴选出最合适的预测算法，并对复杂网络的隐性关系进行预测分析。[结果/结论] 以潜在药物靶点挖掘为例进行的实证研究结果表明，wAA链路预测算法为最优的链路预测算法；二模复杂网络模型、指标和方法体系在美国化学文摘社数据库中的药物靶点挖掘中具有一定的有效性。下一步计划在其他数据库中或其他研究领域中进行尝试，以进一步验证该模型的通用性和有效性。     

图书情报学领域学科交叉及其国家差异的动态分析

[目的/意义]领域知识的跨学科交叉研究能够打破学科间的壁垒,有助于发现重大科学问题的解决方案。[研究设计/方法]基于图书情报学领域文献题录信息构建轻量级领域知识图谱,从中提取学科信息、国家信息、时间信息及其关联,采用时间与空间相结合的多维度分析方法,对学科交叉的演化进程以及国家差异进行跟踪与分析。[结论/发现]图书情报学领域内学科交叉现象日渐显著,各国家的学科交叉程度与倾向存在差异,一些目前尚不突出的交叉学科方向值得关注。[创新/价值]采用多维度视角分析学科交叉现象,相关结论可以为国家科技战略制定及学科发展规划提供有益参考。     

A Bioethos for Bodies: Respecting a Priceless Resource

The value that willed body donors provide to medical education is priceless. Their precious gift helps to teach anatomy, spatial relationships between morphological structures, anatomical variation, and professionalism to medical students in a way that plastic models, podcasts, and lectures cannot. They are also an important resource for medical research and a wide variety of postgraduate training opportunities. While many body donation programs throughout the world are nonprofit organizations, there are body donation companies in the United States that sell donors for-profit. These “body brokers” have accumulated large profits from this business. It is incongruous that others would profit from such a priceless, freely donated gift. To prevent this incongruity, it is proposed that the international anatomical community develop a normative culture (a bioethos) for body donation programs. This would involve the conscious and systematic development of ethical principles for the day-to-day policies and practices of institutions that collect and use human bodies. With the development of this bioethos, a cultural shift in how donors are treated would occur and, over time, this would become the normal practice. These principles would become fundamental and foundational for the procurement and use of priceless human tissues.