A professional development climate course for sustainable agriculture in Australia

There are few professional development courses in Australia for the rural sector concerned with climate variability, climate change and sustainable agriculture. The lack of educators with a sound technical background in climate science and its applications in agriculture prevents the delivery of courses either stand‐alone or embedded in other courses, and adversely affects the ability of graduating students to apply climate information. This paper presents evidence from a professional development climate course with 20 professional educators and consultants and results from: surveys at the training workshop; from a questionnaire 12 months post‐workshop; and a combined interview and survey two years post‐workshop. The key finding was that professional development courses specifically addressing climate are essential, while topics should include climate and weather, the impacts of climate on agricultural systems, strategic thinking and planning options available for business. A project undertaken by professionals delivering climate education helped to improve their skills and confidence to deliver other stand‐alone climate courses or to embed climate in existing courses. The paper proposes that a suitable resource manual should be ‘problem‐based’ in its design to allow for a broad range of geographic climates, and should address a wide range of agricultural enterprises including livestock production, horticulture and cropping. The authors also propose ways to introduce and integrate applied climate knowledge and skills into the wider community. Possible progress for inter‐disciplinary education and the implications from enhancing learning about climate for sustainable agriculture are discussed.     

对促进欠发达地区高职教育可持续发展的理性思考

当前，我国欠发达地区高职教育还存在着办学定位不清、办学基础设施差、师资力量薄弱、专业设置缺乏市场论证、毕业生就业能力不强等问题。要促进欠发达地区高职教育的可持续发展，必须解放思想，与时俱进，创新高职教育发展理念，明确办学定位；坚持和落实科学发展观，实施高职教育的品牌化发展战略；构建人才培养的质量保证体系，实施高职教育的国际化发展战略；建立多元化的教育经费投入和筹措机制，实施高职教育的产业化发展战略。     

Ecological dynamics as a theoretical framework for development of sustainable behaviours towards the environment

This paper proposes how the theoretical framework of ecological dynamics can provide an influential model of the learner and the learning process to pre-empt effective behaviour changes. Here we argue that ecological dynamics supports a well-established model of the learner ideally suited to the environmental education context because of its emphasis on the learner–environment relationship. The model stems from perspectives on behaviour change in ecological psychology and dynamical systems theory. The salient points of the model are highlighted for educators interested in manipulating environmental constraints in the learning process, with the aim of designing effective learning programmes in environmental education. We conclude by providing generic principles of application which might define the learning process in environmental education programmes.     

Practice change in environmental education: lessons from professional development

Abstract

The field of environmental education (EE) strives to develop innovative practices to address emergent issues such as equity, climate change, and urbanization. Through facilitating workshops and ongoing networks for the exchange of ideas, professional development programs may foster innovation or practice change among environmental educators. This study investigates change in practice among environmental educators who participated in one of three online and face-to-face professional development programs. Drawing from practice theory, we measured elements of EE practice including goals, audiences, settings, activities, resources, and ideas. The results showed that across all three programs participants incorporated new resources and ideas into their practices whereas changes in other practice elements varied among programs. Participants in all three programs produced eBooks or ongoing networks that can be used as indicators of practice innovation. This study suggests that practice theory can be used to inform studies of professional development outcomes and examine EE practice, but that practice innovations may be more readily measured at the group rather than individual level.     

一种新的评定临床技能成绩的方法

英国北部设菲尔德市儿童医院开发了一种用门诊病人医案来评定儿科医生临床技能的量表,并估计了该量表的信度、可行性、效度和教育的影响。实践表明该量表是可行的,在对培训中的儿科注册医师进行年度评定中它提供的结果是可靠的,量表的反馈有利于被评医生提高自身的临床书面交流能力。这一考评方法具有操作简便、信度和效应较好的优点,它可以作为评定综合性临床能力的一部分,经过试验,这一方法也可用于其他医疗专业的考评。     

A sustainability education academic development framework (SEAD)

Academic development is one means of reorientating education within higher education (HE) to include sustainability principles. This paper identifies the requirements of academic development programmes that will provide educators with the skills to engage students in the ideas of sustainability and sustainable development. In order to determine what an ideal academic development programme for sustainability education might look like, a theoretical framework for sustainable education and academic development (SEAD framework) was constructed. This was based on an analysis of the literature in the areas of sustainability education, academic development and organisational change in HE. The aim of this paper was to present and analyse the theoretical SEAD framework against three international academic development programmes in sustainability education for HE, which utilised different approaches and delivery modes. From this analysis, it is possible to determine the elements of academic development that would most likely result in a change in educational development and delivery.     

略论高职教育中人的可持续发展问题

当前限制高职学生扩展发展空间的是学生缺乏职业技能,潜在素质薄弱。高职教育的发展,既要重视培养学生的技能,也要重要培养学生的素质,促使高职学生成为高素质的高技能人才,保证他们具有可持续发展的能力。这是时代发展的需求,也是高职院校教育可持续发展的必然要求。     

Using learning principles as a theoretical framework for instructional consultations

Learning theory provides a powerful framework for analyzing instructional consultations and increasing their effectiveness. In this paper, the authors review the main tenets of learning theory, apply them to consultation scenarios, and present a complex case study to show how they can guide analysis and problem solving around challenging consultations.     

高职旅游管理专业行业基本素质课程教学新模式研究

以有十多年高职旅游教育经验的重庆教育学院高职旅游管理专业为例,针对行业基本素质课程的教学模式进行研究．分析了传统模式所具有的四大特点,同时发现了其中存在的与当前旅游行业人才素质培养不相符合的一些问题。为推动高职教学改革,我们构建了新的教学模式,并绘制了新教学模式图,同时分析阐述了新模式的六大主要特点。     

高职学生社会实践与专业素质教育结合研究

要使高职院校学生社会实践与专业素质教育更好的结合,需要明确认识社会实践对专业素质教育的重要性.要对学生进行专业素质教育,需要从学生顶岗实习、职业技能培养、职业性较强的社会实践活动和校企合作基地入手.     

高等教育可持续发展面临的问题及对策

实现高等教育的可持续发展,要求确立以学生发展为中心的办学理念,明确培养目标,优化师资队伍,提高质量效益,构建科学的评价体系,走创新之路,形成核心竞争力,激发发展活力。     

Understanding teacher instructional change: the case of integrating NGSS and stewardship in professional development

The environmental education (EE) field has encountered persistent challenges in fostering the integration of EE practices in public schools, a challenge that may be addressed through integration of EE with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in the United States. In addition to the potential for fostering EE, the integration of EE and NGSS may provide a unique set of conditions for understanding how and why teachers shift their practice to incorporate more EE in their classrooms. Using a mixed methodology research design, this study examines the outcomes and processes of a professional development institute that integrated NGSS and student-driven environmental stewardship. This study provides evidence that integrating NGSS Science and Engineering Practices with stewardship may help infuse EE into classrooms. The research also contributes to theoretical understanding of the processes by which professional development shapes teacher change within an organizational context. Specifically, teacher instructional change was predicated on a shift in their beliefs that stewardship was possible in a standards and accountability-based educational context. The requisite shift in beliefs came about through the expectations and supportive resources provided by the professional development, teacher observation of student engagement, and the justification NGSS integration provided for stewardship activities.     

论高等职业技术教育的特色建设之路

高等职业技术教育要想得以快速发展,必须走特色之路。一要树立与时俱进的办学理念;二要创建自身质量品牌;三要建设名师队伍。     

中国——东盟合作框架下西部地方高等教育人才培养模式创新研究——以广西为例

西部地方高等教育是我国高等教育事业的重要组织部分,其发展对提高我国高等教育整体覆盖面、进入人力资源强国行列与实现西部大开发国家战略具有积极意义和推动作用。人才培养模式陈旧是制约西部地方高等教育发展及其对地方经济社会贡献度的瓶颈问题,应当充分认识西部地方高等教育人才培养模式的现状及存在问题,努力探讨中国-东盟合作框架下构建西部地方高等教育人才培养模式创新路途。     

发展高等职业教育是调整高等教育结构的手段

我国单一的高等教育结构，虽然培养了大量的人才，但其规格与类型却不能满足社会对高层次实用型人才的需要，致使高等教育与经济的发展不相适应。对部分高等院校实行改革、改组和改制来发展高等职业教育，是调整我国高等教育结构的重要手段。     

Facilitating change in undergraduate STEM instructional practices: An analytic review of the literature

This article reviews current scholarship about how to promote change in instructional practices used in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. The review is based on 191 conceptual and empirical journal articles published between 1995 and 2008. Four broad categories of change strategies were developed to capture core differences within this body of literature: disseminating curriculum and pedagogy, developing reflective teachers, enacting policy, and developing shared vision. STEM education researchers largely write about change in terms of disseminating curriculum and pedagogy. Faculty development researchers largely write about change in terms of developing reflective teachers. Higher education researchers largely write about change in terms of enacting policy. New work often does not build on prior empirical or theoretical work. Although most articles claim success of the change strategy studied, evidence presented to support these claims is typically not strong. For example, only 21% of articles that studied implementation of a change strategy were categorized as presenting strong evidence to support claims of success or failure of the strategy. These analyses suggest that the state of change strategies and the study of change strategies are weak, and that research communities that study and enact change are largely isolated from one‐another. In spite of the weak state of the literature, some conclusions related to the design of change strategies can be drawn from this review. Two commonly used change strategies are clearly not effective: developing and testing “best practice” curricular materials and then making these materials available to other faculty and “top‐down” policy‐making meant to influence instructional practices. Effective change strategies: are aligned with or seek to change the beliefs of the individuals involved; involve long‐term interventions, lasting at least one semester; require understanding a college or university as a complex system and designing a strategy that is compatible with this system. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 48: 952–984, 2011     

论高等教育大众化进程中高等职业教育的地位和作用

在实现高等教育大众过程中，发展高等职业教育有利于优化高等教育结构，促进高等教育向多样化发展；有利于满足社会发展对人才规格提出的客观要求，促进经济发展，为实现高等教育大众化提供物质基础；有利于我国终身教育体系的建立，为实现高等教育大众化开辟有效途径。     

世界职业教育制度改革和发展的新趋势

在新的挑战面前，世界职业教育正进行着各个方面的改革，其中职业教育制度是职业教育改革的重点。其改革和发展有四大趋势：职业教育终身化；职业教育上移化；职业教育与企业培训合作化；普通教育职业化和职业教育普通化。     

高职教育课程观的影响因素及构建

课程观是课程建设的指导,决定课程改革的方向。在对影响高等职业技术教育课程观各因素深入分析的前提下,提出“以综合职业能力和全面素质为中心”的高等职业技术教育课程观。     

高职教育实施学分制的优越性探析

学分制是在市场经济下适应社会经济发展和个人发展需要的先进的教育教学管理制度。在高职教育中实施学分制管理制度,符合学生的个性差异和发展愿望,可以极大地调动学生与教师的积极性和主动性,有利于培养社会经济发展需要的高素质复合技能型人才。