科学探究--物理新课程的一个主题

目前,教育部根据义务教育物理课程标准组织编写了两套物理实验教科书,一套由义务教育物理课程标准实验教科书编写组编写,上海科技出版社出版;一套由人民教育出版社物     

大学一年级体育课课程内容设置之研究

学校体育课程改革是项复杂的系统过程，它涉及到诸多因素。如何结合我校的实际，因地制宜、实事求是，积极稳妥地实施体育教学，以培养学生的创新精神和实践能力为重点，探索并构建具有时代特色的、适应时代要求的、充满活力的体育课程，并付诸于实践，促进学生健康、和谐地发展。为此，我们作了一些探索研究，并取得了可喜成绩。     

第三次国际数学与科学研究:美国的回应及其启示

第三次国际数学与科学研究(简称TIMSS),是国际上迄今为止规模最大、最为严密、最具综合性的国际教育比较研究。在41个TIMSS参与国中,美国的回应最为积极而强烈,其对TIMSS信息的分析最为精细,开发与传递的策略也最为巧妙。透过美国的回应方式与策略,我们至少可以得到三点启示:鉴别国际基准,需要对研究信息作精细的分析;中小学数学与科学课程改革需要审慎的态度和基于研究的决策;教育行政部门应在改革中行使“领导”和“服务”双重职能。     

Understanding the low mathematics achievement of Chilean students: A cross-national analysis using TIMSS data

The low performance of Chile in the TIMSS 1998/99 international study of mathematics and science achievement was a great disappointment for that country. To investigate the likely causes for low performance in mathematics, this study (1) compared Chile to three countries and one large school system that had similar economic conditions but superior mathematics performance, and (2) examined how important characteristics of the Chilean educational system could account for poor student achievement in mathematics. The study finds that, compared to South Korea, Malaysia, the Slovak Republic, and Miami-Dade County Public Schools: (a) Chilean 8th graders had parents with fewer years of schooling and with fewer educational resources at home; (b) the Chilean mathematics curriculum covered less content and fewer cognitive skills; and (c) the meager official curriculum translated into a weaker curricular implementation. Hierarchical linear models found that, in Chile, school assets were unequally distributed across social classes, with schools in socially advantaged areas more likely to have their own mathematics curriculum and better prepared teachers who emphasized more advanced mathematics content. Schools with their own mathematics curriculum and whose teachers covered more advanced content had significantly higher student achievement in mathematics.     

Diversity project: mapping of diversity teaching and learning in nurse education curriculum

Diversity and inclusivity in higher education and health care have gained prominence in recent years and this means that institutions’ educational programmes need to incorporate teaching and learning that is responsive to diversity. This paper reports findings from a diversity teaching and learning mapping project. The aim of the mapping project was to map out when and how the various themes on diversity in all course curricula are addressed in a university’s School of Nursing. The project adopted the following methodologies: documentary reviews of curriculum documents, handbooks and timetables, followed by qualitative interviews with module leaders and teachers. The documentary reviews provided a map of where diversity teaching and learning tended to occur and the interviews yielded six major themes central to diversity: definition, importance, confidence, challenges, resources and future implications.

The results suggest that mapping does provide an important way of comparing courses and highlighting aspects which need attention. The results provide directions for curriculum development teams to ensure that diversity issues are transparently addressed in all courses in the School of Nursing. Furthermore, the insights derived from the findings steered the project team to develop Web CT resources on some of the diversity themes such as an introduction to diversity and inclusivity, spirituality, ethnicity and diversity. Plans are in place to develop further diversity teaching and learning resources in the light of findings which will be used in staff development programmes.     

Project-based learning in post-WWII Japanese school curriculum: an analysis via curriculum orientations

In the 2000s, the new national curriculum, dubbed as the ‘yutori curriculum,’ introduced a new subject for project-based learning ‘Integrated Study’ as its prominent feature. Comparing curriculum orientations in project-based learning in three historical periods after the WWII including Integrated Study, this paper aims to offer a genealogy of postwar Japanese school curriculum primarily based on a critical reading of the national curriculum guidelines on project-based learning, which is emblematic of the extending power of postwar Japan's curriculum authorities. Although Integrated Study was purportedly child-centered and put emphasis on each child's personal relevance and each school's autonomy, the finding of this study shows that Integrated Study in the yutori curriculum was rather a technology that disciplined schools, teachers, and classroom processes to shape children into morally good and cognitively flexible Japanese nationals. Despite its rhetoric of child-centeredness and personal relevance, the introduction of Integrated Study as part of the yutori curriculum was ultimately part of the state's move to gain further control over schooling.     

TIMSS最新科学测评：结果、趋势与启示

国际数学与科学趋势研究（TIMSS）最新测评结果显示,学生科学平均成绩的国际整体水平逐渐提高,东亚国家/地区处于领先地位,新加坡位列全球第一。研究表明,早期教育启蒙、教育资源、校园氛围及师资力量、学生态度和信心等因素会影响科学平均成绩。为了促进我国科学教育健康发展,首先需要构建安全的学习环境,培养学生学校归属感与积极的科学态度;其次,培养专业化教师来支持学生的科学实践;最后,将课程材料和学生日常经验相结合,合理开发科学课程资源。     

汽车模型的测绘与制作课程改革研究

当前国内很多职业院校都在努力探索课程改革方向以适应现代企业生产和学生职业发展的需求。汽车模型的测绘与制作课程改革是通过行动导向教学法的实施,创建职业情境中的典型职业活动让学生实现专业知识的习得和职业实践技能的掌握,以培养学生的创造性思维能力及动手能力。通过对汽车模型的拆装、测绘、零部件加工及最后装配的过程,将传统的理论课程与钳工制作有机结合在一起,调动了大多数学生的学习积极性,引导学生主动参与到学习情境中来。     

Revisiting the Relationship Between Students' Achievement and their Self-perceptions: A cross-national analysis based on TIMSS 1999 data

Using the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 1999 data, this study investigates the relationship between 8th graders' mathematics and science achievement and their self-perceptions. For within-country data, there is generally a positive relationship between students' achievement and three measures of their self-perception: how much they like the two subjects, their self-perceived competence in the subjects and their perceived easiness of the subjects. However, on a between-country analysis (the unit of analysis being the country) the findings are the opposite, i.e. there is a negative relationship between self-perceptions and achievement. These findings are consistent with the findings from a previous study based on TIMSS 1995 data, even though the sample of countries is different and an additional measure of self-perception is applied. Among several possible explanations, the author suggests that this pattern may reflect high academic standards in high performing countries and low academic standards in low performing countries.     

The treatment of culture in the foreign language curriculum: an analysis of national curriculum documents

Teaching culture in the foreign language classroom has been widely debated ever since its importance was recognized. Current research suggests that centralized ‘top down’ curricular policies can become potential constraints to teaching culture and points to the need for adapting curricula for culture-integrated language learning. This study analysed official curriculum documents published in 14 different countries to identify how the sociocultural component to Teaching English as a Foreign Language is reflected in the document. To date, there is scarce research on the place of culture in English as a Foreign Language curricula; hence, the present study aims at filling in a gap in this area. The study points to the following findings: curricula state the importance of culture in language learning and promote an integrative view of teaching language and culture; cultural objectives focus on appreciating cultural diversity, raising cultural awareness and reinforcing students’ positive cultural identity; teachers are portrayed as facilitators (rather than transmitters) of cultural knowledge yet, learners are described as acquiring (rather than discovering) cultural knowledge; curriculum documents focus on cultural knowledge and attitudes towards foreign cultures, rather than on the skills needed for successful interaction. These findings are elaborated and discussed, with potential implications for practice.     

TIMSS2007科学测评:框架、工具与启示

TIMSS2007科学测评基于各参与国家的科学课程制订了评价框架,并开发了标准化的科学测评工具.在剖析TIMSS2007科学测评的评价框架基础上,对测评工具的开发、设置和命题特点等进行分析,提出对我国基于新课程的学业成就评价改革的启示.     

Local curriculum development as object construction: A sociomaterial analysis

This paper examines teachers' local curriculum development by analyzing such development as a process of object construction. One team of lower secondary school teachers, mandated to develop a subject curriculum for their school, was followed closely over a year through an ethnographic approach. Data from six team meetings were analyzed to trace how the curriculum was developed through a series of object instantiations that also worked on the construction process. This process required various forms of epistemic engagement, which should be acknowledged in current discussions of teachers’ work and their extended professional responsibilities.     

Evidence that class size matters in 4th grade mathematics: An analysis of TIMSS 2007 data for Colombia

Like students in most developing countries, Colombian students in 4th grade performed poorly in the TIMSS 2007 test of mathematics skills, achieving an average score of 355 relative to an international mean of 500. After controlling for other factors and misreporting error, I find that large classes have substantial adverse effects on student achievement. Increases in class size from 20 to 53 students reduce test scores by about 80 points, or 2.4 points for each additional student in the class. Most likely this is the cumulative effect of class size in grades one to four on achievement in 4th grade.     

Reforming science in the school curriculum: a critical analysis

This article is concerned with the founding purposes and justification of natural science in the statutory school curriculum. It offers a critique of the strand of argument and the proposals for reform which have developed after the report Beyond 2000 focused on a particular usage of the term ‘scientific literacy’. Two lines of argument are criticised. These are, first, the view that a founding purpose of the science curriculum can be to prepare students for dealing as adults with socio‐political issues with a scientific aspect, and, second, that there is a well‐defined distinction to be drawn between the purposes of the statutory curriculum for pupils who will become professional scientists and others. The article suggests that these issues have not been the subject of sustained and open‐minded examination in recent years, and calls for such an examination.     

Class Size Effects on Fourth-Grade Mathematics Achievement: Evidence From TIMSS 2011

ABSTRACT

Class size reduction policies have been widely implemented around the world in recent years. However, findings about the effects of class size on student achievement have been mixed. This study examines class size effects on fourth-grade mathematics achievement in 14 European countries using data from TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) 2011. We employ quasi-experimental methodology (i.e., instrumental variables and regression discontinuity) to facilitate causal inferences of class size effects. Although we find some evidence of class size effects in Romania and the Slovak Republic, overall there are no systematic patterns of class size effects across countries. The results indicate that in most European countries class size reduction may not improve mathematics achievement in fourth grade.