The effect of short-term educational travel programs on environmental citizenship

Short-term study abroad is the fastest growing area of international education and there is increasing interest in the role of modified applications of this form (e.g. faculty-led, field/environmental, and/or educational travel) in influencing global citizenship. Using an empirical database of over 650 students registered for a study abroad course in sustainable development offered in Australia and New Zealand, we explore the effect of short-term educational travel programs on environmental citizenship. We also identify differences among key student characteristics (past study abroad experience, gender, and program destination) in influencing citizenry. Results show that participation in the educational travel program significantly moderates (decreases) the difference in environmental citizenship scores for first-timers (vs. those with past experience in study abroad) and program destination, but increases the difference in environmental citizenship for males vs. females. Implications for destination image and national brand marketing of environmental-oriented educational travel programs are discussed.     

汉语国际教育专业硕士培养中的若干问题

本文根据北京大学在培养汉语国际教育硕士研究生时的一些思考和做法,特别是近两年来采取的新举措,讨论汉语国际教育硕士培养中的三个问题。文章指出,“汉语国际教育”是“对外汉语教学”这个学科内的一个专业;培养汉语国际教育专业硕士生和对外汉语教学硕士研究生时,相同点要大于二者的差异。文章认为,汉语国际教育是一个教育项目,遇到的很多问题都是学术问题,培养者需要增强学术意识;同时,培养单位应根据自身的特点,突出自己的特色。     

2003—2014年北京市义务教育教学质量监测学科评价方案的特征及思考

研制学科评价方案是开展学业测试的基础性工作,也是近年教育评价研究的热点问题。梳理、比较2003—2014年北京市义务教育阶段教学质量监测学科评价方案的发展轨迹,可以发现该系列评价方案基于学科课程标准,聚焦北京市课堂教学实际,汲取了国外评价项目及理论的优秀经验,历经多轮修订,聚焦核心课程系列化的呈现,对学业水平测试、内容标准、学业成就水平等核心概念逐一进行了界定,分阶段解决关键问题,聚焦学科能力的认知与水平分层,设计了清晰具体的内容标准,学业成就水平描述体现了递进性。借鉴北京的经验,今后国内相关评价机构在研制学科评价方案时,可以关注学科评价方案研制的专业性,并及时向大众解读方案内容,对学科评价方案中情感态度价值观领域的水平进行详细划分,从而实现评价方案对教师课堂教学的全面指导。     

Quality of Prekindergarten: What Families Are Looking for in Public Sponsored Programs

This study describes the meaning of program quality for a representative group of parents of children enrolled in public prekindergarten programs. Educators often conceptualized quality in terms of structural or process indicators; parents most often cited teacher experience and relationship to children. Families, like educators, emphasized enhancing readiness as central to program quality. In addition, families identified 3 classes of indicators not usually included in educational research or professional discussions of program quality: comprehensive service provision, convenient location, and home-school collaboration. In the decision to enroll children in a program, Whites more often relied on indicators of the classroom emotional climate, Latinos more often examined the provision of comprehensive services, and African Americans more often weighed the quality of home-school partnerships than their ethnic counterparts. For Latinos living in poverty, the concern about dual language development was salient. African Americans emphasized the importance of a close relationship with staff.     

Establishing an Equitable and Fair Admissions System for an Online Doctoral Program

The field of educational technology has seen marked growth from just a small number of distance-based doctoral programs to nearly 20 today. Creating and sustaining a quality doctoral program of any kind requires a substantial amount of work; the additional challenges of online programs both increases and changes the nature of the efforts required. Among these challenges is creating an admissions process that treats people fairly, does not create a burdensome system for applicants or those involved in the selection process, and ensures the selection of a solid foundation of high quality candidates with whom faculty can mentor, who add value to the program, and who can benefit from the program. This paper explores common admissions requirements among institutions offering a distance or hybrid doctorate in educational technology and examines the specific admissions system used by the Department of Educational Technology at Boise State University.     

“十一五”时期教育系统干部培训工作的主要经验、困难与问题

“十一五”时期教育系统干部培训工作有了较大发展,不仅提升了质量水平,而且积累了工作经验,但也存在困难与问题.文章阐述了“十一五”时期教育系统干部培训工作的主要经验,分析了其实践中所遇到的困难与问题,这对做好“十二五”时期工作规划、计划及其实施具有参考价值与借鉴意义,并有助于更进一步推进此项工作的科学持续发展.     

On Masters and Apprentices in Physical Education

This paper discusses the impact of the mentoring role of faculty on fostering a quality educational experience for graduate students. Although potentially significant graduate students naturally gravitate to work with significant faculty, it is the mentoring role of the advisor that allows the student's potential to be realized. Clues to the impact of this mentoring role are gleaned from Zuckerman's (1977) analysis of American Nobel Prize laureates. To promote a quality advisor–student relationship, departments need to look beyond the student and considerations of the norms and regulations of entrance and ongoing program criteria. One necessary and very significant precursor will be the presence of quality faculty.     

WTO框架下的教育输入与输出和中国政府的教育立法与政策调整

中国加入WTO对教育服务的承诺是部分承诺，有条件、有步骤地开放服务贸易领域和进行管理、审批。WTO框架下，国际教育服务主要通过跨境交付、境外消费、商业存在和自然人流动四种方式提供。OECD和UNESCO将跨境教育区分为人员流动、项目流动和机构流动三种方式。在加入WTO后中国政府根据不同阶段不同类别教育的特点，做出了不同的教育服务贸易准入承诺，教育的输入与输出方面的政策与立法做了调整。政府要高度重视WTO框架下对教育输入、输出机构办学质量的监控，不断改进和完善准入质量标准和办学质量标准。政府要不断改进管理职能。     

Quality and Early Field Experiences: Partnering with Junior Achievement

This study explored the perceptions of preservice teacher candidates who participated in a pilot partnership between a public teacher education preparation program and Junior Achievement (JA). The partnership was grounded in the premise that providing early field experiences to preservice teacher candidates was a necessary requirement of quality teacher education. In an introductory pedagogy course, preservice teacher candidates in their junior year participated in a five-week field experience where they taught JA lessons in partnership schools. The results suggested that preservice teacher candidates perceived an expanded sense of comfort with teaching strategies, classroom management, and diversity during the actual teaching of the lessons in the field experience. Additionally, participants reported increased confidence levels with their own preparation to teach. The partnership with JA that provided a quality, early field experience may have enhanced the general pedagogical proficiencies needed for preservice teachers to succeed as practicing educators. Suggestions for creating a partnership with JA are provided.     

A career transition program for older persons

The Second Careers program undertaken by the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences during 1975–1976 was designed to help older persons seeking second careers in the health care field make realistic career decisions. The program grew out of an awareness that persons over 45 are not adequately served by American educational institutions and frequently are denied opportunities to embark upon second careers in which they can make significant contributions. The age group 45–65 now makes up 20% of the American population. This group of persons is increasingly well educated, politically active, and relatively healthy; many are not inclined to settle for retirement or continued participation in jobs they may have outgrown. This population includes the early retiree; the homemaker returning to the marketplace either from choice or necessity; and the individual who seeks counseling, training, and education to support a midlife change to a new career. Second Careers was established for this large and educationally underserved group. This article describes a model program, conducted over a one year period, which combined classroom work and field experience with individual and group counseling. It involved twelve part-time students, all of whom made significant career decisions by the end of the year. Although this effort focused primarily on exploring career opportunities in the health care field, the model can be adapted to almost any educational setting. This paper is offered as a guide for individuals and organizations involved in or contemplating similar educational, counseling, and/or service programs for older persons.This article reprinted with permission fromEducational Gerontology An International Quarterly Vol. 4(1) Hemisphere Publishing Company.     

BEING A CONSTRUCTIVIST TEACHER EDUCATOR: AN INVITATION FOR DIALOGUE

This article is part of a larger exploratory study that followed preservice early childhood teachers through their program and into their first year of practice, giving voice to their understandings of quality teaching and learning, and insight into the ways their preservice program prepared them for the challenges of teaching in diverse settings. Analyses of our graduates’ first-year interviews revealed participants’ perceptions on those elements of the program which best guided their decisions in practice, such as reflective thinking about their daily work and child observation and inquiry. Findings support the importance of engaging in differentiated instruction, reflective practice, and collaboration through a variety of experiences in the field, and illuminate everyday practices that bring richness to teaching and learning in early childhood education. Emergent questions about the best ways to provide quality early childhood teacher preparation are discussed in relation to the dilemmas early childhood teachers face in the current educational landscape.     

中外合作办学跨文化教学运行实践研究 ——以海南热带海洋学院中奥合办旅游管理本科项目为例

海南热带海洋学院与奥地利克雷姆斯国际管理中心应用技术大学合作举办的旅游管理专业本科教育项目作为学校首个中外合作办学项目,对于引进奥方先进的教学经验和教育资源具有重要意义.项目摸着石头过河,面临着跨文化教学管理的各项挑战.分析了项目在课程体系建设、课程考核与成绩评定制度、教学质量监控以及课堂文化等具体教学运行环节方面的差...     

Quality of Prekindergarten: What Families Are Looking for in Public Sponsored Programs

This study describes the meaning of program quality for a representative group of parents of children enrolled in public prekindergarten programs. Educators often conceptualized quality in terms of structural or process indicators; parents most often cited teacher experience and relationship to children. Families, like educators, emphasized enhancing readiness as central to program quality. In addition, families identified 3 classes of indicators not usually included in educational research or professional discussions of program quality: comprehensive service provision, convenient location, and home–school collaboration. In the decision to enroll children in a program, Whites more often relied on indicators of the classroom emotional climate, Latinos more often examined the provision of comprehensive services, and African Americans more often weighed the quality of home–school partnerships than their ethnic counterparts. For Latinos living in poverty, the concern about dual language development was salient. African Americans emphasized the importance of a close relationship with staff.     

Where Child Care is Above Average? Licensing, Legislation, and Indicators of Quality of Care in Minnesota

Despite Minnesota's reputation for quality child care, recent changes in legislation and the impact of changing needs have raised concerns about the quality of child care available in the state. This paper presents an overview of Minnesota's current child care system including structural indicators of program quality such as licensing standards, staff wages, turnover, educational level, and program accreditation. The current situation is characterized by high levels of staff turnover, low wages, low levels of program accreditation, and increasing numbers of variances for child care licenses, all of which are disadvantageous to providing high quality child care to Minnesota's children. Efforts to decrease turnover through higher salaries and increase staff educational levels through tuition vouchers are explored. We find that there are a number of ways in which states can support quality child care, but stricter licensing standards are not likely to be sufficient by themselves.     

高校内部质量保证工作:专业监控

论述专业监控的总则、监控的目的和任务、监控的内容和程序,以及监控报告等;精选外国高校在专业监控方面的范例,供国内高校质量保证工作借鉴和参考.     

An Overview of Community College Programs for Elderly Texans

Abstract

This report presents a summary of the program presented by 16 Texas community and junior colleges for people over age 60 during the academic year 1974–1975. This program, funded by the Governor's Committee on Aging and administered by the Coordinating Board, Texas College and University System, supported demonstration projects to improve the quality of life of elderly Texans through innovative educational activities. The development of these programs and the kind of activities made available are described. The majority of these colleges have subsequently continued programs with local funds, based on their demonstration experiences. This pilot project has helped a number of colleges in Texas enter the field of late-life education and, in turn, is helping the older residents in these communities to have an educational program of their own.     

Quality in early childhood education and care: a case study of disadvantage

Large numbers of young children spend significant amounts of time in early childhood educational settings. Concerns about the quality of this experience have increased substantially in recent years. Further, as social inequalities in Australia continue to grow the gap between disadvantage and advantage widens despite overall levels of increased economic prosperity. Provision of quality early childhood education may be one important way to address disadvantage as international studies show that high quality early childhood education experience contributes to reducing inequality later in life. This study investigated the relationship between quality and disadvantage in a childcare centre in urban Australia. Employing a case study approach, building on Bronfenbrenner’s theory and previous literature, the study found that four key components affected the quality of childcare in this centre—physical environment, staff–child interaction, curriculum/program and family support. Importantly, staff knowledge and dedication were crucial to achieving quality.     

Beginners and programming: insights from second language learning and teaching

This paper will consider issues that are important in the teaching and learning of programming to students in their first year of an undergraduate course in a computer science discipline. We will suggest that the current educational climate offers the opportunity to move the focus onto the learner and their experience, and that second language learning and teaching in the field of English as a Second, or Foreign, Language may be a fruitful area on which to draw. We will review a particular aspect of second language pedagogy-learner strategies-and discuss their applicability to students who are starting to learn how to program. We will consider ways in which these strategies might be useful to support learning programming at this level.