Scaffolding Middle School Students’ Construction of Scientific Explanations: Comparing a cognitive versus a metacognitive evaluation approach

This study investigated the effects of scaffolds as cognitive prompts and as metacognitive evaluation on seventh-grade students' growth of content knowledge and construction of scientific explanations in five inquiry-based biology activities. Students' scores on multiple-choice pretest and posttest and worksheets for five inquiry-based activities were analyzed. The results show that the students' content knowledge in all conditions significantly increased from the pretest to posttest. Incorporating cognitive prompts with the explanation scaffolds better facilitated knowledge integration and resulted in greater learning gains of content knowledge and better quality evidence and reasoning. The metacognitive evaluation instruction improved all explanation components, especially claims and reasoning. This metacognitive approach also significantly reduced students' over- or underestimation during peer-evaluation by refining their internal standards for the quality of scientific explanations. The ability to accurately evaluate the quality of explanations was strongly associated with better performance on explanation construction. The cognitive prompts and metacognitive evaluation instruction address different aspects of the challenges faced by the students, and show different effects on the enhancement of content knowledge and the quality of scientific explanations. Future directions and suggestions are provided for improving the design of the scaffolds to facilitate the construction of scientific explanations.     

新课改下创设化学教学情景的探讨

新课程要求在教学过程中能够激起学生各种情感体验,要求学习者在知识的构建过程中能够产生学习动机和学习兴趣,在形成认知冲突后,能够具有解决问题的能力。新课程标准下化学教学的有效实施,在很大程度上依赖于化学情景的创设。     

Performance‐based certification—How to design a valid,defensible, cost‐effective program

Initiating a certification program is the overall intent of this book. Judith Hale starts with the program's business case, navigating you through requirements, standards, and assessments, and concluding with implementation and tips for “going global.” The book provides you with a roadmap for starting and implementing a certification program. Whether you are a C‐level executive or a performance improvement practitioner, this book has the explanation and rationale for implementing a certification program, using examples demonstrating learning points clearly and effectively. Performance‐Based Certification‐How to Design a Valid, Defensible, Cost‐Effective Program (ISBN: 978‐1‐118‐02724‐0) is published by Pfeiffer.     

羡余现象生成的认知解释

以往对汉语羡余现象的研究是局部或零碎的,解释的亦不够充分和深入。而认知语言学理论的主观性、认知凸显等几个方面对羡余现象的成因具有较强的解释力。羡余产生原因并不一定是单线的,而是多种认知机制作用的结果,既有历时过程,也有共时效用。     

A social learning explanation for age-related changes in children's conceptual behavior

A social learning explanation for children's conceptual development is proposed. Recent training research on conservation is discussed, and it is concluded that it fails to support three key assumptions underlying Piaget's theory (a) Children are able to learn to conserve without being “in transition,” (b) nonconservation experiences are successful in promoting developmentally immature cognitive functioning, and (c) there is evidence of inconsistencies in children's cognitive functioning across tasks assessing the same cognitive stage. Two aspects of children's conservation responding are explained according to a social learning position: decalages and the shift from perceptual cues to quantitative cues. This explanation involves consideration of cognitive factors such as prior rule learning as well as impinging social experience.     

农村学前教育需要合理的质量标准

学前教育质量标准应以确保儿童安全为出发点,满足家长与幼儿的需要,具有可实现性,并保证教育资源的充分利用。合理的农村学前教育质量标准应适度关注幼儿的认知发展、适当降低硬件设施的要求、适度放宽师资条件的规定并从农村实际出发设置课程。目前的学前教育质量标准过于统一、趋向刻板、去背景化。合理的学前教育质量标准需要明确城乡差异、适度变化并能因地制宜。     

义务教育数学课程标准修订过程与主要内容

义务教育数学课程标准2001年实施以来,取得明显成效,也发现一些问题。2005年开始修订义务教育数学课程标准。修订组在广泛调查研究,征求多方面意见的基础上,对标准进行了认真修订。修订后的标准在体例与结构上略有调整,增加了目标行为动词的解释,三个学段统一表述实施建议,案例作为附录后移;理念与目标的表述更加清晰;三个学段的课程内容做了一些调整,内容总量基本未变,具体内容和要求几个学段有不同程度调整。数学课程标准的修订是课程改革十年经验总结的结果,对于义务教育阶段数学课程与教学改革将产生重要影响。     

高阶英语学习者N+N组合概念认知机制研究

本实验考察我国高阶英语学习者理解英语N+N组合概念时,对两个主要组合概念认知机制的调用情况。结果显示：此群体偏向于否定“结构对位”机制建立的“属性映射”N+N概念意义的合理性;主要调用“场景构建”认知机制对N+N概念进行“关系连接”释义。这种偏向性一方面表明“属性映射” N+N概念是英语学习者的认知难点,母语认知机制在英语组合概念理解中有负迁移作用,另一方面提示英语教学不仅要重视英语技能培养,也要加强英语文化体验。     

保险人说明义务的经济分析

由于相关标准的缺失,保险人是否履行说明义务一直是保险纠纷中的争议焦点。文章通过对保险人履行说明义务的成本效益分析,对照其行为的社会效益和社会成本,提出可以借鉴产品责任法中关于缺陷警示的相关原理构筑有效率的说明标准。     

计算机网络与英语教学理论基础

在计算机辅助语言教学的发展史上,影响最深的有三大教学理论,即:结构主义、认知主义和社会认知主义理论.其中,社会认知主义理论正确地阐明了语言教学、媒体和学习者之间的关系,对有效地利用网络资源进行语言教学有重要的指导意义,是网络化英语教学的科学的理论基础.     

If you want to get ahead,get a good master. Annette Karmiloff-Smith: the developmental perspective / Si quieres avanzar,ten una buena maestra. Annette Karmiloff-Smith: la mirada desde el desarrollo

Annette Karmiloff-Smith’s perspective places development at the very core of of the explanation of psychological functioning. Her neuroconstructivist model involves several fundamental assumptions, as follows: (a) functional specificity is acquired through interactive experience with the environment through a process of progressive specialization; (b) the influence of each level of explanation in human development (i.e., genetic, cellular, neural, cognitive, behavioural and environmental) inter-depends on the others; (c) there is no one-to-one correspondence between the level of observable behaviours and the level of cognitive processes and mental representations; and (d) interaction with caregivers is the privileged development context. There is an urgency to translate these assumptions into practices that enable the optimization of developmental contexts; this paper addresses this urgency by suggesting the implications of this neuroconstructivist model for the assessment and design of support for children at risk of atypical development.     

Issues in generalization: Implications for special education

Cognitive and behavioral theories in psychology have failed to explain adequately the commonly reported failures in generalization exhibited by mentally retarded populations. This article provides background on generalization as viewed by behavior and cognitive psychologists, describes the failures to facilitate generalization, and offers an alternative explanation of such failures. This explanation describes the generalization process in terms of individual capacity for analogical reasoning.     

Preparing Teachers for Diversity: Examination of Teacher Certification and Program Accreditation Standards in the 50 States and Washington,DC

State departments of education can play an important role in preparing teachers for effectively teaching diverse learners in our schools through state policies and standards on teacher certification and teacher education program accreditation. We conducted a content analysis of state standards on teacher certification and program accreditation in the 50 states and the District of Columbia to understand the type and characteristics of diversity-related requirements. We found that while all states addressed diversity in their standards, the type and characteristics of requirements varied across the states. The diversity requirements are ambiguous in most states, and only a small number of states utilize a “social reconstructionist” approach that focuses on preparing teachers to identify social inequality and take an active role to achieve educational and social equity.     

Why the Difference Between Explanation and Argument Matters to Science Education

Contributing to the recent debate on whether or not explanations ought to be differentiated from arguments, this article argues that the distinction matters to science education. I articulate the distinction in terms of explanations and arguments having to meet different standards of adequacy. Standards of explanatory adequacy are important because they correspond to what counts as a good explanation in a science classroom, whereas a focus on evidence-based argumentation can obscure such standards of what makes an explanation explanatory. I provide further reasons for the relevance of not conflating explanations with arguments (and having standards of explanatory adequacy in view). First, what guides the adoption of the particular standards of explanatory adequacy that are relevant in a scientific case is the explanatory aim pursued in this context. Apart from explanatory aims being an important aspect of the nature of science, including explanatory aims in classroom instruction also promotes students seeing explanations as more than facts, and engages them in developing explanations as responses to interesting explanatory problems. Second, it is of relevance to science curricula that science aims at intervening in natural processes, not only for technological applications, but also as part of experimental discovery. Not any argument enables intervention in nature, as successful intervention specifically presupposes causal explanations. Students can fruitfully explore in the classroom how an explanatory account suggests different options for intervention.     

幼儿文学作品中的比喻认知探究

运用认知心理分析和与成人文学作品中比喻比较分析的研究方法,分析了幼儿文学作品中比喻喻体的择语特点、比喻似同点的特点及其认知心理阐释。阐述了必须充分考虑幼儿的认知心理特点,幼儿才能理解幼儿文学作品中的比喻的道理。     

The Job Interview and Cognitive Performance: Does Structure Reduce Performance on Selection Batteries,and Can Explanation of Purpose Improve It?

Structuring job interviews is a method of decreasing bias and increasing the predictive validity of job performance, but research suggests that applicants can react negatively to structure (Chapman & Zweig, 2005) and that negative attitudes about selection tools can predict performance (Hausknecht, Day, & Thomas, 2004). The current exploratory study investigates how structuring the job interview in conjunction with priming the ethnicity and sex of the applicant, and in some conditions providing an explanation of the structure, affected post‐interview cognitive ability performance. Three levels of structure were randomly assigned. Those who experienced a structured interview without an explanation of its purpose scored lower than those who experienced an unstructured interview, but those who experienced a structured interview with an explanation of its purpose did not score lower than those who experienced an unstructured interview. Scores differed for females and Hispanics depending on the structure condition, but not in the same manner. Implications for recruitment, selection, and performance management are discussed.     

Requiring Participation: An Instructor Strategy to Influence Student Interest and Learning

Instructors are faced with the challenge of engaging students in the learning process. This study examined the effects of participation requirements on students' (N = 258) affective learning, interest, and cognitive learning using the Affective Learning Model and the Instructional Beliefs Model. Affective learning mediated the relationship between student participation requirements and cognitive learning, and student interest mediated the relationships between participation requirements and cognitive learning, supporting the IBM. The results provide insight into course-specific structural tactics that instructors can employ to enhance the educational experience for college students.     

网络化英语教学的理论基础

在计算机辅助语言教学的发展史上,影响最深的有三大教学理论,即:结构主义、认知主义和社会认知主义理论。其中,社会认知主义理论正确地阐明了语言教学、媒体和学习音之间的关系,对有效地利用网络资源进行语言教学有重要的指导意义,是网络化英语教学的科学的理论基础。     

指示语的认知理解

指示在语言中普遍存在,几乎任何一个人在日常交际中所使用的句子都包含指示成分(Green,1989).指示是人们进行正常交际的必然手段之一,同时也是一种复杂、特殊的语言现象。Marmaridou(2000)在认知语言学经验观的框架内研究指示现象,指出指示作为一种语用范畴,与人类认知模式相对应.本文拟简单回顾指示语的研究,尝试在认知语言学框架内归并各种指示语.