The didactical use of models in realistic mathematics education: An example from a longitudinal trajectory on percentage

The purpose of this article is to describe how, within the Dutch approach to mathematics education, called Realistic Mathematics Education (RME), models are used to elicit students' growth in understanding of mathematics. First some background information is given about the characteristics of RME related to the role of models in this approach. Then the focus is on the use of the bar model within a longitudinal trajectory on percentage that has been designed for Mathematics in Context, a curriculum for the U.S. middle school. The power of this model is that it develops alongside both the teaching and the students: from a drawing that represents a context related to percentage to a strip for estimation and reasoning to an abstract tool that supports the use of percentage as an operator. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

综合设计性实验教学尝试——多种实验手段合成苯偶姻

综合实验是把基础理论知识,各种实验技能和实验方法加以归纳、分析、相互渗透的一种有效的实验形式,综合实验的开设对培养学生的创新意识和实践能力具有重大意义.对文献中的苯偶姻合成方法进行筛选和改进,设计并实现了5种合成苯偶姻的实验方案,探讨了合成苯偶姻的方案、实施和效果.     

交际式教学与多媒体教学手段综合运用的尝试

产生于70年代的交际教学法着重培养学生的实际交际能力,有利于改进传统教学模式。而近年来飞速发展的计算机技术以及网络技术,又开辟了计算机辅助教学的新领域,对远程教学产生了深远的影响。本文以《高级日常英语》课其中一章的课堂教学为实例,叙述交际教学法与多媒体教学综合运用的尝试和体会。     

An investigation of student teachers' study strategies with respect to certain variables

This study aimed to determine the study strategies of student teachers attending vocational education faculties and whether these habits are affected by certain variables (department, year of study, positive perception of university and lecturer, time spent studying). The study sample consisted of a total of 746 student teachers from 5 departments, 380 of whom were freshman students and 366 of whom were senior students. The results revealed that student teachers' study strategies were at a moderate level. Additionally, it was observed that study strategies scores were higher for freshman students than for senior students, for students with a positive perception of university than for those with a negative perception, and for students who studied more than 5 hr weekly than for those who studied 3 hr or less.     

An attempt to make a difference: Overlooked disadvantaged gifted Appalachian children

Thirty disadvantaged gifted children in Appalachian regions of East Tennessee attended the Summer Institute for Gifted Children at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee, at the Cumberland Gap. Home visits were conducted before and after the camp experience to determine the impact of the camp experience on the lives of these children. Findings indicate that these children benefit from both the social and academic aspects of this enriching program. The author has established a non‐profit foundation to continue the work of this project.     

Coming to terms with the accountability versus improvement debate in assessment

Concerns about quality and accountability in higher education have led the majority of states to mandate student outcomes assessment. While many institutions have begun to address these requirements as matters of accountability, discussion in most state capitals seems to be more about program improvement than about summative evaluation. These dichotomous perspectives frame a fundamental debate over the nature and direction of the assessment movement in the United States. Accountability and improvement are twin concerns of effective assessment, but their coexistence depends upon the resolution of suspicions and different interpretations of the mission of higher education between state and institutional authorities.     

Cognitive load in percentage change problems: unitary,pictorial, and equation approaches to instruction

Eighth grade students in Australia (N = 60) participated in an experiment on learning how to solve percentage change problems in a regular classroom in three conditions: unitary, pictorial, and equation approaches. The procedure involved a pre-test, an acquisition phase, and a post-test. The main goal was to test the relative merits of the three approaches from a cognitive load perspective. Experimental results indicated superior performance of the equation approach over the unitary or pictorial approach especially for the complex tasks. The unitary approach required students not only to process the interaction between numerous elements within and across solution steps, but also to search for critical information, thus imposing high cognitive load. The pictorial approach did not provide a consistent approach to tackling various percentage change problems. Coupled with the need to coordinate multiple elements within and across solution steps, and the need to search for relevant information in the diagram, this approach imposed high cognitive load. By treating the prior knowledge of percentage quantity as a single unit, the equation approach required students to process two elements only. Empirical evidence and theoretical support favor the equation approach as an instructional method for learning how to solve percentage change problems for eighth graders.     

An international online survey of the practices and perceptions of higher education professors with respect to the assessment of learning in the classroom

In a context where public action must demonstrate its effectiveness and efficiency, and where the links between teaching and the quality of learning are regularly highlighted, it seems relevant to identify the trends and logic that govern university professors’ decisions with respect to the modes of learning assessment favoured within the framework of their delivery of teaching services. Moreover, given that university teaching practices are changing rapidly due to the introduction of different views of the learning process, one might conclude that the same holds for assessment practices. Through our research work, we led to the development of a trilingual (English, French and Spanish) online survey devoted to an international investigation into the classroom assessment practices of higher education teachers. This survey proposes an online platform that will allow institutions of higher learning to document some of their current practices and to compare observed trends with what is happening elsewhere, in accordance with differing missions and traditions. These research notes are thus intended to describe the survey itself and to show how the questionnaire and individual items were structured, in addition to providing an overview of treatments within and between institutions that followed the testing.     

把技能训练和创新思维结合的一次尝试

在语文教学中,我们一般认为对学生语言能力的培养只是一种技能训练:教师只要把知识点讲清楚,让学生听懂;再辅以必要的练习,让学生实践,学生把题目做会了,教学任务也就完成了--他们已掌握了知识并有了与之相关的某些能力.但这种结果和学生的创新意识很可能没有太直接的关系.对此,我不满意,不信服,就作了一次把语言能力的训练和创新意识结合起来的尝试.     

传承经典,以经(经典)至进(改进)

源远流长的民间游戏,是我国文化宝库中的一支瑰丽奇葩,也是珍贵的文化遗产。民间游戏有一定的娱乐性、教育性、随意性。民间游戏内容丰富:有促进语言发展的,有反应传统文化的、有促进肢体动作的。只要简单材料,甚至没有材料都能随时随地组织玩。民间游戏组织形式灵活多样:有单独的,有多人的,还有能锻炼幼儿之间的协商、合作能力的。民间游戏有易学、易会、易传的特点,也符合幼儿好动、好学、好模仿、好游戏的心理特点。     

An alternative assessment to higher education outcomes: Differentiating by institutional type

In this paper we propose higher education, and community colleges in particular, be evaluated not solely on their functional merits, but on their value in promoting, what Dewey (1966) called an active citizenry. Rather than considering only how well higher education meets the needs of democratic capitalism, we investigate alternative methods of assessing the contribution of higher education to the development of active citizens. In this exploration we consider how higher education preparation differs based on an individual's gender, race, class, academic program and the postsecondary institution attended. We explore alternative concepts of assessment in higher education not as proof we have discovered the method for assessing outcomes of higher education, but, rather, as an alternative approach to understanding the potential outcomes of higher education at its different institutional levels. Of special significance for our study is the finding that although students who attend a community college, for example, may not be as successful economically as university students, attendance at a community college is associated with an increased sense of self-empowerment. When we consider community colleges have a higher proportion of students who are typically marginalized by postsecondary institutions, the community college does appear to offer opportunities for students that are not measured only in economic terms.     

伏安法测二极管的改进

指出了一般用伏安法测二极管特性曲线一实验中存在的问题,同时给出其改进方法及在实验中应注意的问题.     

On engaging with others: A Wittgensteinian approach to (some) problems with deeply held beliefs

Abstract

My starting point for this paper is a problem in critical thinking pedagogy—the difficult of bringing students to a point where they are able, and motivated, critically to evaluate their own deeply held beliefs. I first interrogate the very idea of a deeply held belief, drawing upon Wittgenstein’s idea of a framework belief—a belief that forms part of a ‘scaffolding’ for our thoughts—or of a belief that functions as a hinge around which other beliefs pivot. I then examine the role of deeply held beliefs, thus conceived, in our ways of being in the world, exploring the extent to which engagement with others whose deeply held beliefs differ from ours may be possible through imaginative ‘travel’. Finally, I reflect upon the extent to which these imaginative moments also offer up opportunities for critical reflection upon our own deeply held beliefs and, thus, the possibility of changing or adapting those beliefs.     

线段连比问题的一次开放性教学尝试

德国教育家第斯多惠说过 :“教学的艺术不在于传授本领 ,而在于激励、唤醒、鼓舞”。在实施素质教育和创新教育的今天 ,课堂教学改变传统的满堂灌与题海战的“传授 -接受”的教育训练模式 ,已势在必行。如何在教学中利用现有教材中的例题、习题 ,引导学生充分挖掘例、习题中潜在的知识和方法的深层内涵 ,启发学生从不同角度去自觉地分析、观察、联想、探究课本内容 ,实行开放性教学 ,是培养学生发散思维与创新思维的有效教学方法。现以围绕三角形重心定理展开的有关线段连比问题的一次开放性教学为例 ,谈谈我是如何启发引导、层层剥笋、深化…     

Journals based on applications: An attempt to improve students' learning about composite materials

In a course on composite materials for fourth-year students at Chalmers University of Technology, students are required to write journals as a complement to the more traditional teaching approach. The journals comprise a series of reports relating the theory currently being treated to an application object, and are sent to the teacher by e-mail for comments. These give the students the opportunity to make use of the theoretical knowledge they meet in each section of the course by reflecting on how it is applicable to a real application. The goal is for better, more integrated understanding, in that, on the one hand, the students should understand the importance of each part of the course and, on the other hand, they should be able to relate the parts to one another, and to practical application. In this paper, we describe the goals and strategies of the change to teaching, we analyse the ways that students approach the journal writing task and we discuss ways in which the journals can improve the quality of student learning.     

Rethinking Poverty and Education: An attempt by an education programme in Malawi to have an impact on poverty

The Malawi Primary Community Schools Programme was conceived within the context of a new democracy, a changing policy environment and some of the worst social indicators in the world. It was developed through a consultative process on the tide of the introduction of free primary education. While the programme was part of a long-term social sector development programme which aimed to bring social and economic benefits to the population at large, the Community Schools Programme developed its own strategies designed to have an impact on poverty for a limited number of people in the short term. These are analysed in terms of impact on the poor and influence on other pro-poor policies and strategies. The authors conclude that it is possible for a programme in one sector to benefit the poor and to influence other programmes to be more pro-poor, but that this would be more effective as part of a broader multi-sector strategy. They also conclude that the reported impact was achieved through integration between the processes of construction, education and community participation, rarely mirrored in typical ministry settings, and that there would be value, both to Malawi and others, in documenting and analysing the dynamics and institutional issues which made this possible.     

按百分比计算总成绩的简便方法

教师按百分比统计学生学科总成绩的计算往往比较繁杂、费时.若采用作者提出并证明的方法可在一定程度上简化这类计算,提高工作效率.     

An exploration of important factors in the decision-making process undertaken by foundation degree students with respect to level 6 progression

Deciding what degree to study and where are very important decisions to make for a range of practical and economic reasons, and much research has been undertaken in this area. What has not been considered previously is the decision-making processes of students who have completed an associate degree, such as a Higher National Diploma or Foundation Degree, and are now considering where to complete their Bachelor education. Associate degrees are often provided by further education colleges (FECs) in partnership with universities, and the choices available to college-based higher education students are whether to continue at the college or move to university. A mixed-methods approach was adopted comprising of an online questionnaire and subsequent focus groups of students studying at HE at a southwest FEC. The findings showed that equal importance is placed on the practical issues of proximity and familiarity as on course suitability, with the only differences between those remaining at college and those moving to university being financially based.