Reading research in Hungary

Much recent reading research in Hungary has focused on the formation of readers’attitudes and value judgements. This paper reports the results of a number of such studies, based on research with various groups, including library users, ‘killed-worker’ students, and children. A‘more books’programme has been found to be successful in developing a more discriminating approach to literature, but there is concern over national trends in reading. International studies have shown Hungarian students to be comparatively good at science but poor at reading. More books are being bought, and the proportion of women readers is increasing, but adults are spending less time on reading, and have a growing interest in non-fiction. The results of reading research in Hungary are not regarded as of purely theoretical interest. Such results are regularly used by librarians and by educational administrators.     

Focusing on what counts: using exploratory focus groups to enhance the development of an electronic survey in a mixed-methods research design

This paper illustrates the use of exploratory focus groups to inform the development of a survey instrument in a sequential phase mixed-methods study investigating differences in secondary students’ career choice capability. Five focus groups were conducted with 23 Year 10 students in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Analysis of the focus group data helped inform the design of the instrument for the second phase of the research project: a large-scale cross-sectional survey. In this paper, we discuss the benefits of using focus groups as an initial exploratory phase in a sequential phase mixed-method design and demonstrate how the findings from this initial exploratory phase informed the development of the survey questionnaire to be used in the main phase of the research. The paper will be of interest to researchers considering the use of exploratory qualitative methods to enhance the quantitative phase in a mixed-methods study.     

论我国多元化利益群体格局

本文主要分析了多元化利益格局形成的原因,以及不同利益群体之间矛盾的具体表现。并总结了协调不同利益群体之间矛盾的具体措施。     

Increasing Situational Interest in the Classroom

This paper explores three ways to increase situational interest in the classroom. Situational interest is defined as temporary interest that arises spontaneously due to environmental factors such as task instructions or an engaging text. We review the history of interest research and summarize recent empirical work. We describe three ways to increase interest based on offering meaningful choices to students, selecting well-organized texts that promote interest, and providing the background knowledge needed to fully understand a topic. We conclude with six specific suggestions for increasing situational interest in the classroom.     

少数民族利益表达研究

改革开放的深入使社会的利益格局日益多元分化,各个利益群体的政治意识日益觉醒,对群体利益的追求和维护,对政治过程的介入,都对政治体系的制度安排提出了更高要求。少数民族作为社会利益群体之一也有着自己的利益诉求,文章试对少数民族利益、利益群体的内涵进行阐发,并对当前少数民族的利益表达渠道和方式进行初步探索,以期对政治稳定和政治发展有所裨益。     

Curiosity, interest and engagement in technology-pervasive learning environments: a new research agenda

This paper identifies the need for developing new ways to study curiosity in the context of today’s pervasive technologies and unprecedented information access. Curiosity is defined in this paper in a way which incorporates the concomitant constructs of interest and engagement. A theoretical model for curiosity, interest and engagement in new media technology-pervasive learning environments is advanced, taking into consideration personal, situational and contextual factors as influencing variables. While the path associated with curiosity, interest, and engagement during learning and research has remained essentially the same, how individuals tackle research and information-seeking tasks and factors which sustain such efforts have changed. Learning modalities for promoting this theoretical model are discussed leading to a series of recommendations for future research. This article offers a multi-lens perspective on curiosity and suggests a multi-method research agenda for validating such a perspective.     

Occupational Knowledge and Practice amongst UK University Research Administrators

With the exception of lecturing staff, research on occupational groups and cultures within the UK higher education system is relatively sparse. This paper focuses upon one specialist group, to-date under-researched but which plays a central role in contemporary higher education administration: graduate research administrators. This occupational group is of particular interest as its members administer and manage an increasing complex and key area of university life, which in many cases appears to span the putative occupational divide between 'academic' and 'administrative' work. Based upon qualitative interviews with 27 research administrators, and using some of Bourdieu's conceptual devices, the paper analyses particular kinds of informal occupational knowledge and practice, necessary in order effectively to 'do' the complex task of research administration in the pressurized environment of contemporary British higher education.     

转型时期俄罗斯的利益集团: 概念解析、分类和研究意义

随着利益的分化和民主政治的发展,转型时期俄罗斯利益集团出现成为必然的政治现象。在系统梳理西方和国内学者利益集团的概念基础上。以马克思主义利益观结合西方利益集团政治理论,界定俄罗斯转型时期利益集团的科学含义,是在俄罗斯社会转型时期凭借自身的经济或政治资源参与公共决策,对政府部门施加影响的利益群体的总称。嵌罗斯利益集团可以按照利益追求的不同分为四类：工业企业家利益集团、俄罗斯军事工业集团、俄罗斯地方利益集团和其他利益集团、研究转型时期俄罗斯利益集团具有重要的理论意义和现实意义。有利于深入揭示苏联解体苏共垮台的根源,有助于推进俄罗斯社会转型的研究,拓展俄罗斯政治发展研究的视野,有利于把握俄罗斯政治发展的走向,可以为中国的政治发展和社会转型提供有益的借鉴。     

Collaborative practitioner research: opening a third space for local knowledge production

Early childhood education and care is currently experiencing unprecedented policy interest and expansion. This policy and practice landscape requires new forms of adaptive leadership, new spaces for production of the knowledge necessary for this changing context, and tools that can support the development of leadership qualities. This paper examines the potential of practitioner research to produce contextually relevant knowledge and to develop leadership capacity. Our findings show that collaborative practitioner research groups provide a relatively safe environment for the sharing of dilemmas and critical reflections. The practitioners who participated in this research wanted access to narratives of change in typically resourced early childhood contexts as well as in the more highly resourced settings that are more often reflected in academic research and literature. This suggests there is a need for much more of this work to be publicly available. These groups can generate the courage required to open practice based research to public critique. This, we argue is an important element of activist leadership. Collaborative practitioner research opens up the possibility for practitioners to position themselves as knowledge producers and to revitalize the knowledge base that informs teacher education in the academy. In supporting this move, academics need to position themselves as resource gathers and co-learners thus opening a third space for knowledge production. The challenges for the profession are how to fund and effectively disseminate collaborative practitioner research and how to draw it into dialogue with other forms of research.     

Interest groups and the State in contemporary Spanish education policy

This paper analyses the role of educational interest groups in the context of current educational policy in Spain. The paper focuses on the historical and structural factors that are the basis for understanding the constitution of educational interests. It argues that the historical educational dualism and the political opposition between public and private education explains not only the emergence and political position of each educational actor, but also the dynamics of interaction between them and their strategies to influence policy making and implementation. The final section of the paper analyses the relationship between interest groups and the State. It argues that the diverse and heterogeneous educational demands lead to a specific form of educational politics and explain the conditioned relative autonomy of the Spanish State in education policy making.     

Between the local and the global: organized research units and international collaborations in the health sciences

Organized research units—also known as centers, institutes, and laboratories—are increasingly prominent in the university. This paper examines how ORUs emerge to promote global agendas and international collaborations in an academic health center in North America. The roles these units play in helping researchers work across institutional and national boundaries are identified and analyzed. The concept of boundary organizations is employed to explain the features of ORUs and the challenges they face. Findings provide insight into how such units operate between local and global mandates, interest groups, and sources of influence, helping to extend university research into the global space.     

Situational Interest: A Review of the Literature and Directions for Future Research

This paper reviews theoretical and empirical research on situational interest. A distinction is made between situational and personal interest. The former is spontaneous and context-specific, whereas the latter is enduring and context-general. We summarize historical perspectives and recent empirical findings on situational interest. Five emergent themes are identified that focus on relationships among situational interest, information processing, and affective engagement. We also discuss important topics for future research.     

Promoting Social Capital in a 'Risk Society': A new approach to emancipatory learning or a new moral authoritarianism?

Social capital theory has been widely debated across the social sciences. Its core idea is that relationships and norms have a value, in that they enable individuals and groups to co-operate for mutual benefit. The role of social capital appears to be changing in the context of the self-aware reflexivity that characterises contemporary 'risk society'. This paper takes the form of a dialogue between the two authors: the first defends the concept's analytical value while taking an agnostic view of its significance for policy, while the second author raises concerns over the normative implications of current interest in social capital and identifies its connection with authoritarian as well as liberal-humanistic policy responses. The paper concludes with reflections on the value of social capital in academic milieus, combined with an analysis of the implications of this discussion for future research.     

Falling into LINE: school strategies for overcoming challenges associated with learning in natural environments (LINE)

As the benefits of outdoor learning have become of increasing interest to the education sector, so the importance of understanding and overcoming challenges associated with this pedagogy has gained greater significance. The Natural Connections Demonstration Project recruited primary, secondary, and special schools across south-west England with a view to stimulating and supporting ‘learning in the natural environment’ across the region. This research paper examines qualitative data obtained from case study visits to 12 of these schools. The results from teaching staff interviews and focus groups show that schools face many and varied challenges to embedding outdoor learning, and a raft of strategies are presented for tackling these challenges and integrating learning in the natural environment into much of the current curriculum.     

基于隐马尔可夫模型的Web用户访问序列挖掘

Web挖掘的一个研究方向是发现用户对网页的兴趣.用户的浏览网页意味着用户对该网页上的某种概念感兴趣.文中提出基于隐马尔可夫模型,对用户访问网页的序列进行分析,发现用户感兴趣的概念,然后把蕴含用户感兴趣概念程度最大的网页推荐给用户.这种模式实质上是一种Web服务设计,给用户提供个性化的优质服务,提高网站的服务质量.     

Voices from Manukau: recruitment and success of traditionally under represented undergraduate groups in New Zealand

This paper describes a research project, “Voices from Manukau”, that investigated the impact of a joint initiative by a university and an institute of technology in New Zealand. The purpose of the initiative was to increase the participation of students traditionally under represented at tertiary-level study, particularly Māori (indigenous people) and individuals from Pacific Island nations. Many of the participants were adults who had not experienced high levels of success during their compulsory period of education and they lived in low socio-economic areas. We found that participation of under-represented groups increased. The “Manukau” students were as successful as other undergraduate students studying at the university. Of particular interest was the high level of success of Māori and Pacific Island students.     

利率理论研究的演进历程综述——从“真实分析”到“货币分析”

利率是货币经济学的核心范畴和重要的宏观经济变量。该文将利率理论区分为微观利率理论和宏观利率理论,前者研究利率的产生和本质,后者研究利率对宏观经济的影响。通过梳理利率理论研究内容和方法的演进历程,为利率理论的未来研究提供帮助。     

Investigating gender differences in mathematics by performance levels in the Italian school system

Amongst the extensive research conducted about girls’ lack of interest in STEM subjects, an issue that is frequently examined is the learning of mathematics. This research investigates the gender gap in mathematics among Italian students based on performance levels, using standardised large-scale data from INVALSI tests. We performed a quantile regression to better understand the differences along the entire score distribution. A latent class model was then estimated to identify groups of students with similar performance levels, taking into account the gender covariate. The results indicate that boys are already ahead from primary education and that there is a general decrease in the performance as students progress through the education stages.     

Educational policy trajectories in an era of globalization: Singapore and Cambodia

This paper critically discusses the educational policy trajectories of Singapore and Cambodia in an era of globalization. Drawing upon David Johnson’s five metaphors to describe the historical and political forces that shape educational policy trajectories, the paper argues that Cambodia’s current educational policy trajectory is characterized by the “politics of compelling” while Singapore’s situation is more akin to the “politics of selling”. In Singapore, the politics of selling intersects with the politics of gelling, in which various interest groups are encouraged to work together to strengthen the new economy of knowledge. The paper raises a common challenge for Singapore and Cambodia: to shift from a traditional teacher-centred and textbook-based approach to a more student-centred and ICT-based approach in a globalized world. The last section of this paper explores the possibility of addressing this challenge through gelling, by setting a new agenda for education, one that combines foreign and indigenous sources of knowledge from various interest groups.     

Social Influences on Interest

Where does enduring individual interest come from? One answer is, through social experience that derives from a need for belongingness. Because of this need, students seek social links that influence the development of individual interest. This may occur through experiences with parents, friends, passionate affinity groups, competition, public performance, and culture. School is a social experience that can influence interest development. School-prompted interest and transformative experience should be goals of schooling, yet research suggests that they occur at a lower-than-optimal rate. Research on interest could expand its methods to include techniques such as social network analysis, cell phone data collection, and day reconstruction. Research should attend to the fact that the manifestation of interest is more dynamic and complex than sometimes represented, and real-time experience and remembered experience can be quite different.