Children of Lesbian and Gay Parents

This paper reviews research evidence regarding the personal and social development of children with gay and lesbian parents. Beginning with estimates of the numbers of such children, sociocultural, theoretical, and legal reasons for attention to their development are then outlined. In this context, research studies on sexual identity, personal development, and social relationships among these children are then reviewed. These studies include assessment of possible differences between children with gay or lesbian versus heterosexual parents as well as research on sources of diversity among children of gay and lesbian parents. Research on these topics is relatively new, and many important questions have yet to be addressed. To date, however, there is no evidence that the development of children with lesbian or gay parents is compromised in any significant respect relative to that among children of heterosexual parents in otherwise comparable circumstances. Having begun to respond to heterosexist and homophobic questions posed by psychological theory, judicial opinion, and popular prejudice, child development researchers are now in a position also to explore a broader range of issues raised by the emergence of different kinds of gay and lesbian families.     

思想政治理论课教学新路径：“移动课堂法”

高校思想政治理论课是马克思主义理论引领当代大学生全面发展的主渠道、主阵地,由于长期灌输式地教育,缺少体验感悟过程,当代大学生对思想政治理论课存在着疏离状况。"移动课堂法"对传统思想政治教育模式是突破和创新,对促进新常态下的思想政治理论课教育教学改革,提高教育实效有着积极意义。     

Learning outcomes and dropout intentions: an analytical model for Spanish universities

The dropout rate among Spanish university students is very high compared to the European mean, creating a pressing need for the introduction of policies and programmes aimed at increasing rates of persistence. In this article, we study this problem by combining students’ perceived learning outcomes with their dropout intentions, and we propose a research model that considers subjective factors that might impact this decision. The model is estimated for two degree courses: Business Administration and Nursing. The estimation method uses structural equations based on the partial least squares algorithm. This allows the construction of indices for the variables of interest, enabling us to make comparisons between courses and over time. To reduce dropout intentions, efforts need to be focused on obtaining better cognitive outcomes, as well as on achieving a higher level of student satisfaction with their university experience.     

言息时代大学生自主学习模式的建构

自主学习能力是大学生立足社会,自身全面发展的必然要求,也是信息时代高等教育人才培养的重要目标;网络时代大学生的自主学习具有民主、开放、自主、自控等特点。高校教师要转变观念,进行跨学科课程建设,营造开放、民主、平等的学习环境,为大学生的继续学习和终身学习打下基础,为学生未来的个性化发展提供保证。     

Computer conferencing with access to a 'guest expert' in the professional development of special educational needs coordinators

This article describes and outlines the implications of a one‐year case study of students’ use of the computer conferencing facility of a postgraduate module for special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) at a distance‐learning institution. This facility incorporates a virtual space for a ‘guest expert’. The aim of the study was to inform future development of courses at a time when computer conferencing was just becoming widespread in the university concerned. Quantitative data associated with the volume and patterns of individual participation in the computer conference were collected as well as interview material from students, tutors and the ‘guest expert’. Findings from the study indicate that computer conferencing has the potential to facilitate the professional development of teachers as reflective practitioners and researchers. However, they also point to a number of barriers to student participation that must be addressed. These include access issues related to time constraints, unfamiliarity with the medium, and lack of confidence in expressing personal views in a public arena. A major conclusion drawn from this study is that it may be appropriate to consider future developments which incorporate the assumption that, in computer conferences of large professional development courses, students are much more likely to participate through reading rather than making personal contributions to conference discussions. This opens the possibility of reconceptualising the role of the ‘guest expert’ as two or more discussants with relevant expertise dialoguing with each other while students follow a threaded discussion and/or make personal contributions.     

Learner motivation for MOOC registration and the role of MOOCs as a university ‘taster’

Despite the widespread adoption of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), no business model has emerged to make them sustainable from an institution standpoint. Using MOOCs as a marketing platform shows promise; but for this to succeed, it is necessary to understand the motivations of those who undertake them and to demonstrate how these same motivations can be better satisfied through enrolment in a fee-paying university course. We discuss the motivations for students as they progress through a MOOC and the factors that might lead to subsequent university enrolment. Our arguments are informed by MOOC statistics, the AIDA (attention, interest, desire, action) marketing model, and the literature on adult education, technology adoption, goal seeking and consumer value. We argue that most students are led to MOOC enrolment through close alignment of the course topic and subject matter with their personal goals and through the establishment of an attractive value proposition. Progress in the MOOC depends on whether this goal alignment is maintained, and whether the value assumptions of students are met or exceeded. We predict that subsequent university enrolment will most likely occur when the MOOC experience is both satisfying and representative of the university experience, and where the increased time and financial commitment demanded by formal study is offset by the greater likelihood of attaining the focal goal. For this strategy to succeed, it will be necessary for the host institution to actively work with MOOC students to create an awareness of appropriate fee-paying courses and to promote the benefits of university study. This has implications for the way institutions market their courses to MOOC students.     

大学生公共课价值取向初探

为给高校公共课的改革与建设提供必要的决策依据,作者采用问卷调查法,对三、四年级大学生公共课价值取向的情况进行了调研。结果表明,由于被试受到了市场经济时代"实用主义"价值标准和功利化倾向的影响,对计算机文化基础和大学英语等课程的价值取向偏高,而对大学语文和公共政治类课程的价值取向偏低。高校对这种现象应给予高度重视并加以研究,早日拿出对策,防患于未然。     

在加强改进思想政治理论课教学中推进大学生党建工作

由于新形势下大学生思想观念发生了重大深刻变化,思想政治教育和党建工作面临诸多新情况和新问题.针对这些问题和挑战,必须加强改进以中国特色社会主义理论体系为核心内容的思想政治理论课教学,创新思想政治理论课教育的途径和方法,为推进大学生党建工作提供良好的文化氛围和思想保障.     

Using a college human sexuality course to combat homophobia

The present study seeks to identify factors among university students that may be associated with homophobic attitudes and whether homophobia may be reduced by educational interventions, such as knowledge-based curricula found in college sexuality courses. Participants were 128 undergraduate students attending a small, private university in the northwestern region of the United States. At the beginning and end of the fall semester 2004, survey packets consisting of a demographic questionnaire, the Sexual Opinion Survey, the Homophobia Scale, a sexual knowledge survey, and the Bem Sex Role Inventory were administered to students attending a human sexuality class and a comparison group of students enrolled in professional and social science introductory courses. Relative to the comparison group, homophobia levels significantly decreased over the course of the semester among students attending the sexuality class. The effect of attending the class on reducing homophobia was partially mediated by an increase in self-reported knowledge about sexual matters. Taken together, these results suggest that the knowledge-based curriculum of sexuality courses may play an important role in affecting broader attitudes about sexuality among college students, including attitudes about homosexuality.     

Part-time studying at Norwegian universities

This article examines the extent of part-time studying among students in ordinary university courses in Norway, the reasons for studying part-time, and its effects on study behaviour, study progression, and academic achievement. The article, based on six surveys among university students, indicates that between one fourth and one third of the student population at Norwegian universities must be regarded as part-time students. There are, however, large differences between fields of study.     

Differential effect of university entrance score on first-year students’ academic performance in Portugal

The main goal of this study is to show that the association between university entrance score and first-year students’ academic performance varies randomly across courses after controlling for students’ sociodemographic, schooling trajectory and motivational variables. The sample consists of 2697 first-year students who were enrolled in 54 courses at a Portuguese public university in 2015/16. Multilevel modelling of academic performance suggests that 34% of variability in grade point average is due to differences among courses and that 80% of such variability is explained by the field of study, whether the university is the student’s first choice, and the student’s gender, age and parents’ level of education. In addition, the results corroborate that the university entrance score is the strongest predictor of first-year academic performance.     

技术基础课教学面向素质教育的实践与思考

全面提高大学生的综合素质是大学教育的中心任务，每个教师责无旁贷。本介绍了作在长期从事技术基础课教学中实施素质教育的经验与体会。     

Curriculare Schwerpunkte Ud Entwicklungstrends Im Erziehungs- Und Gesellschaftswissenschaftlichen Studium Für Den Lehrerber Uf In Der Bundesr Epublik Deutschland

The authors describe an empirical study on the curricular contents of university lectures offered to teacher students in the Federal Republic of Germany. Since students as a rule do not have to take compulsory courses it seems to be of great interest which courses are offered to them and how much these courses are related to their profession as teachers. The purpose of the study is to ascertain what knowledge and competency students intending to become secondary school teachers can acquire by attending the courses available to them. In order to fulfil this purpose a system for the classification of lectures has been developed and applied to all lectures and other university courses, from summer 1965 to summer 1972, in educational science, philosophy, psychology, political science and sociology, at the universities of Berlin (Free University and Technical University), Göttingen, Hamburg, Heidelberg, Kiel, Köln and Tübingen. This period covers a range of 15 semesters (7 1/2 years), the maximum time for a teacher student. These universities are a sample of urban and country districts, and at the same time somewhat representative for the politically different governed “Länder” of the Federal Republic of Germany. A general result of the study is that the absolute number of university lectures increased rapidly during the observed time, with the exception of philosophy. The number of lectures on educational science often doubled, in the case of Berlin and Kiel it even tripled. Another important observation shows that the categories with the most entries differed from university to university. This was especially the case in philosophy, but this phenomenon occurred also quite clearly in the field of educational science. As far as trends could be observed, a slight tendency towards the decrease of the historical components of educational science has to be reported, but this tendency is not so significant as the others. Two main conclusions among others have to be drawn from the results of the study: First, the current university education for teacher students depends mainly on local and situational factors, e.g. it is the professor's decision on which topics he wants to lecture, second, the university education for teacher students can not be regarded to be adequate to the problems they have to face after leaving university. This means that the curricular norms and values of the university education will, at least in some cases, remain unsatisfactory for these students.     

Exploring factors impacting student engagement in open access courses

Studies on student engagement in learning have mainly focused on undergraduate degree courses. Limited attempts have been made to examine student engagement on open access enabling courses, which is targeted to underrepresented students in higher education. Students on open access enabling courses are at high risk due to a low academic achievement in high school, the gap between schooling, work and post-secondary education, and different kinds of personal and academic barriers. This paper reports on a pilot quantitative study using a survey method undertaken at an Australian university. The study examined a range of issues related to student engagement, including learning barriers, engagement and experience in learning, skills attained, motivation to complete study, career pathway, and key reasons for selecting a particular pathway. The study found that online students are less engaged in learning and, therefore, efforts need to be made to improve their sense of belonging to the university. The findings of the study are critical due to high attrition on open access enabling courses and it argues the need to improve the engagement, retention, and success of students on such courses.     

Consistency and variability of learning strategies in different university courses

The present study addressed the question of consistency and variability in learning strategies. Four university courses provided different learning contexts. The same group of students reported about their learning strategies by completing identical questionnaires on each of these courses. Participants were 85 students attending the first year of Law studies. A second study consisted of 63 students attending similar courses in the following academic year. An analysis of variance showed that students varied their reported learning strategies as a function of different learning contexts. This indicated a context-specific component in strategy use. Intercorrelations, however, showed that students displayed consistency in reported learning strategies across course contexts as well. This indicated a personal, habitual component in strategy use. It thus seems that the question of variability and consistency in learning strategies does not yield an either-or, answer. Context variables were explored to explain the variations. Use of stated cases, provision of a clear organisation of subject matter and of diverse didactic resources appeared to diminish encountered problems and lack of regulation (which proved to be related variables), and promote the use of concrete processing, relating, analyzing, self-regulation and externally regulated strategies. Evidence was found that learning strategies differed among each other in the degree of variability. Memorizing turned out to be relatively resistant to differences in course context, whereas concrete processing strategies and lack of regulation showed relatively large susceptibility to course context. Explanations were proposed in terms of different stages in the development of learning strategies and in terms of context-variables.     

自动化专业英语教学中引入科研交流方法的探讨

自动化专业英语是适应现代社会工业生产实际需要而开设的一门专业选修课,是培养高素质学生使之毕业后能够很快适应工作要求的重要课程。针对目前高校自动化专业英语教学中存在的诸多问题,对专业英语课程的教学方法如何和国际接轨,如何提高学生实际能力等方面进行了探讨,并把科研交流方法的部分优点融入教学中,促进自动化专业英语课程能够更好的服务于工业实际。     

海南基础教育新课程改革中的德育课程建设

德育课程具有践行性特点,基础教育新课程改革为海南中小学德育课程建设提供了条件,也提出了要求。海南基础教育阶段的德育课程建设可以借鉴日本中小学的体验教育模式,将德育与体验联系起来,重视道德体验的价值,注重培养学生的生存能力、创造能力、劳动观念和集体协作精神,发展学生个性,充实学生的内心世界,体现基础教育新课程改革＂回归生活＂的理念。     

对外语教学法课程的反思——从教育实习看教育实践课程的意义

扩招为高校带来了巨大的活力，同时也带来了诸多的问题。如何围绕基础教育改革的内容和目标对英语专业的一些课程进行改革是当前我们必须面对的新课题。目前，实习工作遇到了前所未有的挑战，因此，教学法课程必须改革。以适应基础教育的需要，提高学生的教学实践能力。本文结合教学中的一些问题，对教学法课程的改革进行探讨，提出一些具体的建议和措施。