Philippines: instructional sex education modules for college students

This article discusses the campaign initiatives on sex education adopted in the Philippines. Instructional sex education modules for college students in the Philippines have been developed using the existing syllabi in sex education courses as the basis. Five processes were involved in the development of the modules, which include: 1) preplanning and conceptualization; 2) development of the instructional modules; 3) writing the first draft; 4) testing the modules among college students; and 5) revising and finalizing the modules. The findings in the testing of modules among individual units indicating significant points are: 1) human sexuality is a dimension of the whole person; 2) sex drive is a normal occurrence in every person's life; 3) the choice of a marriage partner is one of the most significant decisions that a person makes; and 4) the community has a vital role in sex education. In addition, ReachOut Foundation, a known nongovernmental organization in the country, launched the two nationwide multimedia campaigns addressing child prostitution and general reproductive health issues directed at adolescent boys and girls. The complimentary response to the campaigns certify the validity of the effectiveness of mass media in educating adolescents, the usefulness of private sector contributions, and the benefit of pretesting advertisements.     

新媒体环境下的大学生媒介素养教育

新媒体技术对当代大学生在思维模式、语言特点、行为方式、心理意识等方面产生了重大影响。充分认识和把握新媒体技术给大学生思想政治教育带来的机遇与挑战。以媒介素养教育为核心,改革传统的思想政治教育,应该是高校思想政治教育的当务之急。     

师范生媒介教育的前瞻性思考

国家免费培养的师范生在毕业后要到西部地区基层中小学任教。高等师范院校（特别是六所部属师范大学）的新闻传播学专业应具有前瞻意识,积极探讨针对本校师范生的媒介教育课程,并通过师范生进一步在西部地区推广媒介素养教育,由此形成高等师范院校传播学专业的特色,承担传播教育的社会责任。要了解在读师范生的特殊成长环境、通过学科交流,扩大师范生的知识视野、建设针对师范生的媒介教育课程。     

A low-cost approach for rapidly creating demonstration models for hands-on learning

Demonstration models allow students to readily grasp theory and relate difficult concepts and equations to real life. However drawbacks of using these demonstration models are that they are can be costly to purchase from vendors or take a significant amount of time to build. These two limiting factors can pose a significant obstacle for adding demonstrations to the curriculum. This article presents an assignment to overcome these obstacles, which has resulted in 36 demonstration models being added to the curriculum. The article also presents the results of student performance on course objectives as a result of the developed models being used in the classroom. Overall, significant improvement in student learning outcomes, due to the addition of demonstration models, has been observed.     

大学生媒介素养教育的特殊环境和基本思路

从理论引进、学术研讨,到推广活动,中国大学生媒介素养教育问题已经引起了普遍关注。根据中国特殊的媒介发展环境,针对大学生的媒介素养教育,应该了解当代大学生的媒介生活史、从多元视角理解媒介知识、要具有全球化的视野。     

The Buddhist approach to education: an alternative approach for sustainable education

This article is based on research undertaken as part of a study of sustainable school design in Thailand. Since school design solutions are inevitably affected by educational theory and practice, in the search for appropriate building solutions, it has been necessary to review Thai educational theories and practices that relate to the sustainability approach. Recently, there have been several attempts at the international level to respond to sustainability concepts and practices in both educational and architectural fields. These have included changes to the physical building through the introduction of techniques like passive solar cooling, and curriculum changes such as the use of native plants in the school grounds for science teaching. In Thailand, sustainable practices in both fields appear to be in their infancy. This article aims to explore one current Thai educational practice that presents the possibility of responding to sustainability concepts via culturally sensitive education. The practice is based on the three Buddhist principles of learning: sila sikkha (moral conduct); samadhi sikka (mind training); and panna sikkha (wisdom development). In this holistic approach, the principles are practised simultaneously and can be applied to many dimensions, including personal, family, school and communal levels, to cultivate responsive sustainable living practices for the learners. Because the majority of Thai people are Buddhists, this approach may be an alternative way of developing sustainable education in Thailand. It also presents a way to apply local knowledge to promote sustainable ways of living in particular contexts. This may be the first step in the development of sustainable school design in Thailand and could become an integrated part of the country's sustainable systems.     

Research-based and hands-on practical teacher education: an attempt to combine the two

This article, based on the analysis of responses given by 27 students in initial teacher education, gives an account of how education theory can be conceived by students as relevant to their teaching practice. Research on teacher education in many countries has revealed that students regard theory and practice to be inconsistent or to belong to different worlds in initial teacher education. This may have a potentially negative effect on the teachers’ opportunities for future professional development, as such development should be based on the ability to view one’s own teaching practice from a critical, theory- and research-based perspective. In the research and development project reported in this article, the PIL-project, the students’ teaching practice was chosen as the pivotal point for all the other activities involved in the teacher education programme. Results indicate that when questions emerge from the students’ own experience, theory is often found useful in discussing and understanding their practical experiences. The results further show that the students’ choice of theory when discussing their teaching practice is eclectic. Students tend to choose theory with direct relevance to their daily tasks in the classrooms. The implication for initial teacher education is that the educational theory taught should more often address the immediate challenges faced by the students doing their teaching practice.     

新媒体平台上医学生医德教育探讨

以微博、微信、手机网络为代表的新媒体平台已经快速的融入了当代大学生的学习和生活,新媒体已经逐渐的成为他们的生活方式和重要的行为导向,依据新特点,医学生医德教育也应该与时俱进,充分运用新媒体平台开展针对性的医德教育,达到提高医学生医德认知和医德素养的目的。     

Belonging to higher education: inclusive education for students with intellectual disabilities

Abstract

The college experience in Iceland has traditionally been reserved for those who have passed the matriculation examination and meet the admission requirements of higher educational institutions. Since 2007, the University of Iceland has offered a Vocational Diploma Programme for people with intellectual disabilities in inclusive settings. The purpose of this article is to describe the diploma programme as well as exploring students’ sense of belonging to the college community. The diploma programme is located at the School of Education and students trained to work at pre-primary schools, after school clubs and within the field of disability such as self-advocacy. Inclusion has been achievable by adapting the general curriculum and learning outcomes to individual needs, flexible teaching methods and the cooperation between academic faculty members, programme coordinators, student mentors and the diploma students themselves. The diploma students receive academic and social support from student mentors who are other undergraduate students at the School of Education. The collaboration with student mentors has proven to be valuable, expanded diploma students’ social networks and contributed to a sense of belonging. Regardless of various attitudinal and structural hindrances, there is much evidence that the diploma students are not only tolerated but welcomed at the School of Education and belong to the college community.     

Teaching a structured approach to the design process for undergraduate engineering students by problem-based education

The paper describes our 2-year experience with the new problem-based design project, which has recently been introduced in the engineering design seminars for second-year engineering students at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. This guided self-study project is a tool to make the students familiar with the design process by presenting them with a framework of clearly defined and timed out phases in the design process. The students have to solve a small engineering design problem in a team. They are guided by a manual and by a strict time schedule. A tutor watches over the students' progress. At the end of the design project, the team writes a design report and presents it orally. A team mark is given by the tutors, considering three criteria: the way the team has completed the phases of the design process, the quality of the design report, and the presentation. The mark is individualized on the basis of the student's contribution to the teamwork. The appreciation of students and tutors for this problem-based learning activity was positive.     

Attitudes of Alaskan distance education students toward media and instruction

Abstract

This article reports the results of a study to assess the attitudes of distance higher education students in various units of the College of Rural Alaska, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Emphasis was given to media preferences, the convenience of various media, and overall attitudes toward distance instruction. Results of a mail survey indicated acceptance of a wide variety of media as well as strong general support for distance instruction. Additionally, a large majority of respondents rated distance instruction as equal to or better than face‐to‐face instruction.     

Mobile response system: a novel approach to interactive and hands-on activity in the classroom

Mobile devices are being used profusely in the classrooms to improve passive learning environments and to enhance student comprehension. However, with respect to students’ active involvement in problem solving activities, the typical usage of the mobile devices in answering multiple choice and true/false questions is not adequate and the use of mobile devices need to be expanded to include dynamic and interactive problem-solving activities to better satisfy students’ learning needs. To facilitate such interactive problem solving using mobile devices, a comprehensive software environment is necessary. This paper details the design, deployment and evaluation of Mobile Response System (MRS) software that facilitates execution and assessment of multi-step in-class interactive problem-solving activities using mobile devices. MRS is an active learning tool, which engages students with the visual representation of a problem that spans on multiple screens, allows them to interact with that, and makes them realize the consequences of their actions instantly and visually. The immediate and automated grading feature of MRS enables a feedback-driven and evidence-based teaching methodology, which is important to improve the quality of classroom learning. MRS is designed to be independent of any interactive problem or its domain. Therefore, it allows easier integration of interactive activity Apps developed by others and can be used in any discipline. The results obtained from software metrics and runtime performance data verified the quality of the software. Additionally, the in-class assessment data verified that the MRS software is a helpful intervention for improving student comprehension and satisfaction.     

媒介素养教育与英语专业学生创新能力培养

外语既有工具性又具有人文性。英语专业学生要熟练掌握英语的基本技能,但更要注重创新思维,培养创新能力。本文探讨了媒介素养教育与英语专业学生的创新能力培养,并以＂英语报刊文章阅读＂课为例,指出以媒介素养教育视角开展教学是培养学生创新能力有重要价值的途径。