Teaching students to think critically about science and origins

In David Long’s article, Scientists at Play in a Field of the Lord, he studies the discourse between a network of regional scientists, atheists, activists and evolutionists at the opening of The Creation Museum on Memorial Day, 2007. This review essay examines the teaching of evolution through the teacher’s ‘lens of empathy’ and also considers a ‘pupil centeredness’ approach. As a practicing science educator, I have found it paramount to take into consideration my students’ backgrounds and their families’ beliefs in order to understand their preconceived notions about the origins of life. By teaching evolution as ‘a theory with both facts and fallacies’ only then does it become an opportunity for critical thinking that fosters growth and risk taking in a safe environment. Most times students hear evolution preached as a one-sided lecture by teachers who believe it’s “my way or the highway” and leave little or no room for dialogue. I believe that a teacher’s job is to stay updated with current research on the theory of evolution and then present all the information to students in a way that creates personal opportunities for them to adjust their existing schema without demeaning them, their ideas, or their faith or belief system. This not only shows value, compassion and tolerance for them as thinking humans, but also allows them opportunities to develop critical thinking, which helps to shape whom they become as adults.     

What do you think of stock investment by college students?

Steven As a college student,stock investment for me is negative.Gloomy guys enjoy their gloomy days,I guess.We students can hardly assume     

关于普通高中生对体育课兴趣的研究和思考

体育教学课是学生增强身体素质,提高人体潜在能力的重要课程,是学生掌握终身锻炼方法的捷径。现今一些学生不喜欢上体育,这就影响到学生身心健康的发展,因此如何培养学生的体育兴趣,认识体育教学兴趣培养的重要性,就成为现今体育教学研究的重要课题之一     

What do young people today really think about Jesus?

This article presents the key findings of a recent study investigating young people's knowledge and understanding of Jesus and demonstrates how young people today appear to be experiencing the same difficulties when engaging with the figure of Jesus in the religious education classroom as they did almost 40 years ago. It concludes by suggesting that religious education needs to take careful account of the kinds of difficulties experienced by pupils in order to present the person of Jesus more effectively to young people today.     

法国高中生为何焦虑

如今的法国,在一场老人与政府的政治斗争中,却卷入了为数众多的年轻人,其中既包括大学生,更多的则是高中生。在上次的示威日中,法国官方宣布有312所高中被封锁,约占全国的7.25%。这不是荒诞剧,而是正在法国发生的现实故事。法     

怎样看待父母的唠叨

父母太多的唠叨会打击我们脆弱的心,让我们失去做事的信心。(冀俏然)我虽然知道父母的唠叨也是对我好,但总让我感到是对我的一种束缚。他们经常唠叨这应该那样做,那应该这样做,会让我失去独立生活的能力,养成事事依赖别人的坏习惯。(高军慧)     

Elaborating pedagogical content knowledge: what it means to know students and think about teaching

The purpose of this study was to examine how a teacher understood her students and then thought and made decisions about content, curriculum and pedagogy. Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and Deweyan philosophies of experience and education provided the theoretical frameworks. Data were collected through observations (N?=?38) and interviews (N?=?38) over four months and analysed using constant comparison. Findings indicated that this teacher possessed a broad repertoire of knowledge about students that she used to think and make decisions about content, curriculum and pedagogy. The connections between knowing students and thinking about teaching were more sophisticated and interconnected than is typically recognized or articulated in teacher knowledge literature. Three themes are used to explain how this teacher understood her students’ emotional and social lives in and out of her classroom, and ways it influenced her thinking and teaching. The discussion centers on the need for more comprehensive analyses of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge.     

浅谈高校学生素质教育

文章通过对素质教育的认识和理解,以及对目前高校学生中存在的问题的分析,提出七个有关高校学生素质教育方面的问题,并对其实施途径及方法进行了探讨。     

Assessment matters: What are students learning about sustainability?

Kimberly Yousey‐Elsener, Diana Richter Keith, and Staci Lynne Ripkey provide a model to integrate sustainability efforts, student learning, and assessment into one coherent process.     

Human and social factors affecting the decision of students to accept e-learning

It is significant to highlight that educational technologies cannot improve academic performance if they are not widely accepted and used. Unfortunately, the decision not to accept e-learning continues to be a fundamental issue. The current research provided an alternative lens to view a decision to accept and use technology in a developing country landscape. Accordingly, the present study focused on the impact of human and social factors on the decision to accept e-learning. The undergraduate students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) formed the contextual setting. The theoretical framework employed was a modified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. Accordingly, a survey questionnaire was used to employ a dataset of 204 and 15 students in April 2015 for quantitative and qualitative data. Overall, the principal findings show that social influence, attitude and perceived usefulness, stress, satisfaction and fatigue are critical to behavioural intention to accept e-learning. Meanwhile, strong correlations between perceived usefulness and social influence; previous e-learning experience and average time spent using e-learning; previous e-learning experience and behavioural intention demonstrate how the human and social factors influence the e-learning acceptance culture. Ultimately, the contribution provided valuable insights on how to speed up the process of adoption, the use and continuance of e-learning by an understanding of human and social factors. Moreover, recognising human, social and cultural components make it possible to improve e-learning experiences of users. The implications suggest that a better integration of human and social factors to e-learning may help reduce forms of e-learning challenges and shed new insights for theory.     

如休培养学生的逆向思维能力

逆向思维是一种创造性思维，教学中，我们要加强对学生逆向思维的训练，以培养学生思维的灵活性和创造性。     

The benefits of students learning about critical evaluation rather than being summatively judged

This paper explores how student reflection on assessment procedures is a necessary part of the learning experience, and how such reflection can be supported in our teaching practices. Attention is paid to how discussion and analysis of assessment practices can be prioritized in the opening stages of a course. Further exploration reveals the importance of teaching students the differences in rationale behind summative and formative methods, and ways to do this. The advantages of conceptual marking, how written and verbal feedback should not be the end stage but used as a building block for student reflection, roles for self‐ and peer assessment and particular issues concerning oral assessment are all investigated.     

关于游戏与儿童发展的思考

在过去的几十年里，许多教育学家和心理学家都探索了游戏和儿童发展之间的关系，关注的焦点在儿童成长的几大领域内变换，除了动力发展，还包括认知的、语言的、社会的和情绪的领域。本文主要回顾有关的研究结果，希望能对游戏在儿童早期教育和社会化过程中的作用提供综合的解释。一、关于游戏与儿童发展的理论探讨１．游戏理论的分歧现代游戏理论认为游戏和发展的关系存在三种可能性。首先，游戏是对儿童发展结果的反映，换言之，游戏是儿童发展的窗口，它可以从不同方面揭示儿童发展的现状及水平。精神分析学派的游戏理论即持这种观点，弗…     

Student-centred and teacher-centred learning environments: what students think

This contribution explores the relationship between teacher-centred and student-centred learning environments from a student's perspective. Three different views with respect to this relationship can be retrieved. The balance view suggests that the more teacher-centred a learning environment is, the less student-centred it is and vice versa. The transactional view stresses the continuous renegotiation of teacher- and student-roles. The independent view argues that teacher- and student-centredness are independent features of learning environments. Results from three survey studies of higher education students’ conceptions of quality education are discussed. While the practice-oriented literature regularly seems to adopt a balance view, factor analyses did not reveal evidence for the balance view in any of these studies. In students’ minds student-centredness and teacher-centredness seem to be mutually reinforcing features of high quality education. From a curricular point of view, and especially with regard to teacher training, the results warrant to argue for the development of so-called powerful learning environments rather than for the transition from teacher-centred towards student-centred learning environments.