工科远程教育中概念图支架的应用研究

工科教学一直被认为是远程教育开展的难点,其中就有理论基础知识教学有效性的问题。本文分析了工科远程教育存在的问题,阐述了概念图作为远程教育教学支架形式的适用性,尝试将概念图应用于工科远程教育的相关教学环节,为远程教育学员学习工科理论基础知识提供有效的学习支持服务。     

Authentic Tasks Online: A synergy among learner,task, and technology

Fostering synergies amongst learner, task, and technology to create innovative and immersive distance learning environments runs counter to the widespread practice of incorporating traditional classroom pedagogical strategies into Web‐based delivery of courses. The most widely accepted model of online higher education appears to be one of reductionism, whereby learning management systems facilitate the design of easily digested packets of information, usually assessed by discrete stand‐alone tests and academic assignments. This article describes a model for the development of authentic tasks that can assist in designing environments of increased, rather than reduced, complexity. It provides a robust framework for the design of online courses, based on the work of theorists and researchers in situated learning and authentic learning. It describes the characteristics of a task's design that facilitates the requirements of an entire course of study being readily satisfied by its completion, where the students make the important decisions about why, how, and in what order they investigate a problem. The article describes several learning environments that were investigated in depth in the study, and explores the synergies that exist between the learners, tasks, and technology engaged in authentic learning settings. The article leads readers to a conceptual understanding of the role of authentic tasks in supporting knowledge construction and meaningful learning, and illustrates the principles of authentic task design for online learning environments.     

Knowledge and teaching

The paper addresses a major fissure in the sociology of knowledge with respect to the theories of knowledge which inform teaching and learning. Instructional teaching, or ‘teaching knowledge to the child’, is compared to facilitation teaching, the ‘teaching the child’ approach to show the extent to which their differences are the result of very different understandings of how knowledge is constituted. In turn, these understandings about knowledge are implicated in major differences about the purpose that education serves in modern society. It is argued that the link between the way knowledge is structured and the way it is organised for teaching justifies instructional teaching as the more effective way to develop students’ learning. This learning is demonstrated in the subject mastery acquired as students connect propositional knowledge to practice knowledge. The facilitation approach is considered to be weak because it is primarily a pedagogical approach concerned with motivating students and fails to account for the type of knowledge that constitutes academic subjects. The paper makes a further claim for the importance of instructional teaching in modern society to argue that the identity of the modern, rational individual depends upon the direct teaching of abstract epistemically structured knowledge to successive generations. These collective representations which constitute the symbolic sphere, support the moral cohesion of democratic pluralistic societies.     

Bridging the implementation gap: a teacher‐as‐learner approach to teaching and learning policy

A major dilemma facing higher educational institutions around the world is how to achieve quality outcomes for students in an increasingly internationalised and competitive environment. To effect change in teaching and learning, we advocate a teacher‐as‐learner approach to the implementation of teaching and learning policy. Our approach has been influenced by approaches to change management as well as contemporary educational theories, such as constructive alignment and deep and surface approaches to learning. In this paper we use these approaches to evaluate the success of a policy initiative designed to encourage subject coordinators to use a faculty‐endorsed template to embed graduate attributes into their subject outlines. The difficulties experienced by teachers at the disciplinary level in using the subject outline template illustrate how a seemingly positive and well‐intentioned initiative can have a potentially minimal effect on teaching and learning practice and, as a consequence, student learning. We suggest that the Course Experience Questionnaire provides a useful model for evaluating not only teaching but also the management of teaching. As teachers responsible for the implementation of teaching and learning policies, we hope our views will provide a more integrated approach to teaching and learning changes in the higher educational context.     

Challenging ESP teacher beliefs about active learning in a Vietnamese university

This article provides insights into how participating in an action research study challenged traditional beliefs about teaching practices and led to more active learning strategies being included in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Science classes at a Vietnamese university. Recent reforms in higher education teaching and learning by the Vietnamese government have placed increased demands on universities to employ more active learning approaches to meet future global needs. In Vietnam, university teaching has generally been based upon traditional lecturing, whereas active learning requires a more student-centred approach whereby students engage cognitively in learning through increased participation and take greater responsibility for inquiring into new knowledge in meaningful and critical ways. Using a participatory action research approach, interviews, observations and planning meetings were undertaken with eight Science lecturers who were currently teaching ESP. The findings revealed how the lecturers underwent positive pedagogical shifts from traditional lecturing to more constructivist approaches to teaching and learning over the time of the study.     

What the Student Does: teaching for enhanced learning

Many teachers see major difficulties in maintaining academic standards in today's larger and more diversified classes. The problem becomes more tractable if learning outcomes are seen as more a function of students’ activities than of their fixed characteristics. The teacher's job is then to organise the teaching/learning context so that all students are more likely to use the higher order learning processes which “academic” students use spontaneously. This may be achieved when all components are aligned, so that objectives express the kinds of understanding that we want from students, the teaching context encourages students to undertake the learning activities likely to achieve those understandings, and the assessment tasks tell students what activities are required of them, and tell us how well the objectives have been met. Two examples of aligned teaching systems are described: problem‐based learning and the learning portfolio.     

The evolution of ICT‐based learning environments: which perspectives for the school of the future?

This paper briefly outlines the evolution of ICT‐based learning environments discussing some of the main aspects that have characterised such evolution (eg, technological evolution, changed cognitive and pedagogical frameworks, changed role assigned to ICT‐based systems in education). The objective is to point out how the implementation of innovative learning environments, based on advanced technology, is the result of the strict interrelation between educational and cognitive theories, technological opportunities and teaching and learning needs. In this paper some indications for current and future evolution are evidenced. Reference is made to an ICT‐based multi‐environment system that supports teaching and learning activities in the domain of arithmetic problem solving at compulsory school level.     

The role of students’ questions in aligning teaching,learning and assessment: a case study from undergraduate sciences

The quality of teaching and learning has been one of the major concerns of foundation chemistry disciplines for science and engineering undergraduates at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. Student‐centred approaches are being continuously developed, exploring ways of stimulating active and meaningful student learning by encouraging questioning by students. The development of questioning competences is regarded as fundamental, particularly in science education. In order to reinforce adequate alignment with teaching strategies, a new assessment method was implemented during the academic year of 2004–2005. This study is mainly aimed at exploring the use and integration of students’ questions as alternative assessment tools. Written formative and summative problem‐based cases were designed for these purposes. The questions raised by students during those assignments were analysed according to their cognitive level, relationship and orientation to the problem posed, herein considered to be quality indicators for learners’ questions. The findings suggest a deep engagement of students within these situations along the year, supporting the use of these alternative assessment tools as a way of fostering students’ questioning capability. Results also reveal that it is possible to achieve, with students’ questions placed at the centre of these processes, alignment between teaching, learning and assessment.     

Problem‐based distance learning of energy issues via computer network

Problem‐based learning (PBL) modified for distance education (PBDiL = Problem‐Based Distance Learning) has been used for teaching energy issues at Uppsala University, Sweden. Collaborative learning in groups of seven to eight students was enabled by computer communication and enhanced the use of Internet. Two different teaching methods have been tried and are compared, both being influenced by methods used in conventional face‐to‐face PBL. The problem presentation was entirely built on pictures, and examination through student reports was successful. A student remark, ‘I study on my own but yet not alone’ shows the importance of social contact.     

Teaching Social Justice Research to Undergraduate Students in Puerto Rico: Using Personal Experiences to Inform Research

This article explores the process of teaching undergraduate students to conduct social justice research. We were interested in understanding how to develop a social justice perspective among students while training them in conventional research methods. The following questions guided our research activities. How can the principles of social justice inform undergraduate research projects? What pedagogical strategies prepare students to conduct social justice-based research? What are the challenges and opportunities in teaching social justice research? We documented the lessons and activities during the field school and collected students’ comments in journals, extensive observations, focus groups, and interviews to understand the influence of social justice on the students’ approach to research. We identify three lessons in teaching social justice. First, teaching social justice requires that students develop meaningful relationships with the community understudy. Second, gender dynamics can prohibit or promote meaningful student engagement and learning. Third, it is important to consider how to integrate, rather than “add on,” social justice activities and discussions into research lessons.     

微观视角下远程教学目标的差异化设计流程

我国远程教育生源复杂,若不考虑学习者的个性化特征与需求,势必会降低远程教育的质量,因此如何为远程学习者提供差异化教学,是当前远程教育领域的重要研究课题。教学目标对教学过程起着导向作用,与学习活动及学习支持的设计息息相关,差异化教学目标设计是远程教育差异化教学的基础工作。在微观视角下,远程教学目标的差异化设计应以学习过程三阶段（即信息接收、信息组织与分化、问题解决）假设为基点,使用言语信息和智慧技能来解释行为目标,用问题解决来解释生成性目标。由于行为目标与生成性目标有其各自的差异化设计要素,以及远程学习者在学习过程的不同阶段体现出不同的学习偏好,因此将教学目标的差异化设计要素与学习者的学习偏好相匹配,即可形成微观视角下远程教学目标的差异化设计流程。这一设计流程为如何设计差异化教学目标以及开发测量学习者特征差异的实践工具提供了理论框架。     

Newsvendor Game: A Behavioral Exercise in Decision Making under Risk

The newsvendor problem is a classic problem of decision making under risk that is taught in traditional Operations and Supply Chain Management classes as a single‐period inventory problem. We discuss the following three pedagogical points of interest to any instructor tasked with teaching this topic: a) why the newsvendor model is relevant in this day and age; b) how to make better sense of the newsvendor problem for students; and c) how to easily implement and administer an active learning exercise in either a traditional classroom, or an online setting. This active learning exercise is a quick, effective, and meaningful way of demonstrating a variety of concepts related to the newsvendor problem that include: a) the rational economic method of calculating optimal order quantity, b) the inherent risk in forecasting and ordering decisions as they relate to surpluses and shortages; and c) the cognitive limitations in decision making that often result in irrational but predictable decision‐making behavior as demonstrated by empirical research on newsvendor behavior. This exercise can help instructors and students transition into broader discussions on human behavior, cognitive limitations, and perceptions of risk. Overall, it should provide the student with an improved understanding of the operational and behavioral issues associated with decision making under risk.     

The Didactics of Foreign Language Teaching with Multimedia

ABSTRACT

The way computers are used in foreign language teaching reflects teachers' ideas about how foreign languages should be learned. We describe different methods of foreign language teaching, one of which is at the base of our computer program IT'S English. In this program, different types of exercises are implemented: receptive, reproductive, and productive. To implement our ideas of a communicative approach to teaching into a computer program, we built an intelligent tutoring system, which incorporates a dictionary, grammar rules, and the digitized pronunciation of words and sentences stored on a CD‐ROM. The software is flexible in that the learning environment it offers can shift from a teacher controlled setting to a fully learner controlled environment. Four groups of eight pupils used the program during eight weeks and were compared with students not using the program. The research showed that the students interacting with the software used its various components in an adequate and goal‐appropriate way and found the use of the software to be a positive experience. After the experimental period, knowledge of vocabulary was significantly higher for one of the computer‐using groups compared to its control group, although in the word (re)production tests no significant differences were found between the experimental and control groups. Implications of the results of the experiments for teacher education are discussed, with an emphasis on the importance of teachers learning how to assess the pedagogical approach of software and the didactic principles involved in its design and intended use.     

高校家庭经济困难学生认定方法及对策探析

高校家庭经济困难学生认定工作已成为困扰高校资助工作的一大难题。分析了目前高校家庭经济困难认定常用方法及存在的主要问题,通过运用调查问卷及个体访谈方式认识和评价高校家庭经济困难学生认定方法的实效性和公平性,并提出了高校家庭经济困难学生认定的相关创新对策。     

School‐related social adjustment of Chinese primary school students with specific learning difficulties: A perspective from Hong Kong

Abstract

Studies in several countries have indicated that students with specific learning difficulties (SpLD) tend to exhibit problems in social adjustment in addition to their difficulties in academic learning. It is often recommended that students with SpLD undergo social skills training as well as receive intensive remedial teaching. This study investigated the extent to which school‐related social adjustment problems were evident in a sample of Chinese students of primary school age who had been identified by an educational psychologist as having a specific learning difficulty. Data were collected by questionnaire from 34 students with SpLD (individually interviewed; oral administration), 167 students without learning problems (group administration; written form), and the 34 teachers of the students with SpLD. Results indicated that although the SpLD students rated themselves lower than the students without learning difficulties on several aspects of social adjustment there was no evidence to suggest that they had major problems in this area. The teachers rated the SpLD students lower than the students rated themselves on most aspects of social adjustment, but the ratings given by the teachers suggested that they too did not perceive the students as having major inadequacies in social adjustment. The findings are discussed, with particular reference to the methodological problems associated with the use of self‐reporting as a technique to obtain data in research involving primary school‐age students.     

非英语专业大学生英语听力学习状况调查与研究

听力教学是大学英语教学的一个重要的组成部分,也是非英语专业学生英语学习的薄弱环节。对大学生英语听力学习状况调查结果表明：学生的语言基础薄弱,对听力学习缺乏兴趣,缺乏必要的听力学习策略等,针对学生英语听力学习中存在的这些困难和问题,结合教学实践,对英语听力教学提出一些建议。     

语文“学案导学”教学模式的运用与反思

新课程改革以来,“学案导学”教学模式实践成为各学科教学改革的主要成果之一。先学后教,以学定教为主要原则的学案导学模式,在一定程度上提高了教学效率．体现了学生的主体地位。但在语文教学实践中,在改变了学生的学习方式的同时,也出现了一些问题。本文结合语文“学案导学”的实践,对这些问题提出了解决策略     

新格莱斯会话含义理论在远程英语听力教学中的行动研究

新格莱斯会话含义理论从“说话人准则”和“听话人推论”两个方面提出了语言学习的三大原则：数量原则、信息原则、方式原则。这一理论适用的语义场景是日常生活的交际活动。在远程开放教育领域,由于大多数学生都是成人学习者,这一特殊性决定了实施英语听力教学面临较大的挑战和难度。在实际的听力教学中,成人学习者大多只关注听力材料的字面意思,而不能理解话语的言下之意,从而导致对说话者的真实意图产生理解上的错误。运用新格莱斯会话含义理论有助于学习者推断出对话中说话者的真实意图,正好弥合了远程教育英语听力教学的不足。基于行动研究“发现问题——反思——调整教学方案”循环迭代的研究路径,针对远程教育英语听力教学的实践研究表明：在听力教学中有意识地系统培养新格莱斯会话含义理论符合开放学生的学习特点;通过现代技术构建生态化的教学和学习环境,整合真实性的教学资源,设计符合远程开放学生需求的情景化的教学活动,能提高学生对于会话中隐喻含义的推理能力和听力理解能力,最终提高学生的听力水平。     

Academic support model for post-secondary school students with learning disabilities: student and instructor perceptions

ABSTRACT

While post-secondary school students with learning difficulties confront many challenges, there is little research on methods of support. In the current study, the ‘adapted course’ model was qualitatively examined from the perspective of both students and instructors. The main goal was to explore how students and instructors perceived the instruction in adapted courses. Five pre-service students with learning disabilities (LD) and/or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and three instructors were interviewed. Responses were analysed using subjective analysis, with central content categories identified based on student and instructor statements. Six main themes emerged: (1) small class size; (2) emotional support; (3) adjusted teaching methods; (4) independent practice exercises; (5) instruction by modelling; and (6) instructor characteristics. The current study can inform pedagogical principles on which a support model for post-secondary students with LD can be based. It provides analyses of the effectiveness of one support model and presents the perceptions of both faculty and students. Moreover, the study provides an opportunity to learn about potential components of effective teaching-learning, not only in the specific context of adapted courses, but in any supportive learning situation (e.g. tutoring) or course.