Introducing the Children Act

Many readers may not yet be aware of the provisions of the Children Act 1989. It comes into effect next year and offers both challenges and opportunities for teachers and other professionals as well as for children with special educational needs and their families. Philippa Russell, principal officer, Voluntary Council for Handicapped Children, summarises some of the main sections of the Act and those most relevant to education.     

Introducing a Precursor Model of Inheritance to Young Children

This paper reports on a mixed-model case study of designing and implementing a constructivist teaching intervention about reproduction and physical family resemblance for young children. The objective of the study was to explore whether the ways that preschoolers reason about the resemblance between offspring and parents can be improved with a teaching intervention that introduces a rudimentary idea of genes through reproduction. The participants were 60 preschoolers (age 5–5.5 years) from public kindergartens of Patras. The qualitative analysis of their pre- and post semi-structured interviews showed a remarkable improvement in their reasoning, which was found to be statistically significant as well. After the three-part teaching intervention, children appeared to recognize the biological contribution of both parents to a child's creation. Moreover, most of them appeared able to attribute a child's species and body traits to the parental genes passed to the child through reproduction and not to the parents’ or child's intention.     

认识小学儿童认识小学教育

随着时代的进步与需求，教育工作者，特别是小学教师，要重新认识现代小学儿童的发展特征与教育；重新认识小学教育的性质、任务和特殊的教育功能；重新认识小学教师的培养，转变传统教师的角色。小学教育的“基础性”应包括：道德品质发展的基础；智慧品质发展的基础；个性品质发展的基础；身体发展的基础。在小学教育教学实践中，教师要成为学生成长的关怀者，学生发展的促进者，教育的研究者。     

Introducing Pre-university Students to Primary Scientific Literature Through Argumentation Analysis

Primary scientific literature is one of the most important means of communication in science, written for peers in the scientific community. Primary literature provides an authentic context for showing students how scientists support their claims. Several teaching strategies have been proposed using (adapted) scientific publications, some for secondary education, but none of these strategies focused specifically on scientific argumentation. The purpose of this study is to evaluate a strategy for teaching pre-university students to read unadapted primary scientific literature, translated into students’ native language, based on a new argumentation analysis framework. This framework encompasses seven types of argumentative elements: motive, objective, main conclusion, implication, support, counterargument and refutation. During the intervention, students studied two research articles. We monitored students’ reading comprehension and their opinion on the articles and activities. After the intervention, we measured students’ ability to identify the argumentative elements in a third unadapted and translated research article. The presented framework enabled students to analyse the article by identifying the motive, objective, main conclusion and implication and part of the supports. Students stated that they found these activities useful. Most students understood the text on paragraph level and were able to read the article with some help for its vocabulary. We suggest that primary scientific literature has the potential to show students important aspects of the scientific process and to learn scientific vocabulary in an authentic context.     

Introducing Young Children to Mathematical Concepts: Problems with 'new' terminology

This paper explores the nature of the language used when teaching mathematics to young children. It proposes that an important part of the teaching of a mathematical concept is the introduction of specific terminology. Children may need to be taught new meanings for already familiar words. The timing of these introductions to new words or meanings is critical to their understanding of the concepts being taught. It will be argued that there are two aspects of the children's learning that need to be considered. First, their understanding of the concept being introduced, and secondly, their learning the appropriate word to describe that concept. By assessing children's understanding of new mathematical concepts through their own use of the terminology, the teacher can then negotiate new meanings with them through practical experiences, introducing new word meanings only when the concepts have been understood.     

Lap Reading for Young at-Risk Children: Introducing Families to Books

Many at-risk children do not experience lap reading to the degree their more advantaged peers do. To investigate the effects lap reading might have on such children, three families with at-risk children were taught lap reading techniques and were provided with books for lap reading over a 12- to 16-week period. Changes in the children's behavior included choosing books and reading as free-time activities, developing positive attitudes toward books, and persisting in attending to books in the face of other activity choices. Additional outcomes included an increase in higher level questions asked by the children, some improvement in their oral language, and an increase in literacy-specific knowledge. Lap reading is recommended as a tool for parents to increase instructional motivation for their at-risk children.     

卤素的原子电负性与分子电负性的关系

通过MP2/6-31g(d,p)、MP2/6-311g(3df,3pd)、B3LYP/6-311g(3df,3pd)方法计算氟、氯、溴原子和分子、原子及分子的阳离子和阴离子的能量。用MP2/lanl2dz方法计算碘原子和分子、原子及分子的阳离子和阴离子能量。由计算得出的能量分析得出氟、氯、溴、碘原子和分子的电负性。结果表明:不同方法计算得出的卤素原子和分子的电负性数值变化规律相同,由此可以得出卤素原子的电负性可以近似描述由相同原子组成的双原子分子体系。     

谈小学生课外阅读指导策略

在小学语文教学中,对阅读的指导不能仅局限于教科书,更应引导学生把视野拓展到课外阅读。在兴趣的培养上,要从随意走向自觉;在内容的选择上,要从松散走向系统;在效能的提升上,要从低效走向高效;在秩序的管理上,要从无序走向规范。     

Teaching Mathematics through Play to Primary School Children

The use of ‘play’ as a means of teaching elementary mathematics is discussed. The games used are described and the underlying theory explained. Results obtained from work with over 150 children are presented and the case for ‘Playway’ argued in the light of these.     

孤独症儿童认知心理的初步研究

孤独症儿童的认知心理是当前孤独症理论研究的一个重要方向,其研究成果对儿童孤儿症的预防与治疗都有重要的指导作用。本文根据当前儿童孤儿症认知理论研究现状,着重分析了孤独症儿童的认知心理的特点,以及认知心理干预法,提出孤独症儿童认知心理理论应用中应注意和强调的问题。     

小学写作教学的活动设计策略

当前小学生作文存在题材单一、思路狭窄、语言贫乏、感情苍白的问题。针对这些问题,笔者注重实践,开拓视野,创设情境,以情激趣,唤起学生写作的欲望,使作文教学回归本体,真正做到放文,放情,放形。     

Fly's Eye View: Introducing Young Children to Digital Art through Virtual Reality

This paper describes ‘Fly’s Eye View', a project devised and directed by David Smith and supported by a grant from the UK Techniquest Pantechnicon Millennium Awards (intended to help bridge the gap in public perception between science and art). ‘Fly’s Eye View' was specifically aimed at young children, aged 7–11 years (Key Stage Two of the UK National Curriculum). The project used a low-level VR fly-by system to represent a garden scene as it might be experienced by a dragonfly. The analogy between the mosaic visual ‘perception’ of insects and image representation in computer systems allowed some interesting explorations into what may be involved in ‘seeing’. This analogy was used as the starting point for a series of exploratory activities using digital art work. The paper reviews the outcomes of the project and discusses their possible significance in the context of current approaches to art education and the stimulation of creative thinking in young children.     

一年级流动儿童的入学适应问题研究

笔者采用《教师-学生评定量表〈T-CRS-C〉》2.1中文版与《家长参与儿童入学准备的调查问卷》,考察了兰州市安宁区215名一年级公办学校的流动儿童与本地儿童的入学适应状况。研究表明,一年级流动儿童总体适应良好,但在行为控制与同辈社交能力方面适应较差。本地儿童与流动儿童在任务取向、自表能力、同辈社交能力三个方面存在差异。一年级流动儿童的入学适应与就读公办性质的幼儿园、家长较高的参与儿童入学准备水平、担任班干部、就读Y小学与K小学积极相关。     

浅探小学语文课堂教学的导入方法

成功的语文课堂教学可以让学生切身体会到在课文中流淌的诗意和情感。峰回路转的情节,可以引发学生的想象,启迪学生的心智,那么如何才能营造一堂成功的语文课呢?成功的课堂导入设计是解决这个问题的好办法。一个优秀的课堂导入像磁铁一样,可以聚拢学生的注意力,激发学生的学习兴趣和求知欲,渲染良好的课堂气氛。小学语文课堂教学中根据文本的内容和学生的特点,精心设计新颖独特、风格迥异的课前引导,经过教师精心设计,散发出独特的光芒,引领学生去课文中寻幽探密。     

Molecules to materials

Design of molecular nonlinear optical materials is presented; their inherent advantages are highlighted and their current status appraised.     

Molecules to materials

Molecular materials represent an area of fruitful interaction between synthetic chemistry, solid state physics and materials science. This article discusses the development of magnetic materials based on metal complexes, organometallic compounds and organic radicals.     

Molecules to materials

With the advent of modern physics and chemistry, fundamentally new types of materials have been created in this century. Various types of forces operating in different classes of solids are exploited in the design of molecular materials. A variety of fabrication techniques have been developed to make materials with the desired properties. An overview of these aspects is provided in this article.     

Molecules to materials

Design and fabrication of molecular materials combines the versatility of synthetic chemistry and the fundamental insights into materials gained through condensed matter physics. This article presents several examples to illustrate the power of a molecular level approach to material properties. An overview of liquid crystals is presented followed by a brief account of molecular design for liquid crystal displays. The growth of organic semiconductors and metals, conducting polymers and organic superconductors is discussed next. Finally the basic aspects of the design of molecular conductors are analysed.     

Molecules to materials

The concept of individual molecules functioning as active devices has been around for a few decades. The active device size has continuously decreased during this century, starting with meter-sized vacuum valve tubes of the early 1930’s and 40’s, through millimeter-sized transistors in the 1960’s to micrometer-sized integrated circuits in the 1970’s and 80’s. Thus the molecular scale devices represent the logical evolution to nanoscale devices expected towards the end of this century and the beginning of the next. This article presents some examples to provide a glimpse of the activity in this area. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Molecules to materials

Earlier articles in this series provided several examples to illustrate the controlled assembly of bulk structures with desired solid state properties using specifically designed molecules. The ultimate goal of these exercises is the development of devices whose building blocks are molecules. This article and the next attempt to impart the flavour of this exciting field of research and technology through brief discussions of several molecular devices. This article will focus on devices, which utilise the bulk properties of molecular materials; the examples selected are electroluminiscent device, thin film transistor and an electro-optic device.