The IEA Assessment of Science Achievement

This paper reviews the IEA science assessment instruments and their outcomes in relation to what is known from other studies. The underlying assumptions are explored as is the justification for future surveys. The particular ‘decontextualised’ view that the same assessment items can be utilised validly across systems is analysed in detail by studying the item selection process. The paper looks at the interpretations of the results, considers the extent to which any claims are justified and reflects on whether, for many policy purposes, local studies within an educational system would be more useful.     

FIMS and SIMS: the first two IEA International Mathematics Surveys

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) is an organisation which experiences tension between the interests of researchers and those of policy‐makers. Three international mathematics studies have been undertaken. The first and second studies, FIMS and SIMS, conducted at age 13 and pre‐university, were each innovative in their day, and some of the results have had a significant impact. Not all difficulties of curriculum match and comparable sampling were solved, resulting in concerns about the validity of international league tables and educational inferences. Nevertheless, the collection and analysis of data in relation to students, teachers, curriculum, classroom contexts and attainment was itself invaluable and justified the enterprise.     

第二语言习得的特性探讨 --第二语言习得和母语习得的异同

第二语言习得的特性是指这种习得不同于该语言作为母语或第一语言习得，即儿童习得自己的母语时的特殊规律性。充分认识第二语言习得的特殊规律，对发挥和培养学习者的学习兴趣和优势，使他们收到理想的学习效果都有促进作用。本文在回顾第一语言（或母语）习得理论的基础上，对母语习得和第二语言习得在以下方面作了对比：（1）动机；（2）环境（语言环境和文化环境）和方式；（3）过程（语音，词汇，句子）；（4）年龄；从而得出两种习得之间的相同点及差异，相同点反映出语言习得的普遍规律，而两种习得之间的差异正是第二语言教学中应引起注意的方面。     

Public views on the gendering of mathematics and related careers: international comparisons

Mathematics continues to be an enabling discipline for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)-based university studies and related careers. Explanatory models for females’ underrepresentation in higher level mathematics and STEM-based courses comprise learner-related and environmental variables—including societal beliefs. Using Facebook to recruit participants, we explored if mathematics, science, and computing continue to be viewed as male domains. Responses were received from 784 people in 81 countries. As well as looking at the views of the world at large, responses from nine countries with at least 30 respondents—Canada, China, Egypt, India, Israel, Singapore, UAE, UK, and Australia—were examined in more detail. The results indicated that among those who held gender-stereotyped views (and many did not), mathematics, science, and computing were considered more suitable for males than for females.     

Making sense of and with mathematics: the interface between academic mathematics and mathematics in practice

This article summarises what we can learn from research into workplace practice and vocational preparation to inform the design of mathematics education curricula for learners in general education undertaking compulsory schooling. Key findings about workplace practices are identified and explicated through the report of a case study from research in which researchers, students, teachers and workers explored workplace and mathematical practices together. Further to this, issues of learning and personal development are considered and explored from a point of view that sees learning as practice (doing) and identity development (becoming). This leads to a proposal for principles that provide a strategic vision for curriculum design. A potential approach to tactical design that facilitates curriculum structuring is illustrated in the particular instance of understanding developing measures as a modelling activity. Overall, the exercise, whilst providing some insight into possible ways forward in curriculum development, also suggests areas that require further research and development.     

Reading Achievement and Social Selection in Independent Schools in Sweden: Results from IEA PIRLS 2001

The study investigates the mean difference in reading achievement between third‐graders in public and independent schools in Sweden. The data come from the Swedish participation in PIRLS 2001 conducted by IEA. Variables from the home questionnaire mainly indicating possession of cultural capital are used as independent variables. A total IRT score of reading achievement is used as outcome variable. It is shown that students in independent schools have on average better reading results and also a more advantageous socio‐economic background than have students in public schools. Social selection hence characterises independent schools. In addition, indicators of students' cultural capital account for the major part of the mean difference between school types.     

第二课堂数学教育教学的实践与认识

第二课堂与第一课堂共同构成高校人才培养系统。第二课堂数学教育教学既是对第一课堂教育教学的有益补充,又是培养新一代实践型大学生的有效途径。本文以新疆工程学院为例,针对高校数学教育教学面临的问题和不足,探讨了第二课堂数学教育教学的途径和方法。通过构建大学第二课堂数学教育教学体系,实现了大学生数学知识、能力、素质协调发展,提升了学生的综合素质,为大学数学教育工作者提供了供参考与借鉴。     

高等数学与中学数学教学内容衔接的新尝试

由实例出发分析了在新课标下中学数学与高等数学在课程内容上的衔接问题,并在教学方法上针对这些实际问题作出新的尝试,使得大学生更加顺利的做好从中学数学到高等数学的过渡与衔接。     

关于高校新生第一次高等数学课的思考

文中阐述了第一次高等数学课对学生的影响,同时思考了如何建立良好的氛围、激发学生学习兴趣,并阐述了与中学数学学习方法的区别,目的旨在通过第一次课使学生有自主学习的愿望,为高等数学课的学习创造良好的开端。     

浅谈高职数学教育与中学数学教育的衔接

基于现在高职数学教育的实际情况,从高职数学教育与中学数学教育的区别和衔接,针对知识点和学习方法两个方面进行了探讨。并根据一线教师多年的实际经验,给出了一定的解决方案。     

Achievement in the first 2 years of school: patterns and processes

How successfully children adapt to the routine of schooling in the first grade or two likely has long-term implications for their cognitive and affective development. This study aims to understand how home and school factors either facilitate or impede this process of adaptation by examining longitudinal data on cognitive performance for a large and diverse sample of youngsters over grades 1 and 2 in Baltimore City Public Schools. Report-card marks in reading and mathematics and scores on verbal and quantitative subtests of the California Achievement Test (CAT) battery over the 2-year period are the achievement criteria. The analysis directs attention to some of the social-structural (socioeconomic background, gender, and minority/majority status) and social-psychological (significant others and self-reactions) factors that shape youngsters' development during this period, as measured by changes in their cognitive standing. Racial comparisons (black youngsters vs. white) and comparisons by school year (first vs. second) highlight some key differences in the transition to full-time schooling. We find more numerous social-structural and social-psychological influences on CAT gains over the first year than over the second, and fall to spring stability in testing levels is more pronounced in the second year than in the first. This pattern identifies the first year of schooling as a period of considerable consequence for shaping subsequent achievement trajectories, and, for this reason, it may be especially important as a key to understanding black-white achievement differences. Minority and majority youngsters in this sample began school with similar CAT averages, but, by the end of the first year, blacks' performances lagged noticeably behind those of whites, and the cleavage widened over the second year. Blacks also received lower report-card marks than whites. This, along with smaller CAT gains, reveals that the transition to school is more problematic for blacks than it is for whites. We also observed stronger persistence of blacks' marks from one period to the next, indicating that recovering from these initial difficulties is more challenging. Social-psychological aspects of these early achievement patterns also differ by race in important ways: blacks' achievements are less influenced by parent variables than are those of whites, and black youngsters' self-expectations are less affected by the expectations held for them by their parents than are those of whites. These results and others are discussed in terms of their implications for students' development and for what they reveal about social structure in relation to the early schooling process.     

Differences between multiple choice items and constructed response items in the IEA timss surveys

In international large-scale surveys, constructed response (CR) items are increasingly being used and multiple-choice (MC) items are being used less frequently. In this article the two item types will be compared in terms of any differences they have on national mean scores. TIMSS 1995 and TIMSS 1999 data have been used. Are there different effects of the question types for mathematics and science? Does the introduction of open-ended items into the math and science tests affect the math and science achievement results?     

The value of the IEA mathematics study for educational policy making: Tasmania a viewpoint from a state department of education

Conclusion There are no broad generalisations to be drawn, comforting or otherwise. A number of issues are thrown into sharp relief. The first group of these relates to mathematics performance and can only be answered when the new courses have had time to show effect and when further IEA applications can aid analysis. The second group of these relate to educational expectation, occupational aspiration, interest and occupational selectivity. The Australian schools in general have moved a good distance towards an open and mobile system as distinct from a selective one, academically or socially. Tasmania has not moved so far and should encourage a greater secondary retention, not merely to improve mathematical yield but for wider social and educational purposes.