Curriculum dissemination and implementation in Ireland: principal and teacher insight

In an effort to understand interpretations of new and revised physical education syllabuses, and conditions that appear to strengthen or weaken the desire to introduce them, this paper draws on insights provided by principals and physical education teachers into the effective implementation of syllabuses within Irish post-primary schools. Situating the discussion within the area of managing curriculum change we examine how the various elements of the Irish education system are involved in providing support for such curriculum developments. Using principals' and teachers' perspectives on the implementation of the revised junior cycle physical education syllabus we suggest how the dynamics within the education system might change to provide effective dissemination and implementation of new and revised senior cycle physical education syllabuses. We refer to the principles underpinning community of practice, some of which are evident in the Irish education landscape. We acknowledge that they offer the potential for a changing culture and context in which principals and teacher might work.     

自学考试大纲建设研究

自学考试大纲根据专业考试计划规定了考试标准,是考核要求的具体规划性文件,在指导考生学习和保证考试质量等方面发挥了巨大作用,但仍然存在一些需要完善的地方。借鉴英国GCE考试大纲建设的合理做法,结合自学考试的情况和特点,对自学考试大纲建设进行尝试和探索,积极推动自学考试的科学发展。     

Korean Secondary Students’ Perception of Scientific Literacy as Global Citizens: Using Global Scientific Literacy Questionnaire

We re-conceptualized the meaning of scientific literacy and developed an instrument, which we call the Global Scientific Literacy Questionnaire (GSLQ) based on a new conceptual framework for scientific literacy in the twenty-first century. We identified five dimensions, each with key elements. The five dimensions are (1) content knowledge (core ideas of science), (2) habits of mind (science practices), (3) character and values, (4) science as human endeavor, and (5) metacognition and self-direction. In this study, we attempted to diagnose the extent to which South Korean secondary students perceive themselves as global citizens having such capabilities using GSLQ with 3,202 students (7th–12th grades). Validity and reliability were examined using various statistical techniques including the Cronbach's α coefficient, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis. The use and value of the instrument were discussed by examining the Korean secondary students’ overall scientific literacy as well as their views on each dimension across gender and grade levels. We recommend that teachers and researchers use the GSLQ to assess students’ global scientific literacy and provide comments on its usefulness as a research tool and the practical use of its inventory of items.     

试论五四时期的科学思潮

五四时期是中国化走向现代的伟大转折时期，科学是引导这场转折的伟大旗帜之一，对20世纪中国化与中国思想的历史进程产生了极其深刻的影响。今天进一步研究和探讨五四时期科学思潮，对于我国的社会主义现代化建设具有重要的理论与现实意义。     

General Studies for Students in Further Education – A Critique and an Alternative

It is surprising to see how rarely the ‘laws of reason’ or of scientific practice are examined by professional teachers. Modern education is ‘scientific’ because teachers often accept the cosmology of science as uncritically as once they accepted the cosmology of Popes and Cardinals. For them, science is a neutral structure containing positive knowledge independent of culture, ideology or prejudice. However, according to modern research in the sociology of knowledge and in the sociology, psychology, history and epistemology of science itself, there are no universal ‘standards of rationality’ and there are no value‐free or objective facts’ existing somehow ‘out there’. It is my claim that professional general educators falsely assume otherwise and that this infiltrates papers, aims, syllabuses, etc., in General Studies components of Further Education courses. General education is set within a positivist scientific rationality which determines in a taken‐for‐granted manner not only the aims and objectives of General Studies but also the methods and tools by which these may be tested and judged.     

Text interpretation and educational design in Norwegian textbooks of religious education

Drawing on sociocultural perspectives on educational design, this article presents a qualitative study investigating how religious texts emerge as educational objects and mediating artefacts in Norwegian textbooks of religious and moral education. The article describes how the distribution of text references in textbooks influences the formation of religious traditions as objects. It also describes how religious texts are given various roles and how textbook assignments use various means to facilitate the interpretation of religious texts in a response to the demands posed by Norwegian syllabuses of religious and moral education.     

对新建本科院校有关问题的思考

新建本科院校,大多是由原地方性专科学校或省级专科学校并人其他省属强势高校后升格组建的,这些新建本科院校,面临着新的办学方向和办学途径,本文就新建本科院校的办学指导思想、目标定位、人才培养、师资队伍建设等方面进行了探索和思考,提出了尝试性的意见和措施。     

Including secular philosophies such as humanism in locally agreed syllabuses for religious education

The 2004 National Framework for Religious Education (NFRE) innovatively recommended that secular philosophies such as humanism, or secular worldviews, be included in locally agreed syllabuses for religious education (RE) in England. However, the NFRE is a non‐statutory document, and Agreed Syllabus Conferences (ASCs) and Standing Advisory Councils for Religious Education (SACREs), the bodies responsible for RE in each local authority (LA) in England, are not obliged to respond to its recommendations. This article reports the responses of 80 LAs to the recommendation to include secular worldviews, and examines the range of mechanisms for including secular worldviews across 27 agreed syllabuses. The author discusses key issues to consider when revising agreed syllabuses to include secular worldviews and concludes that, while there is not yet a best model for inclusion of secular worldviews, many locally agreed syllabuses are valuable in pointing ways forward.     

The Evolution of Thought

We investigate the evolution of thought using the method of historical reconstruction, the theory of the cultural and historical determinism of psychological development, data on the relationship between morphological studies, modern findings about child development, and the scientific understanding of neural morphogenesis. We argue for classifying protothinking as a separate category to describe a stage when the person thinks objectively without being aware of this process. It is shown that protothinking is a transitional stage between animal thinking and human verbal thinking. We devote particular attention to the process whereby words and verbally expressed thoughts originated. We formulate the conditions that make it possible to trace the process of how speech came into being as sound combinations that are designed to express thought. It is emphasized that individuals are always responsible for discovering words for themselves. We discuss the origins of language, and we note the creative nature of this process.     

对政治文化的几点分析和思考

政治、意识形态、法治、科学等文化现象在起源上有不同的关系。古代君主专制政治的出发点是理性的,但其运作的基本过程和倾向则是非理性的。民主政治的发展包含了人类对政治文化的理性认识,也包含了对人性本身更完整的认识。在人类历史的坐标上,以民主为特征的政治文明的发展,需要温饱问题的基本解决、社会生活空间有一定的自由度、公众对民主本身有科学的认识,同时各种社会力量的博弈要能达到一种相对平衡的状态。     

高等教育自学考试中英合作课程2008年北京奥运会素材案例题评介及其启示

本文以高等教育自学考试(简称"自学考试")中英合作课程《国际贸易实务》和《商务交流》的题为"2008年北京奥运会"案例分析题为例,剖析了以北京奥运会为素材的案例分析题在选材和设问学科课程化、评分答案平衡性、凸显试题积极教育导向价值等方面的突出特点,以及它们对自学考试其他课程案例分析题命制的重要启示:精心挑选课程化案例材料;充分挖掘和发挥案例题的积极功能。     

Religious education in Syria: unity and difference

This article discusses the almost identical syllabuses of the Christian and Muslim religious education programmes of the Syrian Arab Republic. Content analysis of the students’ textbooks and teachers’ guides (in Arabic) reveals common themes of citizenship education and national unity. Classroom observations in Damascus also highlight how Christian and Muslim teachers have similar ways of teaching religion. Finally, the article describes how each programme aims to unite, in its own way, all the Christians of Syria as well as the Muslims. It becomes evident that the Syrian religious education programmes strike a balance between the religious autonomy of the faith communities and the need for national unity.     

突出工程能力与创新意识培养的岩土工程课程群建设实践

岩土工程课程群建设过程中,通过着力引进和培养青年教师,调整教学大纲,合作或独立编写教材和著作,开发与更新主干课程电子资源,改革专业课程考核模式,改革实验和实践教学模式,加强产学研合作与交流,倾心指导大学生科学研究,本文探索了一条一般本科院校立足于教学基层单位培养较强的工程能力与创新意识的特色人才之路.     

拉斐尔前派与十九世纪欧洲文化思潮

拉斐尔前派源自于欧洲19世纪诸种文化思潮相互吸收、相互消解的生成语境之中,其理论缘起和生成机制与19世纪欧洲文化思潮渊源深厚,先后接受了康德美学思想、拿撒勒派、浪漫主义、牛津运动及宪章运动的影响,同时对后期唯美主义、颓废主义以及象征主义产生了深刻的影响。     

The heyday of paedology in Belgium (1899–1914): A positivistic dream that did not come true

At the beginning of the 20th Century Belgium was said to be a center of the so-called paedological research. Since 1899 Medard Schuyten directed the internationally well known paedological laboratory in Antwerp; in 1912, Josefa Ioteyko founded in Brussels, as an outcome of the first world congress for paedology in Brussels in 1911, the “International Faculty of Paedology”. Mainly on the basis of these Belgian sources, this chapter demonstrates how much the human sciences at the time were captivated by natural scientific thought and scientific optimism.     

Science Content Courses: Workshop in Food Chemistry for 4th Grade School Teachers

ABSTRACT: A science content course in food chemistry was offered as a 4-day summer workshop from 1999 to 2001 to 4th grade school teachers in the Seattle School District. The objectives of the workshop were to increase the teachers' knowledge of food science, to perform simple experiments that could be used in the 4th grade classroom, and to help the teachers become more familiar with the scientific method. The workshop is described, and challenges associated with running the workshop from the instructors' perspective are discussed. Protocol for hands-on experiments used in the workshop, discussion questions/answers, and comments about each experiment are included in Appendices. The use of hands-on experiments that were easily adaptable to the 4th grade classroom and the comfortable atmosphere for discussion appear to have contributed the most to a successful workshop.     

The expansion of English-medium instruction in the Nordic countries: Can top-down university language policies encourage bottom-up disciplinary literacy goals?

Recently, in the wake of the Bologna Declaration and similar international initiatives, there has been a rapid increase in the number of university courses and programmes taught through the medium of English. Surveys have consistently shown the Nordic countries to be at the forefront of this trend towards English-medium instruction (EMI). In this paper, we discuss the introduction of EMI in four Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden). We present the educational setting and the EMI debate in each of these countries and summarize relevant research findings. We then make some tentative suggestions for the introduction of EMI in higher education in other countries. In particular, we are interested in university language policies and their relevance for the day-to-day work of faculty. We problematize one-size-fits-all university language policies, suggesting that in order for policies to be seen as relevant they need to be flexible enough to take into account disciplinary differences. In this respect, we make some specific suggestions about the content of university language policies and EMI course syllabuses. Here we recommend that university language policies should encourage the discussion of disciplinary literacy goals and require course syllabuses to detail disciplinary-specific language-learning outcomes.     

"五四"功用主义文学观新解

“民主”与“科学”是“五四”新文化运动的两大旗帜。“五四”小说所呈现的科学理性精神、思想方法以及创作观念与西方近代科学有着密切的关联,科学不仅改变了“五四”小说的外部形态,也使得传统的实用文学观披上“科学”的外衣,重新走上了现代小说创作的历史舞台。以往学者往往把实用的文学观摆在客观写实的对立面。事实上,客观写实所蕴含的科学精神本身就含有功用的目的。科学研究精神实际上就是要求作家注重对现实人生问题的“观察”、“分析”和“研究”,使得小说与当下社会存在的问题紧密地联系在一起。科学主义与儒家注重现世的功用文学观融合为一。     

环境教育实施与环境行为养成——以台湾某国小高年级学生为例

以自编的“环境行为问卷”为研究工具,以桃园某国小全体五、六年级学生为研究对象,以问卷调查法收集资料,再用t考验、单因子变异数、皮尔逊积差相关、多元回归做统计分析,研究结果均指出学童参与打扫行为的表现是正向且积极的,而打扫行为与环境行为间亦有很高的相关性,打扫行为与环境态度可决定学生环境行为的强弱指标．由此看出,学校环境教育方法与内容得当,会对环境行为的养成有极大帮助．     

读发生认识论原理对教学改革的思考

认知发展理论是著名发展心理学家让·皮亚杰所提出,被公认为20世纪发展心理学上最权威的理论。它试图以认识的历史、社会根源以及认识所依据的概念和"运算"的心理起源为根据来解释认识,特别是解释科学认识。本文对认识发生论的主要概念进行了介绍,对其在教学中的意义进行了思考和探讨。