The learning credit card: A tool for managing personal development*

This is the report of a five month study, undertaken by Sundridge Park Training Technologies in association with Guildford Educational Services to assess the potential of smart card technology to support learning and the management of learning. The study had two strands—the state of the art of the technology and its potential for supporting, delivering and managing learning. In addition to a study of the literature and extensive discussions with people using smart cards, potential users of smart card and visionaries, the project team developed two illustrative systems using cards to store personal data relating to education and training. The term ‘smart card’ is often used loosely to describe three different types of card, each of which is similar in general shape and size to a traditional credit card. These are: memory cards, laser cards—and true smart cards incorporating a processor and memory. This study has been concerned with memory cards and smart cards. The focus for smart card applications has been predominantly financial: there are relatively few applications in education or training. A notable exception is the large scale project at the University of Bologna which uses smart cards to manage the progress and achievements of a large number of students in the Department of Electronics. The two illustrative systems provided valuable experience of using memory cards and smart cards in quasi‐real education and training applications. They highlighted the problems of limited memory capacities and confirmed the high level of user acceptance reported by other trials. We can expect considerable advances in the technology of both memory cards and smart cards over the next months and years. The memory capacities of both types of cards will increase many‐fold and the unit costs will fall as large quantities of cards are produced for financial applications. Education and training applications will benefit from this expanding market. The major surprise from the study was the level of interest in the work and the enthusiasm expressed by almost all of those who came to hear of it. The general level of awareness of smart card technology was found to be low. However, the requirement for a system which will enable individuals to manage and own their learning on an extended timescale was generally recognised. Some of the possible applications for smart cards and memory cards in education and training had emerged before the official start of the study and it is clear that the technology is potentially pervasive. The project team and those consulted identified a wide range of possible applications both in education and in training. These focussed on assessment, personal course planning and management, identification of relevant learning opportunities, and the ownership of learning. It was felt that, over the next few years, smart cards are very likely to be in common use as credit cards for financial applications. Therefore, their use for education and training should be planned now. The recommendations from the study are that: More detailed studies are needed to find out how smart cards and memory cards could be used by different organisations in a fully operational system; Standards should be established for smart card applications in education and training, similar to those governing financial applications; Applications should be developed after the standards have been established. To be convincing, these should take a case study approach with small pilot studies in a variety of contexts and must follow real needs rather than attempt to drive them; The case studies would then form the basis for a campaign to increase awareness of smart cards and their potential for education and training, together with a programme for building an infrastructure to support the proposed systems. The public sector should fund the task of developing standards and providing interfaces with existing educational systems and projects to demonstrate the feasibility of various applications. Since educational standards have a European dimension, the European Community may be a source of support for work in the area of standards. At the same time, private sector funding should be sought for skill development and career development systems in industry and in education. The Training Agency itself should consider the application of smart card technology to the control and management of the Youth Training Scheme (YTS).     

Foundation degree learning: an educational journey of personal development

The foundation degree is an intermediate-level qualification designed to widen participation in higher education while providing work-related skills and knowledge. It has a vocational focus and a pedagogic approach that integrates academic and work-based learning. Research into opportunities and the process of learning within foundation degrees is limited, particularly that which looks in depth at personal development occurring within these courses. This study contributes to the literature in this area, reporting on the results of a case study of the foundation degree in medicines management (University of Portsmouth). A key finding of this work was that knowledge was gained within a community of practice, and led to students’ development as individuals. Motivation, learning to learn and guidance and feedback, alongside peer learning within the course, were central aspects of this process. The learning and personal development taking place resulted in increased awareness, confidence and empowerment in students, which was reported to influence their work and personal lives. However, the development of specialist work-related skills and knowledge was found to be limited, questioning the fitness for purpose of the course researched. While key aspects of the subject investigated have been described in this work, further research is needed to understand this complex phenomenon.     

A third approach beyond the false dichotomy between teacher- and student-centred approaches in the engineering classroom

ABSTRACT

Most of the contemporary critiques of university teaching are variants of a central argument that sets up a polarity between socalled ‘traditional’ teaching, often termed ‘teacher-centred’ and ‘transmissive’, and approaches that by contrast are considered ‘student-centred’, often also referred to with the phrase ‘active learning’. This editorial argues that it is important for engineering educators to be able to interrogate these calls for change, drawing on an informed sense of ‘evidence-based practice’ in education. Drawing on scholarship from higher education research, it is suggested that the polarity typical to these debates is actually a false dichotomy, and what is needed to foster high-quality student learning is a third approach to teaching that skillfully combines a focus on knowledge with pedagogical strategies that foster student engagement.     

高校教师职业特点及其收入分配改革研究

本文从经济学和管理学两个不同角度审视了八种收入分配理论及其对高校教师收入分配的指导意义,考察了国外特别是美国高校在教师收入分配如结构、基本工资、奖金等方面的通行做法,提出了关于国内高校教师收入分配改革的目标取向及指导思想的建议,以及高校薪酬水平、薪酬结构、基本工资、奖金、福利、管理体系及资金渠道等七个主要问题的解决方案。     

A personal connection: Promoting positive attitudes towards teaching and learning

Students' attitudes towards teaching and learning must be addressed with the same seriousness and effort as we address content. Establishing a personal connection and addressing our students' basic psychological needs will produce positive attitudes towards teaching and learning and develop life‐long learners. It will also promote constructive student‐teacher relationships that have a profound influence on our students' approach towards school. To begin this process, consider the major tenets of the Self‐Determination Theory. The Self‐Determination Theory of human motivation focuses on our students' innate psychological needs and the degree to which an individual's behavior is self‐motivated and self‐determined. Faculty can satisfy the innate psychological needs by addressing our students' desire for relatedness, competence and autonomy. Relatedness refers to our students' need to feel connected to others, to be a member of a group, to have a sense of communion and to develop close relationships with others. Competence is believing our students can succeed_, challenging them to do so and imparting that belief in them. Autonomy involves considering the perspectives of the student and providing relevant information and opportunities for student choice and initiating and regulating their own behaviors. Establishing a personal connection and addressing our students' basic psychological needs will improve our teaching, inspire and engage our students and promote positive attitudes towards teaching and learning while reducing competition and increasing compassion. These are important goals because unless students are inspired and motivated and have positive attitudes towards teaching and learning our efforts will fail to meet their full potential. Anat Sci Educ 10: 503–507. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.     

科学发展观与高校发展

以科学发展观为指导,对高校当前改革和发展中的学校定位和办学特色;保证学校全面、协调、可持续发展;转变高教增长模式,以信息化推动高教高质量、高效益、高速度发展等问题进行分析和论述,提出了解决的办法。     

Self-directed learning characteristics: making learning personal,empowering and successful

Due to the speedy emergent investigation in self-directed learning (SDL) over the past 40 years, SDL is an education technique used progressively within tertiary institutions. SDL can be well-defined in terms of the amount of accountability the student accepts for his or her own learning. The self-directed students regarding learning take control and apply self-determination to learn what they view as imperative for themselves. The amount of control the students are keen to take over their own learning will depend on their assertiveness, aptitudes and personality characteristics. The article thus explores what individual features and characteristics can define the student who is involved in SDL; What capabilities and characteristics need to be grasped by the students who are involved in SDL? Therefore, the objective of the article was to identify characteristics of the self-directed learner in the context of teacher education. Based on our conclusion, it is clear that teacher-students should challenge themselves within this process of SDL development to participate in SDL opportunities. The characteristics of SDL teacher-students must be strengthened to promote their self-directedness with regard to learning and it is also the lecturer’s task to create a class atmosphere of SDl to inculcate and develop SDL characteristics in students.     

大学文化建构与高校可持续发展

改革开放以来,大学文化愈来愈成为高校凝聚人心、扩大影响力、提高竞争力、推动自身最终实现可持续发展的重要手段。新时期大学文化的建构,要树立正确的大学文化观,立足大学的基本特征,努力铸造具有个性特色的大学文化的灵魂——大学精神,以大学文化建设来推进大学竞争力的提高。     

A Foucaultian critique of learning disability discourses: personal narratives and science

In this article, I present a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of two discourses in learning disabilities (LD) – the academic research literature on emotions of students labeled as LD and retrospective autobiographies from adults labeled as LD writing about their emotions as students. Drawing mainly on Foucaultian explanations of power, I investigate how these two discourses differentially position persons labeled as LD as human subjects. I raise research and theoretical concerns to further interpret power as discursively and historically situated and point out opportunities for resisting ways the dominant positivist, scientific discourse positions students labeled as LD.     

Make learning personal: Recommendations for classroom practice

Structuring the curriculum and the classroom experience in ways that promote community building and develop an appreciation for diversity is a powerful way to deepen and personalize a student's learning experience.     

Cognitive development of intellectually gifted: A Piagetian perspective

This article explores some of the materials prepared for parents of gifted children and examines the explanatory language and concepts used in terms of their potential for shaping parental attitudes and affecting the adjustment of gifted children. The author argues that the conceptual frameworks used to explain giftedness, nongiftedness and the nature of differences have powerful effects on societal and educational attitudes, including the willingness to provide differentiated services for gifted children. A strong plea is made for professional sensitivity and responsibility in describing giftedness in ways that do not isolate gifted children or their parents and which potentiate shared advocacy with other educational advocacy groups.     

奥苏贝尔和罗杰斯有关意义学习理论的比较与启示

认知主义学派的奥苏贝尔和人本主义学派的罗杰斯都曾提出过有关“意义学习”的理论,虽然这两种理论名称相同,但其涵义、研究视角、强调的重点与目的都各不相同,这些鲜明的差异引发了我们对教师角色、师生关系和教学目标的进一步思考。     

Students' personal networks in virtual and personal learning environments: a case study in higher education using learning analytics approach

The main objective of this paper is to analyse the effect of the affordances of a virtual learning environment and a personal learning environment (PLE) in the configuration of the students' personal networks in a higher education context. The results are discussed in light of the adaptation of the students to the learning network made up by two undergraduate, inter-university and online courses. Besides, we also examine the influence of this effect in the learning process. The findings reflect the effectiveness of a PLE for facilitating student participation and for assisting students in the creation of larger and more balanced personal networks with richer social capital. However, the findings do not provide evidences about a difference in the learning performance between the two environments. From a methodological point of view, this paper serves as an illustration of the analysis of personal networks on digital data collected from technology-enhanced learning environments.     

A personal inquiry into an experience of adult learning on-line

In this paper, I offer a reflection on mypersonal experience of networked learning usingthe approach of personal inquiry. I addressthe issue of identity and my experience ofpresenting myself on-line; my experience ofparticipating in the formation of the learninggroup; and what I describe as the `weight ofthe words', my experience of using this newmedium of communication. I follow this with atheoretical exploration which attempts tounderstand these aspects of my experience. Iargue that in the networked learningenvironment, the taken-for-granted processes ofidentity work and group formation aredisturbed. The unease provoked by this requiresgreater effort towards the establishment ofidentity and group, whilst at the same timeopening up the possibility for more fluidityand openness to the other. In my experienceas a learner, the newness and uncertainty ofthe experience compelled me towards seekingcertainty and closure. I was not able to makebest use of the opportunity for the greaterfluidity and openness offered by the networkedlearning environment. I close the paper bysuggesting how teachers may be able to supportthe conditions that would enable learners tomake best use of this opportunity. I argue thatthe learning community has to be seen asfundamentally an ethical one based onresponsibility to the other and that thisrequires the opening up of conversationsbetween learners and teachers for the sharingand negotiation of experiences and ways ofworking.     

科学发展观与高校的发展战略选择

牢固树立科学发展观,是当前高校普遍面临的重大任务。必须坚持用科学发展观来进一步升华,形成以人为本、注重学术、服务社会、发展特色的办学理念。落实科学发展观,要抓住学校发展中的战略管理、学科建设、人才强校战略、教学科研“两翼”发展战略、校园的规划与建设以及党建和思想政治工作等战略关键,并正确处理好规模、结构、质量与效益,特色发展与全面发展,教学与科研,眼前发展与长远规划,以及改革、发展与稳定等关系。     

Children's personal learning agendas at home

Ethnographic case studies of nine British working class children were conducted in order to investigate learning from the perspectives of the families. The research aim was to study children learning outside school in situations that were not specifically set up with learning in mind; in social contexts where learning was not an obligation or purpose and was therefore incidental and non‐self‐conscious; and to study children learning in the company of adults who were not professionals. This article does not offer a universal portrait of these children's learning, but a particular way of seeing and interpreting it. The children's home learning is fuelled by social and emotional dimensions. There are multiple competitors for children's attention in any given learning opportunity, and children are not necessarily learning what adults think they are. The children in the study transform the outcomes of their opportunities for learning into learning about their experiences of the human condition.