Lesson observation and quality in primary education as contextual teaching and learning processes

Quality in primary education is currently high on the education agenda in developing countries. What is quality? How can we effectively measure it? How can we achieve it? How can we improve it? The author considers two suggestions to be critical to answering these above questions and engages with them in this article:

• •place what is happening in the school and classroom, specifically teaching and learning processes, at the top of the quality agenda; and
• •use lesson observation to answer the questions.

The engagement in the article with the term “quality” highlights that six conceptualisations are used in the literature. However, the author argues that only two subsections of one of the conceptualisations are influencing policy, i.e. the input and output definitions of quality. An exploration of the common indicators of quality supports this and the author uses a political economy perspective to consider the reasons for it. This leads to the main section of the paper which seeks to explore the two suggestions bulleted above.     

Reducing Abstraction Level When Learning Abstract Algebra Concepts

How do undergraduate students cope with abstract algebra concepts? How should we go about researching this question? Based on interviews with undergraduate students and on written questionnaires, a theoretical framework evolved which could coherently account for most of the data. According to this theoretical framework, students' responses can be interpreted as a result of reducing the level of abstraction. In this paper, the theme of reducing abstraction is examined, based on three interpretations for levels of abstraction discussed in mathematics education research literature. From these three perspectives on abstraction, ways in which students reduce abstraction level are analyzed and exemplified.     

民族地区高校计算机基础课程改革实践与探讨

作为民族地区高校来说，非计算机专业的计算机基础课程是否也是非零起点，这些学生的计算机知识掌握程度如何，第一门计算机课程教什么内容，怎么教，如何加强高校计算机基础教育？这些都是值得我们探讨的问题。本文结合本校教学实际，对我校计算机基础课程改革问题进行了实践和探讨。     

Alternative Assessment in a HighmStakes Environment

How generalizable are the results of alternative assessments? How much psychometric evidence d o we have about these approaches? What effects do alternative assessments have on subgroup differences in performance? What are the probable consequences of using alternative assessments?     

Educational Testing Abroad and Lessons for the United States

What are key features of schooling and testing in some major industrialized countries? What lessons can we learn u from other countries? How important is the issue of confidence in the teachers who will be called on to judge student performance?     

建立有效的证券投资组合

在我国股市，投资组合是否真能有效降低风险？如何建立证券投资组合？组合的规模以多少为宜？这些基本问题的研究，对提高组合管理的效率具有重要的参考价值和指导作用．本文从分析的角度对这些问题进行了研究，同时指出在成熟的证券市场中投资组合理论广阔的应用前景．     

Coaching for the SAT: A Summary of the Summaries and an Update

Why is it important to investigate the effectiveness of coaching for a test such as the SAT? How can you evaluate the effectiveness of coaching? What are some common misconceptions? What do we know and what is still unclear about the effects of coaching? What can we tell students and their families about the results of coaching studies ?     

Mayoral Leadership Matters: Lessons Learned From Mayoral Control of Large Urban School Systems

“Mayoral takeover” has emerged as a major reform option for struggling urban districts since it was launched in Boston in 1992 and Chicago in 1995. This article examines the design, implementation, and the effects of mayoral-led school systems. Our research addresses issues that are critical to systemwide improvement: Are there variation in how mayors govern their schools? How can mayors “add values” to current school reform efforts in their cities? Have more resources been provided for teaching and learning? Is the public more confident in their city's school system? Are test scores improving? In addressing these issues of student outcomes and management improvement, we highlight lessons learned from our research project's mixed-methods approach, including case studies and statistical analyses using a multiyear database on a purposeful sample of 100 urban districts.     

Explicating <Emphasis Type="Italic">mathematical concept</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">mathematicalconception</Emphasis> as theoretical constructs for mathematics education research

Mathematical understanding continues to be one of the major goals of mathematics education. However, what is meant by “mathematical understanding” is underspecified. How can we operationalize the idea of mathematical understanding in research? In this article, I propose particular specifications of the terms mathematical concept and mathematical conception so that they may serve as useful constructs for mathematics education research. I discuss the theoretical basis of the constructs, and I examine the usefulness of these constructs in research and instruction, challenges involved in their use, and ideas derived from our experience using them in research projects. Finally, I provide several examples of articulated mathematical concepts.     

资源优化与体制重建--关于中国化高等教育体制的初步设想

在“穷国办大教育”的特殊国情下 ,中国如何将沉重的人口负担真正转化为人才优势 ?如何使 9亿农民的子孙后代走出农村 ?这些问题无疑都要求高等教育必须做出回答 ,要求尽快建立起适合中国发展现状的高等教育体制。应以教育资源的最优化配置原则 ,从整体性角度对高等教育体制的重建做出初步设想。即实行一年两轮招生制度、学费改革及大范围足额商业性助学贷款和有差别还款制度。     

Some Thoughts on Educational Testing: Measurement Policy Issues Into the Next Millennium

What are key issues that educational measurement professionals must confront in the next decade? What resources can we draw on as we face these issues? How can educational measurement contribute most effectively to educational reform?     

Video viewing in teacher education and professional development: A literature review

This article reviews the international literature on video viewing in teacher education and professional development. Two hundred and fifty-five articles were collected, summarized and categorized using a conceptualization that includes four aspects: teachers' activity as they view a classroom video, the objectives of video viewing, the types of videos viewed, and the effects of video viewing on teacher education and professional development. The findings in each of these aspects suggested three main questions that may profitably guide future research: How can teaching teachers to identify and interpret relevant classroom events on video clips improve their capacity to perform the same activities in the classroom? How can we best articulate the diverse objectives of video viewing and the diverse types of videos in teacher education and professional development programs? How can we create a “continuum” between teacher education programs and professional development programs in such a way that video viewing becomes a routine, familiar professional practice able to produce the desired effects over the course of an entire teaching career?     

Sociologics: An analytical tool for examining socioscientific discourse

Latour (1987) introduced the framework of sociologics to study the construction, accumulation, and mobilisation of knowledge in the face of controversy by means of unpredictable and heterogeneous networks. The framework centres around five questions: How are causes and effects attributed? What points (ideas) are linked to which other? What are the size and strength of these links? Who are the most legitimate spokespersons? and How are the elements in a network modified during the controversy? Latour calls the method of deriving answers to these five questions “sociologics”. Recognising the usual asymmetry of knowledge production, sociologics is concerned with how some knowledge is rendered more credible and powerful than others. The production of knowledge is considered contentious because knowledge is socially constructed in a world where discourse, politics, knowledge, and power are inextricably related. I argue that the framework of sociologics extends commonly used analytical frameworks in socioscientific research in education as, unlike many previous forms of analysis, sociologics foregrounds the social construction of knowledge (as evidenced in discourse) and highlights the contentious, complex, unpredictable, and dynamic nature of knowledge production prevalent in these issues.     

教师在英语课堂教学中的主导作用

英语教学过程是一个复杂的过程。在这一过程中教师要扮演多种角色。教会学生用英语进行交际是英语教学的根本目的所在。那么如何使每节课上得生动有效,使课堂形成语言学习的环境,使师生之间、学生之间能很好地产生互动,相互之间能很好地配合,顺利完成每一节课的教学任务,这些都与课堂管理有直接的关系。教师作为教学的核心,在课堂上自始至终起着主导作用。     

世界大学排名发展现状及其评价研究

近年来,大学排名备受关注,引发了社会各界对应该如何评价大学的思考。世界大学排名到底有多少？ 他们之间的联系和区别是什么？ 大学排名需要遵循什么基本原则？ 针对这些问题,本文通过梳理国内外各大排行榜的相关信息,对各大排行榜进行评价,使大家能理性看待各大排行榜。     

Asian Students in the United States: Lessons That Can be Learned

This article is the result of a research review of Chinese-American students' academic performance. The key research questions are: 1) How are Asian students, especially Chinese-American students, doing academically in the United States compared with other American students? 2) How do they do well and why do they excel? 3) What are the main factors that contribute to their outstanding performance? In answering these questions, endeavours and attempts are made to explain reasons why they are doing well and to provide findings in search of factors affecting their advantages. The major purposes are to present to Singaporean and other Asian students the lessons they can learn from Chinese-American students to succeed academically and socially.     

How to be a good teache

What makes a good teacher?How should teachers talk to students?How should teachers give instructions?Who should talk in class?What are the best kinds of lesson?How important is it to follow a pre-arranged plan?     

The Future of Jobs and the Jobs of the Future: A Decade of E‐Performance

What kinds of jobs will replace those lost during the last Great Recession? How can we avoid the toxic effects of systemic high unemployment among our young and elderly? The answer might be at our fingertips and in the same smartphones we use for entertainment and socializing. E‐performance apps are a promising new field for performance improvement. This article discusses these new trends and presents a practical case developed for turning slums into livable neighborhoods in Argentina.     

借鉴国外先进经验 建设世界一流大学──读《德国和美国大学发达史》

江泽民总书记在庆祝北京大学建校一百周年大会上的讲话中,提出了在我国建设具有世界先进水平的一流大学的要求。如何按照江总书记的要求在我国建设世界一流大学呢？通过考察德国和美国大学发展的历史,我们认识到实现现代化必须要有世界一流大学,建设世界一流大学应借鉴国外先进经验。