UNDERSTANDING PARTICIPATION RATES IN POST-16 MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS: CONCEPTUALISING AND OPERATIONALISING THE UPMAP PROJECT

We report on a project currently in progress that aims to identify through research the range of factors (individual, school and out-of-school, including home) and their interactions that influence post-16 (i.e. post-compulsory) participation in mathematics and physics in the UK and to assess their relative importance among different student populations. In this project, we are beginning to elucidate the views of students and examine the sources of these views by exploring the contexts in which both school and university students experience barriers or opportunities and form their identities with regard to participation in mathematics and physics. Our focus in this paper is on our methodology, the reasons for it and how and why our approach to data collection developed during the project. We situate our work within a mixed-methods approach, using multilevel modelling and discourse analysis to analyse and interpret our findings that derive from our own questionnaires, interviews and ethnography and from existing large-scale datasets. We argue that greater acknowledgement in the education literatures that investigate student participation in mathematics and science needs to be made than is usual of the range of factors, including unconscious forces that may affect participation.     

ENGLISH UNIVERSITIES, ADDITIONAL FEE INCOME AND ACCESS AGREEMENTS: THEIR IMPACT ON WIDENING PARTICIPATION AND FAIR ACCESS

ABSTRACT:  This paper argues that the introduction of access agreements following the establishment of the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) has consolidated how English higher education institutions (HEIs) position themselves in the marketplace in relation to widening participation. However, the absence of a national bursary scheme has led to obfuscation rather than clarification from the perspective of the consumer. This paper analyses OFFA's 2008 monitoring report and a sample of twenty HEIs' original 2006 and revised or updated access agreements (2008) to draw conclusions about the impact of these agreements on notions of 'fair access' and widening participation. The authors conclude that, unsurprisingly in an increasingly market-driven system, institutions use access agreements primarily to promote enrolment to their own programmes rather than to promote system-wide objectives. As a consequence of this marketing focus, previous differences between pre-1992 and post-1992 institutions in relation to widening participation and fair access are perpetuated, leading to both confusion for consumers and an inequitable distribution of bursary and other support mechanisms for the poorest applicants to HE.     

参与、主体的参与和主体性参与的涵义

参与是主体对活动的能动性作用的过程,是能力和倾向的统一。它是共在的人在活动中的一种倾向性表现行为。主体的参与是人作为主体而发出的参与行为。当社会发展到不是以财富为中心而是以人为本的阶段时,确立社会成员的主体地位就成了时代哲学的一个主题。主体的参与是主体确立其地位的重要保证。"主体性"与"参与"的结合是马克思主义科学实践观与人的主观能动性联姻的结果,是实现活动有效性的要求。     

'THE POLITICS OF FAITH AND THE POLITICS OF SCEPTICISM': MICHAEL OAKESHOTT, EDUCATION AND EXTREMISM

ABSTRACT:  This paper considers a distinction between two types of politics developed by Michael Oakeshott in his book The Politics of Faith and the Politics of Scepticism (1996) and argues that the theoretical framework proposed supplies an illuminating and productive perspective for examining the notion of political extremism. These positions are linked to two other important aspects of his work, namely his account of 'enterprise' and 'civil' association and his differentiation between abstract philosophical entities and concrete political situations. There is also a discussion of the idea of 'perfectionism' which is central to the politics of faith. The paper concludes with a consideration of some of the implications for political education arising from this analysis.     

MATHEMATICS EDUCATION VALUES QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TURKISH PRESERVICE MATHEMATICS TEACHERS: DESIGN, VALIDATION, AND RESULTS

The purpose of this study was to develop a questionnaire that could measure preservice mathematics teachers' mathematics educational values. Development and validation of the questionnaire involved a sequential inquiry in which design principles were established from the existing literature and a pool of items was constructed then submitted to experts for consideration of the construct validity. Alterations to the items based on their suggestions were made to produce a trial version of the questionnaire. A pilot study involving preservice mathematics teachers explored the validity and usefulness of the questionnaire. The pilot results were used to revise the questionnaire that was administered to a sample of preservice mathematics teachers attending Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey. Further explorations of the construct and structural validity, item contributions, and reliability were achieved by using a factor analysis and two different item analysis methods. Results revealed that the questionnaire included four factors, satisfactory item contributions, and acceptable internal consistency. One result obtained in this study suggested that some mathematics education values based on Western culture (e.g., accessibility–special) have not been accepted by Turkish preservice mathematics teachers.     

PASSION,POLITICS, AND COLLABORATION: CHANGING EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER PREPARATION AND CERTIFICATION

This narrative chronicles the development of a state mandated seamless early care and education career development system designed to improve the quality of preparation of Early Childhood professionals and services supporting young children. Issues of articulation between two‐year and four‐year institutions, statewide standardized core community college coursework, and accountability based on state testing for teacher certification are discussed. Finally, state‐wide teacher preparation changes and university responses to those mandates are included.     

MATHEMATICS IN MIND,BRAIN, AND EDUCATION: A NEO-PIAGETIAN APPROACH

Because of their focus on psychological structures and operations, neo-Piagetian approaches to learning lend themselves to neurological hypotheses. Recent advances in neural imaging and educational technology now make it possible to test some of these claims. Here, we take a neo-Piagetian approach to mathematical learning in order to frame two studies involving the use of electroencephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging imaging, as well as the use of iOS-based apps designed to elicit particular ways of operating with mathematics. Results could inform theories of mathematical learning and effective educational game design.     

企业职工参加教育培训的决定因素-深圳的案例

市场为导向的经济使中国深圳迅猛发展,大部分职工继续参加与工作相关的教育培训。本研究认为,在企业具有了经营自主权后,员工会按照自己的意愿追求职业抱负,因此非政府资助的教育培训系统将获得较大发展,以回应企业及职工个体的教育培训需求。本研究通过对深圳76家企业、3475个职工的调查数据,用多元选择模型考察职工参加与工作相关的教育培训模式的决定因素。职工参加教育培训有四种选择:参加企业提供的教育培训、去企业以外的机构接受教育培训、以上两种模式都参加或者都不参加。本研究发现,选择上述四种不同模式的职工在个人的文化象征性特征、与工作间有关的个人社会经济特征以及其所属企业的经济特征等方面都存在着差异。     

OLDER ADULTS' PARTICIPATION IN UNIVERSITY CLASSES: COGNITIVE,MORALE, AND FAMILY CORRELATES

The number of older adults taking advantage of courses offered by institutions of higher learning is increasing. Despite this trend in university and college enrollment, educators know little about the reasons why adults aged 55 years and over are making the decision to return to school. This paper describes the results of an exploratory study about: (1) educational motivations of older students; (2) effect of involvement in university classes on older adults' attitude toward aging; and (3) impact of older individuals' participation in university classes on marital relations.

Interviews were_ conducted with twenty‐one married couples, aged 55 years and older (X = 68.54), with one spouse attending university classes. In order to compute life satisfaction analyses, a control sample was secured. This group consisted of 33 married couples, 55 years and over (X = 70.93), with neither spouse participating in continuing education.

Results indicated that older students viewed intrinsic learning goals to be significantly more important than extrinsic incentives (p<.01). Student couples reported significantly more positive attitudes toward growing older than did nonstudent couples (p<.05). Although participation in university classes had only a minimal impact on members' marital interaction, student couples express satisfaction with this effect.

Recommendations suggested the construction of assessment measures of older adults' self‐initiated versus externally reinforced learning goals. It is advised that pre‐ and posttest interview schedules be used when determining the impact on family solidarity of older adults' pursual of further learning. Future research is suggested which explores whether participation in continuing education provides skills or information for older persons to adjust to their changing environments which in turn would have an influence on level of morale.     

COMMUNITY SERVICES: COMMUNITY COLLEGE FACULTY PERCEPTIONS AND PARTICIPATION

This study determined full‐time faculty members’ perceptions of and involvement in community services at community colleges in Ohio. A total of 249 full‐time faculty responded to the survey instrument representing 83.0% of the total sample. Data were analyzed by either the t test or the one‐way analysis of variance and Scheffe's post hoc analysis.

Results showed that involvement in planning and teaching within community services seem to be a key factor relative to how full‐time faculty perceive community services activities. Moreover, certain personal and professional characteristics of full‐time faculty members seem to influence their attitudes toward and their involvement in community services.     

DECLINING REVENUES,INCREASING ENROLLMENTS,AND THE OPEN DOOR

A national study of community colleges found declining state support and increasing enrollments in a majority of the states. Although the community college officials who participated in the study indicated that they did not view current levels of state support as sufficient given the significant increases in enrollment, few reported plans to limit enrollment or restrict access.     

MATHEMATICS AS AN IM/PURE KNOWLEDGE SYSTEM: SYMBIOSIS, (W)HOLISM AND SYNERGY IN MATHEMATICS EDUCATION

The problem of culturally decontextualised mathematics education faced by Nepali students, teachers and teacher educators has often been oriented by the view of the nature of mathematics as a body of pure knowledge, which gives rise to an exclusive emphasis on an ideology of singularity, epistemology of objectivism, language of universality and logic of certainty whilst developing curriculum, conceiving pedagogies and implementing assessment strategies in school mathematics education and mathematics teacher education programmes. With epistemic referents of dialectical logics and performative imagination, an alternative view of the nature of mathematics as an impure knowledge is discussed with its possible disempowering features, such as essentialism, hegemony and dualisms. Finally, an inclusive view of the nature of mathematics as im/pure knowledge system is articulated with the help of various forms of dialectics.     

“综合启发,评价开拓”教法试验研究

本文阐述了初中化学“综合启发,评价开拓”教法试验的理论和实践依据.试验优化的标准,运用系统科学原理提出了该教法在初中化学课堂教学中的基本环节和要求,并在教学中予于了实施和总结.