Learning from refutation texts about scientific topics with analogical and causal explanations

Previous research has suggested that refutation texts are effective in facilitating learning and revision of misconceptions and that explanations are an essential component in their efficacy. In this study, we investigated the extent to which reading refutation texts featuring an analogy as an explanatory tool rather than a causal explanation results in different encoding processes during reading, belief in misconceptions, and confidence in beliefs. Using a think-aloud methodology, we found that a higher proportion of text-based inferences was associated with analogy texts than with non-analogy texts, and a higher proportion of knowledge-based inferences was associated with non-analogy than with analogy texts. Contrary to our hypotheses, no significant differences were found in belief in misconceptions and confidence outcomes between the text conditions. We discuss the implications of these findings in light of previous research suggesting that analogies improve learning outcomes.     

The pleasure of recognition: intertextuality in the talk of preschoolers during shared reading with mothers and teachers

Mature readers draw on a complex web of previous experiences when interpreting written and visual texts. Yet very little is known about how preschool children, who cannot yet read, make connections between texts. This study explores how 13 4‐year‐old children made intertextual connections during shared reading with their mothers (seven children) and their preschool teachers (six children). The findings indicate that very young children actively draw on their knowledge of other texts, and their personal lived experiences, to reflect on the meanings they encounter in unfamiliar picture books. The functions served by the children's intertexts ranged from the simple pleasure of recognition to more sophisticated comparisons between texts in terms of theme and plot. The extent to which the adults were able to integrate the children's intertexts into the discussions varied. An awareness of the important role played by intertextuality in children's interpretations of texts may provide early childhood professionals with a framework within which to plan systematically for the language and literacy development of young children in their care.     

论《高级英语》的课文翻译

英语专业高年级使用的《高级英语》有多种参考用书，其中大多数提供了课文的参考译文。但是，部分参考译文存在原文理解不透、句式过于欧化以及粗心大意带来的问题。解决这些问题的方法在于在于透彻理解原文、适当归化句式和克服粗心大意。     

Self-generated analogies as a tool for constructing and evaluating explanations of scientific phenomena

How can students be taught to develop explanations for scientific phenomena on their own when their background knowledge is incomplete or poorly organized? Evidence from historical accounts of scientific discovery suggest that self-generated analogies—analogies produced by the learners themselves—are a tool by which individuals can generate, evaluate, and modify their own explanations. The central research questions for this study were: Can students use a series of self-generated analogies to bring about change in their understanding of a given scientific phenomenon, and what is the nature of the change in understanding? Participants were asked to create, apply, and modify their own analogies—as opposed to applying a specific analogy provided by an outsider—as a heuristic for constructing, evaluating, and modifying their own explanations for a given scientific phenomena. Nontrivial changes in explanation facilitated by the use of generative analogies were observed. Changes in understanding ranged from the emergence of new explanations to the raising of important questions about the nature of the phenomenon.     

“Seeing the Light”: A Cognitive Approach to the Metaphorical in Picture Books

Picture books, as both sophisticated aesthetic objects and literary texts, provide the ideal site for critically examining how values and ideology are transmitted to children. How the child reader might be affected by the process of reading a picture book—that is, how he or she might be moved emotionally and potentially gain new insights about the world—is of interest to scholars and educators alike. This article draws upon cognitive literary theory as a conceptual frame through which to explore the cognitive and emotional affect that reading may have upon children. “Reader response” and “cultural criticism” are approaches to literature that seek to understand how readers interact with texts. Cognitive theory, when applied to literature, builds on these discourses by focusing on why reading fiction might cause the brain to produce emotional and cognitive responses in readers. As metaphors are a feature of language and of thought, a study of the metaphorical in picture books aptly lends itself to the theoretical framework offered by cognitive literary theory. Drawing on examples from four picture books produced for children, broadly correlating to different developmental stages, this article examines the role of metaphor in encouraging skills in decoding and creative thinking. Talking to children about visual metaphor or metaphorical expression introduces them to a feature of language and thought that provides a conceptual frame for richer understanding and expression of ideas. Examining how the metaphorical operates in picture books thus takes us a step closer to understanding how the process of reading affects children and enriches their lives.     

Elaborate analogies in science text: Tools for enhancing preservice teachers’ knowledge and attitudes

Preservice teachers studied texts about three fundamentally important science concepts. They read versions with no analogy, versions with a simple analogy, and versions with an elaborate analogy. An elaborate analogy is one that consists of text and pictorial components in which similarities between the analog and the target concept are made explicit. Verbal and imagery processes combine to promote a mapping of conceptual features. The findings indicated that elaborate analogies improved the science knowledge and attitudes of preservice teachers by relating what is familiar to what is new. The findings are consistent with a constructivist view of learning science and suggest that science texts for preservice teachers should be adapted to take advantage of elaborate analogies in a systematic way.     

Are high school chemistry textbooks gender fair?

This study compared two generations of seven high school chemistry texts (1970/1973) and current editions analyzed for gender fairness in illustrations and in concrete analogies. Results support these conclusions: (a) considering the texts as a group, there are significant differences between relative frequencies of named and unnamed illustrations of men and women and no significant differences between relative frequencies of illustrations of boys and girls in seven high school chemistry texts in the 1970 editions compared to current edition of the same texts; (b) a current best-seller is the only text that has achieved balance between male/female illustrations; (c) the other texts overwhelmingly favor pictures of males; (d) most current texts had more analogies than their 1970 editions; the former favored images reflecting girls' interests.     

《北堂书钞》异文研究

随着年代推移,古书在流传过程中由于各种原因,会出现较多讹误。唐代虞世南所编《北堂书钞》由于善本缺失,且年代久远,校勘后发现存在大量异文。其讹误现象一为脱字,二为讹字,且校本也存在不准确之处。对异文进行研究处理,对于恢复古书原貌,正本清源有一定价值。     

训释方法简述

训诂学是我国传统语言学的一个重要门类,古代训诂材料的主要形式在于训释,其训释方法非常重要.本文从重要的训诂学论著中学习并且归纳基本的训释方法,从分类的角度简述对于训释方法的理解,以期对古代汉语教学有所帮助.     

Understanding children's reading activities: Reading motivation,skill and child characteristics as predictors

This study examined the extent to which a range of child characteristics (sex, age, socioeconomic status, reading skill and intrinsic and extrinsic reading motivation) predicted engagement (i.e., time spent) in different reading activities (fiction books, factual books, school textbooks, comics, magazines and digital texts). In total, 791 children (aged 8–11 years) participated. There was considerable variation in the factors predicting engagement in different reading activities. Although intrinsic reading motivation was a good predictor of recreational book reading, age was a stronger predictor of engagement with digital texts. Furthermore, specific dimensions of motivation predicted engagement in different reading activities; being motivated to read challenging texts predicted recreational book reading, whereas being motivated to achieve good grades predicted schoolbook reading. On the other hand, social reasons predicted engagement with magazines and comics. Implications for education and the relationship between child characteristics and choice of reading activities are discussed.     

A historical analysis of electric currents in textbooks: A century of influence on physics education

The typical model of electric current which we present to students is one of electron movement between points at different potentials. The problems associated with this model of electricity have been the subject of much educational research, particularly with respect to the use of analogies. The water-circuit analogy, especially, has received considerable attention. Despite this, students continue to hold remarkably persistent alternative conceptions about the nature of simple circuits. Historically, the electromagnetic field theories of Faraday and Maxwell constitute important steps towards modern understanding of transmission of electric current along a wire. Textbooks from 1891 to 1991, however, reflect remarkably little change in their presentation of direct-current circuitry, most texts by implication portraying, in various ways, a fluid model which predates Faraday. Against this background, this paper describes the ways in which textbooks interpret historical developments for teaching texts and the time which may elapse before such developments have an impact in the classroom. It also highlights important issues relating to the intrinsic merit of contemporary textbook treatments of electricity and examines their importance with respect to classroom teaching.     

Scaffolding Preservice Teachers' Evaluation of Children's Science Literature: Attention to Science-Focused Genres and Use

The use of an inquiry framework to support the development of learners' scientific literacy has been supported by research on learning in science and advocated by the major science standards and policy documents. To fully engage in inquiry, however, a wide range of tools, including both activities and texts, must be employed. The successful integration of text materials requires the selection of suitable texts. This, in turn, requires an in-depth understanding of the types of science books available and their potential uses within an inquiry framework. To support preservice teachers' development of these understandings, I examined the criteria they typically employ when evaluating texts in contextualized and uncontextualized settings. In these settings, students attended primarily to visual characteristics of texts or exhibited their limited understandings of science content and text use. These results were used to develop an evaluation framework that emphasizes use in inquiry over other typical evaluation criteria.     

When is a science analogy like a social studies analogy? A comparison of text analogies across two disciplines

This textbook survey analyzes the construction and use of analogies in social science texts and compares the results to an earlier analysis of physical science texts. Although the results indicate that the categories in the Curtis and Reigeluth classification system for analogy construction were consistent across disciplines, several differences were revealed related to how and when the analogy is used as an instructional design strategy.     

An interpretive examination of high school chemistry teachers' analogical explanations

This article reports an interpretive examination of four teachers' use of analogies to teach chemistry. The study describes why the teachers chose to use analogies, how the characteristics of the analogies employed varied from teacher to teacher, and from where the teachers derived their analogies. These teachers used analogies spontaneously, as well as on a planned basis, to explain abstract chemistry concepts both on a whole-class basis and for individual students who indicated a lack of understanding. The teachers appeared able to ascertain that the students required an alternative representation without overtly seeking evidence to this effect. The presented analogies, especially those that were of the simple-comparison type, appeared to have a motivational impact on the students. Several analogies were extended to map selected attributes, and these were believed by the teachers to be powerful explanatory devices. Pictorial analogies were frequently used to enhance analog familiarity, and further analog explanation was not uncommon, although the frequency with which the teachers stated the presence of analogical limitations was low. The article concludes by suggesting how science teacher education can be informed by case studies of teaching in context, in this instance of analogy-inclusive teaching by four experienced chemistry teachers.     

反思与建构:预习提示研究

作为语文教科书的重要组成部分 ,预习提示在帮助学生理解课文内容、启迪学生的思维以及指点学习方法等方面发挥着重要的作用。现行语文教科书中的预习提示大多言简意赅、画龙点睛 ,已成为语文教材的重要组成部分 ,但还存在一些问题。因此 ,预习提示应该立足学生 ,注意针对性 ;召唤思考 ,培养创造性 ;启发鼓励 ,饱含情感性     

异文选择与词义考释——以中古史书为中心

古籍异文具有重要价值,但也为整理、利用古籍设置了障碍。要对纷繁复杂的异文作出正确的选择,准确考明异文所表示的词的含义是一项重要的基础性工作。本文以中古史书异文为例,从考求古词古义、把握新词新义、明了习语常词、明辨词的假借义、分析字形以求词义五个方面对这一问题作了初步的论述。     

Designing Science Textbooks to Enhance Student Understanding

Theory and practice both suggest that well-designed science textbooks can enhance student understanding. We present an approach to textbook design based on concepts from cognitive psychology, comprehension research, and curriculum theory. At the practical level, the critical elements are coherence in the content and in the rhetorical patterns and devices for connecting these elements. We present results from a cross-cultural study of fourth-grade textbooks from Japan, Singapore, and the United States. Although texts from all three countries have strengths and limitations, the Japanese and Singaporean books are closer to Whitehead's ideal, "teach a few things well" (Whitehead, 1929, p. 2). Our analyses led us to several recommendations for improving the design of science texts.     

Creativity and Picture Books

Where authors and illustrators exercise rigorous constraint with their texts, with neither replicating the work that the other can portray more effectively, they are at their most creative and they make picture books to which readers are repeatedly drawn because of the inherent and deeply satisfying challenges offered. Moreover, the allure is not just to children; teachers find that such texts draw from them their most creative ideas for ways of working with children. Three picture books are examined in terms of their strengths and potential activities. Conclusions are drawn which seek to justify the sharing of such picture books in terms of imaginative empowerment and lasting messages about reading.     

How analogies foster learning from science texts

This article provides an introduction to extended text-based analogies used for instructional purposes in science textbooks. A theoretical framework for understanding learning via extended analogies is discussed, and examples of extended textual analogies are provided. Research which provides direction in how to optimally use analogies in science instruction is reviewed. Characteristics of good analogies, types of learners who might benefit from the use of analogies, and kinds of learning which might be facilitated are discussed. The issue of possible misconceptions generated via instructional analogies is addressed, in conjunction with suggestions for remediation. Finally, recommendations for effective use of analogies in text are made, suggestions for instructional practices accompanying textual science analogies are provided and directions for future research are suggested.