On Cognitive Constraints and Learning Progressions: The case of “structure of matter”

Based on the analysis of available research on students’ alternative conceptions about the particulate nature of matter, we identified basic implicit assumptions that seem to constrain students’ ideas and reasoning on this topic at various learning stages. Although many of these assumptions are interrelated, some of them seem to change or lose/gain strength independently from one another. Overlapping or competing presuppositions about the structure, properties, and dynamics of matter may be able to coexist at any given level, particularly at intermediate stages of expertise. Our results allowed us to suggest common paths in the transition from naïve through novice to expert along relevant dimensions related to the structure and properties of chemical substances. The identification of these cognitive constraints provides a useful framework that educators can use to better understand and even predict many of their students’ learning difficulties. It can also assist in the design and organisation of learning experiences and assessment tools that recognise and take advantage of the most likely trajectories towards expertise (learning progressions) followed by many students.     

On Vocabulary Learning Mode—the Integration of Incidental Learning and Explicit Instructions

This article is mainly to review and comment on the article written by Sonbul, S.,& Schmitt, N.in 2009 which is con?cerned with the additional efficacy of putting explicit instruction as post process to incidental learning in obtaining vocabulary as well as testing the vocabulary knowledge of the form-meaning link at three different levels (meaning recognition, meaning recall, and meaning recognition).     

On the Uncertainty of“True-being”: from“Chuang Zhou’s Dreaming of Becoming a Butterfly”

This paper tries to make a philosophical speculation towards the“uncertainty”of“true-being”from the following three aspects:first,Chuang Tzu’s philosophy on skepticism and the uniformity of all things reflected on“Chuang Zhou’s Dreaming of Becoming A Butterfly”;second,Descartes’skepticism on the existence of true being;last,the ongoing exploring of the true being.Through the reflections on different philosophers’speculations towards the same proposition,the belt between Chinese and western philosophy is built,providing a broaden horizon and thinking mode towards life.     

Learning from Self-Diagnosis Activities when Contrasting Students’ Own Solutions with Worked Examples: the Case of 10th Graders Studying Geometric Optics

Research in Science Education - Self-diagnosis activities require students to self-diagnose their solutions to problems they solved on their own by detecting and explaining their errors. Worked...     

Centering Nepantla Literacies from the Borderlands: Leveraging “In-Betweenness” Toward Learning in the Everyday

This article argues that building powerful literacies involves the centering of dispositions and practices that thrive on the boundary—spaces that are not always sanctioned as educational. Leveraging youths’ repertoires is particularly important for educators of nondominant learners who are committed to challenging characterizations of their students as being inept or deficient. To this end, we address how the design of learning opportunities that attend to polylingual repertoires (Gutiérrez, Bien, Selland, & Pierce, 2011)—the use of multiple languages and forms of expression-—can open up opportunities, pathways, for youth to leverage new identities as resources for consequential learning. We advance the idea of organizing learning environments where youth playfully negotiate their nepantla identities that are often in a “state of perpetual transition” (Anzaldúa, 1999, p. 100). We argue that nepantla literacies, or literacies that thrive in the boundary, emerge through negotiations with syncretic (Gutiérrez, 2014) literacies—those that are valued in the academy and across spaces and communities.     

On the Translation of “Clauses Composed of Verb Phrases” in Chinese Political and Economic Texts from the Perspective of “Skopos Theory”from the Perspective of “Skopos Theory”

This thesis is aimed at studying,from the point of "Skopos theory",the translation of "Clauses Composed of Verb Phrases" in Chinese political and economic texts.     

“Migrating” or Being “Left Behind”: The Education Dilemma of Rural Children in Mainland China

Abstract

Rural children belong to an educationally disadvantaged group whether they migrate or remain in their villages. Using a specially designed questionnaire, this paper surveyed more than 2,500 migrant and left-behind children in the Xixiangtang District of Nanning in Mainland China on issues relating to education and mental state. Through comparisons of migrant and nonmigrant children and those who had and had not been left behind, this study found that migrant children are unable to enter public schools due to incomplete documents, and also experience problems with a safe commute to and from school, after-school care, etc.; left-behind children are more likely to experience problems with emotional deprivation, dull after-school life, susceptibility to disease, and poor habits. With respect to mental state, some of the survey questions showed no significant differences, whereas others displayed significant divergences. It can be seen that both migrant and left-behind children experience problems with educational difficulties, poor discipline, and poor mental adaptability, and are in a clearly disadvantaged position. This paper recommends that the government, schools, society, and families jointly cooperate to strengthen emotional guidance for migrant children and left-behind children and ensure that no child is abandoned, allowing migrant children to grow and learn healthily in their respective environments.     

The Importance of Multiple Representations of Mathematical Problems: Evidence from Chinese Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Analysis of a Learning Goal

This article describes a study of how Chinese preservice teachers unpacked a learning goal pertaining to adding fractions and understanding the concepts underlying the operation. Based on work in the USA by Morris, Hiebert, and Spizter (Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 40(5), 491–529, 2009), 50 Chinese preservice teachers completed a task, anticipating an ideal student response, in the context of four representations: (1) fraction pieces, (2) graph paper, (3) common denominator algorithm, and (4) pennies. Like the US-based study, this study shows that Chinese preservice teachers’ ability to unpack a learning goal was highly influenced by how the problem was represented. The pennies and graph paper problems provided more supportive contexts for unpacking the learning goal; the algorithm problem provided the least supportive context. The main difference between the preservice teachers from these two countries was the US preservice teachers chose the pennies and graph paper problems as having the most potential for revealing students’ understanding of the learning goal; while the Chinese preservice teachers chose the algorithm problem despite the problem’s unsupportive context. Chinese preservice teachers’ preference suggests that they privileged algorithmic/symbolic representations over pictorial/concrete representations. Based on our results, we argue that it is time for cross-cultural comparative research to refocus on the common barriers, challenges, and benefits as related to mathematics teacher preparation and professional development. A cooperative instead of competitive orientation will lead to richer and deeper dialogues among mathematics educators.     

“Either a hevruta Partner or Death”: A Critical View on the Interpersonal Dimensions of hevruta Learning

How might one perceive the role of his or her hevruta partner in the hevruta learning relationship? Drawing on recent developments in the scholarship of rabbinics, this article offers an interpretation of a Talmudic legend that discusses three forms of interpersonal relationships in hevruta learning. Rather then considering hevruta learning as a formal setting meant to serve the learner's own learning, this interpretation offers a dialogic view of hevruta learning in which the learner carries a responsibility for the learning of his or her hevruta partner as well. The article concludes by suggesting further considerations of the interpretation of Talmudic legends as a resource for Jewish education and of hevruta learning as a locus for moral education.     

Applying the Science of Learning to the Learning of Science: Newton’s Second Law of Motion

Science teaching and learning require knowledge about how learning takes place (cognition) and how learners interact with their surroundings (affective and sociocultural factors). The study reported on focussed on learning for understanding of Newton’s second law of motion from a cognitive perspective that takes social factors into account. A cognitive refinement instructional approach (CRIA) was used to organise and sequence learning activities, while students were engaged through inquiry and group work. Students’ real-life experiences were used as starting point of the learning sequence. The efficiency of the sequence was determined with the aid of the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) and complemented with the students’ reflections on the sequence, showing their epistemological preferences. The results indicated that a CRIA aided in constructing more coherent scientific knowledge and enhanced understanding, while reducing misconceptions on the topic. In their reflections, the students acknowledged that experiential and experimental evidence, as well as guided formation of a scientific explanatory framework, are foundational for a deeper understanding of the challenging topic.