Mathematical Education of Engineers: an Australian perspective

A series of surveys provide the basis for comments on the mathematical education of engineers in Australia. The respondents were graduates and employers. This paper summarises their views and contrasts undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The former tend to be traditional and structured. There is a need for more course work with the latter with more emphasis on mathematical modelling. Desirable professional attributes which should come from education with mathematics rather than mere training in mathematics are listed as they are seen in the milieu of the market place.     

Education for the future: an international perspective

Building a strategic direction for education ultimately rests on the extent, to which we resolve the key issue addressed by UNESCO’s International Commission on Education for the 21st Century (the Delors Report): what kind of education is needed to create the kind of world, we want to emerge in the future? Certainly, globalisation brings with it many new challenges, opportunities and dangers and global forces are impacting on the directions being taken by education systems around the world. At the same time, we, individually and collectively, must strive to determine our own destiny. The direction in which education heads depends both on the global forces shaping our common future, and on the policy choices and programs, we put in place over the next decade. In this paper, it is argued that in the 21st century, we need a renewed sense of the purpose in education, one which restores harmony in human development by giving greater emphasis to the social, cultural and moral dimensions of education. In essence, we must learn to live together and develop the competencies needed tackle the social, environmental and economic challenges facing us in a rapidly changing, complex and unequal and conflicted world.     

Practice in Teacher Education: an Israeli perspective

This paper describes prevailing models of teacher education programs in Israel and tries to explain their variability regarding the student‐teaching component. It is argued that this variability is the result of holding different views regarding three core factors: professional (the way teaching is perceived as a profession), epistemological (the way the knowledge base of teaching is created and acquired), sociopolitical (ownership claims regarding this knowledge base). The combined effect of these three factors is a variety of teacher education programs especially in terms of their practical components. These differ in timing, organization, location, intensity in actual student teaching and reflection, amount of supervision and control. Different modes of practicum emerge, ranging from technical ones deriving from competency based approaches to constructivist reflective ones. Among the constructivist practicums some are based on interactionist modes of meaning construal, some are social or dialectical type of knowledge construction and some emphasize the collective structuring of meaning within the community of practice. The many types of teacher education and student‐teaching programs in existence in Israel, reflect this variability of approaches.     

Education’s effect on income inequality: an economic globalisation perspective

Utilising a globalisation framework this study contributes to discussions concerning inequality, education, and development by re‐examining the effects of educational and economic variables on income inequality. This research shows that the effects of education on income inequality are affected by the level of economic freedom in a country, and specifically that more economic liberalisation may limit the equalising effects of secondary enrolments. These findings imply that the level of economic freedom must be considered when creating policies to reduce inequality and that complex relationships must be considered for further research in this area.     

Marketing of Further and Higher Education: an equal opportunities perspective

abstract

College and universities are wanting to recruit more students from a wider base giving them access to further and higher education. This requires institutions to market their courses effectively to prospective consumers. In educational terms the consumer is the student. This article explores the links between marketing models and the ways that colleges and universities have addressed the issue of equality of opportunity and wider access.     

Decentralization of First Nations Education in Canada: Perspectives on Ideals and Realities of Indian Control of Indian Education

Fuelled by the concept of self-determination, efforts to improve schooling under the banner of decentralization are taking hold in First Nations communities throughout Canada. Proponents of decentralization hold the perception that decentralized systems are more likely to improve education than centralized systems. But is there a chance that local control can improve First Nations education? From the point of view of the realization of the decentralization values, the outcome is uncertain at best and gloomy at worst. To the extent that First Nations are alert to the emerging educational needs and problems and strong enough to mobilize First Nations resources on their behalf, we may entertain a cautious optimism on the resolution of some of the manifold contradictions of decentralization. I contend that unless there is a genuine devolution that entails the empowerment of First Nations communities to provide an education that is specifically suited to each community, schools for Aboriginal children will remain mediocre in quality. If decentralization is to sustain its momentum and advance productively in coming years, at least it should meet three conditions. First, certain constraints or contradictions internal to decentralization will have to be resolved. Second, Aboriginal scholars and First Nations school authorities need to employ appropriate change strategies by providing a framework for local control, and finally, First Nations communities and federal authorities need to find the key symbolic and structural characteristics of decentralizing First Nations schools.     

妇产科研究生微创能力的培养

微创技术在国内外已经全面开展,业已逐渐成熟,成为妇产科医师的基本技术之一。目前,由于我国对微创技术没有统一和规范的教学,近年来妇产科研究生教学过程中,如何对受训的研究生进行培训,我们一直在探寻新的且有效的关于微创技术的临床教学模式,培养和提高研究生的理论与实践能力。     

The Impact of First‐year Education Practicum and Study on Preservice Teachers: a West Australian perspective

The pressure to improve preparation programs for teachers increasingly is evident in Australia, UK and the US. At Curtin University, the Faculty of Education is interested in the way in which preservice students perceive the teaching role and how these perceptions alter during their undergraduate experiences. First year undergraduates in the Faculty of Education were asked early in the year to give short written comments, in an informal situation, to the question “What is teaching?” At the end of their first year the same students were then asked “How have your ideas about teaching changed, and what influenced those changes?” An analysis of students’ responses showed considerable changes in their views of the profession with the single most important factor in the change being the first practicum. Also many of the student teachers’ views were expressed in strongly emotional terms. This paper reports the findings of the first year of a three year project planned to continue mapping students’ conceptions of teaching.     

微创经皮肾镜治疗肾盏憩室并结石

目的：探讨经皮肾镜技术治疗肾盏憩室结石的临床疗效。方法：回顾性分析18例诊断为肾盏憩室并结石患者临床治疗资料。其采用B超结合C臂引导下定位穿刺建立经皮肾通道碎石成功,根据个体情况运用扩张憩室盏颈或电灼憩室囊壁两种方法处理肾盏憩室。结果：本组患者均获穿刺碎石成功,手术时间45～120（65．8±7．89）min,无严重并发症;术后随访3。24个月,憩室消失9例,明显缩小8例,1例虽结石复发但可保守观察。结论：经皮肾技术治疗肾盏憩室结石是微创、有效、安全的治疗手段。穿刺路径选择、小心建立通道以及憩室盏颈的处理是治疗肾盏憩室结石成功的关键。     

鼻内镜下上颌窦囊肿手术45例分析

分析鼻内镜手术技术治疗上颌窦囊肿的临床效果。方法对我科2005年6月—2009年6月收治的90例上颌窦囊肿患者根据入院顺序,随机分为鼻内镜组和对照组各45例,其中对照组行传统柯—陆氏上颌窦囊肿摘除术。观察比较两组手术的效果及术后并发症发生的情况。结果鼻内镜组的手术操作简单,术后反应小,并发症少,效果满意。经统计学处理,差异有统计学意义,P〈0.05或P〈0.01。结论在治疗上颌窦囊肿中,鼻内镜手术摘除上颌窦囊肿是首选术式,值得临床推广和应用。     

The Impact of Modernization on Indian Families: The Counselling Challenge

India has the distinction of evolving one of the longest continuing civilization in the world, which is constantly adapted itself to the changing political and socio-economic contents and specific watershed events in her history. Her family system has proved to be a remarkable stable unit of society which has shown great flexibility and adaptability in the phase of rapid social changes. This paper briefly traces the past taken by India in the modernization process, then analyzes the impact of social change of family structure, functions, roles, relationships and status of its members and its relationship with kinship system. Lastly, it draws implications for counseling interventions based on the changing needs of contemporary Indian Families.     

Impact of stereotypes on intercultural communication: a Chinese perspective

Using Kuhn and McPartland’s approach, 116 Chinese college students were recruited and asked to write as many sentences as possible beginning with “Chinese…,” “Americans…,” and “Japanese….” The population of sentences consisted of 258 adjectives, of which 96 described Chinese, 53 described Americans, and 109 described Japanese. Next, the first ten adjectives with the highest frequencies describing Chinese, Americans, and Japanese, respectively were selected for the second step of data collection in that students were asked if they would accept these adjectives describing Chinese, Americans, and Japanese. If they did, they were further asked to provide examples or illustrations to support their agreement. Based on the top 30 adjectives and the qualitative data collected at the second step, students’ perceptions of Chinese, American, and Japanese were analyzed. The results of the data analysis discovered that Chinese students are, to some extent, stereotyped toward American and Japanese, and their understanding of Chinese people is not accurate, either. The results confirm that media to certain extent are responsible for the shaping of some of the students’ stereotypes. Evidently, the results of this study suggest that the Chinese students’ stereotypes will affect their intercultural communication with Americans and Japanese. Although this study does not provide tactics on the reduction or elimination of stereotypes in the process of intercultural communication, it provides meaningful clues for future research in how stereotypes may be reduced by way of intercultural contact or training. This research has two major limitations. First, all the subjects are Chinese. Had American and Japanese samples been selected for a comparative investigation, more meaningful and insightful results could have been obtained. Second, because of the space constraints, verbs and nouns were not analyzed.     

不可触及乳腺肿物麦莫通微创切除的应用

探讨不可触及乳腺肿物微创治疗中麦默通旋切系统的应用效果。选取2016年1—6月在莆田学院附属医院住院时采取麦默通旋切微创术治疗的76例不可触及乳腺肿物患者作为观察组,同时选取采用传统开放手术治疗的56例不可触及乳腺肿物患者作为对照组,并比较两组患者手术时间、术中出血量、住院时间以及术后并发症发生率。结果,观察组患者手术时间、术中出血量、住院时间以及术后并发症发生率等均显著优于对照组,两组比较差异具有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结果表明,对不可触及乳腺肿物患者采取麦默通旋切微创术治疗有助于缩短手术和住院时间、减少术中出血量和术后并发症。     

Revisiting the 1990 special issue on minority children: an editorial perspective 15 years later

The 2006 Special Issue on Race, Ethnicity, and Culture in Child Development occurs 15 years after the 1990 Special Issue on Minority Children and marks roughly 50 years since the historic 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. This issue provides an assessment of how researchers have represented development of America's diverse youth. This commentary provides a perspective of the progress and needs inferred from the 1990 special issue. A consistent theme is the necessity to link research and developmental theorizing with the intentions of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, as the relevant integration is often left to legal scholars, Whiteness studies theorists, and a few child-development-focused researchers (e.g., Cross, 1991; Spencer, 2005).     

Impact of process technology on manufacturing outputs in an Indian packaging product manufacturing company: A case study

The need for manufacturing strategy is driven by varying customer demand; global competition; and rapidly advancing technology, equipment, and manufacturing methods. Decisions in process technology improve manufacturing outputs (Miltenburg, 2008). It is necessary to understand the implications of process technology for manufacturing cost, quality, delivery, flexibility, performance, and innovativeness to develop successful manufacturing strategy. This case study assesses process technology decisions compared with the competition in a packaging product manufacturing company in India.