The dilemma of case‐based teaching and learning in science in Hong Kong: Students need it,want it,but may not value it

The paper reports a study for determining a suitable process for converting traditional surface science courses into case‐based learning ones in two universities in Hong Kong. In this preparative study, a set of baseline data was collected on the current level of students’ conceptual understanding and also students’ perceptions about the traditional courses. The student data (from 38 students) came from examination results, the Study Process Questionnaire, a course‐end survey and a focus group meeting; teachers also kept reflective journals. This set of baseline data revealed factors that both support and inhibit case‐based learning. On the one hand, students demonstrate a motivation to be able to solve practical problems in this field; on the other hand, they show an unwillingness to take up a personal responsibility for learning. This finding strengthens our resolve to take into account students’ expectations and beliefs in the implementation of case‐based teaching and learning.     

Engineering design in the classroom: Is it good science education or is it revolting?

The changing emphasis of science education today includes a shift from a narrowly disciplinary view of science to a more socially and technologically situated perspective. This article reports on the implementation of engineering design projects in about two dozen U. S. secondary science classrooms, following an inservice professional development course conducted at a university engineering college. Using data from an evaluation of the project and three sociological themes—secrecy and ownership, social persuasion and the status of facts, and the relationship between money and science—I argue that technological design projects provide a sociologically fruitful approach for teaching new themes in science education. However, teachers must rethink the nature of their subject matter, something that may be difficult if their training was disciplinary in emphasis.     

Public university entry in Ghana: Is it equitable?

Public universities in Ghana are highly subsidised by the central government and account for about 80 per cent of university students in the country. Yet issues of fairness in terms of entry into the public university system have so far hardly been addressed. To find out whether participation in public university education is equitable, the authors of this paper carried out a binary logistic regression analysis. Individual data were collected from 1,129 (614 male and 515 female) final year senior high school (SHS) students for the 2009 cohort. The authors measured student, father and mother characteristics likely to influence admission to a public university. The results show that the major predictors of public university entry are students’ academic ability, quality of SHS attended and number of siblings. This seems to suggest that there is a significant bias in the selection of students from different socio-economic groups for admission to highly subsidised public universities. The implication is that public financing of university education in Ghana may not be equitable.     

Education research in Australia: where is it conducted?

Research assessment exercises aim to identify research quantity and quality and provide insights into research capacity building strategies for the future. Yet with limited knowledge of the ecology of Australian educational research, there is little chance of understanding what research audits might contribute towards a capacity building agenda for such a complex field. This paper draws on secondary data analysis of research outputs submitted by 13 Australian higher education institutions to the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) 2010 and 2012 national research assessment exercises, to show where Australian educational research is conducted. Findings offer a profile of education researchers by location in academic organisational units within universities. By analyzing data not accessible through reported ERA data we were also able to present information about appointment profiles, specifically levels and type of appointment within universities, as well as data on institutional and geographic region, and patterns associated with type of outputs (books, book chapters, journal articles, conference papers and other outputs) and field of research. Analysis of the data reveals definitive shifts in the nature of the published outputs and in employment profiles of researchers and their location across university and regional groupings. Research audits are administrative processes that reshape institutional and disciplinary governance structures, policies, individual outputs, work practices and careers, but they are not the sum total of the field per se.     

Growth in mathematical understanding: How can we characterise it and how can we represent it?

There has been a variety of approaches to the study of mathematical understanding, and some of these are reviewed before outlining the background to the model we are proposing for the growth of such understanding. The model is explained in detail and illustrated with reference to the concept of fractions. Key features of the model include don't need boundaries, folding back, and the complementarities of acting and expressing that occur at each level of understanding. The theory is illustrated by examples of pupils' work from a variety of topics and stages. Finally one of the practical applications of the theory, mapping, is explained in some detail.     

Meditation in Higher Education: Does it Enhance Cognition?

We predicted that students in a sociology course that included contemplative practices (i.e., mindfulness meditation) would show an increase in performance on higher level cognitive abilities (executive functions) over the semester compared to a control group of students. Change in executive functions performance was not significantly different between the two groups. However, when looking within the meditation group, the time spent meditating predicted the amount of executive function improvement, suggesting that the amount of time spent meditating is strongly related to the level of improvement. This finding provides preliminary support for benefits of meditation for students’ higher level cognitive abilities.     

Distance learning in British universities: is it possible?

The wider context (political and economic) for developing sustainable distance learning in UK universities is encouraging and new learning technologies promise much improved products and services. But conventional campus-based universities struggle to build and/or expand sustainable distance learning provision. This article identifies the core pedagogy and underpinning support systems of distance learning (in recent years ignored by the open, flexible and distance learning literature), and suggests that the problem rests in an institutional lack of understanding about distance learning pedagogy and/or a lack of capability to make the necessary institutional changes required to ensure that distance learning works. As the demand for part-time non-residential higher education increases and new markets for education and training expand, this could mean that the opportunities for distance learning are picked up by other new and different providers.     

Overeducation in developing economies: How can we test for it, and what does it mean?

A worker is said to be overeducated if he/she has acquired more education than is required to perform his/her job. In the absence of data measuring the number of years of schooling required to perform particular jobs, we propose a new approach to testing for overeducation. Overeducation is confirmed if we observe that education levels rose in jobs that offer very low returns to education and that underwent little technological change. Using labor force surveys from four developing countries, we find evidence of overeducation in unskilled jobs in the Philippines, mild evidence in Mexico, and little evidence in India and Thailand. We show that a job's mean and modal years of schooling are poor proxies for required education. We also show that overeducation sometimes increases within unskilled jobs, even while a growing share of educated workers enter skilled jobs. This may be because the quality of education segments the labor market.     

Learning in non-formal education: Is it “youthful” for youth in action?

This article offers insights into the practices of a non-formal education programme for youth provided by the European Union (EU). It takes a qualitative approach and is based on a case study of the European Voluntary Service (EVS). Data were collected during individual and focus group interviews with learners (the EVS volunteers), decision takers and trainers, with the aim of deriving an understanding of learning in non-formal education. The research questions concerned learning, the recognition of learning and perspectives of usefulness. The study also examined the Youthpass documentation tool as a key to understanding the recognition of learning and to determine whether the learning was useful for learners (the volunteers). The findings and analysis offer several interpretations of learning, and the recognition of learning, which take place in non-formal education. The findings also revealed that it is complicated to divide learning into formal and non-formal categories; instead, non-formal education is useful for individual learners when both formal and non-formal educational contexts are integrated. As a consequence, the division of formal and non-formal (and possibly even informal) learning creates a gap which works against the development of flexible and interconnected education with ubiquitous learning and mobility within and across formal and non-formal education. This development is not in the best interests of learners, especially when seeking useful learning and education for youth (what the authors term “youthful” for youth in action).     

The Scholarship of Teaching in Teams: What does it look like in practice?

The extent to which teaching in universities should reflect scholarly values has received increased attention over the past few years. There has, however, been little attention paid to what the scholarship of teaching might look like in practice and no attention to what the scholarship of teaching would look like from the perspective of a teaching-team. This paper reports on a study of five groups of university teachers working in teaching-teams. It considers how their practice as a team matches what is claimed to be scholarly and collaborative in the existing literature on scholarship and teaching and learning, on the one hand, and on collaboration and teamwork, on the other. A model of scholarship of teaching is further developed to include the scholarship of teaching in a team. The ways in which the teaching-teams in the study fit this model are explored and implications for improved practice are considered.     

Participation in online discussion environments: Is it really effective?

This study aimed to develop a rubric to assess participation of students in online discussion environments. For this purpose, the study included 168 students who participated in a course offered online during the spring semester of the 2015–2016 academic year. Developed based on the literature, the rubric consists of two parts (Form and Content, and Number and Density) and seven criteria in total. “Form and Content” consists of congruity of the message in terms of subject, clarity of the message, original value of the message, interactional value of the message, and directing the subject; whereas, “Number and Density” consists of the number of messages and their density. Four different discussion subjects were presented to the students in an online discussion environment. The researchers analyzed the students’ messages individually. Exploratory Factor Analysis was performed in order to obtain evidence for construct validity. After conducting the factor analysis, results showed that the first dimension, which is “form and content” sub-factor, is unidimensional. The “number and density” sub-factor was included in the graded scoring key based on the literature and expert opinion. The findings show that the graded scoring key is reliable and valid.     

Doing it twice,getting it right? The effects of grade retention and course repetition in higher education

Many students who enter college are insufficiently prepared to follow a demanding college-level curriculum. Thus, higher education institutions often require low-performing students to repeat failed courses, a full term, or even a full year. This paper is the first to investigate the effects of such a “(grade) retention” policy on student performance in higher education. We study a setting where first-year undergraduates who fall short of a pre-defined performance requirement have to repeat all first-year courses before they can proceed to the second year. To determine the causal effect of retention and repetition on student performance, we apply a sharp regression discontinuity design to administrative data from a Swiss university. Based on a sample of 5000 students, we find that grade retention increases dropout probabilities after the first year by about 10 percentage points. Repetition of a full year persistently boosts grade point averages by about 0.5 standard deviations, but does not affect study pace and major choices.     

So is it与So it is

同学们先请看下面两个句子: 例句①:"I'm here!"said Jim."And so is Polly!" 例句②:-It may be in your room. -Ah,oit is.     

搜it

转眼间2006年已经进入了尾声,“狗狗”年即将过去,小编们不禁感慨时间从我们身边溜走得好快。对编辑部里的编辑鱼小朵来说,也是人生当中一个重要的转折年——从一名刚踏出大学校门的学生到今天仍需不断努力的小编(学习ing)。只见鱼小朵满眼泪水地说道:“成长是快乐的,虽然这个过程充满酸甜苦辣,借用一句歌词吧——你(小读者)是快乐的,我(小编)就是幸福的……”众小编群起而攻之,纷纷做吐口水状。“鱼小朵,不要再煽情了,快干‘正事’,不然我们要扔鸡蛋了!!!!”好了,好了,我们言归正传吧。好笑的笑话、有趣的图片继续为你奉上,2007年1月《少电》就创刊十周年了,栏目即将改版,你有什么好的意见或建议,记得告诉我哦!     

小议it

看似简单的it在实际解题中却有着广泛的应用。它可以用作人称代词,代指事物,代指环境、情况、天气、季节、时间、距离、价格等;还可以用作形式主语和形式宾语,而代替真正的主语或真正的宾语;它还可以用于＂强调结构＂中,构成一种经常考查到的固定句型。掌握好it的用法会对于解答高考中关于it的考查有很大的帮助。     

搜it

一场秋雨一场寒。这个时候,请注意天气变冷预防感冒……“阿嚏阿嚏……这句话好耳熟啊,是句广告语吧?”迪迪在不远处不停地打着喷嚏说道。前丢(近来小编对他的称呼)笑咪咪地说道:“这位美眉,是不是感冒了?感冒请吃***……”还没等前丢说完,那边也传来打喷嚏的声音。前丢(终于忍不住了):“大家都放一下手中的稿子,现在办公室进行全面消毒,把细菌扼杀在摇篮中。身体健康可是稿源的本钱!!!难道你们想把细菌带到十一黄金周?”十一黄金周到来了,不知道小读者你有什么打算呢?10月6号是合家团圆的日子,都猜到是什么节日了吗?中国的传统节日——中秋节,哈哈,有月饼吃。瞧,馋嘴的朵朵都流口水了……老编(神不知鬼觉地站在了鱼小朵的身后):“稿子弄好了吗?再不交黄金周在单位加班……”这里,编辑部里被键盘噼里啪啦的声音淹没了……     

趣话it

it是一个人称代词，可以指代事物，也可以指代人。但是在下面的情形中，它只是用来帮助构成一些习惯用语。一、在某些特定的动词（词组）之后１郾chanceit冒险一试２郾drawitmilk适度；不夸张３郾Dropit！（用于祈使句）停止！别那样了！４郾faceitout不让步；坚持到底５郾giveittosb．惩罚或责骂某人６郾hitit猜对了；一语说中７郾letitgoatthat不再谈论某事；停止讨论某一问题８郾letsb．haveit让某人吃尽了苦头９郾putiton装模作样地讲话或行动；索价过高１０郾skipit！（美）不要紧！没关系！１１郾That＇sit！对啦！就这样吧！二、在…     

Hear it

《L.M.L天后再临》;《丽江的春天》;《Greatest Hits》;《拉赫曼尼诺夫第二钢琴曲＆帕格尼尼狂想曲》[第一段]