案例教学中问题创设的概率树法

利用安全系统工程中的概率树分析方法,进行案例教学中的问题设计。通过一个具体教学案例的概率树分析,沿着概率树的纵向和横向设计了一系列问题,教学中取得了良好的教学效果。实践证明这种方法能够保证问题的提出与问题的思想性内核,是可行的。     

Military Design Insights for Online Education Program Evaluation: A Revised Theoretical Construct

This theoretical development article examines how design methodology currently applied in United States military doctrine can offer insights into the increasingly complex arena of program evaluations of online modes for adult distance education. The article presents key themes that emerge from a multidisciplinary literature review. These themes consist of the value of iterative dialogue, the benefits of design methodology, and the importance of accountability in situated program evaluation. The themes integrate the fundamental concepts framed by the Pillars of Quality Online Education. The themes also suggest a synthesis of current program evaluation models that can effectively address the unique needs of online programs for adult learners. The revised model combines the flexibility of the interactive models, the conceptual planning of design methodology, and the rigor of the frameworks situated in the theoretical context of distance education. These revisions can enhance the value of iterative dialogue; the potential contributions of design to current models; and the benefits of transparent, continuous program evaluation in situated contexts.     

美国顶尖文理学院新生研讨课的实践探析

新生研讨课起源于美国,如今已成为美国高校本科教育的一种普遍性课程。美国的文理学院,尤其是一批顶尖文理学院,以实施一流的本科教育而享有盛誉,其中部分学院设有正式的新生研讨课项目。通过对这些新生研讨课项目实践的分析,可以为我国目前处于初级探索阶段的新生研讨课建设提供一些启示。     

海外学习结果评估:来自美国高校的经验启示

进入21世纪以来,高等教育国际化的进程不断加快,众多美国高校将开展海外学习项目作为促进学校国际交流的重要方式。为监测项目的实施效果、保障学生学习质量,美国高校陆续开展了海外学习的结果评估,并在过去数十年中取得了一定成果,逐渐完善了评估流程与方案,并开发了相应的评估测量工具。我国高校的海外学习项目起步较晚,但发展迅速,而我国高等教育界却鲜有针对海外学习结果评估的研究。因此,从美国高校的实践中汲取经验具有重要意义。     

粗糙集理论在天然气输送管道外腐蚀分析中的应用

介绍了粗糙集理论的基本概念,提出了应用粗糙集理论分析故障树重要度的方法,并通过埋地天然气管道的外腐蚀故障树重要度分析的实例,叙述了该方法的详细过程。该方法是一种完全基于客观的综合重要度分析方法。     

Prior activities and progress in MBA programs

Many graduate business programs encourage, and even require, postbaccalaureate work experience as a criterion for program admission. In this research we use data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 to examine the extent to which MBA students actually experience a hiatus in their educational careers, and whether their work/education profiles differ from those of other graduate students in the United States. We also address whether this emphasis on educational discontinuity in the formal sense has any effect on how the student progresses through the MBA program. Our results suggest that interrupting school between the BA and MBA leads to a higher likelihood of part-time enrollment, and a consequent lower probability of completing the degree program in a timely fashion.     

A Competency-Based Approach to Adult Counseling and Guidance

This article describes the Adult Career Education Counseling Project, a special demonstration project funded by the United States Office of Education, Division of Occupational and Adult Education. The major goal of the project is to develop a competency-based individualized instructional training system for guidance personnel wanting to work in adult education settings. The article explains the rationale, development, and process used in identification of conceptual areas that were developed into modules currently being pilot tested prior to final revision. Once the total training system has been developed, adult education and counseling and guidance programs may use these materials to design a counseling and guidance program unique to local program or institutional goals and objectives.     

Increased Implementation of Emergent Literacy Screening in Pre-Kindergarten

The recent emphasis on universal prekindergarten programs, coupled with ongoing concern about children’s’ early literacy development in the first years of school, carry significant implications for how preschool educators program for literacy and assess literacy growth. We discuss the evolving role of literacy development in expanded preschool, examine key features of literacy assessments with particular attention to the content that might be assessed in preschool, and provide as an example one preschool literacy assessment tool that is in widespread use in the United States. We discuss the policy and practice implications of the growing emphasis on literacy assessment in preschoolers.     

工程博士专业学位研究生教育质量保障体系的建构

本文首先通过梳理专业学位、工程博士专业学位及研究生教育质量保障体系三个概念,明确工程博士专业学位研究生教育质量保障体系的内涵;随后,对美国工程博士专业学位研究生教育的内部和外部质量保障体系分别进行阐述;最后,通过借鉴美国的质量保障经验,建构适应我国国情的工程博士专业学位研究生教育质量保障体系。     

Counselor Preparation in Australia and New Zealand

Counseling and counselor education is expanding in countries other than the United States. In this study I assessed the development of counselor training programs in Australia and New Zealand. Data are reported on institutional setting and accreditation, on faculty and student information, and on program trends. Where appropriate, comparisons and contrasts are made with information from the United States provided by Hollis and Wantz (1983).     

Changes in Social Capital and Networks: A Study of Community-Based Environmental Management Through a School-Centered Research Program

Social network analysis (SNA) is a social science research tool that has not been applied to educational programs. This analysis is critical to documenting the changes in social capital and networks that result from community based K-12 educational collaborations. We review SNA and show an application of this technique in a school-centered, community based environmental monitoring research (CBEMR) program. This CBEMR employs K-12 students, state and local government employees, environmental organization representatives, local businesses, colleges, and community volunteers. As citizen scientists and researchers, collaborators create a database of local groundwater quality to use as a baseline for long-term environmental health management and public education. Past studies have evaluated the reliability of data generated by students acting as scientists, but there have been few studies relating to power dynamics, social capital, and resilience in school-centered CBEMR programs. We use qualitative and quantitative data gathered from a science education program conducted in five states in the northeastern United States. SPSS and NVivo data were derived from semi-structured interviews with thirty-nine participants before and after their participation in the CBEMR. Pajek software was used to determine participant centralities and power brokers within networks. Results indicate that there were statistically significant increases in social capital and resilience in social networks after participation in the school-centered CBEMR program leading to an increased community involvement in environmental health management. Limiting factors to the CBMER were based on the educator/administration relationship.     

The Welfare to Work Transition in the United States: Implications for Work-Related Learning

This paper summarizes the legislation upon which the current welfare-to-work transition in the United States is based and describes characteristics of the former welfare population from which various tiers of employment options have emerged: unsubsidized-employed workers, subsidized-employed workers, subsidized-unemployed recipients, and unsubsidized-unemployed individuals. It also discusses current program emphases, and presents a format for directions for future program development which includes academic programs, situated cognition programs, integrated literacy/occupational skills programs, and integrated literacy/soft skills training.     

The Welfare to Work Transition in the United States: Implications for Work-Related Learning

This paper summarizes the legislation upon which the current welfare-to-work transition in the United States is based and describes characteristics of the former welfare population from which various tiers of employment options have emerged: unsubsidized-employed workers, subsidized-employed workers, subsidized-unemployed recipients, and unsubsidized-unemployed individuals. It also discusses current program emphases, and presents a format for directions for future program development which includes academic programs, situated cognition programs, integrated literacy/occupational skills programs, and integrated literacy/soft skills training.     

美国职业教育项目评估体系构建举措与启示

美国作为世界经济第一强国,职业教育历史悠久而且发展体系健全。美国高度重视职业教育项目的评估,通过立法强化评估的地位,并将评估与问责结合。联邦政府各部门、各州/地方政府、各院校和各类组织相互协调,制定评估指标与标准,尝试多样化的评估模型与方法,共同推进职业教育评估工作的开展。借鉴美国经验,我国应该从强化立法评估的法律地位、建立动态评价指标、实施多维度分类评估、搭建职业教育大数据系统等四个方面做好职业教育的评估工作。     

SERVICE LEARNING AND OLDER ADULTS

Youth and older adults are the most valuable sources of community volunteerism in the United States today. An important part of involving youth in service to others has been the proliferation and sophistication of service-learning programs that provide opportunities for meaningful engagement and reflection. Increasingly, service learning is recognized as an integral part of both community involvement and education, and youth are provided with growing opportunities to combine practice and knowledge. As this movement has developed, however, older adult volunteers have been largely excluded. Despite theory and observation that demonstrates older adults' desire to stay engaged in learning and service, programs providing them with structured opportunities are rare. After outlining the development and expansion of service-learning programs for youth in the United States, this paper asks the question, ''Why not service learning for elders?'' analyzes some of the potential benefits of institutionalizing such an approach, and highlights promising efforts in the field.     

Case study: adjunct’s perspectives of a mentoring program at a community college

ABSTRACT

Adjunct faculty use in higher education has been on the rise since the 1970s, with adjuncts teaching 58% of United States community college classes. Yet, adjuncts are consistently excluded from the professional development opportunities offered to their full-time counterparts. For institutions to ensure their students are receiving the best education possible, it is vital to provide resources, access, and points of engagement that enable adjunct instructors to build collegiality. Mentoring is an effective way for institutions to support their adjunct population. I highlighted points of consideration for mentoring programs within higher education by examining the implementation of a mentoring program at a community college in the United States. The purpose of my qualitative case study was to document adjuncts’ experiences while entering a new mentoring program.     

Hospice program integration: an issue for policymakers

As the number of hospice programs in the United States expands, policymakers face a variety of issues concerning the care of the terminally ill. Do hospice programs offer a truly unique approach in caring for the dying? Are hospice services cost effective? Should hospice programs become integrated into the mainstream of medical care service delivery? Based on data from hospice programs in an industrialized Midwestern state, this paper explores the strategies employed by hospice programs to become integrated, the conflicts that have arisen among providers of hospice care, and the impact of hospice program integration on patient care. Results show that as hospice programs become more integrated, they have lost some of the idealism on which they were founded, have altered organizational structures, and have changed certain patient services. However, there is no evidence to suggest that integration of hospice programs into the medical mainstream has decreased the quality of patient care or patient satisfaction for hospice services.     

Investigating the Psychometric Properties of the ACEI Global Guidelines Assessment (GGA) in Four Countries

The ACEI Global Guidelines Assessment (GGA) was developed to provide an international assessment tool that can be used by early childhood educators to develop, assess, and improve program quality worldwide. This pilot study was conducted in four countries to investigate the psychometric properties of the GGA within and across different countries. A total of 168 programs and 336 early care and education professionals participated in this study from communities in the People’s Republic of China, Guatemala, Taiwan, and the United States. The results show strong internal consistency for each subscale and the total GGA as well as moderate interrater consistency for the five subscales. A comparison of item ratings and the qualitative evidence suggests moderately acceptable congruence between the ratings and evidence to support the ratings. Patterns of program practices were identified within and across the participating sties and countries that reflected both unique and common practices. These results suggest that the GGA has potential as a useful and effective tool both for understanding early childhood program quality within and across countries and as a means of helping practitioners to establish and/or improve the quality of their services.     

Economic development and the university: A case study of a failed program

This paper summarizes the basis of university attempts in the United States to stimulate economic development. Next, the paper describes the background of a particular university's economic development program. The projects and especially the problems of that university's economic development program are enumerated in detail. The problems include financial losses in particular projects large enough to cause the university to terminate the program, corruption, widespread public criticism of the program and of the university, and criminal convictions of two top officers of the program. Perspectives from the study of university-business relationships as well as from the study of public finance and budgeting and of deviance and white-collar crime help interpret the problems of the program. Possible solutions to such problems are offered. These suggestions include budgeting and reporting requirements, as well as a variety of structural features that need to be part of university economic development programs.     

Conceptions of and early childhood educators’ experiences in early childhood professional development programs: A qualitative metasynthesis

ABSTRACT

Policy makers and early childhood stakeholders across the United States continue to seek policy solutions that improve early educators’ instruction of young children. A primary vehicle for attaining this goal is professional development. This has led to an influx of empirical studies that seek to develop a set of best practices for professional development. While this deductive work is important and informative, it provides limited insight into how professional development is being conceptualized, and how teachers experience, respond to, or learn from these programs. This article begins to address these issues by presenting findings from a qualitative metasynthesis of published peer-reviewed qualitative studies of professional development programs for in-service early educators in the United States. By analyzing, synthesizing, and interpreting these studies, it appears that while such programs may have a positive impact on teachers’ conceptions of practice, there is a need to expand the research literature beyond identifying what works so that it includes studies examining teachers using such practices with children and investigations into teachers’ knowledge of their local teaching and learning communities. This study ends by offering an interpretation of the relationship between these findings and the field of teacher education.