The conceptual evolution of actual mathematical infinity

The different stages in the conceptual evolution of actual infinity are analyzed. We show how this concept occurs in high-school students at a prior, or at best, at the same level, as in Bernard Bolzano's conceptualization (as defined in his work The Paradoxes of Infinity). Furthermore, in terms of the historical development of the concept, the students' conceptualization has intra-objectal stage characteristics. Within the same framework, we show how Cantor's work fits into the inter-objectal stage, as well as presenting the difficulties encountered by students in order to reach this stage, given the current curricular structure. We conclude that such evidence should bring about a reconsideration of Piagetian ideas in education.     

转喻研究述评:认知语言学视角

认知语言学视角下的转喻研究,主要有转喻的本质、转喻和隐喻的相互关系、转喻与间接言语行为、转喻在语用推理中的作用和语法转喻等5个方面,对国内外的转喻认知研究进行简要的回顾与评述,对探讨其未来的发展方向具有一定意义.     

A conceptual model and set of instruments for measuring student engagement in learning

This work has its origins with research into the effects of pedagogy on student engagement and learning outcomes. It summarises the development of self-report and observation instruments for measuring student engagement suitable for early years to senior secondary. The measures are sensitive to the context and experience of learning rather than, as is more common, a general disposition towards learning or school. The measures are distinctive in three ways: (1) they avoid the use of proxies such as attendance which link only weakly to learning outcomes; (2) they are designed to be sensitive to the effect of learning environments and quality of pedagogy on engagement; and (3) they do not assume that the learning environment involves conventional schooling. However, the use of the instruments has also revealed a deep structure to engagement which is a distinctive contribution and links prior research into learner dispositions and interest to the engagement construct.     

On teaching cognitive strategies: The influence of accessibility of conceptual knowledge

Cognitive performance can be improved through the explicit instruction of strategies that produce good performance. While such instruction will generally promote improved performance immediately following instruction, an important issue that still needs to be addressed is how to get students to maintain use of the strategies when they are left to their own devices. This article considers how variations in the ability to access knowledge relevant to the specific materials might affect strategy use, students' perceptions of these strategies, and, as a consequence, strategy maintenance.     

英汉习语中概念隐喻的认知对比分析

习语是社会语言和文化的重要组成部分,是人类语言文化的精华,也是一种典型的语言现象,英汉两种语言中都存在着大量的习语。隐喻是一种认知体系和思维方式,是人们思维、行为和表达思想的一种系统的方式,是通过跨域映射实现的。通过对英汉习语中十二生肖中的动物的概念隐喻的认知对比分析解读,隐喻的认知语义和文化理据,其认知共性与差异性也都在英汉习语中得到体现。     

Consistency of administrators' and psychologists' actual and ideal perceptions of school psychologists' activities

Questionnaires asking for actual and ideal perceptions of the role of the school psychologist were completed by 80 school psychologists, 37 directors of pupil personnel services, and 29 superintendents in Virginia public schools. Administrators and school psychologists are in substantial agreement regarding the amount of time the psychologist actually devotes to different job activities. Approximately 75% of the psychologist's time is spent in Meyers' Level I activities (Meyers, 1973). All groups desire a reduction in the time spent in assessment, but they differ as to what intervention levels should be increased. Psychologists see the saved time most appropriately spent in interventions at the system level. Discrepancy between actual and desired roles is discussed in terms of the impact of P.L. 94–142. The consistency of psychologists' actual and ideal perceptions correlated significantly and negatively with their job satisfaction. This relationship is discussed in terms of role conflict, and a comparison is made of actual roles with the emphasis in two professional journals.     

The effects of reading to prepare for argumentative discussion on cognitive engagement and conceptual growth

Dialogue based approaches to education have been shown to benefit students through the quality of shared discourse. Warm conceptual change theories propose that these benefits are also mediated by increasing student engagement. Discourse and engagement effects were isolated in this study by having 130 third and fourth grade students read a science text for different purposes (no stated purpose, to prepare for a regular classroom discussion, or to prepare for an argumentative discussion) and then testing children before the discussion took place. Children who anticipated a discussion, especially an argumentative discussion, read more slowly than other children after controlling for fluency. A subset of reading times predicted conceptual growth. Finally some children who participated in argumentative discussions had higher rates of conceptual growth. Results substantiate the efficacy of argumentative discussion as a context for reading scientific texts, and they support the central mechanism of dual-processing theories of warm conceptual change.     

The instructional gestalt: A conceptual framework and design for educational research

Summary The argument is advanced in this paper that the pattern of educational investigation wherein comparisons are made between so-called “ experimental” and “ conventional” instructional procedures tends to be defective on three counts: the criteria are often inappropriate or contaminated; the assumptions of homogeneity within and independence between “ experimental” and “ control” conditions are met only when these conditions are very grossly conceived; and the results reflect masking and cancellation effects, thereby revealing relatively little about what transpires in an instructional setting. The Instructional Gestalt is proposed as a methodological framework for educational research focusing upon the interactive nature of learner, instructor, and environmental and course variables constituting the instructional setting. Data generated by explorations within this framework can lead to the formulation of hypotheses which, if subsequently supported empirically, can become principles for inclusion in a theory of classroom learning. The nature of investigations proceeding from the Instructional Gestalt framework was clarified by presentation and discussion of an illustrative study. Since this illustration was only a representation in miniature of the larger investigation, the generalizations about teaching-learning suggested by it are of limited scope and subject to change. Nevertheless, these generalizations do indicate the kinds of hypotheses resulting from studies within the Instructional Gestalt framework. This paper summarizes the rationale underlying research on the Instructional Gestalt proceeding under a grant from the Office of Education, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Portions of this rationale have been presented at the annual meetings of the American Psychological Association in 1961 and 1962.     

A conceptual model for supporting para-teacher learning in an Indian non-governmental organization (NGO)

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are being recognized globally for their influential role in realizing the UN Millennium Development Goal of education for all in developing countries. NGOs mostly employ untrained para-educators for grassroots activities. The professional development of these teachers is critical for NGO effectiveness, yet para-teacher learning in such contexts is rarely researched. To facilitate much-needed research on para-teacher professional development, this article offers a contextually relevant on- the-job learning model for para-teachers. The model suggests that para-educators can effectively learn when their work and learning are integrated by systematizing a simple daily cyclical routine of lesson planning, enactment and reflection for everyday instruction. It also suggests other supports to stimulate learning alongside the cyclical routine.     

Ordering and structuring ideas in text: From conceptual organization to linguistic formulation

The goal of this study was to analyze the development of the relationship between conceptual and linguistic processes as regards idea ordering and structuring (linearizing), when composing a text. Participants (from 7^th graders to University students) were required to compose a text using a list of eleven scrambled ideas. Conceptual rules allow to a priori determine an optimal ordering of these ideas. Results showed a significant increase, with grade level, in the establishment of the postulated conceptual order, and in the linguistic elaboration of the text structure. A large autonomy was observed between conceptual and linguistic processes. The discussion considers the following points: The relevance of the notion of text optimal order; the unequal development with grade level of the varied linguistic skills; the dissymmetry in conceptual-linguistic relationships; the usefulness of the experimental paradigm; some consequences for education.     

The relationship between instruction and curriculum: A conceptual clarification

It is the intent of this article to provide a basis for reducing the ambiguities and confusions that have been widely acknowledged to surround the use of the terms instruction and curriculum. A definition for the specialized concept of instruction is offered, together with a parallel definition for the concept of curriculum. These two definitions are distinguished from the general sense of instruction (which is equivalent to teaching or training) and the concept of education.     

The definition of leadership effectiveness: A conceptual and personal journey

E. Grady Bogue is currently professor of educational leadership at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He is chancellor emeritus of Louisiana State University in Shreveport, where he served as chancellor for ten years. In 1989, he served as the interim chancellor of Louisiana State University and A & M College. He has served in a variety of other campus and state level academic administration positions. His latest book isThe Evidence for Quality (Jossey-Bass) and he is the author of three other books and a range of articles on higher education leadership and issues.     

Differences in science students' view of ideal and actual role behavior according to success and gender

Information about how success and gender affect students' views of ideal and actual classroom role behavior can help both researchers and teachers better understand classroom components such as achievement and curriculum. A 20-item double Q sort was used to measure differences in perceptions of high school science students according to letter grades and gender. Individual Q sort item rankings of 160 students were tested for significant differences according to letter grade received; item ratings were compared according to gender for 215 students. Differences in perception according to success were found for both ideal and actual behavior; 8 and 5 items, respectively, out of each 20-item sort were found to be significant at the p = < 0.05 level. No such overall patterns of difference in view were found between boys and girls, although three ideal student items and one actual self-report item were found to be significantly different at the p = < 0.05 level.     

The influence of content organization on student's cognitive structure in thermodynamics

Two different approaches to the content of thermodynamics were used in an introductory college physics course: one was the traditional organization found in most textbooks on the subject, the other was based on the learning theory of David Ausubel. The influence of these different content organizations on the student's cognitive structure was investigated using a word association test which was analysed through hierarchical clustering analysis. Research findings suggest that the approach based on Ausubel's theory influences the student's cognitive structure in such a way that their conceptual hierarchies are more coherent with the basic laws and the conceptual structure of the subject matter.     

Strategic intelligence: A conceptual system of leadership for change

Strategic intelligence is a conceptual system of leadership qualities. These qualities must be considered in the context of the challenges facing leaders and the relationships between leaders and the people they lead. A leader's philosophy and personality influence the way he or she expresses the qualities of strategic intelligence when things are going according to plan and when leaders face significant conflicts. Leaders can be most effective by tapping into the intrinsic motivations of followers.     

Cognitive efficiency: A conceptual and methodological comparison

Cognitive efficiency (CE) is generally defined as qualitative increases in knowledge gained in relation to the time and effort invested in knowledge acquisition. Across disciplines, limited consensus exists concerning the conceptual and measurement properties of CE partly because some researchers indiscriminately use the construct of CE to describe neurological, instructional, performance, and learning efficiency. In this study, two models of measuring CE, the likelihood model (Hoffman & Schraw, 2010), and the deviation model ( [van Gog and Paas, 2008] and [Paas and van Merri?nboer, 1993]) were used to compare problem-solving outcomes and determine if different conceptual models of CE measure the same or different efficiency constructs. The two models yielded uncorrelated scores using the same data. Further, regression analysis revealed that unique variance associated with effort, self-efficacy judgments, and background knowledge differed according to the measurement model used, suggesting that either each measurement approach assessed a different facet of CE, or the efficiency constructs measured were altogether different. Practical applications of CE research for teaching and learning are discussed.     

The cognitive and academic benefits of Cogmed: A meta-analysis

Cogmed Working Memory Training (CWMT) is a commercial cognitive-training program designed to foster working-memory capacity. Enhanced working-memory capacity is then supposed to increase one's overall cognitive function and academic achievement. This meta-analysis investigates the effects of CWMT on cognitive and academic outcomes. The inclusion criteria were met by 50 studies (637 effect sizes).Highly consistent near-zero effects were estimated in far-transfer measures of cognitive ability (e.g., attention and intelligence) and academic achievement (language ability and mathematics). By contrast, slightly heterogeneous small to medium effects were observed in memory tasks (i.e., near transfer). Moderator analysis showed that these effects were weaker for near-transfer measures not directly related to the trained tasks. These results highlight that, while near transfer occurs regularly, far transfer is rare or, possibly, inexistent. Transfer thus appears to be a function of the degree of overlap between trained tasks and outcome tasks.