The use of electronic media to develop transferable skills in science students studying anatomy

Transferable skills such as team working, communication, information gathering, critical thinking, and peer assessment are essential for graduates seeking employment in the competitive jobs market. Use of online discussion boards have grown to allow students to communicate with each other at a time and location of their choosing. This study aimed to develop transferable skills using specially developed online components supported by discussion boards and chat rooms. Students enrolled in the Human Anatomy and Histology module at the University of Manchester were put into groups of six or seven students (26 groups in total). Two e-learning components were constructed to develop transferable skills. Each group had a discussion board and chat room available to assist communication in completion of the components. Peer marking was also done on this media. Data collected showed the discussion boards were heavily utilized (average number of posts per group was 48). Eighty-three percent of students found the discussion boards useful to complete the tasks. Students felt their team building and critical analysis skills had improved. Peer assessment was well received by students. Using online discussion boards proved an excellent way to develop transferable skills in a large group of science students.     

"We Don't Contravene the Sex Discrimination Act"—female students at journalism school

This paper looks at how female postgraduate journalism students coped with problems arising out of their experiences at journalism school. The fieldwork, collected during the course of a doctorate, was primarily carried out by participant observation where I followed a cohort of students through a one year, university based journalism course. The paper focuses on how female students adjusted to problems relating to sexism on their course and argues that despite the fact that they were a close‐knit group and had indentified a shared problem which as a group they sought to solve, no group solution to the problem emerged. It is argued that this is partly due to the fact that journalism is a male dominated occupation, particularly on the print side, and, as such, problems relating to female gender were marginalised. The students coped with the problem by either ignoring it or redefining it as unthreatening because they were unprepared to challenge staff members and so make themselves vulnerable during critical periods of their training.     

Computer-Mediated Epistemic Dialogue: Explanation and Argumentation as Vehicles for Understanding Scientific Notions

Epistemic dialogues, involving explanation and argumentation, have been recognized as potential vehicles for conceptual understanding. Although the role of dialogue in learning has received much attention, the problem of creating situations in which students engage in epistemic dialogue has only begun to be addressed. This article highlights the set of factors that must be taken into account in designing a computer-supported collaborative learning situation that encourages students to discuss scientific notions. These factors include the choice of the domain issue, the activities proposed to students, and the role of technology. We describe the design of CONNECT, an integrated environment and task sequence for the collaborative confrontation, negotiation, and construction of text. Results are then presented from a study in which students individually wrote an interpretation of a sound phenomenon, were matched in dyads so as to maximize semantic differences between their texts, and then collaboratively discussed and wrote common texts across the network using CONNECT. We show how careful engineering of the CONNECT environment favors the occurrence of epistemic dialogue and creates opportunities for conceptual understanding. The discussion centers on why these opportunities might be missed, as well as on the conditions required for students to exploit them.     

基于“对话哲学”的教学设计

教师可确立以＂对话哲学＂教学观为指导的教学设计新思路,从目标分解、情景创设、活动设计三个步骤开展基于问题情景（问题）的课堂教学设计,这有助于解决传统教学＂目中无人＂的问题。     

Contextualising higher education assessment task words with an ‘anti-glossary’ approach

Key ‘generic’ assessment task words such as ‘discuss’ and ‘critically evaluate’ are integral to higher education assessment. Although sources such as study skills guides give generic decontextualised glossaries of these words, much research rightly argues for greater dialogue between students (particularly ‘non-traditional’ students) and lecturers to help students understand and use such words. This paper presents the results from ‘staged’ focus groups with lecturers and students from the UK and China that created a forum for such dialogue, where many of these words and their interpretations were talked about. Results show very different interpretations, informed by factors such as ‘language’, ‘culture’ and ‘subject’. We propose these factors be used in an ‘anti-glossary’ approach, which we describe here. This approach is not against glossaries per se, but counteracts the assumption that glossary definitions are explicit, and adopts a social constructivist contextualisation of the task words through teacher-led dialogue.     

浅析在声乐教学中如何培养学生的歌唱心理素质

心理素质对歌唱效果有着重要的影响。在高职声乐教学中，教师应从声乐理论教学、实践辅助教学两方面强化学生心理素质训练；加强对学生表现欲、记忆力、自信心、想象力等方面的培养；使学生达到一个理想的歌唱心态，以使学生尽可能正确、规范、完善地去表现艺术。     

对话理论视野下的教师角色探微

阅读教学是教师、学生、文本之间的对话过程。面对这一全新的理念，教师该发挥什么作用？应该如何把握好自己的角色定位呢？本文主要从以下几个方面来时这个问题进行一定程度的探讨：首先，应具有民主意识．让学生参与到对话过程中来。其次，要营造良好的氛围，让学生乐于表达。最后，要不断的充实自己争做一个称职的组织者、促进者、对话者。     

Collaborative processes in species identification using an internet-based taxonomic resource

Visual databases are increasingly important resources through which individuals and groups can undertake species identification. This paper reports research on the collaborative processes undertaken by pre-service teacher students when working in small groups to identify birds using an Internet-based taxonomic resource. The student groups are conceptualised as ‘knowledge-building communities’ working in a ‘joint problem space’ comprising the collective knowledge of the participants interacting with the taxonomic database. Collaborative group work and associated dialogue were recorded with digital video. The recordings were analysed for the categories of dialogue and the categories of knowledge used by the students as they interacted with the taxonomic database and how they drew on their previous experiences of identifying birds. The outcomes are discussed in the context of the interplay of individual and social processes and the interplay between abstraction and lived experience in the joint problem space.     

A conversation about pedagogical responses to increased diversity in university classrooms

This paper presents a dialogue between an academic economist and an educational developer. It asks whether it is possible to teach in a way that works well for all students. The economist contends that teaching entails making a choice as to which students should benefit most—the more academically capable or the lower‐achieving students. He sees this as a question of social choice. The educational developer suggests that teaching can be organized such that all students can benefit optimally. The dialogue seeks to resolve this difference. It draws on the work of John Biggs, using his diagrammatic representation of the relation between student orientation, teaching method and level of engagement. Biggs debriefs the dialogue. He rejects the focus on particular students andargues rather that teaching should incorporate optimal degrees of freedom in learning activities and assessment, thus enabling levels of engagement for all students to be maximized.     

The fear factor: students’ experiences of test anxiety when taking A-level examinations

This paper presents the findings of a pilot study that explored students’ experiences of test anxiety when taking A-level examinations. Four focus groups were convened with a sample of 19 participants in the south of England to explore the triggers of test anxiety and the perceived need for interventions to assist high test-anxious students cope with the examination process. The findings suggested that the participants experienced two types of anxiety: ‘pre-exam anxiety’ (relating to, for example, revision and mock examinations) and ‘exam-day anxiety’ (relating to practical concerns, such as school policy on the arrival of students and the time available to complete the examination). Only three participants reported feeling that their examination performance was significantly impaired by test anxiety; most reported that a degree of anxiety aided their performance. With test anxiety perceived by most participants as motivational and useful, there was little support for any interventions from examination boards, parents or teachers to help reduce or manage test anxiety. However, based on participants’ experiences of the pre-examination period, it is suggested that test anxiety may impede students’ ability to prepare for their examinations, and that interventions during this stage may be useful. The findings also imply that there are some practical steps that could be taken by the educational community to help reduce students’ test anxiety.     

公开考试评卷工作的重要程序——香港的经验

公开考试的设计是一项专门的学问。公开考试一般包括三个重要元素：设计考试大纲、编制试题及评分、报告成绩。在考生人数众多的科目,评卷环节面临的重要问题之一就是须聘用大量评卷员参与评卷。但是,评卷是一项以专业判断为主的工作,为保证对所有考生公平,考评机构便须采取适当步骤,划一评卷尺度。本文旨在探讨香港考试及评核局为保持评卷信度,确保考生的答卷得到公平及客观的处理,在评卷环节所采取的程序,包括评卷参考的设计、评卷的配套程序、评卷教师的培训等,并分析这些程序的重要意义。     

论研究生教育师生观

师生对话的倡导是当前师生关系研究的一种必然。通过解读师生对话关系．并把对话性关系作为研究生教育师生关系一种本质性的预设存在，藉此分别从教师观、学生观以及师生对话的特殊内涵三个方面完成了研究生教育师生观的理论建构。     

Scaffolding for Creative Product Possibilities in a Design-Based STEM Activity

Creativity can and should play a role in students’ science experiences. Beghetto (Roeper Review 29(4):265–270, 2007) suggested a framework for teachers to assist students in transforming their creative ideas into creative products. This framework involves taking time to listen to students’ ideas, helping them recognize the constraints of a task, and giving them multiple opportunities to think through and try their ideas. Ill-structured problems, such as those found in inquiry and engineering design activities, provide excellent opportunities for students to experience creative processing and express their creativity through product creation. These types of problems are typically challenging, but the use of appropriate questioning has been shown to assist students in solving problems. This multiple case study investigated the use of inquiry-based questioning as a means of supporting creativity within a design-based science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) activity. Findings suggest that groups facilitated by inquiry-based questioning strategies were better able to solve an ill-structured problem and achieved a more linear progression toward creative products than groups who were not facilitated by inquiry-based questions.     

The Contribution of Ethnobiology to the Construction of a Dialogue Between Ways of Knowing: A Case Study in a Brazilian Public High School

This paper reports results obtained in pedagogical interventions in a Brazilian public high school which aimed at promoting a dialogue between scientific and traditional knowledge in the context of biology teaching. The interventions were based on the use of a didactic material and teaching sequence elaborated on the grounds of school knowledge about botany, as presented in biology textbooks, and interviews with students who were also farmers, so as to gather data about their ethnobiological knowledge. Our goal was to develop and test resources that can offer support for teachers who wish to build a dialogue between different ways of knowing in multicultural settings. Our results indicate that the use of the didactic material and teaching sequence indeed created possibilities for a dialogue between the students’ ethnobiological knowledge and biology school knowledge. We observed some shortcomings in classroom practice, partly reflecting our very choice of subject matter to develop the teaching sequence. But the interventions also revealed important limitations that we regard as representative of problems that may generally make multicultural science teaching a hard goal to achieve. It was clear that important shortcomings were related to teachers’ difficulties to conduct a dialogue between ways of knowing in a science classroom, and, thus, called attention to the importance of introducing a multicultural dimension into teacher education. We also observed that the fact that students did not show much sensitivity towards dealing with cultural diversity was a factor constraining the success of the interventions. These results highlight the importance of proposing and testing teacher education initiatives aiming at preparing them to teach science in a culturally sensitive manner, and also managing classroom tensions and conflicts so as to make it possible an effective dialogue between different ways of knowing in a multicultural setting.     

Facilitating Meta‐learning in Art and Design Education

Art and design programmes are educationally unique in that students themselves play a central role in determining their own learning needs. To be successful in their study, art and design students are required to operate with a high degree of independence and self‐direction. Developing the skills for greater self‐reliance requires students to become aware of their conceptions of the subject of study, and of themselves as learners in a particular learning context. Developing greater self‐awareness as a learner and becoming more independent in one's learning is captured by the concept of meta‐learning. In this article I present an alternative strategy to prevalent diagnostic approaches to assist in developing a student's capacity for meta‐learning in the subject context of art and design. An inquiry cycle was created to provide a structure within which to facilitate generative thinking about learning through engaging with fundamental questions related to the subject of learning (art and design) rather than the learning subject (i.e. the student). This method represents a departure from existing approaches to engaging students in meta‐learning. A pilot study used to trial the effectiveness of this strategy is also presented here. The inquiry map, and the conceptual base upon which it was developed, were found to be useful ways to structure reflective thinking about learning and to assist in developing a student's conception of the subject.     

大学生常见情绪障碍与调节

情绪障碍是大学生常见的心理问题,不良情绪长期存在,将会严重影响大学生的学习和生活。本文分析了大学生情绪障碍的主要表现,探究了引起大学生不良情绪的因素,提出了情绪控制与调适的主要方法。     

Design and usability assessment of a dialogue‐based cognitive tutoring system to model expert problem solving in research design

Technology provides the means to create useful learning and practice environments for learners. Well‐designed cognitive tutor systems, for example, can provide appropriate learning environments that feature cognitive supports (ie, scaffolding) for students to increase their procedural knowledge. The purpose of this study was to conduct a series of usability tests of a dialogue‐based design framework for the presentation of domain knowledge and assess how it can be used to actively engage learners in learning about research methods. Three formal usability assessments and an instructor adoption assessment were conducted during the development of the tutoring system. Each usability assessment employed diverse data collection methods to ensure broad and in‐depth coverage of findings. The findings revealed that the dialogue metaphor enabled natural and participatory interactions between the system and users. The feedback prompts or hints and support resources provided opportunities for learning during the process of problem solving. Future research to extend the support of usability assessments is also discussed.     

The analysis and reconciliation of students’ rebuttals in argumentation activities

The present study investigated the guidance provided by science teachers to resolve conflicts during socioscientific issue-based argumentation activities. A graphical representation (GR) was developed as a tool to code and analyze the dialogue interaction process. Through the GR and qualitative analysis, we identified three types of dialogue reconciling strategies. The first one consists of teacher management, in which the teacher temporarily maintains the right to speak when students get mired in an emotional rebuttal situation. The second strategy involves the use of qualifiers to identify the strengths and weaknesses of an opposing argument. The third strategy consists of providing students with guidance to keep both parties (i.e. the students taking, respectively, the affirmative and negative positions) on the same discussion topic and can be used to assist teachers with forming broad questions that prompt students to conduct deeper discussions. These reconciling strategies were beneficial in that they helped students to argue in a more reflective way.     

阅读教学深度对话:内涵与实践路径

阅读教学深度对话是在阅读教学活动中,以某一具有共鸣、困惑或分歧的问题为话题,以反思或批判性等高阶思维为路径,以厘清问题的思路、认识或缩小分歧为目的的言语活动。阅读教学深度对话的基本条件有:民主、尊重、协作,倾听、表达、应对,质疑、探究、批判。阅读教学深度对话要有问题讨论、比较辨析、话题辩论等情境策略,才能够激发学生的对话欲望,引领课堂对话走向深度。阅读教学深度对话中,教师要改变课堂教学中强势主宰课堂现状,将角色定位为对话情景的创设者、对话支架的搭建者、深度对话的引领者。     

Knowledge based systems for teaching and learning maths

The main task of an educational system is to generate instructional situations which induce students to learn knowledge and problem solving abilities as applied to a cognitive domain.
To this end, an instructional dialogue must be seen as a process aimed at making student and teacher learn from each other: the student has to learn the subject matter from the teacher, while the teacher has in turn to learn from the student how to regulate instructional interaction. The process relies on different kinds of expert knowledge: experience of the domain, about the actual student, and of teaching methods and objectives. This means that an instructional dialogue cannot be realised without an explicit representation of all the kinds of knowledge involved.
Research has established that Knowledge Based Educational Systems (KBESs) can be the keystone in building effective learning tools, but because of the difficulty in realising a system of this kind, most existing systems are prototypes and are intended only as workbenches for the computational analysis of educational processes.
This paper analyses the main problems which underlie the realisation of such systems, with reference to research into knowledge based systems intended for use with teaching/learning mathematics.