The Integrated Centre for Teacher Education at the University of Aveiro,Portugal

This article explains what the Integrated Centre for Teacher Education at the University of Aveiro, Portugal, intends to be. Its origin is set in the context of the existing trends of teacher education in Portugal. The aims of the Centre and the characteristics of its programmes are described. Problems which have emerged during the planning phase are also mentioned.     

The Centre for Studies in Science Education at the University of Leeds

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of aesthetic science activities on improving elementary school at-risk families’ children's positive thinking, attitudes toward science, and decreasing their anxiety about learning science. Thirty-six 4th-grade children from at-risk families volunteered to participate in a 12-week intervention and formed the experimental group; another 97 typical 4th graders were randomly selected to participant in the assessment and were used as the comparison group. The treatment for experimental group children emphasized scaffolding aesthetic science activities and inquiry strategies. The Elementary School Student Questionnaire was administered to assess all children's positive thinking, attitudes toward science, and anxiety about learning science. In addition, nine target children from the experimental group with the lowest scores on either positive thinking, or attitudes toward science, or with the highest scores on anxiety about learning science in the pre-test were recruited to be interviewed at the end of the intervention and observed weekly. Confirmatory factor analyses, analyses of covariance, and content theme analysis assessed the similarities and differences between groups. It was found that the at-risk families’ children were motivated by the treatment and made significant progress on positive thinking and attitudes toward science, and also decreased their anxiety about learning science. The findings from interviews and classroom observations also revealed that the intervention made differences in children's affective perceptions of learning science. Implication and research recommendation are discussed.     

A short history of the Science and Mathematics Education Centre at Curtin University

This article is presented in four parts. In the first part, I describe the foundation of the Science and Mathematics Education Centre (SMEC) at Curtin University. In the second part, I explain the development of SMEC’s teaching and research capacity under its three directors. In the third section, I describe how federal government support of SMEC as a national Key Centre for Teaching and Research in School Science and Mathematics provided enhanced postgraduate study opportunities for science and mathematics teachers throughout Australia by offering degree programs through distance education and face-to-face contact, short courses, and seminars. At the same time, research and teaching capacity of the academic staff was enhanced through the internationalisation of the programs being offered. In the final section, I describe current and future developments at SMEC.     

The State University at Ghent,Belgium, Educates Engineers in Rwanda

Close established ties bemeen Belgium and Rwanda are also reflected in the setting up of civil and electromechanical engineering programmes in Rwanda, by the State University at Ghent, Belgium. The start-up and general organisation of engineering education, the experiences with four such education programmes and their extension into a practical post-university level education for solving urgent tangible problems of the country, are discussed.     

The Centre for Research into Higher Education at the University of Amsterdam (Centrum voor Onderzoek van het Wetenschappelijk Onderwijs,COWO)

This study is part of a first study of collaborative socio-environmental projects that engage Jewish and Arab students in Israel in learning about their local environment and about each other through outdoor learning and environmental action. We used ideas of social learning and environmental citizenship to frame our research. We investigated students' knowledge regarding their local environment and their knowledge of each other's community. We also studied the participants’ views regarding their project-partners'environmental knowledge, awareness and behaviour in comparison to their own. Initially, differences were found regarding various aspects of the students' socio-environmental knowledge and in students' views of their counterparts' environmentalism. At the end of the projects, students showed better understanding of local socio-environmental issues and demonstrated changes in their original views towards the environmental awareness and behaviour of their counterparts. These findings suggest that projects which involve students from segregated communities not only promote environmental awareness but contribute to a reduction in mutual prejudices. We suggest that the differences we found are not related to ethnicity, but rather to students' socioeconomic status and experience in environmental education programmes.     

The Centre for Academic Services University of Sussex,England

Audio-visual techniques in educational technology are receiving unusually close attention at the University of Sussex. A new department known as the Centre for Academic Services has been established there, charged with the task of co-ordinating the use of audio-visual media throughout the university. The aim is to experiment with and develop appropriate teaching techniques.     

论大学素质教育的人学旨趣

大学素质教育本质上是人的教育,不是锻造"工具人",而是培养"完整的人"。教育人学视域下,大学素质教育的旨趣在于养成文化自觉、塑造大学生类主体的自由个性的人格、回归教育本体性功能,通融科学与人文、构筑大学共同体和培育丰富大学精神等。     

Placing Students at the Centre of the Decolonizing Education Imperative: Engaging the (Mis)Recognition Struggles of Students at the Postapartheid University

Misrecognition of South African university students is at the heart of this article. Misrecognition refers in this article to the exclusionary institutional discourses and practices of this country’s universities, which continue to prevent the majority of their (Black) students’ from achieving a successful education. It is a conceptual account of the ways in which these misrecognized students develop a complex educational life in their quest for a university education. The article argues that at the heart of students’ university experiences is an essential misrecognition of who they are, and how they access and encounter their university studies. I suggest that gaining greater purchase on their (mis)recognition struggles may place the university in a position to establish an engaging recognition platform to facilitate their educational success. Divided into four sections, the article starts with a rationale for bringing the institutional misrecognition of students into view. This is followed by a theoretical consideration of the notion of recognition, which opens space for what I call the recognitive agency of the education subject, who remains largely unknown to the university. The third section provides an account of the nature and extent of Black students’ survivalist educational navigations and practices in their family, community, school, and university contexts. The final and concluding section of the article presents a normative argument for developing an education platform for facilitating a productive encounter aimed at animating students’ educational becoming. This, I argue, should proceed on the basis of a decolonizing knowledge approach, involving curriculum recognition, which would accord students the conceptual tools for developing the epistemic virtues necessary for complex decolonized living.     

Cultural Values and Social Differentiation: The Catholic pillar and its education system in Belgium and the Netherlands

According to research on 'pillarization', some European countries (such as Belgium and the Netherlands) are internally divided into blocs of different religious and political persuasions. In this article, it is indicated that the success of the pillars has never been unambiguous. In domains of professional services, like education and health care, the pillars were successful. Other societal sectors, which function more impersonally, could escape from their influence. Pillars could flourish in societal sectors, whose functioning depends on face-to-face contacts. This explains why 'religious virtuosos' were able to fulfil such a prominent role in the Catholic pillar, and especially in Catholic education.     

Establishing an online community of inquiry at the Distance Education Centre,Victoria

This pilot intervention focused on three courses that were redesigned to utilize the online environment to establish an online community of inquiry (CoI). The setting for this research study was the Distance Education Centre, Victoria (DECV), an Australian co-educational school with approximately 3000 students who, for a variety of reasons, are studying one or more subjects via distance education. Despite the availability of information and communications technology, many students at the DECV remain socially isolated from their peers. The DECV recognizes that online student collaboration has the potential to bridge this divide. Results of this study suggest that the adaptation of these courses had led to improvements in students’ perception of their educational experience. These findings may be of use to other P–12 education providers who are attempting to promote online collaboration and student connectedness.     

Islamic Education in Belgium: Past,Present, and Future

This article focuses on Islamic education in Belgium. First, attention is given to the organization of Islamic classes in state schools, where some important problems occur, such as the lack of appropriate teachers and inspectors, the mono-confessional content of the curricula, and the absence of state control. Next, the content of religious education (RE) classes in Catholic schools, which are also attended by many Muslims, will be addressed. Finally, the author argues that a shift within the current RE classes is not sufficient today. Based on autonomy-based, epistemological, and societal arguments, the author proposes a shift from confessional to non-confessional RE.     

谈高校现代教育技术中心的技术队伍建设

通过调查分析高校现代教育技术中心队伍的结构状况及存在问题,探讨了高素质实验技术队伍在实验室可持续发展中的重要作用,提出了加强和改善技术中心队伍建设的若干对策。     

比利时高等教育的特点及启示

比利时高等教育的特点是办学理念新、办学层次清、办学权力下移、政府投入大、注重质量监控、教学手段先进、注重创新。给我们的启示有进一步落实高校办学自主权等五个方面。     

以顾客为中心原则在职业教育中的实践与探索

以顾客为关注焦点,追求顾客满意,是2000版ISO9000质量管理标准中的八项原则之一。本文分析了职业院校中以顾客为中心原则的内涵;结合教育改革实践,从专业设置、教学实施、教学管理等方面,探索了以顾客为中心原则在职业教育中的有效实践途径和保障机制。     

关于建立网络教学服务中心的思考

网络教学服务中心对开展现代远程教育试点的高等学校网络学院是不可缺少的一个组成部分。建立一个使远教方和远学方都能依赖、高效的网络教学服务中心，将生源组织、技术支持和教学服务平台建设好，是实施现代远程教育的当务之急。