Evaluating Environmental Knowledge Dimension Convergence to Assess Educational Programme Effectiveness

One aim of environmental education is fostering sustainable environmental action. Some environmental behaviour models suggest that this can be accomplished in part by improving people's knowledge. Recent studies have identified a distinct, psychometrically supported environmental knowledge structure consisting of system, action-related and effectiveness knowledge. Besides system knowledge, which is most often the focus of such studies, incorporating the other knowledge dimensions into these dimensions was suggested to enhance effectiveness. Our study is among the first to implement these dimensions together in an educational campaign and to use these dimensions to evaluate the effectiveness of a programme on water issues. We designed a four-day environmental education programme on water issues for students at an educational field centre. We applied a newly developed multiple-choice instrument using a pre-, post-, retention test design. The knowledge scales were calibrated with the Rasch model. In addition to the commonly assessed individual change in knowledge level, we also measured the change in knowledge convergence, the extent to which the knowledge dimensions merge as a person's environmental knowledge increases, as an innovative indicator of educational success. Following programme participation, students significantly improved in terms of amount learned in each knowledge dimension and in terms of integration of the knowledge dimensions. The effectiveness knowledge shows the least gain, persistence and convergence, which we explain by considering the dependence of the knowledge dimensions on each other. Finally, we discuss emerging challenges for educational researchers and practical implications for environmental educators.     

The Teaching Green School Building: a framework for linking architecture and environmental education

The ‘Teaching Green School Building’ is an emergent type of school building that attempts to engage building users with environmental issues in buildings. Architectural interventions in these buildings range from signage to interactive touch screens to gardens and demonstration kitchens that foster educational programmes about sustainable food. The result can be a building that offers informal education, support for formal environmental education, and, overall, a chance for students to embody sustainable living in their daily lives at school. To date, this type of building has been weakly theorized, and the relationship between architectural interventions and environmental education largely unexplored in the literature. This literature review weaves together theories that connect the physical environment with human factors. In particular, research in environmental education, museum studies, conservation psychology and architecture illuminates ways in which buildings can support environmental education and with tactics that go well beyond the convention of informational signage on the wall. The result of the literature review is a framework that points to design patterns that extend from passive to active, individual to collective, and formal to informal. This framework can inform the design, use and evaluation of school buildings designed with pedagogical intent.     

基于强可持续发展理论的职业教育数量和质量协调发展模式

职业教育可持续发展必须适应教育生态的承载力,它强调职业教育的发展对教育资源的数量和流速的要求不能超出特定教育生态系统所能承受的范围,其本质在于给职业教育发展提出一个长期的生态限制,即强可持续发展模式。在此前提下,运用微观教育经济学的成本效益分析法对职业教育发展的规模、结构、经费需求等,以及职业教育与社会经济发展相适应等实际问题进行度量。其总体的平衡策略是在质量控制中谋求数量的增长,在数量增长中谋求质量的控制。     

关注公民教育中特色教育资源的个性化服务——延安红色教育资源数字化服务模式构建

延安红色教育资源是新时期开展公民教育的特色教育资源。延安红色教育资源地处陕甘宁边区,在教育的价值与意义上,是中华民族共有的精神财富。为突破延安红色教育资源应用受地域的限制,在新媒体环境下提升公民教育中特色教育资源的个性化服务,利用互联网面向学校与社会公开共享特色教育资源,旨在促进红色教育资源在公民教育中的有效应用。延安红色教育资源数字化建设具有一定的特殊性,其个性化服务是一项长期系统的工程,原有的资源建设与应用模式很难适应新媒体环境下红色教育资源数字化服务的要求,因此需要重新构建延安红色教育资源开发与应用的新模型。基于该模型制定延安红色教育资源数字化建设的标准和规范,设计和分析红色教育网络平台模块的功能、素材建设等,实施网络平台开发;根据对网络教育平台的推广,研究红色教育资源应用模式,深化延安红色教育资源在学校和社会中有效应用的个性化服务。     

基于CSCL的中小学信息技术教学模式的研究

本文基于CSCL系统模型,结合信息技术教学现状,探究并设计了基于CSCL的中小学信息技术教育的同步与异步模式同时应用的新教学模式。文章论述了此教学模式在实现信息技术课程的课内讲授与课外协作学习,提高学生的信息能力方面的实施细节。最后论述了CSCL的应用带来的现实思考。     

人工智能在教育视频中的应用分析与设计

视频是教育领域重要的学习资源形式,基于人工智能技术的教育视频分析与创新应用是推动教育人工智能落地的重要方式,但目前还处于研究与实践的探索阶段。文章分析了人工智能对教育视频的支持功能,在此基础上探讨了人工智能在教育视频中的具体应用场景,构建了基于人工智能的教育视频应用设计原则与框架,并进行了案例实现。研究表明:基于人工智能技术的教育视频应用有助于增强互动学习,支持多模态学习分析,优化视频游戏设计,促进智慧课堂与智慧校园建设。对人工智能在教育视频中的应用研究与实践将推进教育教学创新,推动人工智能与教育的深度融合。     

基于教育技术学专业相关国家级精品课程的调查研究

通过对教育技术学专业的相关国家级精品课程建设及应用情况进行调查分析,发现课程使用率低和更新慢导致精品课程可持续发展难以维系,课程建设者的资源共享意识与版权意识发生冲突等问题。针对这些问题,提出了一些建议,旨在对国家精品课程建设和应用的可持续发展提供参考。     

21世纪初期英美教育信息化战略规划及其启示

文章详细分析了英国《使用技术:下一代学习(2008-2014)》战略和美国《变革美国教育:用技术促进学习》战略,认为英美教育信息化战略规划对我国教育信息化建设的启示在于:以促进教育现代化为目标,加强教育信息化的战略研究;坚持以人为本,以教育需求为导向,开展教育信息化顶层设计;以教育质量为抓手,促进教育系统整体变革;以教育信息化为手段优化教育资源配置,使教育惠及全民,促进教育公平;提升教育信息化的应用效益,促进教育信息化建设可持续发展。     

Staying engaged: the role of teachers and schools in keeping young people with health conditions engaged in education

It is well known that having a chronic or traumatic health condition can seriously impact on a young person’s educational trajectory, as well as placing the young person at higher risk of experiencing mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, and increasing their likelihood of participation in risky behaviours. This paper reports on research examining best practice by schools in mitigating the impact of having a health condition by keeping students engaged with education in the post-compulsory years of schooling. The research project was designed to examine the strategies, both formal and informal, which are enacted by schools, individual teachers, families and students in ensuring an ongoing connection with educational pathways in the senior years. We describe an interconnected set of critical success factors for retaining these vulnerable young people in education, and reflect on the implications of these for educational policymakers and school administrators.     

Professional capacity and organizational change as measures of educational effectiveness: assessing the impact of postgraduate education in Development Policy and Management

We tend to measure educational performance by students' attainment in coursework or examinations. In the case of professional education, the impact of the educational programme on the students' own capacities to enhance their work practices, and the wider organizational effects of the students' education and training, are also key ‘products’ of the educational process. This is particularly important with education for Development Policy and Management (DPAM), which is directly concerned with capacity‐building. This article adopts a work‐related approach to educational effectiveness and examines four professional programmes in DPAM—three in Southern Africa and one in the UK. Through the analysis of the results of surveys and case studies, the article demonstrates how a positive learning experience is related to the application of learning at work. However the conditions for applying learning also depend strongly on organizational context, as do the wider organizational impacts of learning. The article presents a broad approach to assessing educational effectiveness in professional programmes which incorporate these factors.     

Preparing British Design Undergraduates for the Challenge of Sustainable Development

The first part of this paper argues that higher education (HE) institutions have an obligation to nurture sustainable development awareness. This is viewed against the UK Government's recommendation and guidance on sustainable development education. In particular, this focuses on the Government's sustainable development education specification for design education and the challenge this poses to UK tertiary design education. The concluding part of this paper discusses the emergence of new design dialogues, which are grappling with the task of synthesising the precepts of sustainable development with the ‘act of designing’. This has led to discourse on the need for defining viable strategies that invent new forms of design education and practice and for the provision of new professional choices to students. This paper takes into account the evolution of language in this educational subject area, from ‘environmental education’, to ‘environment and development education’, to ‘education or learning for sustainability’. The desired outcome of learning for sustainability is often expressed as ‘responsible global citizenship’. At the moment some of these terms are interchangeable. For my purposes, the term ‘sustainable development education’ will be used though out, unless for historical accuracy or specific reasons.     

Education for Sustainable Development in South Africa: A Model Case Scenario

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is an educational approach that, by being a catalyst of social change, promotes sustainability. Although South African education policy and practice appear to be oriented towards ESD, the concept is contested, and ragged with ambiguity and vagueness. Because the transformation of South African education is primarily aimed at social change, such vagueness and ambiguity could prevent the achievement of the vision of an education system that contributes to social change and sustainable development. In this article, we construct a model case scenario to assist in clarifying the concept of ESD. A model case scenario, we contend, might not only lead to an advanced understanding of the concept, but could also serve as an informative tool with which to comment on the extent to which an education system has responded to the call to promote sustainable development. A model case scenario could therefore assist the promotion of the appropriate and unambiguous use of the concept ESD and the alignment of education policy and practice to achieve the transformational goals of the South African Constitution, and of South African education.     

教育改革必须保持可持续发展

教育的可持续发展是社会可持续发展的动力,要保持教育可持续发展,必然要求教育改革保持可持续发展.要使教育改革促进教育资源的合理配置,促进教育系统的生态平衡.要在配置教育资源,调整教育结构,遵循教育规律,注重人的发展,实现各级各类教育的相互对接和教学改革等方面达到可持续性发展.     

符号教育:美国儿童学习的奥秘

教育即教育符号的创制、释义、应用。教育与符号深切关联,符号学乃贯通人文、社会和自然科学的公分母。符号教育即通过充分、全面和深度挖掘符号以培养人的个性化、创造性发展的教育形态。以符号学理论为工具构建符号教育学是信息时代教育发展的必然。研究者结合自己2017在美国威斯康星大学访学经历,深度观察美国威斯康星州基础教育状况。并从符号学视角解析美国儿童学习成功的奥秘——符号教育。美国儿童学习中符号教育主要体现在六个方面:教育符号的泛在性;符号思维的可视性;符号意义的不确定性;符号运作的开放性;符号知识的经验性;符号学习的趣味性。     

The significance of ‘participation’ as an educational ideal in education for sustainable development and health education in schools

This article examines the significance of the concept of participation for teacher meaning-making processes in education for sustainable development and health education. In Scandinavian public schools, education for sustainable development and health education focus on a wide palette of societal problems rather than on narrow curricula. Drawing on selected reviews of research literature on education for sustainable development and health education, Lacanian psychoanalysis provides inspiration for our analysis of the concept of participation, and how it is positioned and enacted in these fields of practice. Essentially, we argue that the concept of participation has a dual nature: it serves both as an educational ideal and as a teaching strategy. We also explore how the failure to achieve the ideal of ‘true’ participation may serve a positive purpose for the teacher; the acknowledgement that participation is not always as genuine as desired establishes a pedagogical situation where ideals of engaging pupils through true participation can continue to exist side by side with clear signs of a less consequential participation.     

Trade in Educational Services: An Overview of GATS and Policy Implications for Higher Agricultural Education in India

Abstract

Higher education is a service that contributes to national development, integration and regional cohesion. Agricultural education in particular has been viewed in many developing countries as a significant contributor to sustainable development and poverty alleviation. In view of its public mandate, higher education in most countries is regulated by competent bodies. However, higher education is also a service recognized under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It is therefore subject to WTO's essential principles of promoting trade liberalization, market access and equitable treatment to all participants. But very little is known about the consequences of free trade in educational services. Also it is difficult to define which educational services are strictly commercial and which are public services. As a result, application of GATS can lead to disputes, unless the definitions are clear and international standards are in place, as in the case of other WTO agreements such as TRIPS, SPS and TBT. The present paper assesses the implications of application of the provisions of GATS to higher education in general and agricultural education in particular, with respect to Indian regulatory mechanisms for agricultural education. International scenarios of application of GATS in higher education and relevant policy issues for India as perceived by the faculty members of agricultural universities are discussed. The purpose is to initiate a fruitful debate at various national forums that can inform national policy and take advantage of the opportunities provided under GATS, while ensuring that national interests are kept in perspective.     

The impact of development education and education for sustainable development interventions: a synthesis of the research

The Sustainable Development Goals set out by the United Nations advocate that all learners will have the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development. Development education, education for sustainable development and global citizenship education are deliberate educational interventions, which all address global justice and sustainability issues. Current research continues to expand our understanding of the field, but there are no recent reviews of the literature addressing the impact of these educational interventions. The objective of this paper is, therefore, to examine the impact of intentional development education, education for sustainable development and global citizenship education. We reviewed 243 abstracts against specific inclusion criteria: 127 from Scopus, 101 from ERIC, and 15 from EBSCO. Of those abstracts, 99 met inclusion criteria and underwent double review, which excluded further studies. Of the final 44 papers included for review, 26 focused on education for sustainable development or environmental educational themes, 12 were global orientated in content, either through development education or global citizenship, and six were intercultural educational interventions. In this paper, we provide an overview of measures of assessment of learning used, review the evidence of the impact on learners, and address some methodological and pedagogical questions arising from the review.     

中国教学模式改革的实践探索——“学为导向”综合型课堂教学模式

在促进我国教育公平和内涵发展的进程中,教学模式的改革是关键。教学模式改革的实践探索则是推动教学模式改革顺利实施,最终实现教学效能最大化的重要环节。教学模式改革的实践探索是人们以一定教育教学理论为指导,在真实、复杂的教育教学实践中,把一个概念形态存在的抽象教学模式变为一个以物理形态存在、可视和可操作的教学模式的过程。由于历史和现实的诸多原因,"教为导向"的教学模式依然在不同学段存在,且严重影响了学习者的学习成效。针对教师教育领域职前教师"学了教学设计不会教学设计"的突出问题,我们尝试以"深度学习"为理念,在基于设计的研究范式指导下,以《教学设计》课程为平台,构建旨在提升职前教师教学设计能力的"学为导向"综合型课堂教学模式。研究结果表明,通过在真实、复杂的课堂教学情境中开展持续两年的课堂教学模式改革实验,"学为导向"综合型课堂教学模式有效提升了职前教师的教学设计能力和综合素质,其自身也在"迭代循环"中得到了持续的优化与完善。由此,我国教学模式改革要以科学的研究范式为指导,要以人类学习的最新研究成果为基础,要进入教育现场进行综合持久的实践行动才能达到目标。     

学生学习能力养成负影响归因探析

文章对学生学习能力养成的负影响主因进行了识别,认为教育思想的或缺性、师生主客体地位认识的偏颇性、现行教育体制的不周延性、师生可持续发展“学习观”的缺失性是影响学生学习能力养成的主要归因。以此为基础,提出了完善“终身教育”理念的现实演绎策略;发展性学习能力的关照;教育体制上落实素质教育和通识教育的思想;加强对学生学习行为调适等措施,力求使学生的学习力养成得到关照和重视。     

Attitudes towards inclusion in higher education in a Portuguese university

In this article, we present data concerning the inclusion of students with disabilities in higher education (HE) at a Portuguese university. This research is part of a wider project designed to understand the trajectories and experiences of students with disabilities at the University of Algarve. This exploratory study raises questions about inclusion and discusses this concept based on the perspectives of academic and non-academic staff. A qualitative approach was used to provide an informative exploration of attitudes towards inclusive education and recommendations for promoting best practices therein. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews. We found positive perceptions of university staff members about the inclusion of the students with disabilities. However, more effort is needed to provide these students with opportunities to continue their academic career in HE and to promote inclusion, personal development and participation in social and economic life. Although inclusive education is on political and educational agendas, the perception of disabilities as deficits prevails. The findings of this study, therefore, reveal that changes must be implemented to effectively adopt the social and educational model of disability.