Willing to Think Hard? The Subjective Value of Cognitive Effort in Children

Cognitive effort is costly and this cost likely influences the activities in which children engage. Yet, little is known about how school‐age children perceive cognitive effort. The subjective value of cognitive effort, that is, how valuable or costly effort is perceived, was investigated in seventy‐three 7‐ to 12‐year‐olds using an effort discounting paradigm. In two studies, it varied with task difficulty but not age, was predicted by actual effort engagement but not actual success and related to trait interest in effortful activities and proactive control engagement. Children are sensitive to cognitive effort and use it to guide behaviors, suggesting that poor performance may often reflect reluctance to engage cognitive effort rather than low ability.     

Introduction to “The Politics of Educational Reforms”

Abstract

It has become increasingly clear that education is a site of conflict. This essay examines the ideological positions that now dominate educational reforms and suggests a number of roles that critically democratic educators should play in -confronting these reforms. It then details the contributions that the authors -included in this special issue make toward understanding both the limits of current reforms and the possibilities of interrupting them.     

Want to Stay Warm in Winter? Think COLD

Winter in many places means ice skating,sledding and snowball fights.But unless someone is prepared,outdoor fun can also mean frostbite and hypothermia.Today we talk about how to stay warm,dry and safe.     

The grand emotion of “Ode to the west wind”

The imagine of Shelley's Ode to the west wind vividly represent manly beauty. Reading this poem, we feel a vast boundless and grand emotional world.     

The “biographical question” as a challenge to adult education

In the present age we are experiencing profound changes in the traditional patterns and phases that used to mark the course of a human life. Living a life has become a more problematic and unpredictable undertaking, a laboratory for developing skills whose usefulness is uncertain. This situation represents a challenge for adult education. In this article, the author argues the case for a biographical approach to learning, which has the capacity to change both the individual and the context in which learning takes place. He contrasts this with conventional education, where learning takes place within a stable context. Through the biological approach, learning processes can become voyages of discovery for both learners and teachers.

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Zusammenfassung Gegenwärtig erleben wir tiefgreifende Veränderungen der traditionellen Lebensmuster und Phasen, die den Verlauf des menschlichen Lebens bis dahin prägten. Das Leben zu leben ist ein problematischeres und nicht voraussagbares Unternehmen geworden, ein Labor zur Entwicklung von Fähigkeiten, deren Nutzen unsicher ist. Diese Situation bedeutet eine Herausforderung für die Erwachsenenbildung. In diesem Artikel tritt der Autor für einen biographischen Lernansatz ein, der sowohl den Einzelnen als auch die Lernumgebung zu ändern vermag. Er stellt dies der konventionellen Bildung gegenüber, bei der in einem festen Zusammenhang gelernt wird. Durch den biographischen Ansatz können Lernprozesse sowohl für den Lernenden als auch für den Lehrer zu Entdeckungsreisen werden.

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Résumé Nous vivons actuellement une transformation profonde des périodes et des modèles établis qui formaient traditionnellement les points de repère d'une vie humaine. Vivre sa vie est devenu une entreprise plus compliquée et imprévisible, un laboratoire pour acquérir des compétences dont l'utilité est incertaine. Cette situation jette un défi à la formation des adultes. L'auteur livre dans cet article les arguments pour une approche biographique de l'apprentissage, celle-ci étant à même de modifier à la fois l'individu et le contexte dans lequel l'apprentissage a lieu, l'opposant à l'éducation conventionnelle où le contexte de l'apprentissage est plus rigide. Grâce à l'approche biographique, l'apprentissage peut devenir un voyage de découverte à la fois pour l'apprenant et pour l'enseignant.

     

The “Write” Stuff: Simple Techniques Designed to Teach Students How to Avoid Plagiarism

Presently, plagiarism is a serious problem in academics. Research has shown that the number of students who commit some form of plagiarism has increased in recent years. Studies have also shown that students commit plagiarism for a variety of reasons, including ignorance about what constitutes plagiarism, waiting until the last minute to complete an assignment, and a desire to get good grades. Regardless of the reason, students who commit plagiarism face a variety of sanctions ranging from a “slap on the wrist” to expulsion from school. Because of the potential long‐term ramifications of committing plagiarism, it is essential that educators understand why students commit plagiarism and learn ways to teach students how to avoid it. This paper presents a workshop designed to teach students how to avoid committing it and offers a variety of ways in which this material can be incorporated into a program’s existing curriculum.     

The “Species” Concept as a Gateway to Nature of Science

The nature of science (NOS) is a primary goal in school science. Most teachers are not well-prepared for teaching NOS, but a sophisticated and in-depth understanding of NOS is necessary for effective teaching. Some authors emphasize the need for teaching NOS in context. Species, a central concept in biology, is proposed in this article as a concrete example of a means for achieving increased understanding of NOS. Although species are commonly presented in textbooks as fixed entities with a single definition, the concept of species is a highly discussed one in the science and the philosophy of biology. A multitude of species concepts exist, reflecting both the views and interests of researchers and their utility in different organism groups. The present study serves to address the following questions: How do textbooks in Norwegian primary and lower secondary schools present the concept of species? Can inquiries into the concept of “species” serve to highlight aspects of NOS? A review of the available literature on species and species concepts in school is also performed. In the schoolbooks, the biological species concept is commonly used as the main definition, whereas the morphological species concept is represented by additional remarks of similarity. The potential and pitfalls of using the species concept for teaching NOS are discussed, with NOS being discussed both as a family resemblance concept and as a consensus list. Teacher education is proposed as a starting point for inducing a more sophisticated view of biology into schools.     

From “Boy-Government” and “Student-Government” to “Learner-Government”: The Best of Both Worlds?

In the history of South African education there have been three contrasting attempts to incorporate learners into the authority structures of schools, namely: “boy-government” (prefect system), “student-government” (Student Representative Councils (SRCs)) and “learner-government” (Representative Councils of Learners (RCLs)). This article traces the historical development of these traditions in governance in South African schools. Against this background, it proffers a historical analysis of these traditions to show that the phrase “learner representative council” is at a crossroads, that is, it is being stretched and pulled in different directions in post-apartheid South Africa. It points out that “student-government” was born out of the rejection of the unpopular “boy-government”. It also provides a critical analysis of the attempt of the national Guides for Representative Councils of Learners (Guides for RCLs) (DoE 1999) to blend the “prefect” and “SRC” traditions in order to strengthen democracy at school level. In doing so, it argues that the Guides for RCLs undermine democratic SRCs developed in the anti-apartheid education struggle. In the end, the article defends the “student-government” tradition because of its potential to educate for democratic citizenship in post-apartheid South African schools.     

表达“有能力”（Ability）和“无能力”（Inability）意义的英语惯用语

英语惯用语是高职高专学生学习和运用英语的难点之一。作者先简要说明其对进一步学习英语的重要性,并主要将表达“有能力”（ABILITY）和“无能力”（INABILITY）的意义相同或相近的惯用语分别进行归纳整理。旨在开阔学生视野,帮助学生能更好理解和运用这些英语惯用语。     

Think and Answer

As Mr White was going to church，he met a farmer with three children.Each child had three baskets. Each basket had three hens. And each hen had three chickens. Chickens，hens，baskets，farmer and children. Do you know how many people went to church？(2)The following is a group of letters，but two are missing. Can you work them out？J F M A M J J A ？ ？N D(3)Who'll WinTwo dogs—a white dog and a black dog decided to run a 50-metre race. The black dog won by 2 meters. In other w…     

Temperament and psychopathology: The “community” to which you belong matters

We utilized a community detection approach to longitudinally (a) identify distinct groups of children with common temperament profiles in infancy and at 2 and 3 years of age and (b) determine whether co-occurrence of certain temperament traits may be early predictors of internalizing problems at 5 years of age. Seven hundred and seventy-four infants (360 girls; 88.6% White, 9.8% Hispanic, and 1.6% other races) were recruited from the Boston area. Data collection spanned from 2012 to 2021. The analysis yielded three distinct groups of children with different temperament traits and was associated with significant variation in levels of internalizing symptoms and anxiety diagnosis rate. Our findings suggest that stable temperament “communities” can be detected in early childhood and may predict risk for psychopathology later in life.     

“used to”与“be used to”辨析

<正>与used有关的短语很多,used to do sth.,be used to doing sth.,get used to doing sth.,be used to do sth.。乍一看,混淆了吧!那么让我们从结构上和意义上来仔细瞧瞧吧:     

I Don''''t Think So

MrBlackistiredtoday．It＇sverycoldthesedaysandalotofpeopleareill．Hisclinic（诊所）wasfullofpeople．Hehadnotimetohavearest．Thelastpatients（患者）leftataquarterpastten．Hehadsomesand－wichesandtomatoesforsupper．Thenhewenttohisbedroomandbegantotakeoffhiscoat．Atthatmomentthetelephonerangandhewenttoanswerit．“Hello，MrBlack，”amansaid．“Comeherequickly．”“What＇sthatspeaking，please？”“It＇sBruceSmithhere．”“Idon＇tknowaBruceSmithatall！”MrBlacksaidtohimself．“What＇sthematt…