Finding the right problem

In an educational setting, a solution that has worked for one problem may not work for the same problem that occurs at a different time in a different work conditions. However, administrators and teachers resort to quick solutions to the perceived problem, consequently affecting not only the curriculum but also the students ’ learning. This paper shows how administrators and teachers can find problems prior to problem solution by taking three steps: (1) Examining the interconnectivity of things; (2) Exploring possible and alternative problems and (3) Asking the right question. The paper demonstrates not only how these steps operate in specific situations encountered by administrators and teachers but also how finding the problem can be an effective tool in performing their respective roles.     

Finding knowledge on the Internet: implications for the knowledge-driven curriculum

This article offers a critique of Michael Young’s perspective on the Internet as it relates to the knowledge-driven curriculum he supports. I argue that the Internet is a site of both theoretical knowledge and everyday concepts which challenges the differentiation of knowledge that premises much of Young’s writing. Google searches from the perspective of a student and teacher show that theoretical knowledge with vertical links to subject and disciplinary communities as well as coherence built through links between concepts is fairly readily accessed on the Internet. The importance of information literacy for students, the critical need to curate content on the web, as well as the implications for the curriculum of framing ‘knowing’ as encompassing ‘being familiar’ and comprehending’ are highlighted.     

基于知识的铝镁铸件缺陷分析专家系统

该文建立了一个基于知识的航空铝镁铸件缺陷分析专家系统NAMCDAE5。系统由知识库、推理机、工作数据库、领域知识获取机制、人机接口和解释机制等六个模块组成。文中重点讨论了系统的设计原理和系统组成。     

用关系数据库实现医疗专家系统的知识表示

医疗专家系统的知识库具有明显的层次和网状关系,故其知识表示传统上常采用产生式系统或框架系统来实现.本文从继承角度出发,给出一种用关系型数据库实现的知识表示,该方法能较大程度上减少数据冗余,提高检索的效率.     

Finding out more about teacher candidates' prior knowledge: implications for teacher educators

While it is recognised that prior knowledge is a key factor in determining future learning, its influence on learning to teach is less well known. This study investigates two cohorts of teacher candidates studying for a one-year, graduate qualification for primary teaching, who completed two tasks at entry to their initial teacher education programme: a task in writing and a task in mathematics. The tasks focused on teacher candidates' ability to recognise the key features of a piece of student work. The teacher candidates' responses to the tasks highlighted the diverse nature of the prior knowledge that underpinned their responses. The study raises questions about the pedagogy of initial teacher education, particularly in relation to the assumptions teachers educators make about the candidates they teach. The findings suggest that the prior knowledge that students bring to initial teacher education is both a resource and a challenge for teacher educators.     

Socializing the knowledge transfer problem

A central issue in acquiring knowledge is its appropriate transfer beyond the contexts and contents of first acquisition. In contrast to dominant “common elements” transfer theory, an interpretive perspective is developed, according to which “appropriate transfer” is a concept socioculturally rather than objectively defined. “Elements” perceived by the thinker as common between the current and a prior situation are not given in the nature of things but “read” in terms of the thinker's culturally-influenced categorization system, of problem types. A synthesis of cognitive research findings identifies specific features of thinking-skills instruction effective for promoting transfer. These include learning about and practicing knowledge application in multiple contexts of use, constructively participating in bridging instruction across school and nonschool problem situations, thinking and self-management skills taught within domains, and synergistic integration of the learning of different subjects. Recommendations are made for developing new learning technologies that build upon these conditions for enhancing knowledge transfer.     

Adaptive research supervision: exploring expert thesis supervisors' practical knowledge

Several researchers have suggested the importance of being responsive to students' needs in research supervision. Adapting support strategies to students' needs in light of the goals of a task is referred to as adaptivity. In the present study, the practice of adaptivity is explored by interviewing expert thesis supervisors about diagnosing student characteristics in order to determine students' needs and concurrent adaptive support strategies. The findings suggest that next to competence, supervisors also diagnose elements of students' determination and context. With respect to support strategies, it is suggested that supervisors adapt to student needs in terms of explicating standards, quality or consequences, division of responsibilities, providing more/less critical feedback and sympathising. The complexity of the relationship between diagnosing student characteristics and adapting support strategies is illustrated and needs further study.     

Mathematics knowledge for understanding and problem solving

Two important aspects of transfer in mathematics learning are the application of mathematical knowledge to problem solving and the acquisition of more advanced concepts, both in mathematics and in other domains. This paper discusses general assumptions and themes of current cognitive research on mathematics learning, focusing on issues of the understanding thought to facilitate transfer of mathematical knowledge. Two studies illustrating these themes are presented, one concerning students' understanding of numerical relationships involved in basic addition and subtraction combinations, the other dealing with students' understanding of algebraic expressions and transformations. Implications of these cognitive perspectives for instruction are discussed.