Socioeconomic Status and Preschoolers' Mathematical Knowledge: The Contribution of Home Activities and Parent Beliefs

Research Findings: Children from families of lower socioeconomic status (SES) enter kindergarten with less developed mathematical knowledge compared to children from middle SES families. This discrepancy is present at age 3 years and likely stems from differences in the home learning environment. This study reports SES-related differences both in the quantity and quality of mathematical support children receive in the home and in parent beliefs about early mathematical development and then compares both with children's performance on a comprehensive mathematics assessment. Participants included 90 children in their 1st year of preschool (2 years before kindergarten entry) and 88 children in their prekindergarten year (the year just prior to kindergarten entry). Both cohorts were balanced for SES and gender. The results suggested minimal SES-related variation in mathematical support received in either cohort but clear SES differences in parents’ beliefs about early mathematical development. Middle SES parents of children in both cohorts held higher expectations in terms of skills they expected children to possess by age 5, as well as a more accurate understanding of which skills are within the developmental range of most children by age 5. These differences accounted for unique variance in children's scores on the mathematics assessment. Practice or Policy: Implications are discussed.     

指挥棒:还仅指向知识和知识再现吗?——对高校现行考试模式的检讨

带有浓厚传统模式的现行高校考试制度,在很大程度上制约了或正在阻碍着大学的教育教学改革进程,严重影响着对教与学的质量的检测和提高。分析高校现行考试模式的弊端和高校考试模式改革的必要性,并对现行考试模式的改革提出了几点设想。     

Measuring Older Adults' Abuse: Evaluation of Formative Indicators to Promote Brevity

Some literature on elder abuse recommends, and practitioners claim, that there should be better assessment and screening tools. In order to improve the accuracy of measurement instruments, the purpose of this article is threefold: (a) describing the construction of an instrument with formative indicators and the survey design about the sensitive topic of elder abuse, (b) development of an analytic strategy to improve the precision of the measures by (c) evaluating the measurement instrument through quality criteria against outcomes of the instrument. We randomly selected 2,880 home-dwelling older women aged 60 and above from five European Union countries who participated in a survey on elder abuse. Prevalence data on abuse against older women was gathered using a postal (BE, FI, PT), face-to-face (BE, LT), and telephone survey (AT) but using an identical instrument. A table with outcome measures was calculated to evaluate the formative indicators of the measurement instrument, and a decision strategy for item reduction was developed. The results suggest that 12 (35%) of the original 34-indicators instrument can be omitted. The adapted version can provide the same elder abuse prevalence rates (reliability) with the same negative associations in terms of life quality (validity). The results indicate in an applied way how an elder abuse instrument can be evaluated and further developed using formative measures.     

Taking Shape: Supporting Preschoolers' Acquisition of Geometric Knowledge Through Guided Play

Shape knowledge, a key aspect of school readiness, is part of early mathematical learning. Variations in how children are exposed to shapes may affect the pace of their learning and the nature of their shape knowledge. Building on evidence suggesting that child‐centered, playful learning programs facilitate learning more than other methods, 4‐ to 5‐year‐old children (N = 70) were taught the properties of four geometric shapes using guided play, free play, or didactic instruction. Results revealed that children taught shapes in the guided play condition showed improved shape knowledge compared to the other groups, an effect that was still evident after 1 week. Findings suggest that scaffolding techniques that heighten engagement, direct exploration, and facilitate “sense‐making,” such as guided play, undergird shape learning.     

Beliefs About Knowledge,Knowing, and Learning: Differences Across Knowledge Types in Physics

The authors examined whether students’ epistemic and learning beliefs varied across different knowledge types in physics. On the basis of various beliefs frameworks, the authors predicted that individuals’ beliefs would vary within a domain across the same content when presented conceptually versus procedurally. Participants were 81 high school students enrolled in an advanced physics course. Students completed a conceptually oriented test and a procedurally oriented test on the same content 1 week apart, and they immediately responded to the Epistemological Beliefs Assessment for Physical Science questionnaire after completion of each test. Results revealed that girls espoused more constructivist beliefs about physics for conceptual knowledge than for procedural knowledge, whereas the opposite was found for boys. Moreover, female students espoused more constructivist beliefs than did male students across both types. These results have important theoretical and methodological implications.     

Knowledge and Appearance in Children's Pictorial Representation

Seven and nine year olds were asked to draw two three‐dimensional objects (a cube and a wedge). When there was disjunction between their knowledge of the object's structure and its appearance (cube), they depicted the invariant rather than the variant features and produced rectangular solutions. When differences between the structure and the appearance of the object were minimised (wedge) most children drew a converging form. They could also accurately copy a two‐dimensional converging form. However, the children's knowledge of what the line drawing was supposed to represent did have an effect: in particular, they drew fewer converging obliques when the same line drawing was called a ‘building block’ (a rectangular object) than when it was called a ‘shape’ or a ‘house’ (an object known to contain obliques). A similar pattern of results was observed in a second experiment in which a selection task was used.     

Effects of Perceptually Rich Manipulatives on Preschoolers' Counting Performance: Established Knowledge Counts

Educators often use concrete objects to help children understand mathematics concepts. However, findings on the effectiveness of concrete objects are mixed. The present study examined how two factors—perceptual richness and established knowledge of the objects—combine to influence children's counting performance. In two experiments, preschoolers (N = 133; M_age = 3;10) were randomly assigned to counting tasks that used one of four types of objects in a 2 (perceptual richness: high or low) × 2 (established knowledge: high or low) factorial design. Findings suggest that perceptually rich objects facilitate children's performance when children have low knowledge of the objects but hinder performance when children have high knowledge of the objects.     

专门知识与学科问题表征

对学生的学科问题解决进行研究是当代认知心理学的热点课题之一,它具有生态学、心理学和教育学意义,有利于揭示知识丰富领域问题解决的认知机制及学生智能发展的规律。推动学科教学的改进与发展。已有研究显示:专门知识以图式或问题图式的形式结合了与问题有关的初始条件、目标任务、结构类型及认知方法与策略,可以促进学科问题的快速表征和快速解决。     

Preschoolers' Funds of Knowledge Displayed Through Sociodramatic Play Episodes in a Bilingual Classroom

Funds of knowledge displayed by young children during sociodramatic play in a two-way bilingual preschool classroom are identified. Twelve preschoolers participated in a microethnographic study of children's language and culture in a small rural community of South Texas. The study sought to identify cultural elements or traits of Mexican American children exhibited during sociodramatic play. The cultural traits identified as funds of knowledge include language, values and beliefs, ways of discipline, and the value of education, among others. It is suggested for teachers to use sociodramatic play as a tool to observe children and learn about their funds of knowledge in order to implement a culturally reflective curriculum.     

一种概念框架: 知识外在表征在教学中的应用

文章通过概述知识外在表征的定义、教学价值、已有研究和应用实例,对知识的视觉化表征形式提出分类的概念框架,并描述了九种主要的知识的视觉表征形式.虽然该研究有益于视觉学习和课堂教学,但我们仍需在理论原理和概念区分方面对知识的外在表征特性展开更多的研究以促进其在教学中的应用.     

观看:知识可视化视觉表征意义解读的方式

知识可视化视觉表征意义解读的方式为观看。根据分层传播理论,观看的过程包括视(感觉)、觉(视知觉)、记忆(信息存储)、表象编码(内容加工)和思维形成(意义建构)五个阶段。根据观看的过程,知识可视化视觉表征意义解读的过程为"看见"(即视觉感知,把握视觉表征的形式)、"看懂"(即视觉理解,分析视觉表征的内容)、"看好"(即视觉交流,产生知识传播的效果)。为了促进知识可视化视觉表征的意义解读,需要从观看的角度对其进行设计。     

Participation, Knowledge and Beliefs: A Community Perspective on Mathematics Learning

In this paper I illustrate the use of a particular situated method of interpretation in my analysis of the data from 3-year case studies of two schools. The constraints and affordances provided by different environments are shown to be key analytical tools in understanding the ways in which students develop and make use of knowledge. Various classroom incidents are analysed, demonstrating that the particular constraints and affordances of formalised mathematics classrooms, to which students become attuned, contribute to the development of learning identities that are peculiar to the school mathematics classroom and of limited use to students in the real world. An understanding of the mathematics classroom as a particular community of practice is central to this analysis.This revised version was published online in September 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Argument as Professional Development: Impacting Teacher Knowledge and Beliefs About Science

Using a case study method, the experiences of a group of high school science teachers participating in a unique professional development method involving an argue-to-learn intervention were examined. The participants (N?=?42) represented 25 different high schools from a large urban school district in the southwestern United States. Data sources included a multiple-choice science content test and artifacts from a capstone argument project. Findings indicate although it was intended for the curriculum to be a robust and sufficient collection of evidence, participant groups were more likely to use the Web to find unique evidence than to they were to use the provided materials. Content knowledge increased, but an issue with teacher conceptions of primary data was identified, as none of the participants chose to use any of their experimental results in their final arguments. The results of this study reinforce multiple calls for science curricula that engage students (including teachers as students) in the manipulation and questioning of authentic data as a means to better understanding complex socioscientific issues and the nature of science.     

以知识可视化表征改进《计算机网络》教学的实践

知识可视化是运用各种图解的视觉表征手段来促进知识创造和知识传递．针对当前大学《计算机网络》教学中理论讲解抽象、实验设备短缺,且更新跟不上技术发展的问题,提出了知识可视化解决方案,选择了知识地图、思维导图、Sniffer、OPNET、PpacketTracer作为《计算机网络））知识表征的工具,并介绍了相应的教学实例．     

知识可视化视觉表征的设计方法

随着知识可视化在教学中的广泛应用,如何设计开发其视觉表征成为重要命题。反思目前的视觉表征设计状况,存在重平面符号元素,轻视觉传播过程;重工具应用的步骤,轻设计者的创造性过程;重表达知识的功能,轻建构知识的方法等问题。采用信息理论研究知识可视化视觉表征设计,把视觉表征的应用过程看作信息认识的过程,可以在分析视觉表征状态及其变化方式的基础上,构建知识可视化视觉表征的设计方法。然而在理解知识可视化视觉表征的信息时,学习者必须先了解其形式,分析其内容,进而把握其效用。据此,知识可视化视觉表征设计包括形式设计、内容设计和效用设计三个层面。尽管三个层面的设计分别展开,但又是密切相关的,因而需要综合起来。选择常用的知识可视化视觉表征形式概念图作为案例,从形式、内容和效用三个层面开展设计,可以明晰知识可视化视觉表征设计方法的应用情况。     

网络课程知识表征的三维空间建构

当代文化是视觉性占据主因地位的文化,图像的产生、传播和接受更加普泛化,视觉理解和解释成为人们认识世界的主要方式。为促进视觉文化与教育的融合,对网络课程的知识表征设计进行了系统研究,对网络课程教学内容的可视化方法以及视觉元素的表征规律进行了探索,旨在促进学习者将知识、技能内隐并实现意义建构。     

知识可视化视觉表征的分析框架

在教育技术领域,知识可视化指视觉表征形式,与此相对应的是承载知识的图解手段。随着知识可视化研究与应用的不断深入,视觉表征已经成为知识可视化研究的新要求。知识可视化视觉表征研究目前已经从知识、技术、图像等角度开展,然而缺少了观看者和制作者等因素,并且尚未剖析因素之间的深层次关系。信息论可以为知识可视化视觉表征研究提供新的视角。根据理解信息需要先形式、后内容和再效用的过程,并结合教育技术专业注重设计的特征,知识可视化视觉表征的分析框架应该包括形式分析、内容构建、意义解读和设计方法。其中,形式分析侧重于视觉表征符号结构的特点,内容构建侧重于如何赋予视觉表征知识内容,意义解读侧重于观察者解读视觉表征内容的过程,而设计方法则侧重于制作者制作视觉表征的思路。     

命题符号理论中知识表征思想的发生学追问

命题符号理论以命题作为知识表征的基本单位,但对命题之"从何而来、如何而来"尚未厘清.研究聚焦构成命题的奠基元素,基于知识发生的视角看知识表征,对既有理论的表征机理展开发生学追问;通过回溯哲学认识论层面上"知识何以可能"问题的思想成就,尝试自先验条件开始把握命题的发生发展机理,在发生学的意义上对既有命题表征问题给出新的诠释;进一步阐述对于认知心理学、语言学等部门科学以及知识表征工作的启发和建议.     

略论先秦中国哲学中知识表征的理论思想

先秦中国哲学中蕴含着丰富的知识论思想,尤其是道家的知识双层论、墨家的知识分类学说、名家的知识相对说及共相说,这些思想学说影响至今。然而,先秦哲学家关注的是对人生的反思,追求的是内圣外王之道,并不注重对认识本身或认识过程结果的反思。此外,他们的论述往往十分简短,从内容看上去似乎并不连贯。在语言上用格言、比喻和事例来说理,富有神秘主义色彩。在一定程度上可以说先秦中国哲学缺乏严谨的逻辑和形而上学,从而未能形成完善统一的知识论理论体系,这不得不说是一种遗憾。