Enhancing spatial skills through mechanical problem solving

Higher spatial skills are associated with increased interest, performance, and creativity in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). However, evidence for causal relations between spatial skills and STEM performance remains scarce. In this study, we test the extent to which mechanical problem solving, a spatially demanding STEM activity, facilitates spatial performance. Participants (N = 180) were randomly assigned to one of four training conditions: mechanical reasoning with a hands-on component; mechanical reasoning without a hands-on component; an active control condition involving spatial training with cross-sectioning; and an active control group involving a reading exercise. All participants were tested immediately before, after, and one-week following training. Both mechanical conditions were associated with enhanced spatial visualization performance, an effect that was similar for both conditions and remained stable across immediate and delayed post-tests. These findings suggest that mechanical problem solving is a potentially viable approach to enhancing spatial thinking.     

数学思想及解题技巧初探

数学是一门运用非常广泛的基础性学科,数学思想是教学精髓所在,在解题教学中应加强数学思想方法的引导渗透,从引导建立直觉认识开始,逐步开启学生的理性认知,培养灵活应用数学思想的素养。教师要根据不同阶段、不同水平层次学生的实际情况,分类分批地渗透数学思想方法。在倡导素质教育的背景下,让学生将数学思想运用于小学习题解题,是培养学生发散性思维的重要环节。据此,建议把全班学生分成若干组,让学习成绩好的学生扮演小老师角色,在课外帮助差生解答疑难问题,可以取得一举两得的效果。     

Enhancing learning and problem solving skills: orienting and self-judging, two powerful and trainable learning tools

In this study we report on orienting and self-judging as study and problem-solving activities or learning tools. We examine their trainability and their effect on academic performance. These questions are part of a research project aimed at improving metacognitive knowledge as well as affective, conative and regulation skills. A design experiment with 141 freshmen in business economics was set up. The experimental treatment consisted of an integrated set of instructional conditions which were operationalized in a series of sessions and practice and transfer tasks. The results show that after the intervention students of the experimental group had more knowledge about orienting and self-judging than the students of both control groups and they also oriented themselves better and were more prone to self-judging when starting a new course. Both metaknowledge and transfer behavior were positively related to academic performance.     

Are mastery learning strategies beneficial for developing problem solving skills?

The purpose of the present study was to investigate instructional methods appropriate for developing problem solving skills (PSS) in a paramedical course. Three instructional methods were compared: Frontal Lecture Strategies (FLS), Mastery Learning Strategies (MLS) and Experiential Mastery Learning Strategies (EMLS) in which feedback corrective procedures were embedded within experiential learning situations. Results showed that FLS produced the highest scores on Lower Mental Process subtest while EMLS yielded the highest scores on all measures of problem solving skills. Several implications of this study for future research are suggested and discussed.     

The role of the working memory and language skills in the prediction of word problem solving in 4- to 7-year-old children

The aim of this study was to analyse the role of verbal and visuo-spatial working memory (WM) and language skills (vocabulary, listening comprehension) in predicting preschool and kindergarten-aged children’s ability to solve mathematical word problems presented orally. The participants were 116 Finnish-speaking children aged 4–7?years. The results showed that verbal WM (VWM) did not have a direct effect on word problems in young children but was indirectly related to word problems through vocabulary and listening comprehension. These results suggest that in young children, VWM resources support language skills which, furthermore, contribute to variation in solving orally presented word problems. The results also showed that visuo-spatial WM had a direct effect on performance in word problems, suggesting that it plays an important role in word problem solving among this age group.     

高中数学分析和解决问题能力的组成及培养策略

素质教育的发展背景下,新课改也对高中数学的教学提出了新的要求,尤其是在对问题的分析和解决能力方面,其要求上升到了另外一种高度。高中数学的教学与学习过程中,需要做到的不仅仅是学生的高考分数的增加,更应该使学生的数学综合能力得到最大的提升。而众多的综合能力中,占据主要位置的便是对于问题的分析和解决的能力。本文通过对高中数学分析和解决问题能力的组成以及培养策略进行具体的研究和探析,以期推动和促进高中数学教学的发展与进步,保证学生对问题的分析和解决能力得到最大的、切实有效的提升。     

Utilising multimedia ESP programme in enhancing flight attendants' safety knowledge and problem solving skills

A multimedia English for Specific Purposes (ESP) programme was developed to train flight attendants. The programme comprised of two units. Unit one is listening comprehension, which provides the flight attendants' with specific information of Airbus A340. Unit two is reading comprehension, which provides the flight attendants with the emergency procedures. The effect of this programme on the flight attendants' safety knowledge and problem solving was measured using an achievement test which comprises two parts; the first part includes 10 multiple‐choice questions based on listening comprehension and measuring safety knowledge; the second part includes 15 multiple‐choice questions based on reading comprehension and measuring problem solving situations. The sample of the study consists of 36 flight attendants divided into two groups. The test was administered as a pretest and a posttest for the equivalence of the groups and their achievement. The results revealed that the computerised ESP programme has a measurable effect on the flight attendants' recall of safety knowledge and problem solving skills. The researchers recommended that similar computerised ESP programmes should be designed in order for the flight attendants to be well equipped with skills and knowledge in dealing with emergency problems that they may occur during flight.     

Classroom dimensions predict early peer interaction when children are diverse in ethnicity, race, and home language

The purpose of this study was to test a model for predicting preschool-age children's behaviors with peers from dimensions of the classroom and teacher-child relationship quality when the children were from diverse race, ethnic, and home language backgrounds. Eight hundred children, (M = age 63 months, SD = 8.1 months), part of the National Evaluation of Early Head Start, participated in this study just prior to entering kindergarten. We observed children with peers in their classrooms and rated classroom peer group size, affective climate for peer interaction, teacher management of the classroom, and materials for dramatic play. Teachers reported on teacher-child relationship quality. Children from Spanish-speaking homes played similarly in classrooms where Spanish was and was not spoken. After control variables and receptive vocabulary scores were entered into the model, classroom dimensions and teacher-child relationship quality significantly predicted pretend play, anxious-withdrawn, aggressive, and victim of peer aggression behaviors with peers. Children engaged in more pretend play and received lower ratings of being the victim of peer aggression when classroom groups were smaller. When teachers perceived teacher-child relationships as lower in conflict and higher in closeness, children's anxious-withdrawn, aggressive, and victim of aggression ratings were lower. Children's ratings of being the victim of peer aggression were higher when ratings of classroom positive peer climate were lower. Child-teacher ethnic or racial match did not moderate these predictions.     

Using case discussion on the web to develop student teacher problem solving skills

To help student teachers solve real world problems during their internships, support from multiple sources is needed. In this study, a website was developed to provide support for student teachers by sharing cases and personal experiences. Student teachers exchanged comments about posted cases with both peer student teachers and experienced teachers. After 2 months of using the web for case discussion, questionnaires were distributed and interviews were conducted with a group of 20 student teachers. The results suggested that such an exchange helped them to increase their understanding of problems, to obtain knowledge and skills to solve problems, and to gain positive attitudes towards teaching as a profession.     

The effects of knowledge,strategies, and the interaction between the two in verbal analogy problem solving

An experiment was conducted to assess how accessibility to relevant knowledge would affect performance on verbal analogy problems as well as the efficacy, perception, and continuation of use of a componential strategy for solving these problems. Participants were either taught to use a componential strategy for solving verbal analogy problems or just given practice opportunities while the accessibility of relevant knowledge was manipulated and the performance and perception of the strategy was assessed. We also investigated whether variations in accessibility to relevant knowledge affected the continuance of strategy use. Results showed that knowledge accessibility affected both performance and the way in which the strategy was perceived. Participants rated the strategy as more useful, easier to use, and less effortful when their initial strategy experience involved solving analogy problems based on familiar vocabulary and relationships. Also, participants who had experience with easily accessible vocabulary and relationships were significantly more likely to choose to continue to use of the strategy on a subsequent task. It is also argued that accessibility to knowledge and strategy use play independent, as opposed to interactive, roles in determining performance.     

Relations between home numeracy experiences and basic calculation skills of children with and without specific language impairment

The present study examined the relations between home numeracy experiences (i.e., parent–child numeracy activities and parents’ numeracy expectations) and basic calculation skills (i.e., addition and subtraction) of children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and their peers with Normal Language Achievement (NLA), while taking into account their cognitive and linguistic capacities. Fifty children with SLI and 100 children with NLA were tested on cognitive, linguistic, and basic calculation skills, and their parents filled in questionnaires on home numeracy activities and numeracy expectations. The results showed parents of children with SLI report engaging in fewer numeracy-related activities and have lower numeracy expectations for their children than parents of children with NLA. Furthermore, parent–child numeracy activities were more strongly associated with addition and subtraction for children with SLI. It is thus especially important that parents of children with SLI are made aware of their important role in the development of their child's basic calculation skills.     

假象、错觉、化学解题

请观察:图1中线段AB、CD的长度完全相等,你若怀疑,可以用尺量一量;请再观察:图2中两张桌面的大小、形状完全一样,你若不信,请用尺量一量两张桌面的边长.亲手测量之后你也许会发出感叹,视觉假象竟然会有如此的魔力!     

广告英语的语言特点及翻译技巧

在经济飞速发展的商品经济时代,广告英语作为一种商业语言,以其精炼的语言、丰富的内涵、适当的修辞为各种产品进行宣传,以达到吸引消费者,促进生产的目的。在广告英语的形成过程中,逐渐形成了其特有的语言特点及翻译技巧。文章以大量的实例分析了广告英语的语言特点,包括词汇、句法和修辞三个方面,并论述了广告英语的翻译技巧,包括直译、意译、增译和套译四个方面。     

英语应用能力考试英译汉部分的解题技巧

本文探讨了英语应用能力测试中翻译题的一些应试对策。文中所提及的对策对英语教学起到一定导向和促进作用,对培养高职高专英语适应社会需求的高素质人才有着重要的指导作用。     

The architecture of adult-child interaction. Joint problem solving and the structure of cooperation

In this article, learning and instruction in caregiver-child interactions are discussed. Referring to empirical observations, the authors distinguish between several modes of interaction. A mode of interaction can be characterized by the participants' roles, the aims pursued and the instruments used. The didactic mode of interaction provides a rich repertoire with a complex structure of learning and instruction opportunities. However, also in other modes identified—a playful and an efficient mode—learning and instruction possibilities exist. After introducing and systematizing the concept of mode of interaction, the didactic mode is illustrated with a case-study.