TEACHING FOR STATISTICAL LITERACY: UTILISING AFFORDANCES IN REAL-WORLD DATA

It is widely held that context is important in teaching mathematics and statistics. Consideration of context is central to statistical thinking, and any teaching of statistics must incorporate this aspect. Indeed, it has been advocated that real-world data sets can motivate the learning of statistical principles. It is not, however, a straightforward task to take a real-world example and incorporate it into a lesson that will teach important statistical principles. This paper considers issues involved in using real data to exemplify statistical ideas and examines pre-service teachers’ attempts to design teaching activities using such data. Pre-service teachers were supplied with a topical data set and asked to plan lessons that would teach some key statistical idea to year 6 students. The lessons were analysed using a hierarchy for teaching statistical literacy, and great variation was found in the level of statistical thinking demanded in the planned lessons. Teachers who had completed a preliminary activity helping them to think carefully about what might be taught from real data in general produced lessons with stronger statistical content. A key requirement for having lessons with deep consideration of statistical ideas is to identify the actual affordances for teaching contained within a data set; the planning process then benefits from explicit attention to making that content evident in the teaching activities.     

BEYOND SURVIVAL: CURRICULUM MODELS FOR SENIOR ADULT EDUCATION

This article presents a model curriculum in human development for home companions caring for older adult clients in the home care setting. This curriculum is designed to connect cognitive and affective learning by relating stage developmental tasks, as discovered by the home companions through the curriculum, to those experienced throughout life by their clients. Techniques that promote growth and development of both companion and client are explored with a focus on psychosocial dilemmas and constraints imposed by the aging process. The key concepts of life review, long‐term memory within a reminiscence framework, locus of control, autonomy, and relational aspects are addressed from a developmental perspective.     

PRO-POOR PRIMR: IMPROVING EARLY LITERACY SKILLS FOR CHILDREN FROM LOW-INCOME FAMILIES IN KENYA

ABSTRACT

Children from low-income families are at risk of learning outcome difficulties, particularly in literacy. Various studies link poor literacy results with performance later in primary and secondary school, and suggest that poverty, literacy skills and weak instructional methods combine to drastically limit the educational opportunities for many poor children. The Primary Math and Reading (PRIMR) Initiative was designed to support the learning gains of Class 1 and 2 pupils in seven counties across Kenya. PRIMR uses a randomised controlled trial design to establish the effect of its intervention and employs basic literacy measures to estimate causal effects. This study shows that PRIMR has been effective for children from low-income families and that early literacy interventions can mitigate socio-economic effects. The findings suggest that efforts to improve literacy outcomes for the poor should begin early in primary school. Strategies for ensuring that instruction is equitable across socio-economic status are advocated.     

ANALYSIS OF STUDENT UNDERSTANDING OF SCIENCE CONCEPTS INCLUDING MATHEMATICAL REPRESENTATIONS: pH VALUES AND THE RELATIVE DIFFERENCES OF pH VALUES

In general, mathematical representations such as formulae, numbers, and graphs are the inseparable components in science used to better describe or explain scientific phenomena or knowledge. Regardless of their necessity and benefit, science seems to be difficult for some students, as a result of the mathematical representations and problem solving used in scientific inquiry. In this regard, several studies have attributed students’ decreasing interest in science to the presence of these mathematical representations. In order to better understand student learning difficulties caused by mathematical components, the current study investigates student understanding of a familiar science concept and its mathematical component (pH value and logarithms). Student responses to a questionnaire and a follow-up interview were examined in detail. “Measure” and “concentration” were key criteria for students’ understanding of pH values. In addition, only a few students understood logarithms on a meaningful level. According to students’ understanding of scientific phenomena and mathematical structures, five different student models and the critical features of each type were identified. Further analysis revealed the existence of three domains that characterize these five types: object, operation, and function. By suggesting the importance of understanding scientific phenomena as a “function,” the current study reveals what needs to be taught and emphasized in order to help students obtain a level of scientific meaning that is appropriate for their grade.     

关于熵含义三种表述的诠释

本文对熵含义的常见三种表述作出了诠释     

LITERACY IN BRAZIL: FROM RIGHTS TO REALITY

At a time when some 24% of the Brazilian population of 182 million are functionally illiterate, the author shows how illiteracy is concentrated in traditionally poor and disadvantaged social and ethnic groups as well as in certain regions of the country. He surveys the changes in legislation, policies and attitudes relating to literacy over the past few decades and describes how literacy is increasingly seen as a continuous process rather than a short-term, low-cost intervention. While there is still a lack of a broad, coordinated policy and adequate funding in this area, and while the challenges remain formidable, the author concludes that Brazil is moving slowly in the right direction.     

THE FUTURE OF CENTRAL AGENCIES FOR JEWISH EDUCATION

It is generally agreed that the central agencies for Jewish education (BJEs) are caught between the changes that have taken place in the Jewish educational system in the United States and the growing role of the federations in the field. The decline of supplementary schools in spread, scope, and intensity, and the rise of the day schools as the principal foci and loci of meaningful Jewish education, have left the BJEs caught in a bind.     

THE BEST POSSIBLE FUTURE FOR THE CENTRAL AGENCY

For a couple of years now, because of a lot of stories shared over a lot of late night cups of coffee and bottles of wine, I have believed strongly that the future of central agencies is in jeopardy. This forthcoming crisis has been forthcoming for a while. It does not stem from any new situation, rather it was embedded in self-definition of the original, primordial central agency — the one founded by Benderly and then diffused by his disciples. In the long run, a system that began by seeing synagogues as competitors, parents as enemies, funding sources in general (and philanthropists in particular) as necessary evils, and the system of American public education as the epitome of educational excellence — that system and that process was due to wear out its welcome. Three to five generations of Americanization have eroded much of the top soil and bared the weakness in those foundations. The identity crises, the funding crises, the political instability of today's agency are rooted in its origins.     

FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR CENTRAL AGENCIES OF JEWISH EDUCATION

There is an ancient Chinese saying: “May you live in interesting times.” While some would classify this as a blessing, others would perceive it as a curse. The topic for this morning's discussion arises from a comparable state of ambiguity in regard to Jewish education, for these are certainly the most interesting times for us. Some voices are heard decrying the sorry state of Jewish education in North America and projecting a weakening of Jewish life because of the failures of Jewish education. Others are pointing to the extraordinary potential of Jewish education in the service of Jewish continuity, if we are willing to think about Jewish education in new ways. For those of us who tend the vineyards of Jewish education and maintain the institutions which have served Jewish education, we see great opportunity and serious challenges to existing assumptions in these interesting times. It is in this context that I share some observations about the implications for the future of central agencies of Jewish education.     

INTERNATIONALIZATION: A CHANCE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

After a brief evocation of the world crisis that higher education is facing, the author proposes several remedies based on international academic co‐operation. One of these is the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme of which he was the first administrator after its inauguration in 1991. While often viewed as a form of North‐South co‐operation, many UNESCO Chairs have also been set up in eastern and central Europe, several of which are described. Funding for UNESCO Chairs comes from a diversity of sources, UNESCO serving as the catalyst and sometimes as the middleman. UNESCO will sometimes also provide seed money. The Programme has proven to be an excellent, cost‐effective form of academic solidarity. Several suggestions for the improvement and expansion of the Programme are given.     

“一体化”之外──介绍台湾重度智能障碍儿童教育措施与课程内容

对于重度智力障碍的特殊儿童所显现的问题，无论是生理上的，还是心理上的都会严重阻障他们的学习和生活。本文就台湾重度智能障碍儿童的教育措施与课程内容，提出几项重要的、能够运作的模式和原则。