Chinese public understanding of the use of agricultural biotechnology A case study from Zhejiang Province of China

This study explores the Chinese public＇s perceptions of, and attitudes to, agriculture and food applications of biotechnology; and investigates the effect of socio-demographic factors on attitudes. A questionnaire survey and interviews were used in an attempt to combine quantitative analysis with qualitative review. The main finding of this study is that the Chinese population has a superficial, optimistic attitude to agricultural biotechnology; and that, in accordance with public attitudes, a cautious policy, with obligatory labelling, should be adopted. The study reveals that education is the factor among socio-demographic variables with the strongest impact on public attitudes. Higher education leads to a more positive evaluation of GM （genetically modified） foods and applications of biotechnology with respect to usefulness, moral acceptability, and suitability for encouragement. In addition, public attitudinal differences depend significantly on area of residence. Compared with their more urban compatriots, members of the public in less developed areas of China have more optimistic attitudes, perceive more benefits, and are more risk tolerant in relation to GM foods and agricultural biotechnology. Finally we obtained a very high rate of＂don＇t know＂ answers to our survey questions. This suggests that many people do not have settled attitudes, and correspondingly, that the overall public attitude to agricultural biotechnology and GM foods in China is at present somewhat unstable.     

Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address

At this second appearing to takethe oath of the Presidential officethere is less occasion for an extendedaddress than there was at the first.Then a statement somewhat in detailof course to be pursued seemed fit-ting and proper.Now,at the expirationof four years,during which public dec-larations have been constantly calledforth on every point and phase ofthe great contest which still absorbsthe attention and engrosses the en-ergies of the nation,little that is newcould be presented.The progress…     

Thoughts on Erudition,Culture and Music in Teacher Training

The start of higher education of primary school teachers in 1959 marks a definitive step in a process. This training has had an effect on all areas. In terms of music training, different periods can be observed which appears during the full strategic change of the training. Professionals, however, have always tried to find the proper place for music which has to be fought for from time to time. Music education has never lost sight of the Kodaly concept in public education. We aim to prepare our students to internalize the abilities necessary to become a successful primary school teacher, keeping in mind the requirements of qualification for the major. In this process, the changes taken place in the Hungarian higher education were determinative. Music education practically has kept its place in general and special primary school teacher training. The major of primary school teacher is a definitive undergraduate course in the teacher training field. Its importance directly shows in public education. One of the crucial points of education should be the formation of values of schoolchildren. General education is a cultural level different in every society and age that a society sets as a standard for its members. This education itself should have a European culture as a prerequisite with Hungarian characteristics.     

Academicians＇ self-efficacy in the application of TEC learning curriculum instructional design in Malaysian public tertiary education

This research is attempted to examine universities＇ academic staffs＇ curriculum instructional design in the teaching and learning process in applying the technology enhanced classroom （TEC） learning. The universities have embarked on a costly project to create an innovative and creative learning and teaching environment to promote and establish a state-of-the-art, smart, efficient, effective and high quality education. The teaching and learning culture of universities have great influence on determining the level of students＇ achievement. Seven dimensions of public universities in Malaysia were examined to determine the percentage of academic staffs＇ self-efficacy in the application of TEC learning. There is a significant difference among factors concerning the academic staffs＇ self-efficacy in their teaching and learning processes in the classroom management. Their self-preparedness in using the provided technology is closely related to the experiences and practicality of the teaching materials. This study represents an addition to the extant literature on universities＇ academic staffs＇ self-efficacy in the application of TEC learning. Academic staffs＇ self-efficacy in using TEC learning instructional design is of the utmost important to disseminate knowledge to students, which will also fully help utilize the government＇s effort in providing technology to the additional instructional design, so as to achieve high quality education and technological enhance education to pave the way to achieve a techno-education environment for all public universities in Malaysia. This study provides furtber groundwork to assist existing tertiary educational managers to improve smart teaching and learning environment and to retain high quality academic staffs in the day-to-day classroom curriculum.     

Evaluation of the teaching guide as an instrument for adaptation to the new European credit system： Case analysis

This paper presents the evaluation of the teaching guide application for the subject of management control in the Business Management and Administration Degree. The evaluation began with the analysis of a questionnaire which aimed to collect the perceptions of learners who have studied this subject in two groups （morning and afternoon） during the first semester of the current academic year. The intention of this analysis was to obtain information that would meet two objectives： to continue upgrading the teaching-learning process and to revise and improve all the components in the teaching guide. There is an analysis of the degree of difficulty involved in the activities proposed and the degree to which specific objectives for different competencies have been attained. Likewise, we have carried out a global assessment of the different methodologies applied in the teaching-learning process, and an assessment of the evaluation system as well as of other aspects that could have hindered reaching the objectives stated in the guide. Furthermore, the relevance of this questionnaire has been vindicated for obtaining the information necessary to adjust the learner＇s workload to the European credit.     

The Discussion of Relativity of Teaching Public Speaking and Teaching Spoken English to Students

In recent years,public speaking has become more important and useful for undergraduate students.Many colleges and universities have opened the public speaking course and have achieved much success.In this paper,we first emphasize the importance of communication by public speaking,and let students become interested in public speaking.Secondly,we have studied the relativity of spoken English and public speaking;we have found obviously both have strong relation when students study in the class.Finally,we discuss the method we used and the experience we had in English spoken class.     

Canadian University Professors’Perceptions of the Challenges and Support to Engage in Research

Research has been an important responsibility for university professors. Although there has been an increased demand for research, few studies have been conducted directly with university professors to obtain their perceptions of the challenges the increased focus on research have presented. This study employed a qualitative methodology to inquire into the change of work life bought about by the increased demand for research, and the strategies professors have adopted to balance their teaching, research and service. It also inquired into the barriers to conducting research, and effective support strategies. Some barriers and support identified in this study were in accordance with what previous studies have identified. Perhaps because the professors interviewed were all tenured, they noted that the increased demand for research had not significantly changed their work life. Strategies they used to help them meet the demands for research included, but were not limited to, integrating their teaching and research, and collaborating with others on research projects. Barriers to research included bureaucratic constraints, newness to research, lack of time, and lack of funding.     

The EFQM self-assessment processes in HEIs in Spain and in Jordan

The purpose of this paper is to compare the European Foundation for Quality Management （EFQM） self-assessment model in higher education institutions （HEIs） in Spain and in Jordan. Case study methodology on eight services provided by a public university in Spain and seven services provided by one public university and one private university in Jordan is used. The findings show the steps that an administrative service may follow in order to apply the questionnaire approach to conduct self-assessment in a successful manner and the difficulties, benefits and success factors in both countries by comparing the results. This paper provides lessons for decision makers and managers of other universities in developing countries, who wish to perform an exercise in self-assessment using a questionnaire approach.     

Ontology-based interoperability solutions for textile supply chain

Existence of interoperability within the enterprises is essential for textile supply chain to efficiently face the challenges from contemporary competitors,to find new business opportunities and to render better customer service.Exchange of business documents,being semantically consistent,is the way to achieve interoperability.However,heterogeneity of the structures of the enterprises poses challenges for establishing interoperability.Ontology based semantic interoperability framework has now been proven as an effective solution for enterprise interoperability.In this paper,the existing ontology-based interoperability solutions in the context of textile supply chain have been compiled and research gaps have been identified.The ontological methods,such as unified process for ontology（UPON） and methontology have been analyzed,and UPON have been shown as a suitable ontology development method for textile supply chain.     

Does Regional Difference Account for the Formation of Prototype?

The study of categorization and prototype has been an interesting subject for the scholars in psycholinguistics. They have done different studies to investigate the reasons for the formation of the prototype in people‘s mind. Some scholars believe that cultural factors play an important role in the formation of prototype. This paper is intended to look into the categorization of the fruits in China, and the researcher hopes to get the factors which may to some extent influence their idea of typicality. The researcher believes that the regions where a person grows up in may have a subtle effect on his or her idea of typicality of certain items.     

Promoting accountability and enhancing efficiency： Using national education accounts to track expenditure flows

Increasing accountability and efficiency in the use of public and out-of-pocket financing in education are critical to realizing the maximum impact of the meager allocations to education in most developing countries. While broad estimates and numbers are routinely collected by most national ministries and state departments of education, the lack of accuracy and reliability as well as the obtuse nature of recording and presentation of the data does not facilitate any serious policy use. A major advance in this area has been brought about by the development of NEA （National Education Accounts）, which is a new tool for measuring education expenditures in a systematic policy-~endly manner. In essence, NEAs measure the ＂financial pulse＂ of an education system, answering 4 key questions： Who is financing education？ How much do they spend？ How are funds distributed across different education providers, levels and activities？ Who benefits from or receives the services？ NEAs gather information on all spending from public, private and donor sources, and provide a snap-shot of all expenditures on education in the state or country. While not an auditing tool, it provides real time information on the flow of funds that can be used for evidence-based decision-making. It provides information to policy-makers, enabling them to discern systcm-wide inequities and identify areas that require changes in policy. In addition, the use of a standard classification of expenditures allows for data from NEAs to be comparable between and within countries. This paper provides an assessment of accountability and efficiency in the use of public and private resources in the education sector in 2 states of Nigeria. Using comparative data from implementation of education accounts in 2 states of Nigeria, it presents a breakdown of education spending by public and private sources as well as donor agencies, by types of providers, by geographical regions and by category of expenditures. It analyzes educational expenditures for the 2 states in the context of state government priorities for education, and proposes a novel way of tracking trends in education spending as a means for policy-makers to organize a strategic vision supported by resources and to evaluate the outcome of policies.     

Museum without walls： Imagining new formative spaces

The ＂Museum of Childhood＂ is a project connected to the Post-Graduate Program in Education at Unesc （Brazil） and since 2005 has been developing interfaces with research, teaching and extension. In this paper, the authors would like to show how the museological conception of the Museum of Childhood makes imagination from one of the central axis of its formative relation with the public. Such conception breaks with the traditional view of museums as buildings where old things are collected and preserved. In fact, the Museum of Childhood, in the light of its objective conditions, wants to be a museum without walls, a museum that, using the device of spatial demarcation, spreads itself in the university campus and other public places, with the objective of communicating with the people. This conception comes closer to the transgressive nature of modem arts, which desacralizes the work of art as masterpiece and proposed, for example, the fugacity of installations and aesthetic interventions. This conception takes the Benjaminian notion of the past as the dimension where other futures remain latent, that is, the museum is seen not as a guardian of the past, but as an establishment that wants to use its collections to communicate with the public. The overrunning of the static physical space, for example, forces the public to recreate its horizon of expectations concerning what a museum show be. In order to accomplish its original objectives, the Museum of Childhood works intensively on the formation of the public by proposing monitored visits in which creative activities are developed and by improving its homepage.     

Progressive Revolution-On Chinese-English Translation of China’s Public Signs

In 1978, there came the refreshment of reform in the whole China, like mushrooms after rain. During his southern tour, Deng Xiaoping, the general secretary of People’s Republic of China, gave the proclaim which opened a new page for Reform-Opening up policy when China’s economic development had been involved into the ocean of international economy. At the background of the new cooperation, the study on C-E translation of China’s public signs has been gradually paid attention to. Then there are many more scholars going for the study of public signs ,who have been kept steps with the world in recent studies;It is helpful to improve the atmosphere of China’s language and humanity accomplishments and to strengthen the soft power and civilized image.     

Determinants of Malaysian adult learners＇ distance learning

This study attempts to identify the factors perceived to be important in choosing an Institution of Higher Learning （IHL） for distance learning. One thousand five hundred questionnaires were distributed to the first year students in the social sciences distance learning programs and 980 valid responses were received of Malaysian public university. The results show that the top three factors influencing their preferred institution are qualification recognition IHL, future career advancement, and personal satisfaction. The results of this study provide insights to the IHL, employers and academics on the nature and relative importance of the factors perceived important for adult learners in the selection of their preferred IHL.     

The Potential Cultural Differences in Native-speaker Teacher’s Language Classroom

While the majority of nonnative speaker English teachers teach alongside NS teachers,research on the role of native speaker English teachers in China’s teaching context and the attitudes of university students towards them have been rarely conducted.This essay discusses the implications of cultural differences for the language classroom,and the different cultures of learning with regard to language teaching and learning in China and the Wes.The conclusion suggests that it is of great importance to have a good sense of cultural awareness and an open mind for cultural interactions,in order to benefit both language learners and native speaker teachers in the cross-cultural classroom.     

Evaluation of mobile authoring and tutoring in medical issues

Mobile computing facilities may provide many assets to the educational process. Mobile technology provides software access from anywhere and at any time, as well as computer equipment independence. The need for time and place independence is even greater for medical instructors and medical students. Medical instructors are usually doctors that have to treat patients on top of their tutoring duties. Mobile features are complementary to web-based features for desktop computers to a high extend in asynchronous e-learning environments. Time and place independence is also a considerable potential for medical students with overloaded educational duties. This paper examines the degree of the usefulness of mobile facilities for medical instructors who wish to author and manage their courses by using a mobile authoring tool. Furthermore, this paper investigates how acceptable and useful the mobile features of an e-learning system have been to medical students who have used the system, in comparison with the use of the system through a desktop computer. In addition, it investigates usability issues.     

The Cross-culture Research between China and America on Family Education

Family,which is the first place for the children to receive initial education,plays an essential role.China and America have remarkable differences in family education.So,right understanding and drawing lessons from advanced foreign education methods are of great realistic significances to facilitate the healthy growth of children and to enhance the quality of future talents.     

The effects of globalization phenomena on educational concepts

It is becoming more and more apparent that globalization processes represent, theoretically as well as practically, a challenge for educational sciences and therefore, it must be addressed within the sphere of education. Accordingly, educational conceptions have to adapt to globafization phenomena and focus more on alternative and innovative educational concepts. The observable phenomena that appear as part of globalization then lead to the following question： Is there still space for educational concepts like emancipation, self-determination, equal opportunities and fairness in distribution, democracy and common sense？ The most indispensable tools for the development of equitable and peaceful contemporary education perspectives are a differentiated reflection on globalization phenomena and consequences, an intensive analysis and disclosure to address （global） conflict lines, the questioning of well-established concepts, the formation and embodiment of visions of the global future and the articulation of innovative education concepts. Modern social and political structures and practices have to be reoriented to combat the negative effects of globalization processes through the incorporation of more humane, socially fair and ecological principles. Educational science is sure to make an important contribution in making this a reality.     

An evaluation system for suitability of urban public rental housing construction in Chongqing

A social problem that low-income people are unable to purchase houses in urban areas has been focused in recent years and the housing security system has also become an important part of the social security system. In recent years, public rental houses appeared as a new type of affordable houses. The national government took the construction of public rental houses to the national strategic level. Currently, there are many problems in the public rental house construction. For example, policy mechanisms are inadequate, the use of funding is not in an efficient way, the location of public rental houses is far away from the downtown, the plot ratio is too high, and facilities are incomplete. There are no appropriate indicators to comprehensively evaluate the public rental house construction. Based on the livable evaluation system in Chongqing, we selected four aspects of relevant indicators as the economic suitability, environmental suitability, social suitability, and life suitability to establish the public rental house construction suitability evaluation system.