The science literacy gap: A Karplus lecture

The great American experiment in mass higher education has failed completely in the sciences, where we have a small educated elite and an illiterate general public. Our graduate education in science is the best in the world, and contrary to the belief of some, we do not face a future shortage of scientists. However, the rest of our educational system is bad enough to constitute a threat to the ideal of Jeffersonian democracy. The Mechanical Universe, a video series produced by Caltech and aimed at high school physics teachers, is described. Although that project has been very successful, much more must be done. The educational infrastructure must be strengthened to the point where science can be taught gradually, throughout the school years and beyond. Furthermore, those of us who are professional teachers of science must become better teachers, both by increasing our own mastery of our subjects and by better understanding the difficulties our students have in learning science.Robert Karplus Memorial Lecture, Seattle, April 8, 1989     

The gender gap in K-12 educator salaries

We examine gender gaps in the salaries of K-12 educators. This is an occupation where direct gender discrimination is less likely since salaries are determined by a union pay scale and women constitute the majority of employers. Using data from the American Community Survey (ACS), we find a gender gap of $12,000 in the personal income of K-12 educators, with only part of this gap stemming from gender differences in administrative positions, graduate degrees, and grades taught. In contrast, when we use a dataset of the public salaries of K-12 educators, we find a raw gender gap that is about three times smaller. When we directly compare the distribution of annual income for male and female educators between the public salary and ACS data, we find that an important part of the gender gap stems from male educators having additional income outside of their primary teaching salary.     

The achievement gap between science classrooms and historic inequalities

In the past politics deprived many African children (in particular) in South Africa the opportunity of achieving quality education. This was most especially true in subjects such as mathematics and science. In this research the science teacher-level data from Third International Mathematics and Science Study 1999 (TIMSS’99) were analysed with a view to evaluating the politicized gap between what are viewed as well-functioning and provisioned classrooms (predominantly housing White teachers and White or mixed classes in urban areas) and not well-functioning and poorly provisioned classrooms (largely African teachers and African pupils in peri-urban and rural areas). The data are explored in this article to ascertain and gain insight into similarities and differences in classroom conditions, teacher actions and the relationship between these and pupils’ achievement in science in South African classrooms. Significant differences in achievement were found between classrooms headed by teachers with different racial profiles, where the pupils’ average class science score taught by White teachers was about 300 points more (on a scale with an international mean score of 500 points) than children taught in classrooms by African teachers. Furthermore, the average class science score in rural areas was about 130 points below classes in urban areas. These blatant inequalities contribute to what is believed to be an increasing gap in achievement in science. Whilst these results are not altogether unexpected, there were some interesting results in terms of possible explanatory factors for the gaps in achievement which have ramifications for policymakers.     

The Air‐gap Phenomenon in Young Children's Pictures

In Experiment 1, 221 children aged 5;l‐10;2 were asked to crayon or paint an outdoor scene. The shift from leaving an air‐gap to filling in the sky occurred at approximately 8 years of age whether crayons or paint were used. In Experiment 2 four groups of children (mean age, 6;8) who normally left an air‐gap were asked to draw a photographic slide of an outdoor scene projected onto a screen. We manipulated the amount of exposure to the slide and also the information about it given by the experimenter. More children relinquished their air‐gap response when the experimenter had drawn their attention, verbally, to the full sky. When children received this information and were able to view the slide throughout the drawing session, there was also a tendency for more of them to draw the full sky and for those who left an air‐gap to draw the sky significantly deeper.     

The gender gap in college major choice in Chile

This paper studies gender differences in college applications in Chile. We use the revealed preferences of students for college major choice by taking advantage of Chile’s Centralized Admission System, and estimate a nested logit model to predict the first preference of applicants. We find that males apply to selective programs even when they are marginal candidates, while equally qualified female candidates tend to apply less often to these programs. Using counterfactual exercises, we conclude that to successfully address the gender gap, along with promoting females’ participation in STEM careers, we must increase males’ willingness to consider non-STEM fields. Closing the gender gap does not imply a loss in terms of talent distribution by area of knowledge.     

代沟

同事向王大姐抱怨,儿子老和她闹别扭。王大姐回到家,和女儿说起此事。女儿听了,笑笑说:两代人嘛,闹点别扭很正常。王大姐若有所思地问道:你是说他们之间有代沟吧?女儿笑着点点头。王大姐想了想,又问:那你说,我们之间有     

Filling the gap

Educating gifted future‐focused leaders requires an interdisciplinary curriculum founded on values, guiding images, quests, and also includes a mixture of the theoretical and practical.     

Filling the gap: The goals of American education revised

It has been said that the stated goals of education in modern democratic societies remain constant: the development of each person as (a) a worker, (b) a citizen, and (c) an individual. A case for adding (d) a keeper of the cultural heritage can perhaps be made, and for the United States, at least, the list with this emendation is correct. That these expectations fail to take account of a basic function of education in a modern or post-modern society escapes everyone's notice. This essay asks why (e), the development of each person as a member of a home and family, is not included on the list of goals of American education, what the implications of its exclusion are, and what must be done so that it can be added. In connection with this last question it maintains not simply that (e) should be included on the list but that the scope of its component aims should extend beyond the sphere of home and family.

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Zusammenfassung Man hat behauptet, daß die erklärten Ziele des Erziehungswesens der modernen demokratischen Gesellschaftsformen konstant bleiben: Die Entwicklung jedes Menschen als (a) Arbeiter, (b) Bürger, und (c) Individuum. Es gäbe vielleicht Gründe, noch den (d) Hüter des kulturellen Erbes hinzuzufügen. und zumindest für die Vereinigten Staaten wäre die Liste mit diesem Zusatz korrekt. Dabei fällt jedoch niemandem auf, daß diese Erwartungen eine grundsätzliche Aufgabe der Erziehung in einer modernen oder post-modernen Gesellschaft außer acht lassen. Die Abhandlung wirft die Frage auf, warum die Entwicklung jedes einzelnen als Mitglied der Familie nicht zu den Zielen des amerikanischen Erziehungswesens gehört, was für Konsequenzen sich daraus ergeben, und was getan werden muß, um dies zu ändern. In Verbindung mit der letzten Frage wird nicht nur gefordert, diesen Punkt mit auf die Liste zu setzen, sondern auch, die Reichweite der einzelnen Ziele über den Rahmen der Familie auszudehnen.

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Résumé Il a été dit que les objectifs assignés à l'éducation dans les sociétés modernes démocratiques restent constants: le développement de chaque personne en tant que (a) travailleur, (b) citoyen, et (c) individu. On pourrait ajouter (d) en tant que gardien du patrimoine culturel et pour les Etats Unis du moins cette liste amendée semble correcte. Le fait que ces exigences ne réussissent pas à prendre en compte une fonction essentielle de l'éducation dans une société moderne ou post-moderne échappe à chacun. On se demande pourquoi (e) le développement de chaque personne en tant que membre d'un foyer et d'une famille n'est pas inclus au nombre des objectifs de l'éducation en Amérique, on s'interroge sur les conséquences de cette exclusion et sur les mesures à prendre pour que ce point soit pris en considération. En ce qui concerne cette dernière question, on n'affirme pas simplement que (e) devrait être inclus dans cette liste, mais que la portée de sa composante devrait transcender la sphère de la maison et de la famille.

     

言语交际中信息差的性质与类型

信息差是发话人传递信息和受话人接收的信息不等值的现象。它具有动态性、附着性和临时性的特点。同时,从言语交际中信息差的表现形式看,可分为耗损型信息差、冗余型信息差和改值型信息差。     

Recognizing the learning-living gap

Many residence hall staff have attempted to align the academic subculture of the faculty with the opposing extracurricular subculture of students by moving closer to the academic sector. Studies at Harvard University and at Hampshire College are summarized to indicate the failure of traditional house systems or residence hall programming to successfully bridge the gap between the academic and living subcultures. It is suggested that student personnel staff should focus on their unique contribution in higher education: the facilitation of students' personal development and interpersonal communication skills.     

大数据时代下的知沟理论探析

人类社会自诞生至今,经历了农业社会、工业社会、信息社会以及现在的数字时代。数字时代就是电子信息时代的代名词,它的特点就是大量信息的爆炸式发展与变化,就是我们现在做说的"大数据"。大数据时代所承载的海量信息能否为所有的地球村的村民带来福利,是否会降低"知沟"理论的假设结果,以及如何应对大数据带来的挑战,此文将探讨这一问题。     

大学生专业落差心理调查与对策

采用自编的《大学生专业落差心理调查问卷》,调查某师范学院324名大学生专业落差心理现状。结果显示,大学生普遍存在专业落差心理,专业承诺水平不高。通过分析调查数据,就专业落差心理产生的原因及不良影响进行分析,并提出相应对策。     

The gap between expectations and reality: integrating computers into mathematics classrooms

As a result of dramatic changes in mathematics education around the world, in Turkey both elementary and secondary school mathematics curriculums have changed in the light of new demands since 2005. In order to perform the expected change in newly developed curriculum, computer should be integrated into learning and teaching process. Teachers’ beliefs play a key role in this integration process. Negative beliefs against using computer in mathematics teaching may lead to failure of this process. With the help of this study, it is aimed to detect mathematics teachers’ beliefs concerning Computer Assisted Mathematics Instruction (CAMI). Within the scope of this aim, the conducted questionnaire (The opinions of teachers about using computer in Mathematics Instruction) has been carried out on 91 mathematics teachers in the city of Trabzon. The acquired results have shown that mathematics teachers have developed negative opinions against CAMI. This state has revealed that there is a huge inconsistency between curriculum’s positive expectations arising from computer usage and teachers’ convictions.