Sample Selection in Randomized Experiments: A New Method Using Propensity Score Stratified Sampling

Abstract

Randomized experiments are often seen as the “gold standard” for causal research. Despite the fact that experiments use random assignment to treatment conditions, units are seldom selected into the experiment using probability sampling. Very little research on experimental design has focused on how to make generalizations to well-defined populations or on how units should be selected into an experiment to facilitate generalization. This article addresses the problem of sample selection in experiments by providing a method for selecting the sample so that the population and sample are similar in composition. The method begins by requiring that the inference population and eligibility criteria for the study are well defined before study recruitment begins. When the inference population and population of eligible units differs, the article provides a method for sample recruitment based on stratified selection on a propensity score. The article situates the problem within the example of how to select districts for two scale-up experiments currently in recruitment.     

Learning cities in East Asia: Japan, the Republic of Korea and China

Lifelong learning cities emerged in Japan in the 1980s and 1990s; in the Republic of Korea in the 2000s and 2010s; and in China mostly from 2000 onwards. They were a countermeasure to the increasing challenges of global as well as post-industrial uncertainties at the turn of the century, when cities were trying to find governmental instruments to engage in cultural processes, community building and personal development as the new way of urban life. Learning was perceived to be a panacea to solve the social problems occurring in overwhelming processes of modernisation and industrialisation. The authors of this paper assert that the practice of and research on learning cities, especially in the East Asian region, need to go beyond the technical rationalities which are guiding government tools, and explain the realities to which they are meant to be applied. In order to do this, the authors investigated three separate but inter-connected scenes found in Japan, the Republic of Korea and China, revealing that the learning city is a phenomenon which reflects complex social dynamics and the interaction of many minds. While the cases in this region are distinctive, they do share some common characteristics. The authors place these within what they term a “community relations model”, which they contrast with the “individual competence model” which is usually found in initiatives of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and schemes implemented in the area of the European Union (EU).     

“以学生为中心”的理念在高中国际课程融合教学中的实践与思考

随着基础教育阶段国际化的不断深入,在坚持立足本土、兼容并包的课程融合实践中,研究提出了高中国际课程融合教学实践的三个支点和四个突出特点以及课程融合教学实践中采用的“差异化教学”“混合式学习”“多元化评价”三个策略。“以学生为中心”并不是要弱化教师的作用;要真正落实“眼中有人,心中有人”;“以学生为中心”是为了学生,而不是站在学生的立场上。     

对应用型本科院校现行专业教育模式的反思与重构

当前应用型本科院校遵循的是以"学科"为核心的专业教育模式。在这种专业教育模式的指导下,应用型本科院校存在着课程结构欠合理、教材的应用性不强、教学"去情境化"现象严重和过分注重教师的科研水平而忽视其实践经验等问题。"重学轻术"的评价体系和"重道轻器"的文化传统是导致应用型本科院校遵循现行专业教育模式的重要原因。应用型本科院校应该从学科型专业教育模式向职业型专业教育模式转型,具体可以从增强课程体系的实践性、编写应用性强的教材、开展"实际问题情境"教学和加强"双师型"教师队伍建设几个方面进行改革。     

《诗经·大雅·生民》“居然”义考索

《诗经·大雅·生民》第二章“以赫厥灵,上帝不宁,不康禋祀,居然生子”一句中的“居然”之义,历来众说纷纭,莫衷一是。从本诗所反映的意旨、上下文关系、“居”字字形演变以及词义发展来看,此“居然”非“居然（竟然）”、“徒然”、“居处”或“胡然”、“其是”等义,当为“安然”之义。     

嘉定钱氏家族的学术渊源与继承——兼论钱大昕的派别归属

嘉定钱氏家族在清代学术中具有很高地位,有嘉定"九钱"之称。钱氏家族的学术成就不是独立存在的,它不仅与中国经济政治中心的南移有关,而且与当时书院教育和家学传承有密不可分的关系。钱大昕是钱氏家族的杰出代表,厘清钱大昕的派别归属有助于我们更好地认识钱氏家族。     

The “Autodidact”, the Pursuit of Subversive Knowledge and the Politics of Change

This paper contrasts two types of “autodidact” located in the UK in different historical periods, which utilised different learning/research technologies to different ends. From the 1920s to the 1960s some working-class activists committed to the Communist Party of Great Britain became “educated” in Marxism (and more) through the processes intrinsic to their politics. This radical acculturation was undertaken outside the universities in consequence of both an absence of access to higher education and because of the relatively enclosed social world of British Communism. The widening of educational opportunities and the decline of political Marxism effectively extinguished this kind of autodidact. New technologies have meant that the 21st century is witnessing individuals and cyber-communities that are creating knowledge-based challenges to professional and institutional power in the face of personal/family “medical” crises. The paper outlines the characteristics of these two categories of autodidact and a new terrain of counter-hegemonic learning.     

事实性知识、概括性知识与“大概念”--以语文学科为背景

林恩·埃里克森建立的“知识的结构”模型,很好地解释了以“大概念”组织单元的原理和机制。该模型分两个层面:第一层面是事实性知识,有“事实”和“主题”两个层级;第二层面是概括性知识,主要有“概念”和“概括性理解”两个层级。在教学中需依赖具体的事实性知识去发现或获得某一概念,经由理解某一概念构成一种“概念性视角”,凭借“概念性视角”去处理相应主题的具体事实。在两个层面相互作用的认知探究过程中,建立某一概念与其他概念的联系。“概念性理解”就是“由事实性实例支撑的真理”,可称为“概括性知识”。从学习内容的角度,“大概念”实际上是跨学科或学科“核心的概括性知识”。     

The Logic of Practice and Development Opportunities of Digital Transformation of Education

“Digital transformation of education” is a hot topic of present educational reform and the development tendency of future educational innovation. Digital transformation of education, as a process stressing technology-driven educational innovation and reform, boasts the importance of development in its birth and practice. It is driven jointly by social and cultural transitions, the impetus of technical innovation, the guidance of national policies, and the endogenous development of the education system. The logic of practice of the transformation can be regarded as the behavior choice dominated by value and intentions, and the underlying generation principles in practice comprise the “problem-driven + concept-led” principle, the “system evolution + innovative breakthrough” principle, and the “value assessment + iterative optimization” principle. At present, under the background of constructing the new ecology of a smart society and a high-quality education system, and under the pressure of COVID-19 pandemic, the transformation faces golden development opportunities. Nonetheless, the present transformation practice still has some differences from the expected value orientation. Therefore, it is required to research and develop a mature digital education model or framework, carry out a national digital education preparation campaign, work for pilot schemes for the transformation at all levels and of all kinds, attach importance to theoretical research on education relating to the digital transformation of education, and more actively embrace the new wave of educational reform worldwide.     

Religious justification,elitist outcome: are religious schools being used to avoid integration?

Despite ongoing efforts to promote ethnic, racial and socio-economic integration, segregation continues to challenge education administrators and legal scholars. Privileged parents seeking to avoid integration employ various strategies such as attending private schools or buying houses in neighbourhoods with good school. This paper offers a combined empirical and legal research of another such strategy: the resort to religious schools. The research is conducted within one specific context, that of Israeli Religious State Schools. The empirical study examines whether “Torani” religious state schools (a category of religious schools that offer enhanced Jewish studies and a strict religious environment) induce socio-economic segregation. The findings indicate that “Torani” schools are indeed socio-economically segregated and serve children from higher socioeconomic class than regular religious state schools. It also shows that “Torani” schools are less reflective of their surroundings than regular religious state schools, and are more likely to be established by privileged parents in poor areas, where they are dissatisfied with the local state schools. The legal research offers an explanation of how legal regulation can determine whether religious schools will become a means for avoiding integration. Specifically, it points to three areas in which “Torani” schools are regulated differently than regular religious state schools – the rules regarding the establishment of new schools; the rules concerning school funding; and the rules concerning student enrolment – and argues that special treatment meant to protect religious interests is responsible for making “Torani” schools socially segregated.     

Students' Conceptions of Research. 2: An exploration of contrasting patterns of variation

This study explores variation in postgraduate students' and supervisors' conceptions of research. Based on earlier work, a Conceptions of Research Inventory (CoRI) was trialled on a mixed sample of postgraduate students and supervisors (n = 251). Exploratory factor analyses of resultant data yields a five‐dimensional empirical model, the composition of which is consistent with earlier work by the present authors. Four of these five dimensions distinguish between (variation in) conceptions of research such as “truth”, “problem‐solving”, “re‐search”, and “an insightful process”. The fifth dimension captures variation in terms of what are interpreted as “misconceptions”. The discrete conceptual dimensions suggested within the factor model are further explored via k‐means cluster analyses in terms of partitioning of the dataset, as limited by sample sizes, according to postgraduate status and supervisor designation. These analyses provide further insights into variation, across the various clusters in each case, as expressed in the profiles of cluster mean scores. Such differences as are evidenced highlight contrasting patterns of variation between, for example, experienced and novice researchers. There is also evidence of dissonance in some of the cluster solutions and it is further demonstrated via analysis of variance that dissonant cluster membership is associated with a generally lower level of self‐estimated performance. The implications of these findings are finally considered in relation to postgraduate training and supervision.     

The scene of the classroom

Abstract

Prakash Nair has made comments about the kind of spatial planning that educationists should make for the purpose of improving, and refining the architectural model of the school that can be adopted in the twenty-first century. These remarks imply that an “old” and out-dated architectural model needs to be replaced by one that is better suited to the kinds of workers that children will become when they graduate, so that schools can more effectively prepare students for the workforce to come. In this article, I argue that his proclamation that “the classroom is obsolete” should be interpreted in the context of neo-liberalism, alongside similarly hyperbolic claims by Francis Fukuyama in 1989 that the fall of the Berlin Wall signified the “end of history”. By addressing the rhetorical structure of such remarks, I deconstruct Prakash Nair’s promise to build a better future for education. Additionally, I argue that educational researchers may benefit from thinking of the classroom as a fictional place, a “scene” that does not always bear identical and universal attributes, owing to the diversity of cultural and geographical contexts in which classrooms are found.     

新高考改革背景下考生择校行为可视化分析——以M大学为例

新高考改革倒逼高校更加关注“用户需求”。通过采集某师范大学新生数据构建可视化模型,发现存在三类特征差异较为明显的新生“典型画像”。基于画像,可以制定不同群体的精准招生宣传措施并提供不同阶段的个性化服务。根据细分市场提供精准信息服务成为研究热点和行业共识。精准服务的前提是对细分市场用户群体特征的分析,把握潜在目标群体的择校动机,较好地回答“向谁宣传”“宣传什么”的问题。研究的创新在于探索根据新高考改革背景下择校行为的理论研究制定具体校本招生宣传政策的数据分析方法。     

Remembering Shreeram S Abhyankar

Shreeram Shankar Abhyankar, an extraordinary mathematician and educator, passed away on November 2, 2012 at the age of 82. He remained active in research as well as teaching and was constantly engaged in “doing mathematics” almost till his last breath. This, and the accompanying articles, are meant as a tribute to Prof. Abhyankar and an attempt to provide some glimpses of the person and his work.     

“郴”字探源及郴地设政区综考

湖南郴州的"郴"字,系工具书、地方志未能解决字原的难题;通过搜罗、集纳历代名著、史料、字书、地图集,运用最新考古成果,结合田野考察,修正原有"秦置县"、只表地名等定论,提出其产生于华夏农耕、医药创始阶段的"林"■"菻"为主源的依据。     

Zwischen Selbsttätigkeit und Erziehungsbedürftigkeit: das Kind in der “Zeitschrift für Kinderforschung”

In the history of education it is rather common to distinguish two opposing ideas of childhood: the romantic image of the innocent child on the one hand and the image of the evil child that has to be rescued on the other. According to historiography at the beginning of the twentieth century this dichotomy has gained a particular shape in German pedagogy: the exponents of Progressive Education recover the child and founded their pedagogy on trust in its good nature. Their agenda tries to overcome the prevailing Herbartian pedagogy. Those “conservative” educators stress the importance of the technological aspects of education. They are said to have no explicit understanding of the child as they would regard it only as the negative counterpart to an education that aims to overcome its nature. This article claims to prove that such a simple dichotomy is not sufficient to describe the complex image of the child in the German pedagogical debates at the turn of the nineteenth to twentieth century. For this purpose the article concentrates on the first volumes of the “Zeitschrift für Kinderforschung” (Journal of Child Studies) that was founded in 1896. The ideology of the main editors of the journal is attributed to Herbartianism. In the “Zeitschrift für Kinderforschung” those Herbartians aim to bring together pedagogy with child studies as well as with medicine and psychiatry. Moral education is an important topic within the journal’s discussion but the child is usually not morally judged itself and therefore regarded neither as evil nor as good. Instead the knowledge of natural research and child studies is adapted to learn about the nature of the child and its development. According to the journal’s authors the results of child studies form a crucial background for professional education in general. Later on, those children that do not develop as scientifically expected can be declared the object of special pedagogical care. Should the deviating development be classified as pathological, this “treatment” will be inspired by medicine and psychiatry. Thus the religious or ethical categories of “good” and “evil” are partly replaced by scientific ones such as “normal” or “pathological”. Nevertheless pedagogical theorising remains highly moral in its goals – and setting these goals is regarded as the duty of adults. Although the child is understood as an active being, the educational authority has to be borne by the grown‐up generation. Altogether the educational programme of the “Zeitschrift für Kinderforschung” conforms to the attitude of the Wilhelminian era. In contrast to most of the “progressive” movements, the ideas are not utopian – they aim neither for a republican society nor for the improvement of the German race as the basis for a new nation. The editors explicitly neglect the notion of a child as a political subject with its own rights. Later they remain highly sceptical about the character of human nature itself and do not believe that a new society can be built only upon the faith in it. Nevertheless some of the key authors are regarded as representatives of Progressive Education today – for example Karl Wilker, who acted as an editor of the journal and was also engaged in the New Education Fellowship later on. Also the journal authors’ claims for a renewal of education resemble those of the “progressive” movements: They also call for a turn to the child as the basis of pedagogy. These findings lead to the result that a history of childhood and education may not start out from a distinction between a child‐centred progressive education on the one hand and a conservative education on the other. Phrases like “the child” or “child‐centred” are to be found in very different pedagogies and hence are not sufficient to characterise a particular educational programme. In fact a great number of very different pedagogues recovered “the child” at the turn of the nineteenth to twentieth century and founded their model on this idea. In consequence “the child” turns out to be more like a metaphor. This insight does not mean that “the child” was an empty and useless phrase for historiography. On the contrary: as a medium of education it may help to gain a deeper understanding of the contrasts and similarities between different pedagogical approaches – regardless of whether they turn out to be more “progressive” or “conservative”. Therefore it is necessary to analyse in which contexts within the pedagogical discourse “the child” arises and which special functions it is meant to contain.     

海外汉字教学呼唤改革创新——探寻“汉字难”的破解之道

＂汉字难＂是汉语国际教育的瓶颈。不解决汉字难,汉语国际教育难免会停留在低水平、低层次,不符合汉语国际传播的宗旨。文章尝试更换视角,寻找解决方法。文章首先探讨＂汉字为什么难学＂,指出其原因涉及汉字自身特点和主观因素。文章就主观因素的原因,提出：教学目标定位不当,教学盲区不少,教学方法内外无别,文字理论还不够完备。要改进汉字教学,应该在这些方面加大改革的力度。提出海外汉字教学应该突出＂听说读＂,淡化＂写＂。减少写字量,增加识字量,尽早形成汉语书面阅读能力。文章建议汉字教学实施＂两步走＂新模式,设置＂汉字预备课程＂。最后介绍新型教材《汉字ABC》。这个教材凝聚着对改革汉字教学的一系列想法,核心理念是＂汉字教学必须从外国学生的特点出发＂。教材的创新之处有：汉字教学新模式;汉字教学新方法——字感教学法;汉字形体新概念——＂字域＂;汉字笔画新理论——＂九笔画＂;汉字练习新题型。     

Whither social theory?

What is the place of social theory in mathematics education research, and what is it for? This special issue of Educational Studies in Mathematics offers insights on what could be the role of some sociological theories in a field that has historically privileged learning theories coming from psychology and mathematics as the main theoretical frames informing research. Although during the last 10 years the term “socio-cultural” has become part of the accepted and widespread trends of mathematics education research when addressing learning, this issue gathers a collection of papers that depart from a “socio-cultural” approach to learning and rather deploy sociological theories in the analysis of mathematics education practices. In this commentary paper, we will point to what we see to be the contributions of these papers to the field. We will do so by highlighting issues that run through the six papers. We will try to synthetize what we think are the benchmarks of the social approach to mathematics education that they propose. We will also take a critical stance and indicate some possible extensions of the use of social theory that are not addressed in this special issue but nonetheless are worth being explored for a fuller understanding of the “social” in mathematics education.     

梦中追梦：解读格非的《人面桃花》

格非的《人面桃花》出现了“沉默的世界”“一本日记”“花间蚂蚁”三种人生境遇。文本中的人物命运与“金蝉”“忘忧釜”“阁楼”三种器物息息相关。三种人生境遇与三种器物营造了一种“人生如梦”的感慨。在如梦的人生中,各色人物通过对空间距离“远游”和时间距离“乌托邦”的实践,进行着对梦想的追求。在《人面桃花》的故事里梦中追梦不是疯狂的举动,而是一种常态。     

Digital technologies to teach and learn mathematics: Context and re-contextualization

The central assumption of this paper is that, especially in the field of digital technologies to teach and learn mathematics, the influence of the context in which research is carried out has not been given enough attention, so that research results are not really useful outside this context. We base our discussion on the work of a group of European teams carrying out research with a special methodology of “cross-studies” and carrying out “cross-analyses” of particular studies. A context for a research study is described as a dynamic construction by researchers, connecting relevant contextual characteristics in the settings (empirical and academic) where research activity takes place and helping to gain insight from the outcomes of the study. Analyzing the design of two “Didactical Digital Artefacts,” and the associated cross-studies involving teams of three countries, we identify more or less conscious influences of characteristics in the researchers' contexts upon research outcomes. Cross-studies and cross-analysis help to go further by making researchers more aware of their context and of its characteristics. It also helps researchers to “re-contextualize,” that is to say to identify new contextual characteristics in the settings they are acting in, to gain insight from research outcomes that emerged in other contexts.