Developing Professional Learning Environments: Model and application

In this article we offer a number of insights and instruments to facilitate the realisation of learning communities in professional training contexts, and in the context of adult education in general. We direct our attention towards environments that support the development of professional skills that follow the line of the behavioural sciences, and more especially management competencies and organisation psychology competencies. Firstly, we give a brief outline of our view of learning and the general approach that this may require. We then go on to present a number of theoretical viewpoints mainly from an experiential, and from a constructionist, situated learning perspective. We structure our argument introducing three concepts: orientation, elaboration and integration. Simultaneously, we illustrate our point with a case: CIGO, 1 a training program that regards the development of variable competencies with reference to change within groups and organisations. Finally, we discuss the model/method more critically, which leads us to its refinement, showing the tensions between the practice of orienting, elaborating and integrating within a learning trajectory.     

Poverty Experiences of Young Children and the Quality of Their Home Environments

This paper assesses the relative contribution of maternal, household, child, and poverty characteristics to the quality of the home environment. The sample consists of 1,887 children birth to 4 years old from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). Ordinary least-squares regression is used to explore conceptually distinct aspects of children's poverty experiences. Poverty variables are found to have a statistically significant effect on the quality of the home environment, after controlling for the effects of other variables in the models. Statistically significant interactions among poverty variables are identified. A major finding is that improvements in family income have the strongest effects on the quality of the home environment for children who were born poor or lived much of their lives in poverty. The conclusion emphasizes implications for future research.     

A New Inventory for Assessing Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development (AHEMD-SR)

A contemporary view of motor development considers environmental influences as critical factors in optimal growth and behavior, with the home being the primary agent. The intent of this communication is to introduce the Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development Self-Report (AHEMD-SR) to early childhood practitioners. The AHEMD-SR is a reliable and valid parental self-report assessment instrument that addresses the quality and quantity of factors (affordances and events) in the home that are conducive to enhancing motor development in children ages 18–42 months. The instrument could provide useful information in a wide variety of settings, including applications to intervention and remediation.     

Home Language and Literacy Environments and Early Literacy Trajectories of Low-Socioeconomic Status Chilean Children

This study used Latent Class Analysis to identify groups of children exposed to similar Home Language and Literacy Environments (HLLE) and explored whether belonging to a given HLLE group was related to children’s language and early literacy growth from prekindergarten to kindergarten. Participants were 1,425 Chilean mothers and their children (M_age = 52.52 months at baseline) from low-socioeconomic status households. Four HLLE groups were identified, which were associated with different trajectories of language and early literacy development. Children from groups whose mothers either read and talk about past events with them or teach them letters in addition to reading and talking about past events, showed higher relative vocabulary and letter knowledge. Implications for research and interventions are discussed.     

The Home Environments of Children in the United States Part II: Relations with Behavioral Development through Age Thirteen

This study examined the frequency with which children were exposed to various parental actions, materials, events, and conditions as part of their home environments, and how those exposures related to their well-being. Part 1 focused on variations by age, ethnicity, and poverty status. In Part 2 of the study, relations between major aspects of the home environment (including maternal responsiveness, learning stimulation, and spanking) and developmental outcomes for children from birth through age 13 were investigated. The outcomes examined were early motor and social development, vocabulary development, achievement, and behavior problems. These relations were examined in both poor and nonpoor European American, African American, and Hispanic American families using hierarchical linear modeling. The most consistent relations found were those between learning stimulation and children's developmental status, with relations for parental responsiveness and spanking varying as a function of outcome, age, ethnicity, and poverty status. The evidence indicated slightly stronger relations for younger as compared with older children.     

ODL科研信息环境的概念设计框架

本文标题反映了许多开放与远程教育（以下简称ODL）研究者的最近心声，即如何开发一个集成化的信息环境，利用因特网上的丰富资源来ODL相关的科研及教育活动。本文从分析网上分布式资源利用方面的困难问题入手，探讨适合于解决这些问题的技术方案；接着提出一个知识型系统框架，作为研制面向ODL科研信息环境的概念模型，并进而描述了此模型的若干要素，诸如伙伴关系，知识管理、智能代理、个性化信息服务及标准应用等。     

面向嵌入式实验平台的模型化开发环境

在Eclipse RCP框架和Matlab建模引擎的基础之上,实现了一种针对嵌入式硬件平台的集成开发软件。该软件适用于DSP、FPGA、CPU等多种不同的硬件平台,提供了统一的模型化开发环境,以代替传统的手工编码开发方式。将该软件应用于创新实验平台,为学生开展创新活动提供了良好的实验环境。     

福建“善恩园”服刑人员未成年子女救助模式研究

福建省“善恩园”是以无偿代养因父母服刑而流落社会的未成年人为主的民间慈善组织之一,它在资金筹措、人员构成、与政府部门关系、“家庭”、学校教育等方面形成了独特的救助模式。     

广西壮族农村儿童家庭环境和入学准备的研究

为了考察广西壮族农村儿童家庭环境及其对儿童入学准备的影响,我们对广西某县4个乡镇的409名壮族农村儿童(平均年龄为77个月,标准差为3.63)和他们的父母进行了研究。研究工具根据美国研究院的儿童入学准备测验和父母问卷改编而成。结果表明,父母是否在家对儿童入学准备成绩有一定影响。根据父母受教育水平、家庭收入、父母对孩子的教育期望等分组的儿童在入学准备成绩上有显著差异。回归统计分析表明,家庭学习环境、母亲受教育水平和家庭收入是预测儿童入学准备成绩的重要指标。     

The Home Environments of Children in the United States Part I: Variations by Age, Ethnicity, and Poverty Status

Although measures of the home environment have gained wide acceptance in the child development literature, what constitutes the "average" or 'typical" home environment in the United States, and how this differs across ethnic groups and poverty status is not known. Item-level data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth on four age-related versions of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment-Short Form (HOME-SF) from five biennial assessments (1986-1994) were analyzed for the total sample and for four major ethnic groups: European Americans, Asian Americans, African Americans, and Hispanic Americans. The percentages of homes receiving credit on each item of all four versions of the HOME-SF are described. For the majority of items at all four age levels differences between poor and nonpoor families were noted. Differences were also obtained among African American, European American, and Hispanic American families, but the magnitude of the effect for poverty status was greater than for ethnicity, and usually absorbed most of the ethnic group effects on HOME-SF items. For every item at every age, the effects of poverty were proportional across European American, African American, and Hispanic American groups.     

The Gain-Loss Model: A Probabilistic Skill Multimap Model for Assessing Learning Processes

Within the theoretical framework of knowledge space theory, a probabilistic skill multimap model for assessing learning processes is proposed. The learning process of a student is modeled as a function of the student's knowledge and of an educational intervention on the attainment of specific skills required to solve problems in a knowledge domain. Model parameters are initial probabilities of the skills, effects of learning objects on gaining and losing the skills, and careless error and lucky guess probabilities of the problems. An empirical application shows that the model is effective in assessing knowledge and effectiveness of educational intervention at both classroom and student levels. Practical implications for teaching and learning are discussed.     

Home Environment and Family Resources to Support Literacy Interaction: Examples From Families of Children With Disabilities

Research Findings: Research on early literacy development within the family focuses primarily on parent–child interactions as they use literacy materials, typically books. However, features of the home environment and organization of family life, which provide the framework within which these interactions occur, are rarely investigated. These variables include space; time; family members' roles, responsibilities, and relationships; whether literacy activities are routines; and influences of community and culture. In this exploratory study, these physical, social, and symbolic resources of the family environment were measured using a home tour, photographs, book-reading observation, and an interview during two visits to six families who had children with mild to moderate disabilities. The data generated by these methods were then used to complete a summary measure, the Home Literacy Resource Checklist, for each family. The results indicated that the families who had previously reported reading to their child 1 to 3 times per week differed from those who had reported reading daily in resources such as help from people outside of the immediate family, existence of book-reading routines, a predictable daily schedule, use of the library, and presence of literacy materials. Practice or Policy: Further development of these measures and their use with a larger and more diverse sample are warranted so that practical knowledge about home and family life can contribute to interventions designed to improve the quantity and quality of family book reading.     

研究生教材建设的三层次模式及实践

文章根据研究生教育的特点,提出硕士研究生教材建设的三层次模式,并以基础数学、应用数学专业为例介绍了宁波大学的具体实践。同时,针对数学类专业研究生学位课程“抽象代数”,提出了教材建设的基本设想。     

恰当的评价工具有利于学生口语交际素质的发展

在新课程、新课标的实施过程中,如何对学生的口语交际能力进行科学的评价,制定成本低廉的评价方案,寻找易于操作的口语交际评价方法与评价工具,这是广大的语文教育工作者在新课标实施过程中亟待解决的重要问题。