UNDERSTANDING THE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF OLDER ADULTS: A NEW APPROACH

The educational needs of 103 adults aged 55‐75 were investigated. Using an approach that focused on existential needs prior to assessing their educational needs, and adopting a procedure that helped the group to identify their most basic needs, the inquiry found out that the educational needs expressed through this method considerably differed from those found through traditional checklist methods and are closely related with the major problems of older people at and after the retirement period.     

FOSTERING PRO SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR IN THE SPANISH SCHOOL SYSTEM: A WHOLE SCHOOL APPROACH

This study is an attempt to offer the teacher an approach to help deal with the problem of boys underachievement which is frequently linked with misbehaviour and a negative attitude towards school. It looks at the extent working in pairs can help boys’ performance on a class test. 96 boys in their first year of an ‘A‐level’ course were included in the study. They worked and were tested either in pairs or alone. It was found that those who ONLY worked in pairs did better on the test and were more confident of their answers, than the pupils who had worked alone for some or all of the tasks. This occurred regardless of whether they rehearsed. It was suggested that encouraging boys to work harder is not very effective. More can be achieved by providing an opportunity to work with others and enhance their self‐confidence.     

大学英语课堂教学质量评价现状及策略探析

几十年来大学英语教学"费时低效",被一些业外人士形象地比喻为"一壶永远烧不开的水".究其原因'教学大纲、内容的滞后;全国统考导致的应试现象;社会环境、高校教育教学模式、师资问题等等.而其中重要的原因是缺乏科学合理、操作性强的课堂教学质量评价.针对其现状,逐一分析,在此基础上构建出大学英语课堂教学质量评价策略.     

UNIVERSITIES AS CENTRES OF CULTURE: AN HISTORICAL APPROACH TO HIGHER EDUCATION IN CENTRAL ASIA

Although numerous Russian intellectuals and academics had travelled to and had settled in Central Asia and in Kazakhstan prior to 1917, institutionalized higher education came to the region only as a result of the Great Socialist October Revolution of 1917. First came the State University of Tashkent in 1924 followed by universities in other parts of Soviet Central Asia. These universities had to face a number of special problems due to the backwardness of the societies in which they were located and to the multiethnic and multilingual student populations which they served and are still serving today. They also had to give special attention to the emancipation of women in what were predominantly Moslem societies. Yet the new institutions have successfully risen to the challenge and today are contributing to the spreading of culture, creativity, and socialist development in the parts of the Soviet Union where they are situated.     

REASSEMBLING CURRICULAR CONCEPTS: A MULTIMODAL APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION

Based on the multidisciplinary field of multimodality, this paper offers a theoretical perspective on the construct of a curricular concept which is commonly used in a school curriculum and applies it to an analysis of a typical curricular text and classroom instruction that exposit the physics concept of work–energy. Theorizing a concept as a network of meaning relationships across multiple modes of representation situated in human activity, this approach examines how we can recognize the meaning constructed through the semantic relationships of language and its contextualization with pictorial, graphical, and numerical resources. The value of this approach to curriculum and instruction in formal educational settings is also presented.     

PROGRESS IN APPLICATION OF THE NEUROSCIENCES TO AN UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN LEARNING: THE CHALLENGE OF FINDING A MIDDLE-GROUND NEUROEDUCATIONAL THEORY

Modern neuroscientific research has substantially enhanced our understanding of the human brain. However, many challenges remain in developing a strong, brain-based theory of human learning, especially in complex environments such as educational settings. Some of the current issues and challenges in our progress toward developing comprehensive neuroscientific-based theories of human learning, particularly in the academic disciplines, are reviewed, beginning with a brief summary of the history of publications in science learning. This is followed by an analysis of some of the large-scale issues and conceptual problems that we currently face in developing a strong, middle-ground “neuroeducational theory” relevant to learning, especially in rather abstract disciplines such as mathematics and science. Finally, some perspectives on possible future strategies and challenges in reaching the goal of a neuroeducational theory are presented.     

从语境顺应看《菊与刀》中的耻感文化

本尼迪克特在她的《菊与刀》中指出日本文化是不同于欧美"罪感文化"的"耻感文化"。Verschueren认为,人们使用语言的过程实际上是一个不断选择语言的过程。本文在顺应论理论框架下对《菊与刀》中的"耻感文化"进行了语境顺应性的分析。通过分析耻感文化背景下的日本人在交际过程中是如何对交际语境进行动态顺应并作出相应的语言选择,进一步探讨了语言的选择与文化语境的密切关系。     

THE BASIS OF JAMES W. FOWLER'S UNDERSTANDING OF FAITH IN THE RESEARCH OF WILFRED CANTWELL SMITH: AN EXAMINATION FROM AN EVANGELICAL PERSPECTIVE

This article focuses on the influence of Wilfred Cantwell Smith's presentation of the nature of faith on James W. Fowler's faith-development paradigm. Smith contended that, in the pre-modern era, terms translated by the English words “faith” and “believe” denoted a personal allegiance that did not require assent to any objective assertions. Two difficulties with Smith's research are highlighted: 1) In the premodern era, the terms translated as “faith” and “believe” denoted both personal allegiance and objective assent. 2) Although “faith” and “believe” primarily indicated personal allegiance in the premodern era, the primacy of personal allegiance within faith does not preclude the presence or the necessity of objective assent. The author suggests that, although Christian faith and Fowlerian stage-development are two distinct phenomena, the reality to which Fowler referred as “faith” describes the psychical context for Christian faith. The article concludes by reflecting on the implications of this concept, suggesting that Christian faith emerges from Fowlerian stage-development, but that the content and development of both phenomena remain essentially distinct.     

NEWMAN NOW: RE-EXAMINING THE CONCEPTS OF 'PHILOSOPHICAL' and 'LIBERAL' IN THE IDEA OF A UNIVERSITY

ABSTRACT:  Taking account of crucial differences between the social environments of universities in Newman's time and in ours, this paper considers two key concepts in the The Idea of the University , the 'philosophical' and the 'liberal'. It argues that, despite their merits, both concepts are beset by problems. And it suggests some lines of analysis, partly inspired by an Aristotelian influence both in Newman's own work and in some recent philosophy, that may help to address these problems and to support claims for the continuing power of Newman's thinking about university education.     

课堂环境对香港学生自主学习的影响——兼论"教师中心"与"学生中心"之辨

近年来,两岸三地的课程改革均将自主学习作为一项重要目标,试图培养和巩固学生的自主学习动机与策略。西方学者的许多研究表明,倡导学生中心的课堂环境有助于促进学生自主学习能力的发展,而偏重教师中心的课堂环境则不利于学生的自主学习。本研究基于香港中小学生对课堂环境观感和自主学习动机与策略的两项调查,发现教师中心的课堂环境对香港学生的自主学习同样具有促进作用,并依此分析了华人文化情境中课堂环境及学生自主学习的特征。     

AN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES IN THE YEAR 2000: A FRENCH CONCEPTION

An Academy of Sciences is the offspring of the scientific community in its country. It is recognized as representative of this community and of the supreme authority of the country which is the guarantor of its independence and freedom. The Academy has the tasks of monitoring, stimulating, and assessing, doing so within the scientific community by means of its publications, its opinions, and the prizes it awards; within the national community, at the political level, the cultural level, and at the social level by its studies, reports, recommendations, and symposia; and at the international level, at which it represents the country in major international scientific organizations (ICSU, ALLEA). If the development of sciences has led countries to organize research structures outside the Academies, the latter, nonetheless, will continue to play an essential role at a time when the interactions of science with the authorities and society are stronger than ever.     

A GROUP FAMILY HOLIDAY : AN INNOVATION IN THE THERAPEUTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE AUTISTIC CHILD

Three “family holiday workshop” projects which are thought to be unique, have been described. In each instance the participants were eleven families, each having an autistic child, a professional consultant, and voluntary helpers. It would seem from follow‐up investigations that the family holiday workshop served the purpose for which it was originally designed, namely, to bring together families of autistic children in an effort to dispel the feeling of isolation and futility in coping with the problem of their bewildering handicapped child; to meet those needs which cannot appropriately be handled in a clinic‐‐such as providing a holiday for all members of the family; and to make available advice and assistance about their child's needs and practical ways of management. The project is evaluation in the light of its relevance in the overall management of any handicapped child.