The Emperor’s perfect map: leadership by numbers

This paper establishes that system-generated data profiles are influencing the work of principals in three Queensland state schools. Drawing upon Foucault’s notions of governance, as well as research emphasising performative cultures and the importance placed upon numbers and data in education, this paper uses the tale of the Emperor’s map as a metaphor to explore the way principals’ work is being influenced by specific sets of data compiled by the department. These data profiles are representative of external accountabilities and high stakes testing regimes, as seen in systems that have adopted neoliberal policies which attempt to quantify the work being undertaken in schools. The paper demonstrates that principals are being constructed in part by discourses from a system that emphasises these system-generated performance data as a driver for school improvement.     

关于蔡琰诗歌真伪的再讨论

蔡琰现存的五言体《悲愤诗》等诗作,学术界或认为其全部为伪,或认为其部分为伪,说法种种。文章着眼于文献学的角度,对其进行了重新讨论与考察,认为持各种伪作说者的理由,都无法证实蔡琰五言体《悲愤诗》等为伪作。因而认为,现存的蔡琰诗歌,均非后人所作伪。     

The place of colleague evaluation in the appraisal of college teaching: A review of the literature

The present review considers the nature of the problem of evaluating college teaching as well as the means by which this evaluation has been attempted. This review shows that there is little agreement as to what the criteria for evaluating college teaching should be. It is stated that student and administrator evaluation of faculty are, by themselves or combined, limited in scope. A list of 10 activities and faculty behaviors that can be more reliably and validly evaluated by fellow colleagues than by anyone else is presented, as well as 22 different criteria or approaches that could be used for this evaluation. Recommendations for upgrading colleague evaluation of teaching are made in the hope that the present state of affairs can begin to reach high levels of adequacy and objectivity.This research was supported by the Measurement and Research Division of the Office of Instructional Resources, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.     

Estimating Causal Effects in Mediation Analysis using Propensity Scores

Mediation is usually assessed by a regression-based or structural equation modeling (SEM) approach that we will refer to as the classical approach. This approach relies on the assumption that there are no confounders that influence both the mediator, M, and the outcome, Y. This assumption holds if individuals are randomly assigned to levels of M but generally random assignment is not possible. We propose the use of propensity scores to help remove the selection bias that may result when individuals are not randomly assigned to levels of M. The propensity score is the probability that an individual receives a particular level of M. Results from a simulation study are presented to demonstrate this approach, referred to as Classical + Propensity Model (C+PM), confirming that the population parameters are recovered and that selection bias is successfully dealt with. Comparisons are made to the classical approach that does not include propensity scores. Propensity scores were estimated by a logistic regression model. If all confounders are included in the propensity model, then the C+PM is unbiased. If some, but not all, of the confounders are included in the propensity model, then the C+PM estimates are biased although not as severely as the classical approach (i.e. no propensity model is included).     

The Reform of French Higher Education, or the Ox and the Toad: A Fabulous Tale

Over the past four years, France has been engaged in a massive reform of its higher education system, reshaping the structure and content of studies from undergraduate through to research degrees. It is commonly acknowledged, by Right as much by the Left, that France is not educating enough students at higher education level and that, if intentions are acts, then by the turn of the century, the size of the intake should rise by half again to around 2 million enrolments. This consensus, however, is fragile and limited. Whether it can hold together depends as much on the way complementary refines in the field of management and participation structures are carried out as upon the attitudes of deeply vested interests inside the university. In essence success of the technocratic consensus for growth remains hostage to the profound political divisions that are to be found inside that institution.     

Jurisprudence as performance: John Brown's enactment of natural law at Harper's Ferry

As members of the public and private sphere, we are constantly intrigued by the question of the nature, scope, and limitations of dramatic appeals that are made to a higher justice that appears to exist along side the established order and the “rule of law.” While as Americans we often view ourselves as constitutionalists, obedient citizens who acknowledge the legitimacy of the positive laws instantiated through the decisions of the government, at the same time we are mesmerized by the words and deeds of revolutionaries who have been willing to shed blood in the name of a higher law. Using the John Brown trial as a case example, the essay argues that our jurisprudential norms are co‐produced by both text writers and their audiences. By adapting a performative stance, we can perhaps gain a better understanding of the selectivity and inventiveness involved in legal decision making.     

Living with children diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder: parental and professional views

The number of children diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is rising and is now thought to be as high as 1:100. While the debate about best treatment continues, the effects of having a child diagnosed with ASD on family life remain relatively unexplored. This article, by Karola Dillenburger of Queens University Belfast, Mickey Keenan of the University of Ulster, Alvin Doherty from the Health Service Executive Western Region, Tony Byrne of Parents' Education as Autism Therapists (PEAT) and Stephen Gallagher of the University of Ulster, sets out to adjust that balance. Drawing upon data from a comprehensive study of parental needs, these authors argue that parental and professional views do not always concur; that families make extraordinary sacrifices; that siblings are affected; and that parents are under tremendous stress. Parents argue that educational and social service supports are not efficient and that they are forced to rely largely on support from within the family or from friends. In particular, some important differences between parental and professional perceptions became apparent in relation to interventions based on Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA). The authors of this article propose that these differences need to be taken seriously by teachers and other professionals as well as by policy-makers.     

An Optimization of Human Performance Technology Intervention Selection Model: A 360‐Degree Approach to Support Performance

The human performance technology (HPT) model suggests various interventions to meet organizational challenges. While the original model includes a matrix to match an intervention according to a performance analysis, accumulated experience and recent research show that there are several parameters that will influence the validity and effectiveness of the solution. This article offers a 360‐degree approach to support the use of a performance model that helps practitioners to select the proper HPT intervention according to key attributes that influence the solution. Successful implementation, such as target audience characteristics and work processes that are at the heart of organizational needs, are examples of the benefits provided by this approach. The model is based on research conducted by Gal and Nachmias (2011, 2012) concerning performance support solutions success factors in corporate settings. In addition, experiences gained by both authors as they implemented HPT solutions in large organizations are considered.     

Critiquing Calypso: Authorial and Academic Bias in the Reading of a Young Adult Novel

The position of authors of fiction in relation to critical discussion of their work is an unsettled one. While recognized as having knowledge and expertise regarding their texts, they are typically regarded as unreliable sources when it comes to critical analysis, and as partial witnesses whose personal association with the text is liable to influence their judgement. This article reconsiders that position, not by arguing that authors lack bias but by showing that bias is the normal condition of all critical reading and writing, whether by authors of fiction or by academic critics. I take as a case study my novel Calypso Dreaming (2002), comparing my own understanding of the text with a recent discussion by four influential critics. I argue that the rhetorical and methodological framing of critical discussion is a necessarily procrustean exercise, that may yield insights into texts but is also characterized by distortion and selectivity. Moreover, the conventional positioning of critics as “disinterested,” in contrast to “biased” authors, disguises the extent to which academic discussions are subject to the same personal and professional influences as those of other writers.     

Aims of Education: How to Resist the Temptation of Technocratic Models

A technocratic model of curriculum design that has been highly influential since the middle of last century assumes that the aims of education can be, and should be: 1. Causally brought about by administering educational experiences; 2. Specified as objectives that can be attained, reached or completed; 3. Changes in students that are described in advance. Richard S. Peters argued against the first of these three tenets by making a distinction between aims that are causally brought about by the means and aims that are constituted by the means. I argue that further distinctions between ways in which ends and means can be related throw doubt on the remaining two tenets. My argument against the second one rests on a distinction between open aims that cannot be completed and closed aims that can be reached. I use a third distinction, between aims as principles of design and aims as principles of reform, to show that the third tenet of the technocratic model is also suspect. I conclude that a realistic view of educational aims must take into account that they are more multifarious than envisaged by the technocratic model of curriculum design.     

An attention-modulated associative network

We present an elemental model of associative learning that describes interactions between stimulus elements as a process of competitive normalization. Building on the assumptions laid out in Harris (2006), stimuli are represented as an array of elements that compete for attention according to the strength of their input. Elements form associations among each other according to temporal correlations in their activation but restricted by their connectivity. The model moves beyond its predecessor by specifying excitatory, inhibitory, and attention processes for each element in real time and describing their interaction as a form of suppressive gain control. Attention is formalized in this model as a network of mutually inhibitory units that moderate the activation of stimulus elements by controlling the level to which the elements are suppressed by their own inhibitory processes. The model is applied to a range of complex discriminations and related phenomena that have been taken as evidence for configural-learning processes.     

A Normativist Account of Language‐Based Learning Disability1,2

Research on learning disabilities (LD) depends upon a conceptual framework that specifies what it should explain, what kinds of data are needed, and how these data are to be arranged in order to provide a meaningful explanation. An argument is made that LD are no different in this respect than any other form of human illness. In this article, a theory of LD based on weak normativism drawn from the philosophy of medicine is presented. This theory emphasizes that cultural values (norms) determine which aspects of human experience and function are instances of ill health. Thus, ill health is fundamentally normative. However, the experiences and behaviors themselves arise out of the natural world and therefore can be explained by a culturally neutral natural science. Data from a longitudinal study of specific language impairment are used to show that academic achievement is culturally evaluated, that low achievement is disvalued, and that therefore actions are taken to help the poor achiever. Spoken language abilities in kindergarten are associated with judgments of the adequacy of fourth grade academic achievement and are mediated by reading prior to fourth grade and also via a path that is independent of reading. It is argued that poor academic achievement may be viewed as a disvalued state consistent with an illness, whereas language and reading skills can be viewed as basic causal systems that can explain the child's learning performance. Properties of this causal system are value free, except that they can inherit disvalue by their association with poor achievement. It remains to be determined whether the notion of LD is to be equated with poor achievement and therefore serve as a type of illness or whether it is to be viewed as a particular cause of poor achievement and thus functions as a type of disease associated with poor achievement. The conceptual framework lays out the alternative meanings for LD and the choice between these alternatives will ultimately depend on how it is used in the LD research community.     

Teaching science in fifth grade: Instructional goals that support conceptual change

How one teacher in a fifth-grade classroom (student ages 10–11) facilitated learning as conceptual change is the subject of this research. The teacher presented her students with seven learning goals that she believed would allow students to engage in conceptual change learning. Student outcomes as a result of this teacher's instruction included significant changes in the ability of students to engage in conversations that are characterized as metaconceptual and metacognitive. These changes are attributed to instructional activities of the teacher that established her learning goals. Characteristics of the learning environment created by this teacher are presented and an analysis of the instructional activities she presented to students are used to answer the following question: How did the learning goals presented by this teacher support students as they engaged in learning as conceptual change? The implications of this study for teachers in different contexts are discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 1091–1101, 1998     

How are UK Academics Engaging the Public with their Research? A Cross‐Disciplinary Perspective

This paper takes a cross‐disciplinary perspective in examining the views and practices of public engagement with research by UK academics. Using a mixed method approach consisting of a survey questionnaire and interviews, the paper identifies the range of audience groups that can potentially be engaged with by academics, and shows that some audiences are more relevant to particular disciplinary groups than others. The paper also identifies the various public engagement activities undertaken by academics and finds that some academics are using creative ways of engaging the public, such as using the services of public relations firms to help in disseminating their research in traditional media outlets, and also by using social media. Essentially, the study reveals that some academics feel the pressure of engaging particular audiences at the expense of those that are relevant to them and that, academics in the main, are opposed to the notion of mandating public engagement as part of appraisal systems.     

A SYSTEMS MODEL FOR CURRICULUM DECISION MAKING

Abstract

Two types of community colleges are described, one serving as a miniuniversity and the other as an opportunity center. The academic progress of 750 students from four community colleges, two classified as miniuniversities and two as opportunity centers, was compared in terms of (a) persistence, and (b) success after transferring to a senior institution. Institutions classified as opportunity centers were found to graduate a greater proportion of their students than did the miniuniversities. Academic performance after transferring to a senior institution was equivalent for students graduating from either type of institution. It is concluded that large numbers of community college students are unnecessarily discouraged and thereby deterred from higher education by community colleges that operate as miniuniversities and that the needs of most community college students are better served by the opportunity center.     

Sharing best practices in Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago: patterns of policy implementation and resistance

This article outlines policies from multilateral organisations that advocate sharing best practices between developing nations. The article discusses the degree to which these best practices are implemented by small states as indicated by teachers, academics and policymakers in Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. For the purpose of this article, a best practice refers to pedagogy, curriculum or programme that contributes to student achievement. Currently, a number of influential multilateral organisations advocate that developing nations should share their best practices in education with each other. Despite encouragement by multilaterals however, best practices are not shared. At best, foreign ideas are used to legitimise local policies. While these policies are intended to help countries reach their Education for All (EFA) goals, they do not account for the differences between islands and their vulnerability towards larger countries. Attempts to innovate the curriculum by implementing foreign ideas failed due to the forces of tradition. It can thus be concluded that resistance – non‐compliance or opposition – to sharing educational best practices, as well as to the implementation of new curricula, stems from echoes of colonialism and globalisation. Although this study focuses on two islands, there are implications for other developing countries and small states as they fall under the same policy auspices of UNESCO and the Commonwealth Secretariat.     

The Science Thought Experiment: How Might it be Used Profitably in the Classroom?

It is well established that thought experiments are both scientifically and philosophically significant, and even that they are pedagogically significant. However, the basis and methodology for their pedagogical use is not as well established. Pedagogical thought experiments are defined as mental simulations with special features to isolate certain conceptual elements. It is argued that thought experiments are made pedagogically effective through the process of re-enactment of the thought-experimental process. The process of re-enactment is best captured by rewriting thought experiments as stories. Several examples of thought experiments are analysed for their narrative content and an example is given of a pedagogical thought experiment re-written as a story. Recommendations are made as to how such thought experimental stories can be used effectively.     

Thoughts upon Equality

<正>Anyone who has some basic knowledge about The Declaration of Independence might not be unfamiliar with the following lines,"We hold these truths to be self-evident,that all men are created equal,that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,that they are among these are life,liberty and the pursuit of happiness."Those words were truly respectable and encouraging at that time as well as     

Teaching and learning the concept of chemical bonding

Chemical bonding is one of the key and basic concepts in chemistry. The learning of many of the concepts taught in chemistry, in both secondary schools as well as in the colleges, is dependent upon understanding fundamental ideas related to chemical bonding. Nevertheless, the concept is perceived by teachers, as well as by learners, as difficult, with teaching commonly leading to students developing misconceptions. Many of these misconceptions result from over‐simplified models used in text books, by the use of traditional pedagogy that presents a rather limited and sometimes incorrect picture of the issues related to chemical bonding and by assessments of students' achievement that influence the way the topic is taught. In addition, there are discrepancies between scientists regarding key definitions in the topic and the most appropriate models to teach it. In particular, teaching models that are intended to have transitional epistemological value in introducing abstract ideas are often instead understood by students as accounts of ontological reality. In this review paper we provide science educators, curricula developers and pre‐service and in‐service professional development providers an up‐to‐date picture regarding research and developments in teaching about chemical bonding. We review the external and internal variables that might lead to misconceptions and the problematic issue of using limited teaching/learning models. Finally, we review the approaches to teaching the concept that might overcome some of these misconceptions.     

高职工程力学教学中应体现的几种思想

在工程力学的教学过程中,需要体现出诸多的思想。与生产实践相关的如学以致用、安全第一的思想,经济的思想,实验和标准的思想;与认知规律相关的如从基本点出发的思想,简化的思想,微积分的思想,层层深入的思想,类比学习的思想,具体问题具体分析的思想,抓主要矛盾、忽略次要矛盾的思想。多年的教育教学实践证明,通过将这些思想引入课堂,能端正学生的态度,提高学生的认识水平。