Relationships among computational performance,pictorial representation,symbolic representation and number sense of sixth‐grade students in Taiwan

Twenty classes in ten schools with 627 sixth‐grade students in five cities in Taiwan participated in this study. The research provides information on the performance differences among written computation, pictorial representation, symbolic representation and number sense. The results of One‐way ANOVA analysis indicate that significant difference was found among WCT, PRT, SRT and NST tests, with F=536.327, p=0.000. The a posteriori comparisons show for each pair (WCT vs PRT, WCT vs SRT, WCT vs NST, PRT vs SRT and SRT vs NST) significant difference at the 0.001 level (p=0.000), except for the pair comparison between PRT and NST. This implies that these Taiwanese students were highly skilled in written computation but their written skills were not equally transferred to use of non‐computational paths that depended on symbolic representation, pictorial representation and number sense to solve similar problems.     

Number line estimation from kindergarten to grade 2: A longitudinal study

A bulk of evidence supports the association of number line estimations using Arabic digits and dots with math learning. Surprisingly few studies have been conducted to explore the relationship between estimations using number words and mathematics. The present study expands previous findings by investigating estimations in three formats (Arabic digits, dots and number), adding language as predictor and by focusing at timed and untimed math learning. A sample of 132 children was followed from kindergarten till grade 2. Results reveal variability in estimation accuracy and errors declining with age and instruction in all children. In addition, our findings suggest that Arabic numerals have a more linear distribution than number words. Moreover, our findings suggest that language explains variation in kindergarten but not in evolution and, more in particular, untimed math achievement can be predicted by number line estimation. Implications for assessment, prediction of math learning and instruction are discussed.     

Turkish grade 10 students' and science teachers' conceptions of nature of science: A national study

This study aimed to assess grade 10 Turkish students' and science teachers' conceptions of nature of science (NOS) and whether these conceptions were related to selected variables. These variables included participants' gender, geographical region, and the socioeconomic status (SES) of their city and region; teacher disciplinary background, years of teaching experience, graduate degree, and type of teacher training program; and student household SES and parents' educational level. A stratified sampling approach was used to generate a representative national sample comprising 2,087 students and 378 science teachers. After establishing their validity in the Turkish context, participants were administered a questionnaire comprising 14 modified “Views on Science‐Technology‐Society” (VOSTS) items to assess their views of certain aspects of NOS. A total of 2,020 students (97%) and 362 teachers (96%) completed the questionnaire. Participant responses were categorized as “naïve,” “have merit,” or “informed,” and the frequency distributions for these responses were compared for various groupings of participants. The majority of participants held naïve views of a majority of the target NOS aspects. Teacher views were mostly similar to those of their students. Teacher and student views of some NOS aspects were related to some of the target variables. These included teacher graduate degree and geographical region, and student household SES, parent education, and SES of their city and geographical region. The relationship between student NOS views and enhanced economic and educational capitals of their households, as well as the SES status of their cities and geographical regions point to significant cultural (specifically Western) and intellectual underpinnings of understandings about NOS. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 1083–1112, 2008     

Taking the relational structure of fractions seriously: Relational reasoning predicts fraction knowledge in elementary school children

Understanding and using symbolic fractions in mathematics is critical for access to advanced STEM concepts. However, children and adults consistently struggle with fractions. Here, we take a novel perspective on symbolic fractions, considering them within the framework of relational structures in cognitive psychology, such as those studied in analogy research. We tested the hypothesis that relational reasoning ability is important for reasoning about fractions by examining the relation between scores on a domain-general test of relational reasoning (TORR Jr.) and a test of fraction knowledge consisting of various types of fraction problems in 194 s grade and 145 fifth grade students. We found that relational reasoning was a significant predictor of fractions knowledge, even when controlling for non-verbal IQ and fractions magnitude processing for both grades. The effects of relational reasoning also remained significant when controlling for overall mathematics knowledge and skill for second graders but was attenuated for fifth graders. These findings suggest that this important subdomain of mathematical cognition is integrally tied to relational reasoning and opens the possibility that instruction targeting relational reasoning may prove to be a viable avenue for improving children’s fractions skills.     

汉语特色块状语英译认知研究——时政文本视域下的翻译能力调查

在语言加工双通道论观照下,研究者通过纵向实证方法探究时政文本视域下三种水平译者之块状语表征心理现实性､认知加工范式､转换策略等差异对多字格块状语英译的影响｡ 结果发现: 1.就低､中水平学生译者而言,六字格块状语翻译质量最低,其次是三字格块状语;2.四字格块状语的翻译质量相对较高,且组间差异也更大;3.从译者水平由低至高的路径来看,不同字格数块状语英译的加工范式呈现出分析性加工范式至整体性加工范式的连续体发展模式;4. 学生译者策略多以异化和直译/硬译为主,专家译者归化､意译策略凸显且稳定｡据此,本文得到两点重要启示:学生译者的双语关联块状语表征亟待完善,翻译加工范式及策略的使用偏好有待调控和改进｡     

Historical perspective taking: A standardized measure for an aspect of students' historical thinking

Researchers widely agree that learning history should involve more than learning historical facts and should include competencies of historical thinking. Various models of historical thinking view students' competency to take historical perspectives as a standard in history education. In this study we introduce a standardized measure for historical perspective taking (HPT) consisting of a short scenario set in the German Weimar Republic. We assessed students' HPT by using rating scales; our data were obtained in grammar schools from 170 German 10th graders. Latent class analyses identified three types of students with similar profiles of HPT. One was present-oriented and two showed more or less contextualized historical thinking. Students' history grades were connected to their HPT competency. We discuss limitations of the study and argue for further research on measures assessing students' historical thinking.     

A disciplinary discourse perspective on university science learning: Achieving fluency in a critical constellation of modes

In this theoretical article we use an interpretative study with physics undergraduates to exemplify a proposed characterization of student learning in university science in terms of fluency in disciplinary discourse. Drawing on ideas from a number of different sources in the literature, we characterize what we call “disciplinary discourse” as the complex of representations, tools and activities of a discipline, describing how it can be seen as being made up of various “modes”. For university science, examples of these modes are: spoken and written language, mathematics, gesture, images (including pictures, graphs and diagrams), tools (such as experimental apparatus and measurement equipment), and activities (such as ways of working—both practice and praxis, analytical routines, actions, etc.). Using physics as an illustrative example, we discuss the relationship between the ways of knowing that constitute a discipline and the modes of disciplinary discourse used to represent this knowing. The data comes from stimulated recall interviews where physics undergraduates discuss their learning experiences during lectures. These interviews are used to anecdotally illustrate our proposed characterization of learning and its associated theoretical constructs. Students describe a repetitive practice aspect to their learning, which we suggest is necessary for achieving fluency in the various modes of disciplinary discourse. Here we found instances of discourse imitation, where students are seemingly fluent in one or more modes of disciplinary discourse without having related this to a teacher‐intended disciplinary way of knowing. The examples lead to the suggestion that fluency in a critical constellation of modes of disciplinary discourse may be a necessary (though not always sufficient) condition for gaining meaningful holistic access to disciplinary ways of knowing. One implication is that in order to be effective, science teachers need to know which modes are critical for an understanding of the material they wish to teach. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 46: 27–49, 2009     

New media,old images: constructing online representations of women and men in science,engineering and technology

This paper looks at online representations of women and men in science, engineering and technology. We show that these representations largely re/produce dominant gender discourses. We then focus on the question: How are gender clichéd images re/produced online? Drawing on a discursive analysis of data from six interviews with web authors, we argue that there are two reasons why their awareness of gender issues does not always translate into website content. First, web authors think of themselves as working within either journalistic or scientific cultures, and draw on associated criteria, which exclude gender equity, to make content decisions. Second, they construct distinctions between representation and reality, judging representations on their ‘empirical realism’ (how accurately they represent a reality seen to exist outside the text), foreclosing considerations of their productive power. Finally, we draw on interview data with young people to show that these constrain the meanings made by web users.     

High school students' evolving alternative conception related to the volume of gas: A Lakatosian perspective

The purpose of this case study, informed by a Lakatosian perspective, is to identify how an alternative conception that originates in present learning but is related directly to subsequent learning contexts can be constructed. Before the study, one of the authors found by accident that a student who had learned about Avogadro's principle and chemical reaction in South Korea constructed an alternative conception related to the volume of gas. Later, we identified seven Korean high school students with the alternative conception through a test and analyzed their underlying understandings qualitatively through interviews. The results show that they had a scientific conception—core conception—and intuitive assumptions about implicit information of external representations—implicit assumptions—in common. The students' implicit assumptions could be divided into three types again: core assumption, auxiliary assumption, and context-inducing assumption. The core assumption, like the core conception, played a significant role in constructing the alternative conception (hard core), while the auxiliary assumptions were incomplete implicit assumptions to protect the alternative conception (protective belt). The context-inducing assumption was an implicit assumption bringing the context of the subsequent curriculum, and the core conception and the core assumption could be interpreted in this induced context. At the end of the study, the implications related to learning progressions were discussed.     

Exploring revictimization process among Turkish women: The role of early maladaptive schemas on the link between child abuse and partner violence

The purpose of the current study is to explore the revictimization process between child abuse and neglect (CAN), and intimate partner violence (IPV) based on the schema theory perspective. For this aim, 222 married women recruited in four central cities of Turkey participated in the study. Results indicated that early negative CAN experiences increased the risk of being exposed to later IPV. Specifically, emotional abuse and sexual abuse in the childhood predicted the four subtypes of IPV, which are physical, psychological, and sexual violence, and injury, while physical abuse only associated with physical violence. To explore the mediational role of early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) on this association, first, five schema domains were tested via Parallel Multiple Mediation Model. Results indicated that only Disconnection/Rejection (D/R) schema domains mediated the association between CAN and IPV. Second, to determine the particular mediational roles of each schema, eighteen EMS were tested as mediators, and results showed that Emotional Deprivation Schema and Vulnerability to Harm or Illness Schema mediated the association between CAN and IPV. These findings provided an empirical support for the crucial roles of EMSs on the effect of revictimization process. Clinical implications were discussed.     

Incidence of violence in Turkish schools: A review

The present article deals with the incidence of violence cases inTurkish schools. A review of research based on published research reports andunpublished M.Sc. and Ph.D. dissertations is presented and basic lines of researchare discussed. Special emphasis was placed upon culturally specific issues,besides the culturally determined attitudes of parents and teachers. The need for anationwide system for the prevention of violence and corporal punishment wasemphasized.     

Multiple traumas and resilience among street children in Haiti: Psychopathology of survival

In Haiti, as in several developing countries, the phenomenon of street children has become a major public health issue. These children are often victims of traumas and adverse life events. This article aimed to investigate traumas experienced by street children and their coping and resilience strategies used to deal with adversities in a logic of survival, relying on a mixed method approach. A group of 176 street children, aged 7–18 (n = 21 girls), recruited in Port-au-Prince, completed measures assessing PTSD, social support and resilience. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to document traumatic experiences, factors related to resilience and coping strategies. After performing statistical analyses to evaluate prevalence and predictors associated with PTSD, and level of social support satisfaction and resilience, qualitative analysis using a grounded theory approach was conducted. Results showed that street children experienced multiple traumas such as neglect, maltreatment, psychological, physical and sexual abuse. However, they also showed self-efficacy to face their traumatic experiences and few of them (less than 15%) obtained scores reaching clinical rates of PTSD, while a large majority presented a level of resilience between moderate to very high. A socio-ecological model of multiple traumas and a model of coping, survival and resilience strategies are conceptualized. Data provide a better understanding of the traumas experienced by street children, their coping and resilience strategies. Results underscore ways to develop practices to offer psychological support, social and vocational integration based on the real needs of these children, in a perspective of social justice.     

近二十五年来战后中间路线研究综述

概括了战后中间路线研究的重要论文、论著,并对中间路线研究中的主要观点、研究现状及进一步研究的意义几个方面作了论述。     

贵州省中学教师职业倦怠的现状研究

对464名贵州省中学教师的问卷调查发现:贵州省中学教师的职业倦怠整体上并不严重,但有相当比例的教师有比较明显的倦怠倾向;教师职业倦怠的发展随教龄的增加呈现出“两低中高”的发展趋势,教龄6-10年是职业倦怠最严重的阶段,在教师职业生涯的中期,教师的情感耗竭高于其个人成就感;性别、学历、职称、是否担任班主任、学校类型和地区分别对教师职业倦怠的一个或多个维度有显著影响。     

Long-term stability of students' evaluations: A note on Feldman's “consistency and variability among college students in rating their teachers and courses”

Feldman (1977), reviewing research about the reliability of student evaluations, reported that while class average responses were quite reliable (.80s and .90s), single rater reliabilities were typically low (.20s). However, studies he reviewed determined single rater reliability with internal consistency measures which assumed that differences among students in the same class (within-class variance) were completely random—an assumption which Feldman seriously questioned. In the present study, this assumption was tested by collecting evaluations from the same students at the end of each class and again one year after graduation. Single rater reliability based upon an internal consistency approach (agreement among different students in the same class) was similar to that reported by Feldman. However, single rater reliability based upon a stability approach (agreement between end-of-term and follow-up ratings by the same student) was much higher (medianr=.59). These results indicate that individual student evaluations were remarkably stable over time and more reliable than previously assumed. Most important, there was systematic information in individual student ratings—beyond that implied by the class average response—that internal consistency approaches have ignored or assumed to be nonexistent.     

一种概念框架: 知识外在表征在教学中的应用

文章通过概述知识外在表征的定义、教学价值、已有研究和应用实例,对知识的视觉化表征形式提出分类的概念框架,并描述了九种主要的知识的视觉表征形式.虽然该研究有益于视觉学习和课堂教学,但我们仍需在理论原理和概念区分方面对知识的外在表征特性展开更多的研究以促进其在教学中的应用.