Existence and uniqueness of a class of double pyramidal central configurations in six-body problems

Under the necessary conditions for a double pyramidal central configuration with a diamond base to exist in the real number space, the existence and uniqueness of such configurations were studied by employing combinedly the algebraic method and numerical calculation. It is found that there exists a planar curl triangle region G in a square Q such that any point in G and given by the ratio of the two diagonal lengths of the diamond base and the ratio of one diagonal length of the base to the height of the double pyramid configuration determines a unique double pyramid central configuration, while all points in Q-G have noreferance to any central configuration.     

Dual learning — a challenge for higher education in the new landscape of governance

Tertiary Education and Management - In many countries, practice-oriented programmes have been recast as university programmes, fuelling debate on the purpose of higher education. We highlight two...     

The adjustment of national education systems to a knowledge‐based economy: a new approach

In his article ‘Globalisation, the Learning Society, and Comparative Education’, Peter Jarvis recommends lifelong learning in the period of globalisation as a topic ripe for scholarly research. In particular, he argues for the examination of the extent of lifelong learning around the world and its relation to different levels of employment. This article contributes to this line of inquiry by analysing how education policies facilitate adjustment to economic change and examining how advanced industrialised countries (AICs) compare in their promotion. Principal component analysis is used to construct indices for education systems that reflect these two objectives, and the results reveal considerable cross‐national variation. The Nordic countries appear well‐positioned to cope with changed skill needs. A closer look at the cases of Denmark and Italy portrays how a national education system can facilitate or hinder adaptation, respectively.     

The Relevance between the Ego and the Other——a Theoretical Account of Relevance in Translation

This paper focuses on the notion of relevance in translation,aiming to clarify the cognitive motivation of translation,which can serve as an account of relevance in translation.     

Toward a new rationale of science education in a non‐western society

Abstract

Science education in most non‐western societies is modelled on that of the west. Considering that science is a culture which westerners produced, we cannot but infer that science must be a foreign culture for non‐westerners and that science education in such a society must have some characteristics different from thoseof science education in a western society. In this essay, a model for a rationale of science education for a non‐western society is proposed, in which science and traditional culture can be seen tobe in conflict.     

Riding the information highway—towards a new kind of learning

Adults' motivation to participate in continued education is of immediate interest, as lifelong learning is now considered as the solution to the pressing problems of increased levels of unemployment, not least among unskilled workers. Many theories concerning motivation and adult education maintain that individuals are innately motivated to learn, and conclude that motivation problems result from various dispositional, situational and structural impediments. If such barriers are removed, adults will be naturally motivated to educate themselves. This article argues against these theories and maintains that motivation should not be regarded as something residing within the individual. It is rather a construct of those who see it lacking in others. A critical reading of the literature shows how motivation theory stigmatizes people held ‘unmotivated’ in that the theories ascribe motivation problems to the individual, while assuming the basis upon which the problem is formulated for granted, and making those who formulate the problem invisible. Instead of a problem solver, motivation becomes a euphemism for direction and control. This article suggests that motivation should be seen as a relational concept, rather than as residing within the individual. Adults' motivation, or lack of this, is best understood in relation to those who formulate the problem. Instead of asking what motivates adults to study, research should focus on who states that this is a problem, and why, and the reasons for this conclusion. This approach makes the operations of power visible, and demonstrates how the discourse of lifelong learning, as a necessary political response to economic and technological determinism, constructs adults as inadequate.     

Mathematics education in a time of crisis—a viral pandemic

Educational Studies in Mathematics -     

关于《Existence and Multiplicity of Traveling Waves in a lattice Dynamical System》的注记

文章《Existence and Multiplicity of Traveling Waves in a lattice Dynamical System》利用单调迭代格式和上下解方法研究了一个格动力系统小于临界波速的行波解的存在性,而当波速等于临界波速时不易通过构造上下解来证明其行波解的存在性,该文利用极限方法证明了原格动力系统的具有临界波速的行波解。     

Comparative Analysis of View of Marriage between Little Women and Love in a Fallen City——Take Jo and Liusu Bai as examples

<正>According to the survey investigated by American Population Reference Bureau in 2011,there are 46.3%American women are still in spinsterhood.Similarly,in China,the number of single ladies in Beijing has outnumbered one third of the overall female adults.The views of marriage embodied in the above phenomenon are also reflected in many western and eastern classic literatures.Among them,the heroines in Little Women and Love in a Fallen City are representative.This paper compares the     

National quality assessment systems in the Nordic countries: developing a balance between external and internal needs?

The article compares national quality assessment systems of higher education in Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The intention is to study whether there is a balance between internal institutional and external societal needs in the design and organisation of quality assessment systems. The study shows that the systems are highly adjusted to each countrys specific governing strategy for higher education, and that these procedures so far have resulted in very incremental changes in the existing power structures of higher education.     

Seeing the ‘new’ in light of the ‘old’: evolving interpretations of a new national English curriculum

This 2‐year longitudinal study explores the process by which three populations of practitioners (mentors, co‐ordinators, and teachers) interpreted a national curriculum involving a change in policies for teaching English as a foreign language. The analysis revealed that the process of managing the changes brought about by the new curriculum yielded ‘dialogues of practice’ between ‘old’ and ‘new’. These dialogues engaged mentors, co‐ordinators, and teachers alike in mediating between new understandings and old ones. It addresses the ways in which they made sense of the terminology of the new curriculum in light of the old curriculum, negotiated between new pedagogical content knowledge and ingrained conceptions of subject‐matter teaching, adapted old understandings of testing to new conceptions of performance‐assessment processes, and mediated between their need to preserve a sense of professional competence while feeling destabilized as ‘novices’ as they confronted innovative curricular practices. Participants' strategic need to ‘survive’ the changes resulted in the development of networks to support professional exchange and assist teachers in managing their way through the uncertainty of curricular change.     

An Analysis of Discourse Features between a Native English Speaker and a High School Student——A Case Study

Discourse is more than verbal language itself.The social significance of discourse lies in the relationship between linguistic meanings and the wider context in which interaction takes place.In this paper,the author describes a research project involving qualitative dialogues between a Chinese high school student and an American teacher.Discourse analysis let us see how macro-structures are carried through micro-structures.     

Translating between representations in a social context: a study of undergraduate science students’ representational fluency

Interacting with and translating across multiple representations is an essential characteristic of expertise and representational fluency. In this study, we explored the effect of interacting with and translating between representations in a computer simulation or in a paper-based assignment on scientific accuracy of undergraduate science students’ explanations regarding the underlying mechanisms of action potential. The study proposed that a simulation designed with scaffolded inquiry and with multiple dynamically linked representations fosters students to use greater scientific accuracy in speaking about a complex scientific phenomenon as well as to work with this complex knowledge in higher cognitive domains. Student explanations were analysed for use of accurate scientific language as they worked with the instructional tool as well as under test conditions. We also investigated the cognitive domain that students worked within as they created explanations of the phenomenon under study. The proportion of elaborations that occurred in higher-level cognitive domains such as applying, analysing, evaluating and synthesising was used to denote representational fluency. The rationale for this approach is discussed. Findings suggest that the simulation prompted students towards operating in higher cognitive domains in order to construct new knowledge and therefore promoted representational fluency. It also suggests that translating between representations in a simulation in a collaborative social setting contributes towards students’ use of accurate scientific language. Students’ perceptions expressed during the interviews confirmed the findings.     

Investigation of users’ preferences in interactive multimedia learning systems: a data mining approach

With advances in information and communication technology, interactive multimedia learning systems are widely used to support teaching and learning. However, as human factors vary across users, they may prefer the design of interactive multimedia learning systems differently. To have a deep understanding of the influences of human factors, we apply a data mining approach to the investigation of users’ preferences in using interactive multimedia learning systems. More specifically, a clustering technique named K-modes is used to group users’ preferences. The results indicate that users’ preferences could be divided into four groups where computer experience is a key human factor that influences their preferences. Implications for the development of interactive multimedia learning systems are also discussed.     

Students’ evaluations of the use of e-learning in a collaborative project between two South African universities

Online learning is increasingly being used in Higher Education, with a number of advantages to online learning being identified. One of these advantages is the suggestion that online learning provides for equality of opportunity. This article reports on students’ evaluations of the use of e-learning in a collaborative project between two South African universities. The results highlighted both positive and negative evaluations of the use of e-learning. The positive aspects identified were that e-learning provided for ease of communication between parties, and easy access to information and learning material. Negative aspects identified were that it presented some technical challenges; online communication was disjointed; there was unequal access to computers between students from the two universities; students felt that more face-to-face interaction is needed. The issue of unequal access to computers and the internet is highlighted as a crucial issue for e-learning in the South African context, and for the fostering of a democratising educational discourse.     

Characterising the development of the understanding of human body systems in high-school biology students – a longitudinal study

ABSTRACT

Science education today has become increasingly focused on research into complex natural, social and technological systems. In this study, we examined the development of high-school biology students’ systems understanding of the human body, in a three-year longitudinal study. The development of the students’ system understanding was evaluated using the Components Mechanisms Phenomena (CMP) framework for conceptual representation. We coded and analysed the repertory grid personal constructs of 67 high-school biology students at 4 points throughout the study. Our data analysis builds on the assumption that systems understanding entails a perception of all the system categories, including structures within the system (its Components), specific processes and interactions at the macro and micro levels (Mechanisms), and the Phenomena that present the macro scale of processes and patterns within a system. Our findings suggest that as the learning process progressed, the systems understanding of our students became more advanced, moving forward within each of the major CMP categories. Moreover, there was an increase in the mechanism complexity presented by the students, manifested by more students describing mechanisms at the molecular level. Thus, the ‘mechanism’ category and the micro level are critical components that enable students to understand system-level phenomena such as homeostasis.