In defense of curriculum themes

As the children straggle into the room Monday morning, their eyes fall on a new piece of equipment. One of them asks, “What are we gonna do today?”     

In defense of scientific autonomy: The two cultures revisited

This article is adapted from a lecture delivered on April 25, 1988 at a meeting sponsored by the National Association of Scholars, at the University of Texas in Austin.     

Analogies in chemistry textbooks

Abstract

This study combines a critical analysis of analogies found in eight chemistry textbooks used by Australian senior high school students with the views of the textbook authors about analogies in chemistry textbooks and teaching. Sixty‐two analogies were identified which described abstract chemical concepts such as atomic structure and collision theory. A range of styles, including pictorial analogies, were identified and the analogies were found to have variant amounts of analogical mapping and analogue explanation. Analogical limitations were rarely identified. Authors contended that they were cautious about including analogies in textbooks as analogies require a flexibility not available when they are set in print. It was argued that analogy was best applied as a strategy for teachers in response to them perceiving that students had misunderstood an original explanation.     

How textbooks are neutered

This essay was originally presented as part of the panel “What Can the Colleges Do for the Schools?” at “Strategies for the Nineties,” the second national conference of the National Association of Scholars, held June 8–10, 1990.     

In defense of modest goals when teaching about the nature of science

This article mentions briefly the long tradition of proposals for including historical and epistemological elements in science programs; it draws attention to some contemporary educational issues that hinge upon interpretations of the nature of science, especially constructivist proposals; it mentions the range of philosophical debate on the merits of constructivism; it examines one goal commonly advanced for teaching about the nature of science and suggests that this can amount to indoctrination; and, finally, it proposes a modest goal for such teaching. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 161–174, 1998.     

晚清海关促进洋员汉语学习的政策措施研究

文章对近代中国的晚清海关促进汉语学习的政策措施进行了研究。在赫德、安格联两任总税务司的大力倡导和积极推动下,海关洋员汉语学习取得了明显成效。赫德率先把推进洋员汉语学习作为战略决策,以强制方式在海关推行汉语学习,安格联则较好延续了赫德的做法。海关洋员汉语学习与考试聘用、选拔晋升、奖金津贴、教育培训、考绩报告等政策制度紧密结合,使汉语学习成为强制性或体制性的需求,具有组织化、制度化的明显特点,对当今汉语国际教育与推广有着现实启示意义。