High pressure research on materials

In this article, different methods for generating and measuring high pressure are described. Empirical equations of state (EOS) are illustrated for some standard materials. P Ch Sahu (left) is at the Materials Science Division of Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam. He is a specialist in the field of high pressure science and is presently heading this activity at his institute. His primary research areas are in high pressure phase transitions and in synthesis and study of novel materials under extreme pressure and temperature conditions.     

Homi Jehangir Bhabha: remembering a scientist and celebrating his contributions to science, technology, and education in India

The focus of this paper is on the current developments in science education occurring in the posthumously built Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education in Mumbai and to offer context for various indigenous developments that are shaping science education in India today. In this paper, I describe the story of Homi Bhabha and his rich legacy of India’s atomic energy program. Specifically, I focus on the institutions built by Homi Bhabha, including the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and I examine how these institutions have enabled Indian scientists to contribute to the advancement of science knowledge in the world.     

Facilitating online reflective learning for health and social care professionals

Drawing upon survey data and relevant literature, this paper compares the Radio and Television University System (RTVUS) in China, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), and the Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK) in respect of academic courses offered, course delivery mode, student characteristics, funding, and staffing. Similarities and differences are discussed, and the impact of socio-cultural factors in shaping distance education systems in different societies is examined.     

英·甘地科技思想对印度现代化的影响

英·甘地执政的15年里,先后发表各种施政演讲和政策声明,阐述发展印度科技思想,强调自力更生的重要性,也不排斥技术引进和国际合作;重视发挥政府在发展科技中的主导作用;注重提高全民族的科技素质;重视培养科技人才和充分发挥人才作用。英.甘地科技思想对印度现代化产生了重大影响,尤其在经济和科技领域取得重大成就。     

Interactive Distance Education for In-service Teachers In India

English: This paper discusses the interactive television technologies that are under development and experimentation in India. India, has developed Satellite based analogue and digital transmission systems for training and development purposes. The National Council of Educational Research and Training and Indira Gandhi National Open University have successfully conducted several experiments in training of in-service teachers using one-way video and two-way audio system. Use of VSAT and ISDN delivery channels is under experimentation, which provide two-way audio and video interaction during the teaching-learning process. The success of these programmes in teacher training has far reaching implications for teacher education in India.

Français: Cet article décrit les technologies de télévision interactive qui sont développées et experimentées en Inde. L'Inde a mis au point des systèmes de transmission analogues et digitaux par satellite. Le Conceil National pour la Recherche et la Formation en Èducation et l'Université Ouverte Nationale Indira Ghandi ont conduit avec succès plusieurs expériences sur la formation continue des enseignants utilisant la vidéo et un système émetteur-récepteur. L'utilisation des systèmes de diffusion VSAT et ISDN est expérimentée, ce qui fournit un système audio emetteur-récepteur et une interaction vidéo durant le processus de formation. Le succès de ces programmes dans la formation des mâitres a des implications à longue échéance pour l'éducation en Inde.

Deutsch: In diesem beitrag werden die interaktiven fernsehtechnologien, die in Indien gegenwärtig entwickelt und erprobt werden, vorgestellt. Indien hat satelliten-basierte analoge und digitale Übertragungssysteme für Aus-und Weiterbildungsswecke gebaut. Der National Council of Educational Research and Training und die Indira Gandhi National Open University haben mehrere lehrerfortbildungsprojekte erfolgreich mit mono-direktionalem fernsehen und bi-direktionalem audiosystem durchgefuhrt. Der erfolg dieses programmes in der lehrerfortbildung wird weitreichende folgen für die lehrerausbildung in Indien haben.     

Roles and competencies of academic counsellors in distance education

Academic counsellors or tutors are engaged as a link between learners and distance teaching institutions. They perform various roles such as facilitating learning of subject matter content, assessing assignments, providing motivation and encouragement, and supervising research/term papers/project work. Each of these roles requires specific competencies to enable them to perform satisfactorily. This paper identifies the roles performed by academic counsellors at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and the competencies required for each role. It also provides a generic list of competencies required to perform as an academic counsellor. Based on self‐rating of the competency of a group of academic counsellors, the paper recommends the training of academic counsellors and the development of distance teaching materials for use in competence‐building.     

Inservice Training of Primary Teachers Through Interactive Video Technology: An Indian Experience

India has yet to achieve elementary education for all children. Among the centrally sponsored initiatives to improve education are Operation Blackboard, to provide sufficient teachers and buildings, Minimum Levels of Learning, which set achievement targets, and the Special Orientation Programme for Primary School Teachers (SOPT). This article focuses on the last of these and describes the new technology used to train teachers so that the losses in transmission inherent in the cascade model are avoided. Interactive Video Technology involving the Indira Gandhi Open University and the Indian Space Research Organisation was used experimentally in seven-day training courses for primary school teachers in 20 centres in Karnataka State, providing one-way video transmissions and telephone feedback to experts from the centres. The responses from teachers and their trainers indicate considerable potential for the exploitation of new technology where large numbers of teachers require training.     

印度国立开放大学的发展及其启示

英迪拉·甘地国立开放大学是印度专门进行远程教育的最高学府,自称"世界上最大的大学".尽管它在成立初期发展缓慢,但是近年来发展迅速.作为两个人口最多的发展中国家,印度国立开放大学存在的问题应该引起我们的警惕,而它的经验特别值得我们借鉴.     

Planning for Flexible and Distance Learning in Engineering: Indian Experience

Speed of technology modernization at the workplace has brought a need for opportunities for professional development for those at work. Distance education in engineering provides a viable alternative to meet this learner need. In concrete terms, this calls for employment‐related, flexible programme structures, where course content design, self‐instructional material preparation and student support services for course delivery are planned and implemented in a collaborative endeavour between distance teaching institutions, conventional, academic institutions and industry. While detailing the distance education programmes in science, computer applications and nursing education at the Indira Gandhi National Open University, India, the paper presents the above networking approach to the design and implementation of flexible programme structures as developed by IGNOU in implementing its engineering programmes.     

英·甘地执政时期的科技政策

英迪拉·甘地执政时期依据印度国情先后推行以绿色革命为代表的农业科技政策,以科技为导向的教育政策和具有前瞻性的工业科技政策,成功地统领印度以科技强国为引擎,逐步实现经济的振兴,并开创了印度的"新经济"时代.     

国际远程教育质量保障特色与借——基于四所开放大学的案例

在对英国开放大学、美国凤凰城大学、印度英迪拉·甘地开放大学、加拿大阿萨巴斯卡大学等四所典型远程教育高校对比研究的基础上,分析了国际远程教育质量保障的特色,提出了对中国特色开放大学建设的借鉴,即：加强开放大学的立法研究,做好开放大学的大学定位,落实开放大学的办学自主权以及建立第三方的质量保障体系等。     

A short history of the Science and Mathematics Education Centre at Curtin University

This article is presented in four parts. In the first part, I describe the foundation of the Science and Mathematics Education Centre (SMEC) at Curtin University. In the second part, I explain the development of SMEC’s teaching and research capacity under its three directors. In the third section, I describe how federal government support of SMEC as a national Key Centre for Teaching and Research in School Science and Mathematics provided enhanced postgraduate study opportunities for science and mathematics teachers throughout Australia by offering degree programs through distance education and face-to-face contact, short courses, and seminars. At the same time, research and teaching capacity of the academic staff was enhanced through the internationalisation of the programs being offered. In the final section, I describe current and future developments at SMEC.     

The Introduction of Online Learning: A case study of YCMOU

There are many reasons why Indian open universities are adding online learning opportunities to their course offerings. Two universities, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and the Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU), have been developing online aspects of their programs for some years. This article documents the experiences at IGNOU and then examines the situation for online development at YCMOU. Lessons can be learned from both experiences. These include being strategic in choosing which courses to offer, and in deciding which services to develop for which clientele. Choosing those that will bring the greatest enhancement in flexibility and efficiency for the least amount of new skill requirement from learners is likely to be of biggest benefit. Keeping cognizant of the computing context of learner sub‐groups and enhancing learning through additional optional online services is most likely to result in effective courses and quality student services while maintaining efficiencies in financial logistics.     

《无机材料科学基础》教学实践与改革探讨

针对《无机材料科学基础》磨料磨具与超应材料专业基础课程,以及适应现代社会发展,培养学生能力,从教学内容,教学方法等方面总结教学经验的基础上,对无机材料科学基础课程的教学改革进行了探讨。     

Learning science in an alternative context: The effects on a selected group of young science educators

The Ontario Science Centre is a popular alternative learning environment for science and technology. Using semi-structured interviews, the research underpinning this paper investigates the experiences and effects of working as a Host or exhibit interpreter at the Science Centre. It examines how the Hosts benefit from the program in terms of their knowledge about and attitudes toward science and technology. What is distinctive about learning in this context, and its implications for science and technology education in schools, are discussed. The dominant aspects of learning for the respondents tended to be inspirational and attitudinal, as well as cognitive. The comments of the respondents indicate that in order to encourage learning in science and technology, science education needs to focus on more than a narrow concern with curriculum content.     

Some challenges for educational research in Latin America

Founding director of the Centro de Estudios Educativos (Centre for Educational Studies) in Mexico City and of the Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Educativos(Latin American Journal of Educational Studies). He was in charge of the National Programme of Educational Research of the National Council for Science and Technology. He now carries out research at the Regional Centre for Adult Education and Functional Literacy for Latin America. His recent publications include: La política de alfabetización de seis países latinoamericanos, Participatory Research: A New Research Paradigm?and Elementos para una propuesta orientada a elevar la calidad: La enseñanza tutorial.     

Advancing Diversity in STEM

Although progress has been made, greater efforts are needed to promote faculty diversity at the college and university levels, especially in STEM fields. Thus, it is important to elucidate best practices both for increasing awareness of diversity issues pertaining to higher education and for implementing change. This article focuses on the outcomes of a diversity workshop for college and university faculty hosted by the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, Division of Science and Research. More specifically, it elucidates how participation in the workshop translated into practice at the faculty participants’ home institutions.     

Science Research Models Used by High School Students: Comparison of Two Cases

We compare results of two different educational projects in which high school students manipulate computer models of physical systems derived from current science research. The first project developed a complete set of educational materials from scratch (software, hands‐on activities, experiments, and complete manuals) with which students study the growth of random fractal forms in nature. The result is a set of self‐contained educational modules whose software runs on standard personal computers of the early 1990s. The second project added graphics visualization interfaces to actual computation programs used in research on molecular networks, programs that originally ran only on high‐speed workstations (but now can run on recent personal computers). High school students used these workstation programs as supplements in conventional honors and regular high school chemistry classes, thus requiring us to develop fewer supporting and background materials. Both uses of computer models contributed to a change in method of instruction, toward independent student investigations, with the teacher acting as mentor and advisor.

The authors are grateful to the National Science Foundation for support under the following grants: MDR 89‐54628 (Applications of Advanced Technology—OGAF), MDR 91‐50079 (Applications of Advanced Technology—WAMNet), MDR 91‐50079 (Research in Teaching and Learning), ESI 93‐53900 (Instructional Materials Development), and ESI 93‐53500 (Teacher Enhancement).     

对硕士毕业生迁移就业收益的实证研究

本文通过国家科技部中国科技促进发展研究中心一项硕士研究生就业数据,分析了硕士毕业生迁移就业(包括离开户籍所在地和离开求学所在地)对其所找工作的起薪、学用匹配状况、教育层次匹配状况的影响。本实证研究发现,除了"跨籍就业"能够给硕士毕业生在起薪上带来显著的正向收益外,无论是"跨籍就业"、"跨学就业"还是"既跨籍又跨学就业"都不能给硕士毕业生带来显著正向的收益,并从预期收入和非经济收益等方面解释了其可能原因。基于实证研究的结果,笔者认为,国家和高校可以在毕业生就业上采取一定的引导或者干预措施,以促使毕业生的迁移就业既能带来私人收益也能带来社会收益。     

Challenges in Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Elementary Settings with Math Instruction using Learning Technologies

This research effort reports the findings of an empirical study focusing on the ways in which technological tools are implemented specifically in mathematics education in a Title I school. The purpose was to identify the perspectives and actions of the school’s mathematics specialist and the multi-graded (grades 2–3) classroom teacher as they attempted to deliver instruction with technology for both English Language Learners¹ (ELL) and non-ELL students. Findings showed that a critical factor in access to mathematics education and technology for ELL students in a multi-graded 2–3 classroom in a Title I (K-5) school setting was language. Although potentially powerful technologies—analog (concrete objects) and digital (software) were used, many ELL students could not access the content solely because of language difficulties. Teachers used the concrete objects as modeling tools, to reveal students’ thinking, and for communication of foundational mathematics. Conversely, the software used served none of these functions because the available software did not do the kinds of things the manipulatives did, teachers’ knowledge of exemplary software was insufficient, the school used an impoverished model of technology integration, and teachers were constrained by the school district’s policies of English immersion for ELL students.This paper was presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2005, Montreal, Canada, on Tuesday, April 12, 2005, 4:05–5:35 pm, in Le Centre Sheraton Montreal/Salon 7, in a session titled, “Science and Mathematics Teaching for Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Students” sponsored by Division K-Teaching and Teacher Education/Section 1—Research on Teaching Practices, Teacher Knowledge, and Teacher Education in Math and Science.Tirupalavanam G. Ganesh is a December 2003 graduate of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in Educational Media and Computers, Division of Curriculum and Instruction, at the College of Education, Arizona State University. He also holds a Master of Computer Science degree from Arizona State University. His teaching interests include graduate and undergraduate courses for in-service and pre-service teachers in the use of learning technologies for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and technology integration. His research interests include studying the impact of informal learning experiences in settings such as museums and after-school programs, technology integration, and teacher’s practices in elementary/middle schools. Address correspondence to Tirupalavanam G. Ganesh, Assistant Professor, Instructional Technology, College of Education, Curriculum and Instruction, University of Houston, 256 Farish Hall, Houston, TX 77204-5027. Tel.: +1-713-743-0574; e-mail: tganesh@uh.edu.James A. Middleton is Division Director of Curriculum and Instruction at the College of Education, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. He obtained his Ph.D. in 1992, in Educational Psychology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His teaching interests include mathematics methods for secondary teachers and graduate courses in children’s mathematical thinking and technological innovation. His research interests include motivational processes in education, children’s mathematical thinking especially in the area of rational number and geometry, and technological innovation in mathematics instruction and assessment. James A. Middleton, Director, Division of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, Arizona State University, Box 871011, Tempe, AZ 85287-1011. Tel.: +1-480-965-9644; e-mail: james.middleton@asu.edu.