Learning to argue as a biotechnologist: disprivileging opposition to genetically modified food

In the public discussion of genetically modified (GM) food the representations of science as a social good, conducted in the public interest to solve major problems are being subjected to intense scrutiny and questioning. Scientists working in these areas have been seen to struggle for the position of science in society. However few in situ studies of how the debate about science appears in learning situations at the university level have been undertaken. In the present study an introductory course in biotechnology was observed during one semester, lectures and small group supervision concerning GM food were videotaped and student’s reports on the issue were collected. The ethnographic approach to Discourse analysis was conducted by means of a set of carefully selected and representative observations of how a group of students learn to argue and appropriate views held in the Discourse they are enculturated into. While socio-scientific issues (SSIs) are often associated with achieving scientific literacy in terms of “informed decisions” involving “rational thought and Discourse” this study shows that SSI in practice, in the context studied here, is primarily concerned with using scientific language to privilege professional understandings of GMOs and discredit public worries and concerns. Scientific claims were privileged over ethical, economical and political claims which were either made irrelevant or rebutted. The students were seen to appropriate a Discourse model held in the biotechnological community that public opposition towards GMO is due to “insufficient knowledge”. The present study offers insights into biotechnology students’ decision making regarding socio-scientific issues, while also demonstrating the utility of Discourse analysis for understanding learning in this university context. Implications for reflection on the institutional Discourse of science and teaching of controversial issues in science are drawn and the study contributes to the investigation of claims of scientific literacy coupled to SSIs and argumentation     

新时代中职教师评价体系存在的问题与改进措施

新时代教育强国战略的实施,离不开高质量教师队伍建设,而教师评价体系则是教师队伍建设的重要组成部分。立足新时代中职学校发展机遇,针对中等职业教育教师评价中存在评价难度大、学生评教公正性有待提升、高级职称教师动力不足、难以全面而准确地评价教师工作等问题,该文认为应基于教师专业标准、教考分离、教师评价奖励体系和活动体系,建立教师荣誉评价体系,完善组织机制、明确评审要求与积分机制,注重教师评价的正向引领与持续激励。     

有机铝水解制备亚微米高纯氧化铝

综述国内外高纯氧化铝的开发动向,介绍铵明矾热解法、碳酸铵铝石热解法、有机铝水解热解法、拜耳法等工艺和应用,介绍有机铝水解制备亚微米高纯氧化铝特色,该工艺中需用的醇可从醇铝水解中回收,并可作重复使用,得到α-Al₂O₃具有高松密度和相对均匀的粒度,平均粒径0.5-0.06μm,纯度99.99%。     

Abduction,deduction and induction: can these concepts be used for an understanding of methodological processes in interpretative case studies?

Within the area of interpretative case studies, there appears to be a vast amount of literature about theoretical interpretations as the main analytical strategy. In light of this theoretically based strategy in case studies, this article presents an extended perspective based on Charles Sanders Peirce’s concepts of abduction, deduction and induction. I intend to show some of the integral relationships between these concepts which can be relevant for interpretative case studies exemplified by classroom research. The connections between these concepts and interpretative field research result in two interpretative strategies, illuminated by syllogisms, and named abduction–deduction–induction (A–D–I) and deduction–induction–abduction (D–I–A). These strategies will be discussed.     

Compulsory Higher Education Teacher Training in Sweden: Development of a national standards framework based on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Today visible proofs of excellence in teaching and learning are increasingly important aspects of institutional branding in higher education (HE). Teaching competence is brought forward as a central aspect of the quality of programmes. Still, the induction of new university teachers is managed in many different ways. Approaches may vary according to how teaching competence is perceived; as growing from practice only, requiring formal courses or, for instance, outlined in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) movement. In Sweden, the HE Ordinance from 2002 states that to get permanent positions, lecturers should have completed Compulsory HE Teacher Training (CHETT). The size and organisation of the courses were not regulated in the Ordinance and institutional practices varied. In a three-year project intended learning outcomes for CHETT was suggested. These outcomes are based on SoTL and linked to an estimated workload of 10 weeks. Based on a national survey in 2006, institutional responses to the proposals are analysed.

     

如何调整成教女生在跨栏学习中的焦虑状态

跨栏跑是田径技术教学中难度较大的项目之一,对学生的力量、速度、协调、柔韧,心理等素质都要求较高。函授专科女生鉴于自身条件在学习该项目时易产生畏惧心理,教师对这种状态既要高度重视又要想办法调整,以减轻学生在学习时的心理压力,提高教学质量。     

Increasing the career choice readiness of young adolescents: an evaluation study

A career workshop that applies models of the Cognitive Information Processing Approach (Sampson, Reardon, Peterson, &; Lenz, 2004) and incorporates critical ingredients (Brown and Ryan Krane, 2000) to promote the career choice readiness of young adolescents was developed and evaluated with 334 Swiss students in seventh grade applying a Solomon four group design with a three-month follow-up. Participants significantly increased their performance in terms of career decidedness, career planning, career exploration, and vocational identity. Implications for evaluation research and counselling practice are presented.     

Synthetic speech and computer aided reading for reading disabled children

A simple way to partially compensate for word decoding problems is to let disabled readers have a micro-computer pronounce the words they are unable to read. Using a program developed for the IBM-PC/AT and a Scandinavian multilingual text-to-speech unit, children can read a textfile (of any size) on the monitor and use a mouse to request the immediate pronunciation of a word. In study 1, Grade-2 children did not perform better on a reading comprehension test when using computer-aided reading, but they rated their understanding significantly higher than when using a text. In study 2, the effect of computer-aided reading in special education settings was studied. Results indicated that older children, from grade 4 and up, benefited more from the computer aided reading than did younger ones. However, both experimental and control groups showed gains in several aspects of reading. Some children did not seem to have metacognitive skills enough to benefit from the computer-aided system. These children may initially need more extensive training in how to use the system and how to monitor their own reading. Reasons for letting the computer deliver the decoding aid as morphological segments are discussed.     

Challenges of engagement with health services in Sweden’s schools: listening to the views of school nurses and students with recurrent pain

This article reports on the views of school nurses (n = 25) and students with recurrent pain (n = 24) in Sweden with regard to school-based pedagogic practices. A number of common categories with implications for pedagogic practice were identified by analysing qualitative interviews with these groups, using the coding techniques of grounded theory. The results indicate that a failure to develop trust made it difficult for some students to initiate contact with a school nurse and that some students perceive the issue of recurrent pain being of relevance to all young people, deserving coverage in the curriculum. We thus conclude that it is important to integrate personal, social and health education in the ordinary spaces of teaching and learning in order to complement and bolster the conventionally organised school health services in Sweden. However, this might be difficult to achieve because many of the school nurses emphasised that health and education were commonly treated on parallel tracks in their schools, under the management of different authorities.     

Teachers leading teachers – understanding middle-leaders’ role and thoughts about career in the context of a changed division of labour

ABSTRACT

This longitudinal study aims to create in-depth knowledge about the phenomena of middle-leadership and career in school by identifying (1) driving forces for seeking and maintaining middle-leading positions, (2) opportunities and difficulties in maintaining the middle-leading role over time, and (3) underlying thoughts of career disclosed in the respondents’ expressions. Five different reasons for seeking middle-leading positions are identified and driving forces for maintaining the position are categorised as either internal reward/non-observable outcomes or external reward/observable outcomes. Furthermore, the results show that different types of difficulties arise in distinct phases and that middle-leaders’ needs for support therefore vary over time. Additionally, the complexity of teachers’/middle-leaders’ career thinking clearly emerges, and implications for practice are discussed.