Pareto-set reduction using compound information of a closed type

The axiomatic approach of Pareto-set reduction is used in this paper to solve the multicriteria choice problem. The goal is to construct an upper estimate for an unknown set of selected alternatives. A method for reducing the set of compromise alternatives using compound closed information on the preference relation of a decision maker is determined. An illustrative example is given.     

Motivations to Become Vocational Education and Training Educators: A Person-Oriented Approach

Given the scarcity of educators in Swiss vocational education and training (VET) and the lack of scientific knowledge about these individuals, the aim of the present study was to investigate motivations to become VET educators. In order to focus on individuals instead of variables, a typological approach was adopted and motivational profiles were built. The Factors Influencing Teaching choice framework was adapted to the context of the study and used to investigate multiple motivations, beliefs about the occupation, and pedagogical beliefs in a sample of 605 teachers and trainers from the German speaking and French speaking parts of Switzerland. Five profiles of motivation were extracted from the data, pointing to heterogeneity in the sample. Differences in socio-demographics, antecedent socialization, beliefs about the occupation, and satisfaction with career choice were found. On this basis, the authors suggest guidelines about how to advertise and attract individuals to become VET educators. Notably, the values to emphasize in order to make the occupation attractive have to be adapted to the linguistic region and the type of educators targeted.     

Modernization of an anatomy class: From conceptualization to implementation. A case for integrated multimodal–multidisciplinary teaching

It has become increasingly apparent that no single method for teaching anatomy is able to provide supremacy over another. In an effort to consolidate and enhance learning, a modernized anatomy curriculum was devised by attempting to take advantage of and maximize the benefits from different teaching methods. Both the more traditional approaches to anatomy teaching, as well as modern, innovative educational programs were embraced in a multimodal system implemented over a decade. In this effort, traditional teaching with lectures and dissection was supplemented with models, imaging, computer‐assisted learning, problem‐based learning through clinical cases, surface anatomy, clinical correlation lectures, peer teaching and team‐based learning. Here, we review current thinking in medical education and present our transition from a passive, didactic, highly detailed anatomy course of the past, to a more interactive, as well as functionally and clinically relevant anatomy curriculum over the course of a decade. Anat Sci Educ. © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.     

教育学研究的热点与重点——对2011年人大复印报刊资料《教育学》转载论文的分析与展望

通过对中国人民大学复印报刊资料《教育学》转载论文的统计分析,可以看出,2011年教育学研究的热点集中于教育公平、学前教育、公民教育、教师专业发展、教育评价等问题,质性研究方法、教育隐喻、儿童游戏等也是教育学研究的重点问题。在未来教育学研究的发展中,将关注社会主义核心价值体系教育、义务教育均衡发展、教育投入及经费支配等问题。     

Influence of gender and expected competencies on access to and utilization of cyberspace resources and services for research by postgraduate students

Education and Information Technologies - In this paper, the researchers’ goal was to examine the influence of gender on cyberspace resources and services use and the expected competencies for...     

How epistemic reflexivity enables teacher educators’ teaching for diversity: Exploring a pedagogical framework for critical thinking

Recent research points to the importance of teacher educators teaching for diversity in initial teacher education programmes. Teaching for diversity is an approach to teacher education in which an understanding of specialist literature and a focus on critical thinking supports a social justice agenda as opposed to merely using different tips and tricks to prepare future teachers for teaching diverse learners in the classroom. In this study, we explored how Australian and New Zealand teacher educators negotiated a social justice agenda in teacher education programmes, using a new transdisciplinary framework of epistemic reflexivity. The Epistemic Reflexivity for Teacher Education (ER-TED) framework draws on epistemic cognition (Clark Chinn’s Aims, Ideals, Reliable epistemic processes – AIR – framework) and Margaret Archer’s reflexivity to explore knowledge claims in teacher educators’ pedagogical decision-making. The findings identified how teacher educators in our study discerned and deliberated with respect to epistemic aims for justification, which involve transformative critical thinking and critical thinking for self. They reported good knowledge (ideals) as being scholarly in nature, and reliable epistemic processes based on higher-order thinking (analysis and evaluating competing ideas) or engaging with multiple perspectives. The teacher educators in our study are clear examples of how strong overall evaluative epistemic stances enable teaching for social justice. We argue that the ER-TED framework can help us as a profession to address teaching for diversity in teacher education programmes based on the belief that the pursuit of social justice requires an evaluativist epistemic stance.     

Using structured examples and prompting reflective questions to correct misconceptions about thermodynamic concepts

This paper explores the effectiveness of using ‘structured examples in concert with prompting reflective questions’ to address misconceptions held by mechanical engineering students about thermodynamic principles by employing pre-test and post-test design, a structured questionnaire, lecture room observation, and participants’ interviews. Students’ misconceptions were identified through pre-tests that evaluated students’ understanding of the chosen concepts, while conceptual change was assessed in pre-test–post-test design that revealed students’ ability to apply the concepts and transfer skills from a worked example to satisfactorily undertake a fairly complex similar problem. The use of worked examples in concert with prompting reflective questions is effective for inducing correct conceptual change and effective problem-solving skills. However, it is recommended that engineering tutors should incorporate inquiry-based learning approach and computer simulations alongside the use of worked examples with prompting reflective questions in order to enhance students’ conceptual understanding of thermodynamic concepts.     

The use of case-based learning in the development of student teachers’ levels of moral reasoning

The important role of the teacher in developing morally sensitive individuals is widely acknowledged. This paper examines the integration of context-specific moral development interventions within a four-year undergraduate teacher education programme in Ireland. The intervention strategy employed a case-based pedagogical approach where participants (n = 123) explored and discussed classroom scenarios to prepare them for a six-week school-based placement. Using the Defining Issues Test, results indicate statistically significant increases in levels of moral reasoning post intervention, suggesting that the use of a layered case-based pedagogical strategy provides students with alternative perspectives on their classroom practices and challenges their lay theories.     

“I Do This for All of the Reasons America Doesn't Want Me To”: The Organic Pedagogies of Black Male Instructors

ABSTRACT

This article examines the teaching philosophies of Black male teachers of Black male students in manhood development classes in a district-wide program in Oakland, California. Drawing on observations and instructor interview data, we explore the teachers’ histories, teaching philosophies, and the trajectory of their racial-educational understandings. We utilize Gramsci's (1971 Gramsci, A. (1971). Selections from the Prison Notebooks of Antonio Gramsci: Hoare, Q. & Smith, G. N. (Eds.). (Hoare, Q. & Smith, G. N., trans.) New York, NY: International.  [Google Scholar]) theory of the organic intellectual, Mills’ (1997 Mills, C. W. (1997). The racial contract. Cornell, NY: Cornell University Press. [Google Scholar]) and Leonardo's (2013 Leonardo, Z. (2013). The story of schooling: Critical race theory and the educational racial contract. Discourse: Studies in the cultural politics of education, 34, 599–610. doi: 10.1080/01596306.2013.822624[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) theories of the subperson and substudent, and Dumas’ (2014 Dumas, M. J. (2014). “Losing an arm”: Schooling as a site of Black suffering. Race, Ethnicity, and Education, 17(1), 1–29. doi: 10.1080/13613324.2013.850412 [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) notion of Black suffering to theorize the ways that race comes into play in the teaching of African American male students. We find that racialization and re-humanization are key to instructors’ teaching, and we identify two key aspects of their teaching philosophies: (1) Humanization/Love and (2) Reciprocity.