A blended learning curriculum for training peer researchers to conduct community-based participatory research

Peer researchers (PRs) are research team members who share traits (e.g. gender, age, sexual orientation, diagnosis, income, housing situation, etc.) with study participants. Participatory methods and some fields (e.g. HIV/AIDS) expect PRs to be equitably involved in a project. Moreover, in Canada, there is a current impetus to include ‘the patient’ in health research. PRs often join a project without any formal research training, yet they are frequently tasked with suggesting appropriate language, recruiting participants, conducting interviews, administering surveys, analyzing data, and presenting findings. While there is literature on PR hiring, ethical considerations of PR engagement, and PR experiences, the methods of training PRs remain underreported. A blended learning curriculum (i.e. combination of webinars, didactic in-person presentation, filmed simulation, etc.), informed by the principles of action learning and the concept of reciprocity, has shown preliminary effectiveness in training PRs across two studies. This paper will present the curriculum, alongside exploratory evaluation results (n?=?7), with details on how the curriculum changed from one study to the next and how reciprocity between academic and peer researchers led to stronger collaborations.     

A Systematic Review of Remote Laboratory Work in Science Education with the Support of Visualizing its Structure through the <Emphasis Type="Italic">HistCite</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">CiteSpace</Emphasis> Software

Laboratory work, particularly the latest remote laboratories (RLs), has been assumed to have a general positive effect on science education because practical work can provide diverse learning experiences and enhance thinking skills suitable for the 21^st century. However, there has not been a synthesis of the science education research to support this assumption. The objective of this study is to systematically review the growth of educational research on laboratory work, particularly in RLs, utilizing a series of review processes with innovative software for visualizing structural relationships. The combined use and support of HistCite and CiteSpace software enabled the visualization of the citation structure and history of articles. The findings revealed that RLs were a state-of-the-art subset of laboratory work and a new way of conducting laboratory work that has gained fairly wide research attention in engineering education over the past two decades. Thus, this innovative literature review process has established a solid background for future research and development efforts on RLs in science education dealing with scientific and engineering practices.     

近代中国私立大学研究综述

近代中国私立大学是近代中国高等教育的重要组成部分,近代私立大学在其产生、发展过程中积累了丰富的办学经验,在学校管理、经费筹集、课程、教材教法、师资等方面形成了自己独特的办学特色,涌现了南开大学、复旦大学、厦门大学等著名大学。新中国成立后,近代中国的私立大学消逝了,至20世纪80年代末才又悄然兴起。这些成功的私立大学在那样动荡不安的社会环境下是如何生存发展的?其办学机制和成功的奥秘又是什么?私立大学的成功、失败和经验、教训给我们留下了宝贵的财富,值得我们去深入探究。近年来,近代中国私立大学的研究日益引起学者的关注,不少学者开始对近代私立学校进行研究和反思,一些学术著作和论文陆续发表。因此,本文拟对十几年来私立大学研究的状况作一综述。     

Combined strategy and attributional training for seventh grade average and poor readers

This paper reports on a study examining the effects of combined strategy and attributional training through small-group intervention in a specific reading task context. The training aims to provide instruction in the use of reading strategies while at the same time to convince students that their reading performance is attributable to their use of effective strategies, which is under their personal control. Four grade 7 (13 year old) classes, consisting of 40 poor readers and 56 average readers, participated in the study. Students were randomly allocated to one of four instruction conditions involving different combinations of strategy instruction and attributional training. Instruction was provided in small groups of 6 to 8 students over nine one-hour sessions. Results indicated that teaching poor readers use of effective reading strategies, while convincing them that reading successes and failures were attributable to use of effective or ineffective strategies, not only improved their comprehension performance and increased use of reading strategies, but also reduced their perceptions of learned helplessness.     

Direct and indirect effects of online learning on distance education

This paper presents an exploratory study that investigates the effects of online learning on distance education students in an open university context. Two hypotheses are posited: (1) a direct relationship exists between students’ involvement in online learning and distance learning outcomes, and (2) an indirect relationship exists between these two domains via the mediating variable of an institutional Transactional Presence (TP), that is, a student's sense of the availability of and connectedness with an educational institution. Student learning achievement, satisfaction and intent‐to‐persist are used as indicators of outcomes of distance learning. The analysis of data garnered from 285 distance students reveals multifaceted relationships between students’ engagement in online learning, their perceptions of institutional TP and the three learning outcome variables. Besides the findings, the paper will discuss factors affecting students’ engagement in online learning in relation to different requirements, that is, optional or compulsory online use as well as the level of the course (undergraduate or postgraduate).     

Reading strategy use and motivation among Chinese good and poor readers in Hong Kong

Eighty‐three good readers and 76 poor readers were compared on their ability to use reading strategies in Chinese reading comprehension and on various reading motivation variables. Poor readers scored lower than good readers in using all reading strategies, and especially in using sophisticated cognitive and metacognitive strategies. Poor readers also had lower intrinsic motivation in reading than had good readers. While the ability to use reading strategies had the strongest relation with reading comprehension, intrinsic motivation and strategy attribution might facilitate reading development through their positive relations with strategy use. Implications of these findings for implementing effective reading instruction in Hong Kong Chinese language teaching are discussed.     

基于胜任力研究的高校辅导员考核理论新探

当前,我国高校辅导员考核的现实困境与理论瓶颈并存,应用胜任力理论与方法进行辅导员考核具备鲜明的特点和优势,有助于摆脱这些困境。进一步探索基于胜任力模型的辅导员考核方法与操作流程,可以推动高校辅导员考核工作的优化。     

麻省理工学院"全球化"策略对我国高等教育国际化的启示

国际化是衡量大学办学水平的重要指标,是世界一流大学的重要特征,也是中国高校"双一流"建设的必由之路.中国高校目前在国际化建设中存在缺乏面向全球的顶层谋划、缺乏高质量的国际合作、缺乏国际知名的一流声誉等问题.文章综合分析牛津大学、耶鲁大学、南洋理工大学、麻省理工学院等四所高校的国际化发展路径,发现麻省理工学院所进行的全球化策略实践卓有成效且对中国高校来说最具借鉴意义.文章梳理了麻省理工学院策略的三大经验:一是远期规划引领发展;二是国际合作为纽带;三是核心价值融入策略.对中国高等教育国际化具有三点启示:一是加强顶层谋划,构建面向世界的"一流格局";二是开展全面合作,探索面向未来的"中国智慧";三是根植中华文化,塑造凸显特色的"一流名望".     

Knowledge building: aligning education with needs for knowledge creation in the digital age

Educational technology research and development - This paper examines the alignment of education with the needs for knowledge creation in the digital age using the Knowledge Building model and...