High school students’ scientific epistemological beliefs,motivation in learning science,and their relationships: A comparative study within the Chinese culture

This study explored the differences in high school students’ scientific epistemological beliefs (SEBs), motivation in learning science (MLS), and the different relationships between them in Taiwan and China. 310 Taiwanese and 302 Chinese high school students’ SEBs and MLS were assessed quantitatively. Taiwanese students generally were more prone to believe that scientific reality is invented, the development of scientific knowledge is culture-dependent, and scientific knowledge is always changing and its status is tentative than the Chinese students were. Yet, the Taiwanese students perceived higher test anxiety in science than the Chinese students did. Moreover, Chinese students who have a stronger belief that science knowledge is changing and tentative are more likely to perceive themselves as having higher test anxiety in science. The results suggest that the role of culture might have an impact on students’ SEBs and their MLS.     

DISCRIMINATORY ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXTS AND BLACK SCIENTISTS ON POSTSECONDARY FACULTIES

Severe underrepresentation of African-Americansamong postsecondary faculty is often linked toeducational pipeline supply problems,while institutional variations in demandfor black faculty labor and barriers to theirrecruitment and retention receive less empiricalattention. Using a nationally representative sample ofcollege faculty from a wide array of institutions andscience disciplines, this study investigates linksbetween internal organizational conditions and blackfaculty representation. Hypotheses derive from competingexplanations of the role of race in academicorganizations: institutionalized discrimination to protectdominant group privileges; statistical discriminationbased on expectations of racial group differences inacademic preparation; labor supply and politicalconstraints on black faculty recruitment. A multivariateanalysis examines organizational conditions that promoteor curb these dynamics and their relationship to blackappointments at different tenure levels. Results indicate that although the discipline-specificblack doctoral labor supply is a powerful constraint onthe representation of black faculty, selectiveorganizational contexts are substantial influences as well. Although we find little evidence thatinsulation from competition or segmented faculty labormarkets influence the racial composition of faculties,black faculty are more often found whereinstitutionalized discrimination may be checked by greaterformalization and black constituencies on campus.Consistent with statistical discrimination, blackfaculty are poorly represented at research-orientedinstitutions, even controlling for the scholarly reputationof doctoral credentials.     

Traversing the context of professional learning communities: development and implementation of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge of a primary science teacher

Background: Professional learning communities are increasingly recognized for their significance in building teachers’ competencies for educational reform. However, the knowledge development cycle of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) through multiple professional learning communities is not well researched.

Purpose: This qualitative case study investigates a primary science teacher’s TPACK development in the context of two interdependent learning spaces: a joint-school and a within-school professional learning community. The school’s organizational and sociocultural influences on teacher learning are also examined.

Participant: Teacher Sean (pseudonym) embarked on a science innovation project after two years of teaching in a Singapore mainstream school. He was tasked to integrate mobile-based inquiry learning and visible thinking pedagogical approaches, and to pilot the designed lessons for a primary three class.

Design and methods: A case-study approach involving multiple sources of data with cultural historical activity theory as the analytical lens was employed, to unpack the complementary and contradictory interactions across different interrelated activity systems. The purpose was to understand the (mis)alignments within and between the two professional learning communities.

Results: The findings indicate that Sean’s (subject) learning from the joint-school professional learning community to the within-school professional learning community faced multiple tensions that hindered his TPACK development (object). He faced difficulty in manipulating tools (technology and visible thinking routines) to translate the joint-school co-designed lessons into classroom implementation. Additionally, the volatility of the school’s organizational routines (rules) and the lack of communicative leader–teacher partnership (division of labor) did not afford sufficient infrastructure or instructional support.

Conclusions: Interactions between the teacher’s personal and contextual factors inhibited the designed TPACK from being implemented successfully. For ambitious pedagogical undertakings as illustrated in this case, more perceptive and synergistic organizational design thinking is needed to support beginning teachers’ TPACK development.     

证明不等式的几种特殊方法

从不等式的结构和特点出发,在已学过的知识的基础上进行广泛的联想,构造一个与不等式相关的数学模型,实现问题的转化,从而使不等式得到证明。本文探讨如何用构造法和柯西不等式法两种特殊方法来证明不等式。     

Interplay among technical,socio-emotional and personal factors in written feedback research

The centrality of written feedback is clearly seen from the proliferation of research in the context of higher education. As an increasingly expanding field in research, the majority of written feedback studies have been interested in investigating the technical aspect of how feedback should be given in order to promote student learning. More recently, researchers have focused on the socio-emotional factors at work in the feedback process, and advocated a dialogic approach to giving feedback in order to increase students’ understanding and active participation in the process. Moreover, to empower students to reflect on and make sense of the written feedback they receive, students’ personal characteristics, such as their prior and current knowledge, also play an important role. Nevertheless, reviewing studies on written feedback in the context of higher education shows a lopsided focus on the technical factors of written feedback, with little attention paid to the socio-emotional and student factors. This commentary aims at providing a broader definition of written feedback and identifying the dominant factors reported in research. A conceptual framework for looking into the factors at work in the feedback process is proposed and future research directions are suggested.     

中国高职院校自主招生入学测试现状研究

以早期进入自主招生的高职院校为研究对象进行取样研究,可以发现以下问题：文化课考试成绩所占比重过大;职业技能测试科学性不强;试题对不同类型考生缺乏针对性;部分院校在专业倾向性测试过程中将不同的专业进行相同的专业倾向性测试等。为此,高职院校进行自主招生的入学测试工作应完善相关政策;对不同类别考生进行分卷测试;建立中介机构以编制有效的职业倾向能力测验试卷;完善自主招生考试外的加分政策。     

Learning to Say No in Chinese

This study investigated the characteristics of adult-child disputes in 10 Mandarinspeaking families in Mainland China. Naturalistic interactions between caregivers and their 2-year-old toddlers were analyzed by coding the occurrence of disputes and the disagreement strategies used by caregivers and toddlers in times of dispute. Results showed that children's most frequent disagreement strategies included direct refusals, protests, and silence. In contrast, adults seldom used silence or refusals but instead used direct positive requests, expressions of dissatisfaction, and prohibitions when disagreeing with their toddlers. Overall, the results from the present study support the notion that disputes are ways to reflect existing social structures and ways by which adults in a culture can socialize children into disagreement strategies appropriate to their roles.     

基于手术室综合运作成本的手术排程优化

手术室是医院收入和支出的重要部门,其运作管理是医院科学管理的核心环节,因此合理安排手术排程,控制手术室综合运作成本显得尤为重要.为了提升模型的实用性,在调研国内医院手术室运作现状基础上,以最优化手术室综合运作成本为目标函数,考虑完整的手术流程和多种源于国内医护现状的资源约束、手术优先级、及运作约束等实际因素,构建了手术排程的数学模型.在经典蚁群算法基础上,改进设计了新的内外层蚂蚁路径图结构,实现外层蚂蚁选择手术顺序,内层蚂蚁选择对应的资源序列.并以国内某三级甲等医院一天的手术为算例进行计算和算法评价.对比结果表明,此排程算法在排程效率、资源平衡性和手术室综合成本多个指标方面都有优越性.     

非退化二次曲线的伴随直线的一般性质

提出了二次曲线的伴随直线的概念,从它与二次曲线的相关位置关系出发,利用解析方法证明了伴随直线的几个性质,为二次曲线的相关理论研究带来方便．