Primary School Teachers' Understanding of Environmental Issues: An interview study

In the light of an increased emphasis on environmental education in revisions of the National Curriculum to be introduced in September 2000, this study used in-depth interviews to explore the understanding of a non-random sample of 12 practising primary school teachers in four areas: biodiversity, the carbon cycle, ozone and global warming. A methodological innovation in this research was the prior identification of basic scientific explanations of each area for a primary teachers, and the use of these as benchmarks for judging understanding. The study was able to identify those underpinning science concepts which were well understood, and those which were not so well understood. Some missing concepts and misconceptions are also reported. Although the findings cannot be generalised to all primary teachers, the fairly strong science backgrounds of eight teachers in the sample suggest that some of the difficulties reported may be found more widely. It is suggested that both the basic explanations and the difficulties of understanding displayed by the teachers can usefully inform programmes of professional development for environmental education. An outline of a guide for teacher education adopting this approach is provided.     

Don''''t Punish Every Mistake

In one of my assignments as a young infantry(步兵)officer,I was sent tothe 48th Infantry near Frankfurt,Germany.In those days our prize weaponwas a huge 280-mm atomic cannon. One day Captain Tom Miller assigned my platoon to guard a 280.Ialerted my men,loaded my.45 caliber(口径)pistol and jumped into my jeep.I     

How student perceptions about online learning difficulty influenced their satisfaction during Canada's Covid-19 response

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a significant challenge to higher education and forced academic institutions across the globe to abruptly shift to remote teaching. Because of the emergent transition, higher education institutions continuously face difficulties in creating satisfactory online learning experiences that adhere to the new norms. This study investigates the transition to online learning during Covid-19 to identify factors that influenced students' satisfaction with the online learning environment. Adopting a mixed-method design, we find that students' experience with online learning can be negatively affected by information overload, and perceived technical skill requirements, and describe qualitative evidence that suggest a lack of social interactions, class format, and ambiguous communication also affected perceived learning. This study suggests that to digitalize higher education successfully, institutions need to redesign students' learning experience systematically and re-evaluate traditional pedagogical approaches in the online context.

Practitioner notes

What is already known about this topic

• University transitions to online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic were undertaken by faculty and students who had little online learning experience.
• The transition to online learning was often described as having a negative influence on students' learning experience and mental health.
• Varieties of cognitive load are known predictors of effective online learning experiences and satisfaction.

What this paper adds

• Information overload and perceptions of technical abilities are demonstrated to predict students' difficulty and satisfaction with online learning.
• Students express negative attitudes towards factors that influence information overload, technical factors, and asynchronous course formats.
• Communication quantity was not found to be a significant factor in predicting either perceived difficulty or negative attitudes.

Implications for practice and/or policy

• We identify ways that educators in higher education can improve their online offerings and implementations during future disruptions.
• We offer insights into student experience concerning online learning environments during an abrupt transition.
• We identify design factors that contribute to effective online delivery, educators in higher education can improve students' learning experiences during difficult periods and abrupt transitions to online learning.

     

School students’ confidence when answering diagnostic questions online

Educational Studies in Mathematics - In this paper, we analyse a large, opportunistic dataset of responses (N = 219,826) to online, diagnostic multiple-choice mathematics questions, provided by...     

提高西藏黄奶牛生产性能研究

该项目是中澳国际联合的其中一个,根据发展奶业,促进农区畜牧业发展,提高农村生活水平的需要在西藏河谷流域农牧交错带开展调研.三年来在四个不同的区域进行随机抽样设点,了解项目区奶牛发展现状,系统收集分析当前农户饲养奶牛的饲料结构,营养水平、繁殖成活能力以及管理模式.同时引进澳方饲养奶牛的先进技术、管理措施和发展理念,有效利用西藏现有的作物秸秆,研发优良饲草、饲喂技术,进一步研究牛在一个生长周期中的饲料平衡、生长模式及量化营养等生产性能的对应关系,加大引创结合、重点突破,提高项目区奶牛生产性能,增加农户现金收入.