莫高窟前史新探——宕泉河流域汉晋遗迹的历史意义

敦煌莫高窟所在地宕泉河流域自汉代开发以来就有人类活动;西晋时建仙岩寺。作为敦煌最古老的佛教建筑,它见证了佛教从印度和中亚传入中国的历史;作为历史上敦煌菩萨竺法护从事大乘佛教经典翻译的场所,它称得上是中国大乘佛教的发祥地;同时作为中国最早的习禅场所,它也是敦煌高僧昙猷在竺法护译出禅经的前提下"依教修心,终成胜业"的历史见证。     

Emphasis on emotions in student learning: Analyzing relationships between overexcitabilities and the learning approach using Bayesian MIMIC modeling

The aim of this study is to investigate interrelationships between overexcitability and learning patterns from the perspective of personality development according to Dabrowski’s theory of positive disintegration. To this end, Bayesian structural equation modeling (BSEM) is applied which allows for the simultaneous inclusion in the measurement model of all, approximate zero cross-loadings and residual covariances based on zero-mean, small-variance priors, and represents substantive theory better. Our BSEM analysis with a sample of 516 students in higher education yields positive results regarding the validity of the model, in contrast to a frequentist approach to validation, and reveals that overexcitability – the degree and nature of which is characteristic of the potential for advanced personality development, according to Dabrowski’s theory – is substantially related to the way in which information is processed, as well as to the regulation strategies that are used for this purpose and to study motivation. Overexcitability is able to explain variations in learning patterns to varying degrees, ranging from weakly (3.3% for reproduction-directed learning for the female group) to rather strongly (46.1% for meaning-directed learning for males), with intellectual overexcitability representing the strongest indicator of deep learning. This study further argues for the relevance of including emotion dynamics – taking into account their multilevelness – in the study of the learning process.     

Media as social partners: the social nature of young children's learning from screen media

Television has become a nearly ubiquitous feature in children's cultural landscape. A review of the research into young children's learning from television indicates that the likelihood that children will learn from screen media is influenced by their developing social relationships with on-screen characters, as much as by their developing perception of the screen and their symbolic understanding and comprehension of information presented on screen. Considering the circumstances in which children under 6 years learn from screen media can inform teachers, parents, and researchers about the important nature of social interaction in early learning and development. The findings reviewed in this article suggest the social nature of learning, even learning from screen media.     

Contextual and individual-level predictors of abused children's reentry into out-of-home care: a multilevel mixture survival analysis

Objectives

This study examined the effects of individual and contextual factors on reentry into out-of-home care among children who were discharged from child protective services in fiscal year 2004-2005. The objectives were to: (1) examine individual and contextual factors associated with reentry, (2) explore whether there are meaningful groups of youth who differ in terms of risk for reentry, and (3) determine whether relatively homogeneous clusters of child welfare agencies, based on contextual characteristics, differ significantly in terms of the reentry rates of the children whom they serve.

Method

The study design involved a multilevel longitudinal analysis of administrative data based on an exit cohort. Two Cox proportional hazards multilevel mixture models were tested. The first model included multiple individual level predictors and no agency level predictors. The second model included both levels of predictors.

Results

The results of multilevel Cox regression mixture modeling indicated that at the individual level, younger age, being placed in out-of-home care because of neglect and having physical, health problems corresponded to a decreased likelihood for reentry. At the agency level, lower average expenditures per child and contracting out case management services were associated with faster reentry into out-of-home care.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates that children who reenter out-of-home care appear to be a homogeneous population and that reentry is associated with both contextual factors and individual characteristics.

Practice implications

The most important implication that can be drawn from the study findings is that reentry may be most effectively prevented by focusing on such factors at the organizational level as contracting out case management services and funding allocation. Child welfare agencies that are responsible for an array of services and decide to contract out case management should consider the use of performance-based contracts and emphasize and strengthen quality assurance approaches for contracted services. In addition, to compensate for lower funding allocated for children served in out-of-home care, child welfare workers should become more familiar with community resources and help connect families to these supports.     

A Right to Speak Out: The Morin Case and its Implications for Teachers�� Free Expression

In 1988, Richard Morin, a Grade 9 teacher in Prince Edward Island, Canada was removed from the classroom for showing his students a film that was critical of Christian fundamentalism. The ensuing court battle, which eventually resulted in Morin??s vindication in 2002, has received surprisingly little attention. I begin the analysis with a careful examination of the legal issues involved in Morin??s trial and subsequent successful appeal, and also explain the relationship of these decisions to the famous case of James Keegstra in Alberta. Following this, I discuss the implications of the Morin case for teacher free expression in Canada. I conclude by suggesting that Canadian teachers may well have more scope for free expression than they realize.     

Situational interest and academic achievement in the active-learning classroom

The aim of the present study was to investigate how situational interest develops over time and how it is related to academic achievement in an active-learning classroom. Five measures of situational interest were administered at critical points in time to 69 polytechnic students during a one-day, problem-based learning session. Results revealed that situational interest significantly increased after the problem stimulus was presented. Subsequently, situational interest gradually decreased but at the end of the day increased again. Testing a path model relating the situational interest measures showed strong (directional) interrelations. Moreover, situational interest was highly predictive for observed achievement-related classroom behaviors. The latter, in turn, proved to be a significant predictor of academic achievement. Aggregating situational interest over the day led to less accurate predictions of achievement-related classroom behaviors and academic achievement. Implications of these findings for situational interest research are discussed.     

Childbirth education in the 21st century: an immodest proposal

Childbirth education was an important social movement in the 20th century but has lost its way in recent years. We describe the reasons for the dwindling importance of childbirth education and offer a proposal for reform that will align childbirth education with the needs of today's birthing mothers. Our plan will create "Centers for the Childbearing Year" (CCBYs) and a new model of childbirth educator, which we call the "birth coach." The CCBY is the place for women to go to for information and support related to fertility, pregnancy, childbirth, and newborn care; the birth coach combines the role of childbirth educator, doula, and postpartum caregiver. In creating a fresh model of childbirth education, we not only honor our pioneers but also rediscover the wisdom in community and relationship that childbirth offers us, and we learn in new ways to journey alongside each other to create new possibilities for birthing families.     

Understanding and applying the dynamics of test practice and study practice

Two different methods of practice are available in the learning of simple information, test practice or study practice. Of these two methods of learning, research has generally shown that test practice is superior to study practice. However, this research has not considered the testing advantage with respect to the fact that test learning is uncertain (i.e. if recall fails, nothing appears to be learned) or with respect to the fact that study learning depends greatly on the duration of the study event. The following work clarifies these issues by presenting an integrated computational model of the relative costs and benefits of testing compared to study presentation [based on the ACT-R theory of declarative memory; Anderson, J.R. & Schooler, L.J. (1991). Psychological Science 2: 396–408; Pavlik Jr., P.I.. & Anderson, J.R. (2005). Cognitive Science 29: 559–586]. This model was applied to determine how test and study practice can be optimally employed to improve learning and provides a framework for understanding the effects of mnemonic strategies in simple memory tasks.     

PUKHA: a new pedagogical experience

Society needs responsible leaders and entrepreneurs. CDIO (conceive, design, implement and operate) is a framework for engineering education based on outcomes, more than on contents, that has been adopted by a growing number of engineering educational institutions for producing the next generation of engineering leaders. In order to support engineering students to become entrepreneurs and to bear other concerns than merely technical on today's rapid changing world, the authors believe the CDIO syllabus needs to be improved, and therefore propose a pre requisite to a useful CDIO perspective: IdEF, standing for Identify, Evaluate and Formulate real problems and needs. Based on this concept, this paper describes a new pedagogical project framework (PUKHA - to project, to undertake, to know how to achieve). Within PUKHA projects, more than 300 students have trained and checked their will, risk, responsibility, communication, leadership and entrepreneurship over the last three years.