中国、韩国与日本高等教育重点建设政策比较

In the era of globalization, China, Korea and Japan have put forward favorable policies to develop higher education. The essay is aimed to make a comparison of their various policies. The conclusion is that, when facing similar forces and problems against the background of globalization, the guidelines and goals of the key construction projects in higher education demonstrate convergence, meanwhile, due to different development status and governing patterns in higher education, the policy contents and implementation procedures tend to be divergent. __________ Translated from Qinghua Daxue Jiaoyu Yanjiu 清华大学教育研究(Tsinghua Journal of Education), 2007, (3): 106–110     

Changes in the level of biogenic amines in cerebrospinal fluid of suicidal attempt cases

The levels of norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA) serotonin (5-HT) and its metabolite 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5-HIAA) have been determined in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of normal (n=25) and suicidal attempt cases (n=30). A significant decrease in the level of NE (p<0.01), 5-HT(p<0.001) and 5-HIAA (p<0.001) in the CSF of suicide attempt cases were observed as compared to normal controls. It is concluded that CSF 5-HIAA level which is drastically depleted may be used as an early biochemical indicator of suicidal attempt so that it may be treated by the drugs which can enhance the suppressed neurotransmitter activity.     

Teachers' peer support: difference between perception and practice

This paper is aimed at exploring teachers’ perceptions and practices of peer support in Bangladeshi primary schools. It also looks into the contrast between the perceptions and practices, and the underlying reasons behind such deviations. The study collects data from teachers who are undergoing a large-scale teacher development project called English in Action. The project provides face-to-face and distance learning support to the teachers, as well as promotes the idea of context-based learning through peer support in both primary and secondary schools in Bangladesh. This study adopted a mixed method approach. The quantitative part looks into teachers’ perceptions and practices in regards to peer support. A close-ended questionnaire was used to understand the extent teachers feel peer support is important and their actual engagement with colleagues for the support activities. Qualitative methods including observations, focus group discussions, and interviews are used to identify the activities that teachers do together with their colleagues in a school and the barriers to such activities. The results show that, teachers define peer support in a specific way and consider it as very important for their professional development. However, their engagement in such activities is restricted by several factors.     

Impact of teachers’ professional development on school improvement—an analysis at Bangladesh standpoint

This study seeks to describe the teachers’ professional development activities in Bangladesh and explores the hypotheses about the relationship between teachers’ traditional professional development activities and school improvement. Data from a representative sample of City secondary schools from Bangladesh (n = 127) were gathered through questionnaires from 127 principals and 694 teachers. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used in this research. This study found significant impacts of some of teachers’ professional development activities on school improvement. Also found that the maximum school improvement can be achieved if schools put more emphasis on teachers’ collaboration, in-service training and classroom observation and less emphasis on individual action enquiry. The findings of this study provide important information for the policy makers, educational managers and especially for the headmasters and teachers concerned with the improvement of teachers’ quality in secondary schools of Bangladesh. This study adopts a concurrent approach of data collection and analysis.     

Suppressing Memory and Knowledge: A Self-taught Pedagogy

This article contextualizes the significance of lived experience in relation to personal narratives and learning largely by examining Zainab Salbi’s autobiography Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny: Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam. Discussing Salbi’s education and personal life as the daughter of Saddam’s private pilot, the article explores the learner’s reluctance to share what Donald Winnicott calls ‘the secret self’. This resistance on the part of the learner complicates the notion of communication as a therapeutic method that educators usually use as the bases for teaching and learning, as explicated by Alice Pitt. In Salbi’s politicized world, she explains how suppressed memory and reluctance to express oneself are tools of survival that ultimately turn into a lifestyle inside and outside the classroom. By employing Winnicott’s metaphor of hide and seek to demonstrate ambivalence in communication, this study explores how Salbi’s experience as a woman with a suppressed personal history can culturally and psychologically be very similar to teachers and students who are reluctant to share their own memories. In effect, this paper examines the implications of suppressed memory and knowledge among reluctant learners for pedagogical practices worldwide.     

Contextual influences on sources of academic self-efficacy: a validation with secondary school students of Kerala

This study investigates the theorized sources of Academic Self-Efficacy among the higher secondary school students of Kerala, India. Mastery Experience in the form of Academic Achievement, vicarious experience in the form of School Image and Social Persuasion in the form of Parental Encouragement are included as the predictor variables of Academic Self-Efficacy. Participants in the present study were 700 higher secondary school students of Kerala, selected using stratified random sampling. The findings of the study confirm the theorized correlation of Academic Self-Efficacy with previous achievement, vicarious experience (school image) and persuasory information (parental encouragement). In the total sample, the percent of variance in Academic Self-Efficacy that is predictable by the three-predictor variables is nearly one quarter (23.83?%). School Image is the best contributing variable (9.42?%) followed by Mastery Experience (8.67?%) and then by Parental Encouragement (5.74?%). The findings shows that apart from cultural differences, locale and gender difference also exist in sources of Academic Self-Efficacy. The superiority of School Image over Mastery Experience in predicting Academic Self-Efficacy is different from that found in the West, theoretically and empirically. In India, self-efficacy beliefs of youngsters continue to depend more on social and domestic factors than personal experience and mastery.     

A Novel Approach to Investigate the Impact of Mindset and Physiology on the Choice to Invest Effort During an Arithmetic Task

Growth mindset, the belief that personal attributes such as intelligence are malleable, has previously been related to more effort investment. Here, we investigated how undergraduates' mindset (N = 114) relates to the choice to invest effort during an arithmetic task, indexed by whether they make low vs. high effort-related choices. Social cognitive theory suggests that past performance experiences (mastery vs. failure) and physiological state are important sources for competence self-evaluations. Therefore, in addition to mindset, we also investigated how effort-related choices are influenced more dynamically, by failures and physiological responses during the task. Growth mindset and physiological effort mobilization did not predict effort-related choices but making mistakes did predict lower effort choices in the subsequent round. This study further supports the importance of mastery experiences for effort investment and provides a novel approach for integrating different levels of influence on effort-related choices during an educationally-relevant task.     

Additive effects due to biochar and endophyte application enable soybean to enhance nutrient uptake and modulate nutritional parameters

We studied the effects of hardwood-derived biochar (BC) and the phytohormone-producing endophyte Galactomyces geotrichum WLL1 in soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) with respect to basic, macro- and micronutrient uptakes and assimilations, and their subsequent effects on the regulation of functional amino acids, isoflavones, fatty acid composition, total sugar contents, total phenolic contents, and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)-scavenging activity. The assimilation of basic nutrients such as nitrogen was up-regulated, leaving carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen unaffected in BC+G. geotrichum-treated soybean plants. In comparison, the uptakes of macro- and micronutrients fluctuated in the individual or co-application of BC and G. geotrichum in soybean plant organs and rhizospheric substrate. Moreover, the same attribute was recorded for the regulation of functional amino acids, isoflavones, fatty acid composition, total sugar contents, total phenolic contents, and DPPH-scavenging activity. Collectively, these results showed that BC+G. geotrichum-treated soybean yielded better results than did the plants treated with individual applications. It was concluded that BC is an additional nutriment source and that the G. geotrichum acts as a plant biostimulating source and the effects of both are additive towards plant growth promotion. Strategies involving the incorporation of BC and endophytic symbiosis may help achieve eco-friendly agricultural production, thus reducing the excessive use of chemical agents.     

Influence of surface treatments on fatigue life of a two-stroke free piston linear engine component using random loading

INTRODUCTION Fatigue durability has long been important issues in the design of a two-stroke free piston linear engine structure (Torres and Voorwald, 2002; Rahman et al., 2005a; 2005b). Durability assessment is traditionally done in the later part of the product development stage when prototypes are available, and heavily re- lied on in confirming ground durability tests. This process is very time consuming and often results in over-design with weight penalties, which is the major obsta…     

Effect of seedling age and water depth on morphological and physiological aspects of transplanted rice under high temperature

INTRODUCTION Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the most im-portant crops in Pakistan. It is the third largest crop interms of area and production after wheat and cotton.Although rice in Pakistan is consuming large acreage,Pakistan is still far behind other rice producingcountries. The average yield is very low (2 t/ha) ascompared to Egypt (8.4 t/ha) and USA (6.6 t/ha).There are many reasons for this low yield. The mostimportant are high temperature (40?50 °C), low hu-midity at …