Children's Literature in Adult Education

This article investigates the possible role of children's literature in the education of adult learners of English. This three-year study on adult learners of English from the People's Republic of China shows that children's literature can be effective in teaching linguistic skills such as pronunciation practice and improving language acquisition. Using and reading children's literature is an initial step to developing literary competence, critical thinking, increasing knowledge, and multicultural understanding as well as exposing learners from developing countries to effective innovative educational methodology. Despite the limitations of children's literature—identification with child protagonists—it paves the way to developing literacy in adult literature.     

Improvement of rectification effects in diffuser/nozzle structures with viscoelastic fluids

This paper reports the improvement of rectification effects in diffuser∕nozzle structures with viscoelastic fluids. Since rectification in a diffuser∕nozzle structure with Newtonian fluids is caused by inertial effects, micropumps based on this concept require a relatively high Reynolds numbers and high pumping frequencies. In applications with relatively low Reynolds numbers, anisotropic behavior can be achieved with viscoelastic effects. In our investigations, a solution of dilute polyethylene oxide was used as the viscoelastic fluid. A microfluidic device was fabricated in silicon using deep reactive ion etching. The microfluidic device consists of access ports for pressure measurement, and a series of ten diffuser∕nozzle structures. Measurements were carried out for diffuser∕nozzle structures with opening angles ranging from 15° to 60°. Flow visualization, pressure drop and diodicity of de-ionized water and the viscoelastic fluid were compared and discussed. The improvement of diodicity promises a simple pumping concept at low Reynolds numbers for lab-on-a-chip applications.     

Developing a professional vision of classroom practices of a mathematics teacher: views from a researcher and a teacher

The term professional vision points to the many nuanced ways professionals see. This paper traces the development of a professional vision of a researcher and a teacher looking at classroom practices. The researcher’s interest was to capture and study notable aspects of the teacher’s practice. Through a coding scheme, disparate classroom events were organized and analyzed to yield a researcher’s professional vision of the teacher’s practices. For the teacher, through reviewing the video records of his own classroom practices, his professional vision provided a basis for him to reflect and develop professionally. Leveraging on the work of the researcher, he initiated and transformed his own practices. Their collaboration yielded a mutually informed development of professional vision of classroom practices. In juxtaposing the two developments, the researcher and the teacher’s views can be contrasted, their distinctive interests highlighted and common grounds explored. Some implications for developing professional vision are drawn, and it is in the common grounds of the teacher’s professional development and seeing with a goal of enhancing of student learning that hold some promise of a mutual interest in developing a professional vision of classroom practices.     

Metacognitive development and moving away

It is now largely accepted that social and cultural factors have a significant impact on cognitive development in children. Piaget acknowledged the impact of social factors and peer interaction on cognitive development. However, there has been relatively little work on the impact of social and cultural factors on the development of metacognition in first‐year university students. Using the Learning and study strategies inventory (LASSI) as a measure of metacognition, this study samples first‐year undergraduates in Hong Kong (N = 1815) and identifies significant differences in metacognitive abilities between students living in their home environment and those who have moved away from their family and, in some cases, culture, to pursue undergraduate education.     

学马列要精,要管用——学习《邓小平文选》第三卷的体会

学马列要精,要管用是学习马列主义、毛泽东思想的目的、态度和方法。学习的目的在于应用,在于指导实践。学习态度必须坚持理论联系实际的学风。学习方法坚持少而精,学习和掌握马克思主义的立场、观点和方法。     

儒家文化对认知发展的影响

本论文研究儒家文化对中国儿童认知发展有何影响。文献归类为几方面的研究：早期控制冲动的能力与日后学业成就的关系，言语能力与非言语能力的比较，创造力的培养，学业成就动机，成就动机与集体取向的关系，对学习成败的信念与归因，及学习方式与思维。证据表明儒家文化①强调把早期冲动控制的掌握作为日后学业成功的先决务件，②培育植根于集体主义倾向的学业成就动机，③把成功或失败归因于努力。其教学和学习的方式着重于记忆和重复练习，而不是鼓励发现、创造和元认知。     

The evolution of a hybrid classroom: Introducing online learning to educators in American samoa

TechTrends - This case study suggests that the process of designing and facilitating hybrid courses in the island community of American Samoa required continuous negotiation with respect to the...     

Evaluation in the Design of Complex Systems

We identify literature that argues the process of creating knowledge‐based system is often imbalanced. In most knowledge‐based systems, development is often technology‐driven instead of requirement‐driven. Therefore, we argue designers must recognize that evaluation is a critical link in the application of requirement‐driven development models because it provides the information that keeps the iterative developmental process on track. In this study we took a closer look at the decision‐making in the design of a complex performance system in a non‐profit organization. The purpose was to gain insights into the roles and functions of evaluation during the process of building a performance support system. This study adopted an exploratory case study as its inquiry method. Findings suggested that effective communication is as important a function to evaluation as is decision‐making, and that the implementation of evaluation seldom follows the textbook guidelines. That is, evaluation practice is a patchwork history of the designers' knowledge and experience. Further, neither complexity nor the informality of the evaluation protocols seems to influence the quality of decision‐making.