A View on the Current Situation in Russian Education

This paper reflects the current state in Russian education which has a strong correlation with the socio-economic crisis. The responsibilities for education are held partially by the state and partly by other social institutions and as a whole, all of them form the system of education. There is a rather wide set of laws, decree statements, and rules about education in Russia, but they currently are far removed from practical realization. The situation with financing educators, schools, and universities is very critical at present in Russia. The idea of differentiation and democratization in School Reform has had both positive and negative effects. To rescue the Russian system of education from a crisis, a strong state policy in education and a strong system of implementation are required. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Does spatial awareness training affect anatomy learning in medical students?

Spatial ability (SA) is the cognitive capacity to understand and mentally manipulate concepts of objects, remembering relationships among their parts and those of their surroundings. Spatial ability provides a learning advantage in science and may be useful in anatomy and technical skills in health care. This study aimed to assess the relationship between SA and anatomy scores in first- and second-year medical students. The training sessions focused on the analysis of the spatial component of objects' structure and their interaction as applied to medicine; SA was tested using the Visualization of Rotation (ROT) test. The intervention group (n = 29) received training and their pre- and post-training scores for the SA tests were compared to a control group (n = 75). Both groups improved their mean scores in the follow-up SA test (P < 0.010). There was no significant difference in SA scores between the groups for either SA test (P = 0.31, P = 0.90). The SA scores for female students were significantly lower than for male students, both at baseline and follow-up (P < 0.010). Anatomy training and assessment were administered by the anatomy department of the medical school, and examination scores were not significantly different between the two groups post-intervention (P = 0.33). However, participants with scores in the bottom quartile for SA performed worse in the anatomy questions (P < 0.001). Spatial awareness training did not improve SA or anatomy scores; however, SA may identify students who may benefit from additional academic support.     

Museums and Indigenous People in Australia: A Review of Previous Possessions,New Obligations: Policies for Museums in Australia and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples

Previous Possessions, New Obligations was launched by Museums Australia Inc. in 1993, the International Year for the World's Indigenous People, as a policy framework to guide the development of relationships between museums in Australia and Indigenous Australians. The policy was based on consultation with Indigenous people to develop protocols, policies and procedures for more sensitive collection management and for including Indigenous people in research and public programs; and to address issues of governance. It expressed the values that would underpin new relationships between museums in Australia and Indigenous Australians. An evaluation of the policy was conducted in 2000 in a collaboration between the Australian Museum Audience Research Centre, Sydney, and Museums Australia Inc., Canberra. The evaluation found that the policy had substantially met its goals, particularly in establishing the primary rights of Indigenous people to control their cultural material in museum collections. However, a range of substantially new issues emerged which require new policy responses and initiatives.     

The 2006 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science presented to Fernando Nottebohm, Ph.D. for demonstration of Central Neurogenesis in Adult Avians, with Concomitant Implications for the Theory of Memory and for the Future of Neurological Repair in Injury and Disease

Nottebohm is noted for his demonstration of Central Neurogenesis in Adult Avians, with Concomitant Implications for the Theory of Memory and for the Future of Neurological Repair in Injury and Disease.     

Psychological traits and loyalty intentions towards e-Government services

Purpose

Having been rated the world's leader in e-Government Readiness in 2002, 2004, and 2005, Taiwan sought to capitalize on its experience in e-Government implementation by launching, in 2007, a new Government-to-Citizen service entitled “e-Housekeeper”. The success of this service has since then become an important focus for practitioners.

Methodology

The reported research utilizes a psychological approach that is different from the classical models that dominate the existing literature, by examining how citizens’ adaptive–innovative cognitive styles and involvement jointly influence their loyalty intentions towards e-Housekeeper. The style/involvement model is tested by means of information from a sample of 206 Taiwan citizens.

Findings

While innovators initiated e-Housekeeper significantly earlier than others, their usage did not last for long. In contrast, more-involved citizens have shown higher loyalty intentions. More specifically, a combination of decision-making style and involvement significantly influences both when citizens try the service and whether they continue to use it: more-involved adaptors reported the strongest loyalty intentions.

Originality/value

Practical implications of the findings for the style/involvement model are suggested in the context of enhancing the strategic performance of e-Government services. The value of the style/involvement model is enhanced as a social scientific approach to the analysis of consumer innovation.     

Situating Learning of Human Performance Technology

The Organizational Communication, Learning, and Design Department at Ithaca College is experimenting with educational methods that situate learning in authentic contexts, for example, in real cases with actual clients. We hope that these methods will better prepare our students for skilled practice in the complex situations and environments where they will work. One of our efforts has focused on an upper-level undergraduate course titled Performance Technology, for which we have developed a variety of what we believe are innovative strategies and activities. Results have been encouraging and have suggested more direct and powerful links between preparation and practice.     

相关概念和影响因素

为在普通教育和职业教育问建立创新性的关系,欧盟采取了包括从课程开发到教育体系改革等多种方法.作为西方工业界的一部分,欧洲国家在提升职业教育与培训的吸引力和质量方面面临一些相似的挑战.     

Beyond the Rhetoric: A framework for evaluating improvements to the student experience

Tertiary Education and Management - A framework is described to assist institutions in evaluating the extent to which activities described as “quality improvements” or “quality...     

Learning to talk: community support and views of parents from socially disadvantaged families

Part of a multimethod ethnographic study that aimed to explore the knowledge of local parents concerning children learning to talk is described. The study was carried out with parents from several different ethnic and language groups in a socially disadvantaged part of Sheffield, a large city in the northeast of England.
In the phase of the study reported here, parents (either English, Urdu/Punjabi and Arabic speakers) took part in interviews, as well as contributing to the validation of the project. This study found that parents from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds living in this socially disadvantaged area, believed learning to talk to be very important and that family, community, including faith community, and professionals, have roles in promoting learning to talk. They indicated that local community groups, including faith communities, could play a positive role in supporting and developing their knowledge.
This paper will be of interest to those seeking innovative ways to support parents in socially excluded communities, particularly parents of children learning to talk, and so contribute to better outcomes for children, families and communities. It also contributes to our understanding of the development of parental knowledge about learning to talk in socially disadvantaged communities.