Establishing a Competence Profile for the Role of Student-centred Teachers in Higher Education in Belgium

The increasing importance of constructivism in higher education has brought about a shift in pedagogy from a focus on the teacher to a focus on the student. This has important implications for teaching and assessment. A student-centred pedagogy implies a different role for the teacher. What exactly does student-centred teaching require from teachers’ actual teaching practice? What is expected from them in order to teach in a student-centred way? It is in order to respond to these questions that this research project has been carried out establishing a core competence profile of student-centred teachers in higher education. Qualitative data were collected by means of semi-structured in-depth interviews with teachers from different institutions for higher education in Belgium, known for their student-centred way of teaching. This research method is innovative compared to the methods used for existing competence lists in the literature, which were usually developed on the basis of conversations with pedagogical experts. By exploring practice and having teachers participate in the development of a competence list, the acceptance of a competence profile is much higher. The result of the project is a validated competence profile which takes into account the critiques on existing competence lists. The competence profile provides a further insight in the functioning of teachers within a student-centred pedagogy and can be used as a starting point for the educational development of teachers within this pedagogy.     

Assessing the counselling needs of high school students in Kenya

The Student Counselling Needs Scale (SCNS) was administered to 867 participants recruited from high schools in Kenya. The data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis yielding five factors: human relationships, career development, self development, social values, and learning skills were assessed. The findings highlighted the importance of using assessment instruments to identify students’ counselling needs in Kenya.     

固支Mindlin 板弯曲问题的辛本征解

Hamiltonian system for the problem on clamped Mindlin plate bending was established by introducing the dual variables for the generalized displacements in this letter. By separation of variables, the transverse eigen-problem was derived based on the sympletic geometry method. With the solved sympletic eigen-values, the generalized sympletic eigen-solution was derived through eigenfunction expansion. An example of plate with all edges clamped was given. The sympletic solution system was worked out directly from the Hamiltonian system. It breaks the limitation of traditional analytic methods which need to select basis functions in advance. The results indicate that the sympletic solution method could find its more extensive applications.     

Scaling behavior of nucleotide cluster in DNA sequences

In this paper we study the scaling behavior of nucleotide cluster in 11 chromosomes of Encephalitozoon cuniculi Genome. The statistical distribution of nucleotide clusters for 11 chromosomes is characterized by the scaling behavior of P（S） ∝ e^-αs＇ where S represents nucleotide cluster size. The cluster-size distribution P（S1＋S2） with the total size of sequential C-G cluster and A-T cluster S1＋S2 were also studied. P（S1＋S2） follows exponential decay. There does not exist the case of large C-G cluster following large A-T cluster or large A-T cluster following large C-G cluster. We also discuss the relatively random walk length function L（n） and the local compositional complexity of nucleotide sequences based on a new model. These investigations may provide some insight into nucleotide cluster of DNA sequence.     

Novel high torque bearingless two-sided rotary ultrasonic motor

Applications are limited at present because the currently available ultrasonic motors (USMs) do not provide suffi-ciently high torque and power. The conventional travelling-wave USM needs the bearing to support, which required lubricant. To solve the above problem, a bearingless travelling-wave USM is designed. First, a novel structure of the two-sided USM consisting of a two-sided teeth stator and two disk-type rotors is designed. And the excitation principle of the two-sided travelling-wave USM is analyzed. Then, using ANSYS software, we set up the model of the stator to predict the excitation frequency and modal response of the stator. The shape of the vibration mode was obtained. Last, the load characteristics of the USM are measured using ex-perimental method. The maximum stall torque and the no-load speed were obtained. The results showed that the characteristics of the two-sided USM are better than those of the conventional one-sided USM.     

Confronting Challenges to the Liberal Arts Curriculum: Perspectives of Developing and Transitional Countries

Contemporary international higher education scholarship tends to focus on the global financial crisis,on massification,privatization,cross-border education,university ranking,and student mobility.However,few studies deal with the development of liberal arts programs around the world and they are often related to Western systems of higher education or that of the US,where liberal arts education has long been seen as a fundamental issue.Comparative studies,however,could help scholars to become aware of critical trends and reforms,also the impact they might have on a global society.     

Critical Thought within the Social Welfare Policy Course

Critical thought is a necessary element for proficient practice in social work at both the micro and macro levels. For this reason, social work educators must seek to integrate critical thought in BSW and MSW curricula. This article provides a method for achieving this integration in the social welfare policy course. The method includes the four following phases: instruction regarding logical errors, presentation of logical errors in contemporary political debate, demonstration of critical thought in policy position analysis, and self-assessment of one's own logic. The implications of this method for practice in a values-based context are discussed.     

Rethinking the World Bank Agenda for Chinese Higher Education Reform

This article explores the way in which the World Bank has worked effectively with China in higher education. It investigates whether or not the cooperation between the two has changed in line with their changing relationship. More specifically, it discusses whether the World Bank’s China agenda reflects the reform package of socio-institutional neoliberalism which the World Bank has tended to promote worldwide in the era of the Post-Washington Consensus, and how China’s higher education reform has been influenced by the agenda. The article argues that as China is transferring its role from that of a recipient country to that of a donor country, it is increasingly important to position itself as a global player. Other than mastering the game rules of the international community, China should also expand its influence within and through these major international organizations.