TIJAH: Embracing IR Methods in XML Databases

This paper discusses our participation in INEX (the Initiative for the Evaluation of XML Retrieval) using the TIJAH XML-IR system. TIJAHs system design follows a standard layered database architecture, carefully separating the conceptual, logical and physical levels. At the conceptual level, we classify the INEX XPath-based query expressions into three different query patterns. For each pattern, we present its mapping into a query execution strategy. The logical layer exploits score region algebra (SRA) as the basis for query processing. We discuss the region operators used to select and manipulate XML document components. The logical algebra expressions are mapped into efficient relational algebra expressions over a physical representation of the XML document collection using the pre-post numbering scheme. The paper concludes with an analysis of experiments performed with the INEX test collection.     

A comparative study of the professional and curricular conceptions of the secondary education science teacher in Spain: possible implications for ongoing teacher education

We compared the professional and curricular conceptions of two samples of secondary education science teachers in Spain, who differed in their years of teaching experience and in whether or not they had participated in a long‐duration scientific‐pedagogical refresher course. Using the data from their responses to a questionnaire, we analysed aspects of their professionalism as teachers (motivation and work satisfaction) and aspects of the curriculum related to content, teaching methods and evaluation. The results show a broader professionalism and a higher level of satisfaction in the case of the teachers with more experience and a higher level of professional training. We found significant differences in whether the pupils' ideas were regarded as erroneous, and in whether laboratory practical work was used to test theory. We conclude by setting out a series of reflections with the aim of working towards improving teachers' ‘professional development’.

Dans cet article, nous comparons les représentations professionnelles et curriculaires de deux échantillons de professeurs de Sciences de l'Enseignement Secondaire en Espagne, selon leur ancienneté et leur éventuelle participation à un cours de remise à niveau scientifique et pédagogique de longue durée. À partir des réponses à un questionnaire, nous avons analysé certains aspects professionnels, tels que la motivation et le degré de satisfaction dans l'exercice de la profession, de même que certains aspects curriculaires touchant les contenus, la méthodologie et l'évaluation. Les résultats démontrent un professionalisme plus important et un plus haut degré de satisfaction chez les professeurs les plus expérimentés et les mieux formés. Nous avons également trouvé des différences significatives en ce qui concerne la prise en compte des idées fausses des élèves ou la mise en place de travaux pratiques en laboratoire pour vérifier la théorie. Il en découle une série de réflexions dans le but d'améliorer le ‘parcours professionnel’ des enseignants.

En este artículo se comparan las concepciones profesionales y curriculares de dos muestras de profesores de Ciencias de Educación Secundaria españoles que difieren en los años de docencia y en la realización o no de un curso de actualización científico‐pedagógica de larga duración. Con los datos de un cuestionario, se analizaron aspectos de la profesionalidad docente, como la motivación y satisfacción en el ejercicio de la profesión, y aspectos curriculares, relacionados con los contenidos, la metodología de enseñanza y la evaluación. Los resultados revelan una profesionalidad más extensa y un mayor nivel de satisfacción en el caso de los profesores con más experiencia y mejor formados. Asimismo, se han encontrado diferencias significativas en asuntos tales como la consideración de las ideas de los alumnos como errores o la realización de prácticas de laboratorio para comprobar la teoría. A partir de ello se plantean una serie de reflexiones que buscan mejorar el ‘desarrollo profesional’ del profesorado.

In disem Artikel werden die Ansichten zu Beruf und Lehrerinhalten von zwei Gruppen von spanischen Erziehungwissenschaftern verglichen, die Pädagogik für den Unterricht an Sekundarschulen lehren und sich darin unterscheiden, dass sie eine unterschiedliche lange Berufserfahrung haben und einige sich wissenschaftlich in zeitlich länger befristeten Kursen fortgebildet haben, andere aber nicht. Die Ergebnisse eines Fragebogens wurden ausgewertet, um bestimmte Aspekte zu untersuchen, die die Arbeit der Dozenten betrifft, so zum Beispiel die Motivation und Zufriedenkeit bei der Ausübung des Berufs sowie Aspekte des Lehrplans, die Unterrichtinhalte, die Methodologie und Fragen der Evaluation betreffen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Dozenten mit größerer erfahrung und besser wissenschaftlicher Ausbildung vielseitiger in profesioneller Hinsicht sind und einen höheren grad an Zufriedenkeit aufweisen. Des weiteren konnten wesentliche unterschiede in Punkten wie der Bewertung von Schülerfelehrn oder bei der Durchführung von Praxisstunden im Labor, die der Anwendung der gelernten Theorie dienen, gefunden werden. An diesen Ergebnisse schlieben sich Reflexionen darüber an, wie die berufliche ‘Entwicklung und Fortbildung’ der Dozenten verbessert werden kann.     

Introduction to Proof: The Mediation of a Dynamic Software Environment

This paper, which reports on a long-term teaching experiment carried out in the 9^th and 10^th grades of a scientific highschool, is part of a larger co-ordinated research project. The workconstitutes a `research for innovation', in which action in the classroom isboth a means and result of a study aimed at introducing pupils totheoretical thinking and at studying the ways in which this process isrealised.The purpose of the study is to clarify the role of a particular software,Cabri-géomètre, in the teaching/learning process. Assuming aVygotskian perspective, attention is focussed on the social construction ofknowledge and on the semiotic mediation accomplished through culturalartefacts; the functioning of specific elements of the software will bedescribed and analysed as instruments of semiotic mediation used by theteacher in classroom activities.This revised version was published online in September 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Making Sense of What Students Know: Examining the Referents, Relationships and Modes Students Displayed in Response to a Decimal Task

Written tasks that request an explanation can offer detailed information concerning students' knowledge to the classroom teacher. The examination of students' written responses for the mathematical systems that are employed (referents), the connections that are displayed (relationships) and the communication methods that are utilized (modes) provides evidence that suggests how the student is making sense of a problem. The purpose of this article is to describe the constructs of referents, relationships and modes and to illustrate how these constructs may be reflected in students' written responses to a decimal task that requests an explanation. This article will also examine sets of responses from two classrooms using the proposed framework to illustrate the type of information that teachers may acquire through the application of this framework. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Object Mastery Motivation in Pre-school Children with and without Disabilities

In this study the level of object mastery motivation between children with Down's syndrome and children without disabilities of matched mental age was investigated. Data were collected through structured observations of all the children playing with four different educational toys of increasing complexity. Four variables were examined: task pleasure, task persistence, success and off-task behaviour. A one-way ANOVA revealed both statistically significant and nonsignificant differences between groups. Participants from both groups displayed age-appropriate behaviour when playing with the toys. Those with disabilities interacted less than the comparison group with the effect-production and sensori-motor tasks (the easier tasks), whereas, with the more difficult problem-solving tasks, both groups persisted equally. It is suggested that successful attempts elicit persistence on less complex tasks, whereas on the more sophisticated ones this effect is obtained by the challenging nature of the task.