The Phenomenology of Space in Writing Online

In this paper we explore the phenomenon of writing online. We ask, 'Is writing by means of online technologies affected in a manner that differs significantly from the older technologies of pen on paper, typewriter, or even the word processor in an off-line environment?' In writing online, the author is engaged in a spatial complexity of physical, temporal, imaginal, and virtual experience: the writing space, the space of the text, cyber space, etc. At times, these may provide a conduit to a writerly understanding of human phenomena. We propose that an examination of the phenomenological features of online writing may contribute to a more pedagogically sensitive understanding of the experiences of online seminars, teaching and learning.     

Sexuality education： Analysis of Moroccan teachers＇ and future teachers＇ conceptions

Conceptions are analyzed as being the emergences from interactions between three poles： scientific knowledge （K）, values （V） and social practices （P）. The teachers＇ beliefs and values have a direct influence on the way of understanding and teaching a topic. These beliefs must be taken into account in the content and strategies of the teacher＇s formation. In this paper, the authors discuss the importance of studying and analyzing these conceptions and present the results of the research on teachers＇ and future teachers＇ conceptions about sexual health education. In this topic, the conceptions could be deeply rooted not only in scientific knowledge but also in value systems and social practices, because teachers often refuse to teach the ethical, psychological, economic and social issues not strictly reducible to biology, such as sexuality health. The authors used a questionnaire prepared jointly within the European project Biohead-Citizen.     

中澳美的经济变革与数学课程改革方向

世界经济结构正经历巨大的转型,具体表现为农业所占GDP的比例显著下降,而制造业,尤其是服务业则不断提高.中国、澳大利亚与美国是3个具有代表性的国家,经济上的这种变化对教育以及数学课程都产生了影响,反映了当今社会中对人们所需的"数学素养"的全新要求.中国、澳大利亚与美国义务教育阶段国家级数学课程都强调了"统计思想"与"关系性思维"这两个重要内容.     

Religious justification,elitist outcome: are religious schools being used to avoid integration?

Despite ongoing efforts to promote ethnic, racial and socio-economic integration, segregation continues to challenge education administrators and legal scholars. Privileged parents seeking to avoid integration employ various strategies such as attending private schools or buying houses in neighbourhoods with good school. This paper offers a combined empirical and legal research of another such strategy: the resort to religious schools. The research is conducted within one specific context, that of Israeli Religious State Schools. The empirical study examines whether “Torani” religious state schools (a category of religious schools that offer enhanced Jewish studies and a strict religious environment) induce socio-economic segregation. The findings indicate that “Torani” schools are indeed socio-economically segregated and serve children from higher socioeconomic class than regular religious state schools. It also shows that “Torani” schools are less reflective of their surroundings than regular religious state schools, and are more likely to be established by privileged parents in poor areas, where they are dissatisfied with the local state schools. The legal research offers an explanation of how legal regulation can determine whether religious schools will become a means for avoiding integration. Specifically, it points to three areas in which “Torani” schools are regulated differently than regular religious state schools – the rules regarding the establishment of new schools; the rules concerning school funding; and the rules concerning student enrolment – and argues that special treatment meant to protect religious interests is responsible for making “Torani” schools socially segregated.     

Attending to Precision: Mathematical Definitions in Courses for Pre-Service and Practicing Teachers

In this article we address the Common Core State Standard for Mathematical Practice: Attend to Precision. We describe work in mathematics content courses for pre-service and inservice teachers focused on developing teachers’ understanding of mathematical definitions. We discuss teachers’ work in developing definitions for students at various levels of mathematics, in generalizing a definition in order to extend the domain to which it may be applied, and in correcting teachers’ misconceptions. The work discussed in this article is consistent with the recommendations of the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences for the mathematics education of teachers. In explicit response to contemporary mathematics education research, the author presents constructive assessment prompts which lend themselves to formal study by mathematics education researchers.     

Student‐Generated Pre‐Exam Questions is an Effective Tool for Participatory Learning: A Case Study from Ecology of Waterborne Pathogens Course

This multiyear study helps elucidate how the instructional practice of student‐generated questions support learning in a blended classroom in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects. Students designed multiple‐choice pre‐exam questions aimed at higher levels of learning, according to Bloom's taxonomy. Student‐generated questions were edited by the instructor and then discussed by the students in the classroom and in an online forum. We tested the hypothesis that this intervention improves student learning, measured as student achievement on the exam following the intervention, and compared to student achievement on the traditional exam (prior to which a review session focused on instructor‐led recitation of the key concepts). Following the intervention in all years, average grade on the post‐intervention exam increased by 7.44%. It is important to point out that not all students benefited equally from this activity. Students who were in the 4th quintile (60% to 80%) based on the results of the 1st exam demonstrated the highest achievement improving their performance on average by 12.37% percentage points (measured as a score on the 2nd exam). Gains were not observed in the semesters when the intervention was not implemented. In this study we provided students detailed instructions on how to design questions that focus on testing higher levels of learning.     

西方教师知识研究发展的专业化路径

教师专业发展已经越来越被视为决定教育改革成效的重要因素,教师知识是教师专业化中需考虑的重要内容.舒尔曼最早提出教师的学科教学知识后,研究者形成了不同的教师知识研究的理论框架.西方对教师知识的研究经历了三个关键的发展阶段:区别教师的知识与学科专家的知识,这使得对教师专业化的讨论成为可能;关注具体教学内容的特定知识,对教师专业化的研究具有了具体内容;关注官方课程知识,对教师专业化的研究关注教师的日常教学工作.教师知识研究的发展路径体现出了教师专业化的不断深入.对教师知识研究的专业化路径的探讨有利于进一步促进教师专业化发展,并最终服务于教育改革.     

Perspectives on pedagogical change: instructor and student experiences of a newly implemented undergraduate engineering dynamics curriculum*

Engineering education has been slow to adopt research-based educational innovations. Few prior works on such adoption have investigated the combined classroom experiences of instructors and students when such innovations are being implemented. Therefore, this work focuses on the lived experiences of an instructor and her students when adopting an active, blended, and collaborative learning environment, known as Freeform, in a second-year dynamics course. Weekly reflections from the instructor were processed alongside student interviews using Thematic Analysis to discern prominent themes in their perspectives for comparison and discussion. The results indicate that the instructor navigated internal tensions between her previous instructional preferences and the philosophy and resources of Freeform. Similarly, students had to adapt to this new philosophy and suite of resources that were uncommon for their institution. Ultimately, this work highlights the contextual natures of teaching and learning, and how situational factors can influence educational innovation.