Learning organic chemistry through natural products

Some interesting examples of the linkage between the structure and biological function of secondary metabolites in plants and animals are described.     

Classroom behavior of children and adolescents with learning disabilities: a meta-analysis

Meta-analysis was used to review the results of 25 studies that compared the classroom behavior of children and adolescents with learning disabilities (LD) to children without learning disabilities. The data were analyzed from several different methodological perspectives. Results showed that both methodologically strong and weak studies demonstrated significant behavioral deficits of children with learning disabilities compared to their nondisabled peers in each of five overall areas: on-task behavior, off-task behavior, conduct disorders, distractibility, and shy/withdrawn behavior. Both observational and teacher rating data demonstrated these differences. Effect sizes for both groups of studies seemed to cluster around 1 standard deviation, suggesting noticeable and educationally significant impairment in the behavior of children with disabilities. Analysis of grade-level effect sizes suggests some explanation for the large number of referrals often witnessed during the elementary school years. Educational implications of these behavioral differences in terms of implications for mainstreaming are discussed.     

The expert witness in child abuse and neglect: An interdisciplinary process

The legal system is an important part of a society's response to child abuse and child neglect. Courts need to be guided in their deliberations by experts from many different professions. Consultation and in-court expert testimony is necessary from medicine, psychology, psychiatry, social work and other professions both to prove child abuse and neglect and establish the power of the court to act on behalf of a child but also to guide the court in the intervention strategy most suited to the needs of the child and his family. Non-lawyers often feel uncomfortable in the legal setting. The adversary process is foreign to their training and professional experience. Collaboration with a lawyer greatly improves their effectiveness in court. Lawyers, on the other hand, need to make maximum use of medical and social-psychological experts in the court process in the interests of their clients; but to do so lawyers need a basic understanding of the other professions. With an emphasis on a process of mutual education, the paper presents a framework for collaboration between lawyers and expert witnesses in child abuse and neglect cases. “Expert witness” is defined; informal consultation is encouraged; suggestions for selecting a collaborator are made; initial contracts between lawyer and expert, case conferencing and preparation for trial are discussed; specific advice on direct and cross examination is provided.     

A review of social interventions for students with learning disabilities

Twenty-two studies are reviewed that report the effects of social skills training and intervention with 572 children identified as learning disabled between 5 and 19 years of age. These studies are reviewed to examine characteristics and components of intervention effectiveness. Age and sex of subjects, grade grouping, group size, intervention duration, intervention procedures, subject selection, and type of interventional model are examined to find patterns that reflect intervention success. Several intervention characteristics and components are associated with social intervention effectiveness: selecting subjects who had social skills difficulties or low peer acceptance, using cognitive-behavioral intervention procedures, providing individual or small group instruction, and applying long-term intervention and training. Discussion focuses on difficulties in comparing studies to determine intervention effectiveness through the examination of outcome measures, a call for revisions in future reporting of social interventions in the literature, and those intervention factors that relate to increases in peer acceptance.     

我国专科教育现状分析及发展战略构想

本首先分析了当前我国专科教育所面临的发展困境与成因，进而提出了改革我国专科教育体制、建立新型专科教育运行机制的构想与相关的政策性建议。作认为，作为高等教育的一个重要组成部分，专科教育为我国的社会主义教育事业作了重要贡献，但目前又进入到一个新的发展转型期，挑战与发展的机遇关存；改革计划管理的约束的体制，寻求办学效益和社会效益的统一，建立起与社会主义市场经济体制相适应的专科教育体制与机制，实现教育体制与学校功能的战略性调整，是现阶段专科教育改革发展的必然趋势和重要条件。     

Real education in non-real time: The use of electronic message systems for instruction

Education in different communication media takes place with functional differences that have consequences for the course of instructional interaction. In this paper, we examine instructional interaction among people using a computer-based electronic message system, contrasting it with conventional face-to-face discussion in a college level class. Interaction via the non-real time message system contained multiple “threads of discourse,” a higher proportion of student turns to teacher turns, and other deviations from the “initiation-response-evaluation” sequences usually found in face-to-face classroom interactions. Based on the results of our contrast, we describe ways to organize instruction using electronic message systems to take advantage of new properties and to avoid shortcomings of these new instructional media.     

Investigating the Relations Among Pre-Service Teachers’ Teaching/Learning Beliefs and Educational Technology Integration Competencies: a Structural Equation Modeling Study

Journal of Science Education and Technology - With the rapid developments in technology, training of pre-service teachers in terms of technology integration has become a crucial issue for all...     

Using stakeholder feedback to improve online professional development opportunities

Abstract

Traditional professional development is often characterized as being expensive, time consuming, and lacking impact. In contrast, online professional development provides greater flexibility and is becoming increasingly popular for school personnel. In this article, we report the process and outcomes of gathering feedback to adapt traditional in-person to online training differentiated for the participants to maximize utility, efficiency, and effectiveness in meeting the needs of key stakeholders. Focus groups were conducted with teachers, administrators, and other specialists to gather feedback on content as well as how online learning modules (OLMs) could be tailored to meet specific school site and team needs. We discuss our findings in the context of continuing efforts to improve general and specific professional development opportunities.