人教版高中《化学·必修1》“从实验学化学”的调查研究

人教版高中《化学.必修1》第一章"从实验学化学",与新课程标准必修模块"认识化学科学和化学实验基础"两个主题相对应。为了解学生运用人教版教材学习此章的情况,我们从内容选择、呈现方式、组织结构、实验设计、总体目标达成度等维度对湖南地区师生进行了问卷调查和访谈,通过统计分析,为高中化学教材编写提供建议。     

英汉法律翻译基本原则探析

自从加入WTO以来,我国对外经济交流不断增加,致使涉外贸易和交往中对法律翻译的需求也日益增加。作为一种独特的社会语言变体,法律语言与日常用语和文学用语区别较大。其内涵和特点对法律翻译有各种要求。法律翻译需要严谨、精准,避免产生歧义和纠纷;用语需要规范、庄重,不得随意改动词语;表达需要简明扼要,意义清晰,便于理解。以上即法律翻译精准性、规范性、简明性的基本原则。     

教育硕士教育质量监测及其改进策略

质量是教育永恒的主题。文章针对教育硕士专业培养的现实问题,提出以学生参与为重点、以过程评价为核心、以社会评价为主体、以促进发展为目的为教育硕士培养质量监测的价值取向;坚持督和导的统一、点和面的统一、承和改的统一、知和行的统一是改进教育硕士培养质量的基本策略。     

社会网络分析方法在国内医药卫生领域的应用及启示

近年来,社会网络分析一直是学术界的研究热点,并在多个领域得以应用、发展。简要介绍了社会网络分析的基本理论与研究方法,分析了近年来此方法在国内医药卫生领域的应用,总结了其重要的研究热点,即运用了可视化工具,探测医学领域的研究进展与热点,作者和机构间的合作网络等,并指出其不足,为我国医药卫生研究提供方法性借鉴。     

Remembering Things Without Context: Development Matters

Spatial context supports memory retrieval in adults. To understand the development of these effects, context effects on object recognition were tested in neurotypical children ages 3 years to adulthood (n 3–6 years = 34, n 10–16 years = 32, n college age = 22) and individuals with Down syndrome (DS) ages 10–29 years (n = 21). Participants engaged in an object recognition task; objects were presented in scenes and either remained in that same scene or were removed at test. In some groups (< 4.5 years and with DS) context effects were present even though object recognition was poor. After 4.5 years, children demonstrated memory flexibility, while later in adolescence context effects reemerged, showing nonlinearity in the development of these effects.     

A synergistic approach to turning the tide of grade inflation

Higher education in the United States is facing increasing demands for colleges and universities to demonstrate what students learn and that they are providing a high-quality education experience during the undergraduate years (Pascarealla et al. in Chang Mag High Learn 42(1):16–22, 2010). Despite evidence of the elevation of grades in higher education dating back to the 1970s, attempts to rein in this phenomenon have been largely unsuccessful (Nikolakakos et al. in Coll Univ 87(3):2–14 2012). It is our contention that attempts to reform grading have not succeeded because their focus is too narrow. After providing background information on the extent and causes of grade inflation, we will propose a synergistic approach to dealing with the problem of grade inflation.     

Building capacity: challenges and opportunities in large class pedagogy (LCP) in Sub-Saharan Africa

Over the past 20 years most countries, particularly developing countries, have seen a large increase in the number of students seeking higher education. A consequence of this growth is increasing pressure on teaching staff and institutions, usually resulting in, among other effects, increased class size. Large classes of between 300 and 1,000, and even more, at the undergraduate level are not uncommon in a number of countries (Mulryan-Kyne in Teach High Educ 15(2):175–185, 2010). Large classes are often perceived as one of the major obstacles to the attainment of quality education. Despite the difficulties associated with teaching and learning in large classes, they remain a reality in many countries affecting learners across all levels of the education system and are often the only perceived option available to meet growing demand for higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa (Mohamedbhai in The effects of massification on higher education in Africa. Report from the Working Group on Higher Education of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa, 2008). We contend that the challenges of delivering large classes can be confronted, and in many ways diminished, through the use of current and emerging technologies and enhanced faculty development. In this expository paper, we present findings from project activities focused on higher education faculty development and capacity building. The findings include both formative and summative development activities, as well as data collected in faculty professional development workshops and the results of two surveys. We use these data to lay out issues, challenges (e.g., skills, resources, logistics—including poor campus infrastructure), and opportunities (e.g., mobile capacity, distance tools such as Moodle) of large class pedagogy using a design-based research framework.     

Seeking insights into young children’s beliefs about mathematics and learning

Challenges for researchers wishing to gain insights into student beliefs about mathematics and learning include the identification of prompts to which young children can respond easily and which have the potential to provide meaningful insights into their beliefs. This article reports on a selection of such prompts used within an exploratory study that investigated beliefs about mathematics, learning and helping factors for learning mathematics of eight children of 8 to 9 years of age. These prompts, described as creative interviewing procedures, are classified under the key categories of visual, verbal and text-based. The article provides brief details of the study as background but focuses on discussing the nature of the tasks, and, through the inclusion of a selection of responses, illustrates their potential value as research tools for gaining insights into young children’s beliefs about mathematics and learning. It seems that teachers could use the prompts to gain alternate perspectives into children’s beliefs which in turn might inform their instruction.     

Watching MOOCs together: investigating co-located MOOC study groups

Research suggests that massive open online course (MOOC) students prefer to study in groups, and that social facilitation within the study groups may render the learning of difficult concepts a pleasing experience. We report on a longitudinal study that investigates how co-located study groups watch and study MOOC videos together. The study was conducted with on-campus flipped classroom students. Our subjects reported an overall high satisfaction with the study group style. The research reveals that students like to stay synchronized in the group while watching MOOC videos. However, they have to find a balance between synchronization, video interaction, and the amount of conversation. Watching MOOCs on a shared display addresses the need of synchronicity, and the distribution of control can increase the video interactivities.