Adult students' perceptions of good teaching as a function of their conceptions of learning—part 1. influencing the development of self-determination

This study investigated the perceptions of good teaching of adult students. Fifty-three students enrolled in part-time courses in Hong Kong were interviewed about a range of issues concerned with teaching, tutoring and learning. The initial analysis showed that there was no universal view of what constituted good teaching, as approaches preferred by some students resembled those disliked by others. These apparent contradictions were resolved by the recognition that perceptions of teaching quality were framed by conceptions of learning, which were shown to be consistent with a continuum from a reproductive pole to a self-determining one. Each of the four quadrants of the framework represents a conception of learning receiving teaching consistent or inconsistent with it. The quadrant representing self-determining learners receiving consistent facilitative teaching is seen as the goal for adult education to strive for. Didactic teaching was consistent with reproductive conceptions of learning. Teachers faced with predominantly reproductive classes are urged to help in developing greater levels of self-determination by progressively exposing students to forms of teaching requiring active involvement in the learning process, in a supporting environment.     

Redesigning academic essays to promote teacher reflection on selected issues of learning and teaching related to the current educational reform in Hong Kong

Teachers in Hong Kong have faced constant demand for practice renewal due to successive waves of educational reforms in the past decade. This paper describes the design of an assignment structure that promotes teacher reflection on important issues related to a major education reform in Hong Kong. This particular assignment structure includes three components – self-reflection, understanding alternative perspectives and situated analysis. Teachers are expected to complete these components in a sequence. The design addresses teachers’ teaching experiences, engages them in learning alternative perspectives, and assists them to juxtapose self-reflection and alternative perspectives in analysing commonly encountered teaching situations. An evaluation of teachers’ levels of reflection in these assignments showed that both high- and low-scored teachers improved their reflection. Based on the findings of an interview study, this paper reported a grounded model explaining how this innovative assignment structure promotes reflection. The model situated the reflective assignments within the local teaching context in Hong Kong and highlighted the importance of different forms of assistance and guidance in facilitating teachers’ reflective engagement in completing these cognitively demanding assignments.     

An examination of school accountability from the perspective of Singapore school leaders

School accountability is such a familiar concept in many education systems that questions about what it actually means and entails are rather uncommon, especially to busy practitioners on the ground. This paper reports a research that examines each of the questions of what and to whom Singapore schools are accountable, from the point of practitioners holding leadership positions in Singapore schools. This research was a qualitative study with a sample of 36 vice-principals. This analysis was enriched and interpreted with a literature-based discussion, which pointed out the implications of the research findings. According to the findings, the participants felt that Singapore schools were accountable for students’ holistic development; site, funding and staff management; national survival and nation building; and humanity and the future. Singapore schools were accountable to students, parents, country and citizens, and themselves. Interestingly, for a system that was reputed for its academic achievement, none of the participants mentioned examination results directly but referred to the importance of holistic education. The findings also suggested an inseparability of the concepts ‘accountability’ and ‘responsibility’ in the participants’ minds.     

Learning to Value Mathematics and Reading: Relations to Mastery and Performance-Oriented Instructional Practices

Changes in students' achievement values in mathematics and reading were examined in a sample of children and early adolescents. Hierarchical linear modeling techniques were used to account for both classroom- and student-level effects. At the student level, positive changes in students' achievement values were associated positively with self-concept of ability and the previous year's achievement values in both reading and math. Measures of teachers' mastery- and performance-oriented instructional practices were included in the full HLM model. Students experienced decrements in achievement values, after controlling for other student and classroom-level variables, in classrooms where performance-oriented instructional practices were used. In the full model, self-concept of ability was related positively to increases in achievement values, whereas gender was unrelated to changes in achievement values. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.     

Microfluidic device for trapping and monitoring three dimensional multicell spheroids using electrical impedance spectroscopy

In this paper, we report the design, fabrication, and testing of a lab-on-a-chip based microfluidic device for application of trapping and measuring the dielectric properties of microtumors over time using electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) techniques were used to embed opposing electrodes onto the top and bottom surfaces of a microfluidic channel fabricated using Pyrex substrate, chrome gold, SU-8, and polydimethylsiloxane. Differing concentrations of cell culture medium, differing sized polystyrene beads, and MCF-7 microtumor spheroids were used to validate the designs ability to detect background conductivity changes and dielectric particle diameter changes between electrodes. The observed changes in cell medium concentrations demonstrated a linear relation to extracted solution resistance (Rs), while polystyrene beads and multicell spheroids induced changes in magnitude consistent with diameter increase. This design permits optical correlation between electrical measurements and EIS spectra.     

Packing and film thickness theories for the mix design of high-performance concrete

A high-performance concrete (HPC) is required to have superior performance in various aspects such as workability, strength, durability, dimensional stability, segregation stability, and passing ability. The mix design of HPC is rather complicated because the number of ingredients in HPC is usually more than those in conventional concrete and some of the required properties are conflicting with each other in the sense that improvement in one property would at the same time cause impairment of another property. However, there is still lack of understanding regarding how the various mix parameters should be optimised for achieving best overall performance. Most practitioners are still conducting mix design primarily through trial concrete mixing, which is laborious, ineffective, and often unable to timely respond to fluctuations in the properties of raw materials. To address these issues, the authors have been developing the packing and film thickness theories of concrete materials, in order to revamp the mix design philosophy of HPC in terms of the water film thickness (WFT), paste film thickness (PFT), and mortar film thickness (MFT) in the concrete. Based on the findings from an extensive experimental programme, suitable ranges of WFT, PFT, and MFT have been recommended.     

用矩阵近似分解方法求解第二类积分方程

基于区域分解和多项式插值，对积分算子进行离散，得到高精确度的近似离散矩阵．这一方法适应于核函数为光滑、振动较小、只有有限弱奇点的情形．如果采用ｎ个离散点，近似矩阵可以经过Ｏ（ｎ）次计算得到，存储也只要Ｏ（ｎ）．矩阵－向量相乘的计算量为Ｏ（ｎｌｏｇｎ）．所以，此方法特别适合共轭梯度类型算法     

Middle leadership in international schools: evidence from Malaysia

This paper examines middle leadership of the heads of English, maths and science departments in four international secondary schools in Malaysia. It focuses on their roles, responsibilities, role relationships, instructional engagement and leadership involvement within the theoretical framework of instructional, distributed and teacher leadership. The study is a qualitative multi-method case study, involving observation, documentary analysis, and semi-structured interviews with 12 heads of department, 36 teachers, and four principals. With respect to the middle leaders’ roles and responsibilities, the findings illustrate cross-school and in-school differential developments, with contextual factors contributing to uneasy role relationships. The results also show that, while broad-based leadership opportunities are limited for the middle leaders and teachers, the most powerful and common feature of all these international schools is the centrality of teaching and learning.     

Affective Outcomes of Cooperative Learning in Social Studies

This paper reports an experimental study involving the use of cooperative learning in a social studies classroom. The outcome variables discussed in the paper are pupil self-esteem and classroom climate. Over the period of the study, cooperative learning did not significantly improve the self-esteem of the pupils. However, pupils in the experimental group who were taught through the cooperative learning approach perceived classwork to be less difficult than the control pupils who worked individually. The control pupils also reported a decline in satisfaction with classwork and perceived more friction in their class. Interviews with the teacher and pupils showed favourable attitudes toward cooperative learning.     

Children's achievement moderates the effects of mothers' use of control and autonomy support

Two studies investigated the effects of parents' control and autonomy support on low- and high-achieving children. In Study 1, mothers' (N=110) involvement with children (7 to 10 years old) in the context of a challenging task was observed. During this interaction, mothers' control predicted diminished engagement and their autonomy support predicted enhanced performance for low-achieving children more than for high-achieving children. In Study 2, mothers' (N=121) responses to children's (9 to 12 years old) failure were assessed with a daily checklist. Children's grades were obtained at this time and 6 months later. Mothers' controlling responses predicted decreased performance and their autonomy-supportive responses predicted increased performance over time for low achievers more than for high achievers.