Bilingual-bicultural models of literacy education for deaf students: considering the claims

As Carolyn Ewoldt (1996) points out '[M]uch has been written of late about the viability of a bilingual focus in deaf education.' While these writings are necessary to the ongoing pedagogical dialogue in the field, much of the rhetoric suffers because, rather than truly adopting a 'holistic perspective', arguments and positions focus only on selected aspects of the relevant theoretical and research information. If proponents of bilingual education for deaf children truly rely on 'research on the benefits of native sign language and from theoretical and research support coming from other disciplines' (Ewoldt, 1996, p. 5) to support their claims, then these research and theoretical supports must be examined as comprehensively, and holistically, as possible. Weaving together only a few threads of theory and research does not create the fabric for a pedagogical position that can withstand close scrutiny and analysis.In this article, we will touch on some of the major claims made in explications of bilingual models of literacy education for deaf students (Baker, 1997; Livingston, 1997; Mashie, 1995; Mason & Ewoldt, 1996). Our goal is to broaden the scope of the discussion on some of the major arguments and to encourage an expanded dialogue in this ongoing debate. It is not our aim to argue against the concept of bilingual education for deaf students nor to advocate the exclusion of native sign languages from the classroom. Rather, we support the concept of a bilingual education for deaf students with native sign languages playing a key role; however, we contend that the model as it is currently conceived requires further scrutiny and analysis.     

Spiritual Formation Within Christian Higher Education

The Christian university has a distinct responsibility to provide an environment devoted to the spiritual formation of students. Spiritual formation is not to be viewed as the only important goal of the university, thereby sacrificing intellectual or relational development, but rather spiritual formation is the aggregate “product” of the Christian college. It is a culminating attribute produced holistically from the collection of experiences gained while attending the Christian college. Christian higher education has distinct advantages in its history of spiritual formation while also facing significant challenges. Yet as the Christian colleges are true to their calling, there are few institutions better positioned to examine the spiritual formation of their students. This article reviews various aspects of this spiritual formation.     

Development and Evaluation of an Inquiry-Based Elementary Science Teacher Education Program Reflecting Current Reform Movements

The National Science Education Standards (National Research Council 1996, National science education standards. Washington, DC: National Academy Press) and various other national and state documents call for teachers who possess science content knowledge, employ an inquiry approach in teaching, and engage in reflective practices. This paper describes a rationale for choosing particular recommendations to implement and how we incorporated those as we revised our elementary science education program. An analysis of the impact of the reformed inquiry-based content courses revealed that students who take more than one reformed content course improve their science content knowledge and efficacy towards teaching science significantly more than students who take fewer courses.     

寻觅德国的牛津

达勒姆(Dahlem)不仅仅是一个传奇.在德国,几乎没有其他地方像柏林的这片土地那样,在科学史各个丰富的方面--包括令人质疑的方面--表现出如此强烈的活力.在马普学会历史档案馆馆长亨宁(Eckart Henning)的陪同下巡游他的“领地“,就如同在历史的时光中漫步,著名学者的创新精神始终伴随着我们的游程.……     

University research funding and publication performance—An international comparison

In current science policies, competition and output incentives are emphasized as a means of making university systems efficient and productive. By comparing eight countries, this article analyzes how funding environments of university research vary across countries and whether more competitive funding systems are more efficient in producing scientific publications. The article shows that there are significant differences in the competitiveness of funding systems, but no straightforward connection between financial incentives and the efficiency of university systems exists. Our results provoke questions about whether financial incentives boost publication productivity, and whether policy-makers should place greater emphasis on other factors relevant to high productivity.     

Computer-supported aids to making sense of scientific articles: cognitive, motivational, and attitudinal effects

High school students can access original scientific research articles on the Internet, but may have trouble understanding them. To address this problem of online literacy, the authors developed a computer-based prototype for guiding students’ comprehension of scientific articles. High school students were asked to read an original scientific research article about the effects of drug or alcohol abuse, which was presented on a computer screen either with computer-based comprehension aids or without aids. The aids provided background text and animations including answers given by the article authors. Across two experiments involving different schools and different research articles, the comprehension aids group performed better than the control group on a comprehension test concerning the article (d = +0.79 in Experiment 1 and d = +0.82 in Experiment 2) and rated the content of article as less difficult to read (d = +0.96 in Experiment 1 and d = +0.69 in Experiment 2). In addition, the comprehension aids group reported more positive motivational beliefs than the control group concerning understanding what scientists do (d = +0.51 in Experiment 1 and d = +0.56 in Experiment 2), appraising the article as worthwhile (d = +0.80 for Experiment 1 and d = +0.70 for Experiment 2), and being interested in reading another research article (d = +0.19 in Experiment 1 and d = +0.58 in Experiment 2). The groups did not differ on their attitudes concerning a career as a scientist or about alcohol and drug abuse. Overall, computer-based comprehension aids can help guide students’ comprehension processes for an original scientific research article, which in turn can improve their appreciation of what scientists do.

An Innovative Course Featuring Action Research Integrated with Unifying Science Themes

In this article, we describe an innovative capstone course for preservice K-8 teachers integrating action research and a unifying theme in science (AAAS in Science for all Americans. Oxford University Press, New York, 1989; NRC in National science education standards. National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1996). The goals of the capstone course are to increase student knowledge of the unifying theme, improve written communication skills, and introduce students to educational research. We provide evidence that each of these goals is met. Student growth in theme knowledge is demonstrated through concept maps, questionnaires, and previously reported assessments. Improved writing ability is demonstrated using the spelling and grammar checking feature of Microsoft Word. The analysis of action research reports demonstrates that students are able to connect their action research project results to previous research.