Public understanding of science as a separate subject in secondary schools in The Netherlands

This paper describes and analyses an attempt to introduce the public understanding of science as a subject in its own right to be taught to all students in upper secondary education in The Netherlands. The aim of this paper is to make some of the experiences gained in this attempt, especially those related to the development of curriculum content, available to others. As the large-scale implementation of the new subject is still in progress, we focus on the initial stages of the introduction, covering the period 1994-1998. This period includes: (i) the launching of the initiative by a departmental advisory committee; (ii) the subsequent formulation of attainment targets; (iii) a curriculum development project that produced four teaching units tested in classroom experiments and meant as specimens to guide and inspire the authors of schoolbooks; and (iv) the publication of the first schoolbooks on the new subject. We conclude that in spite of its status as a separate subject, the current version of the course does not yet have a clear identity that distinguishes it, in the eyes of students as well as teachers, unmistakably from the traditional science subjects in the school.     

Linking Mind,Brain, and Education to Clinical Practice: A Proposal for Transdisciplinary Collaboration

It has been suggested that the field of Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) requires a stable infrastructure for translating research into practice. Hinton and Fischer (2008) point to the academic medical center as a model for similar translational work and suggest a similar approach for linking scientists to research schools. We propose expanding their model to include a formal role for clinicians. Including clinicians who work with children with learning problems brings an important perspective to the translational work. For example, the integration of the concept of “differential diagnosis,” a core precept in clinical medicine, would bring needed diagnostic specificity to the field of MBE. We describe a virtual infrastructure for collaboration, or “collaboratory,” consisting of research scientists, educators, and clinicians, linked to an academic institution. We anticipate that MBE graduates can play a critical role in the collaboratory model. With additional training, they can become “neuroeducators” capable of moving comfortably among the disciplines, building linkages, fostering communication, and facilitating collaboration.     

Television: The performance of nonresident students in the “economics U$A” telecourse

Abstract

Correspondence study represents the first and most persistent distance education format in American universities. Later called independent study, it enabled universities to disseminate instruction far beyond their campuses. Yet, national‐level leadership provided by the National University Continuing Education Association (NUEA) and its divisions has been relatively restrained. In contrast, leadership in the private correspondence school sector has been assertive, and sometimes even aggressive. The NUEA and its members shunned this approach, choosing instead to lead by persuasion and example. The NUEA developed standards of practice concerned primarily with replicating on‐campus teaching styles and values, rather than the promotion of distance education. With the abolition of its division structure, the NUEA's successor, the University Continuing Education Association (UCEA), has opted out of a leadership role in independent study. This paper concludes that the NUEA's initial attempt at leadership in distance education— while reasoned and principled—contained flaws that made failure inevitable.     

提出研究假设的作用

研究假设是研究课题确定后依据一定的知识、事实和资料,对所研究问题的规律或原因做出的推测性论断和假定性说明,是研究之前预先设想的、暂时的理论,是对研究课题设想出的一种或几种可能的结论或答案。假设一般包括两个事件或概念之间的关系,用“如果……那么……”的句子来陈述。例如:如果教师对一名学生的评价越来越差,那么该生的自我评价也会变得越来越差。研究假设是我们在实施课题研究设计之前,必须明确的问题。在教育科学研究中,提出具体的研究假设具有非常重要的作用。一、为课题研究指明方向研究假设使研究目的更明确,研究范围更确…     

The Role of Political Identity and Media Selection on Perceptions of Hostile Media Bias During the 2012 Presidential Campaign

Viewing a hostile media bias against one’s group (e.g., political party) is a perceptual effect of media use. When it comes to the portrayal of political parties in the United States, prior research suggests that both Democrats and Republicans see mainstream media coverage as favoring the other side, regardless of the orientation of the political news coverage. Although prior research has not identified all factors that make this perceptual bias more likely, or at explaining how or why this perceptual effect occurs, we do know that it is related to one’s group identity. In this study, we examined salient predictors of hostile media bias during the 2012 presidential campaign. Individual (i.e., political cynicism) and group identity related (i.e., group status, intergroup bias, political ideology) differences of media users predicted such perceptions. But, the medium selected for political information about the campaign also mattered. The use of two media in particular—TV and social networking sites—appear to have blunted hostile media bias perceptions, whereas the use of two other media—radio and video sharing sites—appear to have accentuated perceptions that the media were biased against one’s party     

试论假日旅游经济及其健康发展

假日旅游经济是我国旅游经济发展中的一个新的增长点。本文对假日旅游经济的涵义、基本特征及产生的背景进行了论述,并提出了科学调控假日旅游经济的若干对策措施,以期有益于促使我国假日旅游经济持续、健康发展。