44届世乒赛观后思考

中国乒乓队经过艰苦卓绝的奋战,在44届世界锦标赛的七项比赛中夺得六枚金牌,从战绩上看是很辉煌的,从实践过程中看,既是艰苦的,又是如履薄冰的,有时又是处于下风的,因此,我们没有资格盲目乐观,更不能在技术上固步自封,而应该适应形势,展望形势,高于形势,只有这样,才能保持优势,这就给广大运动员、教练员在思想上、基本技术上,技术风格上长于人,能制服人的“特长技术”和科学研究等方面,提出了更高更严、更先进的课题。     

Evaluation Practices in Teacher Education in Israel

Evaluation procedures and the emphasis on evaluation in teacher education courses in Israel were studied through questionnaires administered to teacher educators, student teachers and practicing teachers. The results show that the emphasis on evaluation is marginal and that evaluation procedures in teacher education have significant effects on practicing teachers.     

The relationship between web enjoyment and student perceptions and learning using a web‐based tutorial

Web enjoyment has been regarded as a component of system experience. However, there has been little targeted research considering the role of web enjoyment alone in student learning using web‐based systems. To address this gap, this study aims to examine the influence of web enjoyment on learning performance and perceptions by controlling system experience as a variable in the study. 74 students participated in the study, using a web‐based tutorial covering subject matter in the area of ‘Computation and algorithms’. Their learning performance was assessed with a pre‐test and a post‐test and their learning perceptions were evaluated with a questionnaire. The results indicated that there are positive relationships between the levels of web enjoyment and perceived usefulness and non‐linear navigation for users with similar, significant levels of system experience. The implications of these findings in relation to web‐based learning are explored and ways in which the needs of students who report different levels of web enjoyment might be met are discussed.     

Meta-analysis of cognitive preferences and learning

Most of the articles and dissertations dealing with cognitive preferences which were written since the invention of the construct in the early 1960s have been reviewed. Fifty-four of them were found suitable for meta-analysis. The meta-analysis presents means and standard deviations of reliabilities, correlations, standard scores, and effect sizes. The effects and relationships of cognitive preferences and important school and learning related variables were studied. The results provide base line data for comparative purposes and offer empirical evidence which support the construct validity of cognitive preferences.     

THE CLASS‐SIZE EFFECT UPON ACTIVITY AND COGNITIVE DIMENSIONS OF LESSONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

This study examines the effects of class size upon the verbal interactions and the cognitive level of medical instruction. The major findings of this study indicate that: (a) the percentage of the teacher's verbal activities increases with the group size; (b) the shortest teacher‐lectures are given in medium‐size classes; (c) the longest student‐answers and student initiations are observed in medium‐size classes; (d) the maximal diversity of verbal interactions is found in medium groups, while the minimal is found in large groups; (e) the percentage of interactions at the lowest cognitive level (knowledge) increases with class size; (f) longer interactions are observed in large classes at the knowledge level, and in smaller classes at the analysis and evaluation levels; (g) the minimal cognitive diversity is found in large groups; (h) both activity and cognitive total scores decrease as the class size increases. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

The Israeli “bagrut” examination in biology revisited

The Israeli paper-and-pencil matriculation examination in biology has been one of the most powerful means for implementing an inquiry oriented high school biology program based on the U.S. BSCS. The first version of this examination was described and analyzed in JRST in 1972. This article describes the changes and effects of this examination during the years and compares the examination of the year 1982 with that of 1969. Implications for upgrading science education are discussed.