你为何会做错不等式题

与父共舞有时候我会在母亲的门外/听见她思念父亲的哭声/我知道我的要求有点过分/但是你能不能/把她唯一深爱的男人送回来/如果我能再看父亲一眼/再迈出一步舞步/我会放一首永远不会结束的曲子     

Principles under pressure: student teachers' perspectives on final teaching practice in early childhood classrooms

Global concerns about what constitutes an appropriate curriculum and pedagogy for young children inevitably raises questions for teacher educators and the content of teacher education programmes. These concerns have been particularly visible in England following recent policy initiatives and the resultant ‘academic shovedown’ and ‘high stakes’ performativity culture in schools. Against this background, this article reports on a qualitative study of student teachers' experiences of their final teaching practice, identifying pressure from a range of sources to deliver a more formalised curriculum than they were prepared for in their university-based courses. Drawing on Bronfenbrenner among others, we consider the socio-political and -cultural sources of pressure linked through human agency, and the implications of these for teacher educators. The study argues that student teachers of young children may be faced with cognitive and emotional dissonance between the content of university-based training on the one hand, which promotes a developmentally appropriate, play-based approach in keeping with the Early Years Foundation Stage (the statutory curricular framework in England), and the reality of pedagogical practice in early years settings on the other.     

How girls and boys expect disclosure about problems will make them feel: implications for friendships

Although girls disclose to friends about problems more than boys, little is known about processes underlying this sex difference. Four studies (Ns = 526, 567, 769, 154) tested whether middle childhood to mid-adolescent girls and boys (ranging from 8 to 17 years old) differ in how they expect that talking about problems would make them feel. Girls endorsed positive expectations (e.g., expecting to feel cared for, understood) more strongly than boys. Despite common perceptions, boys did not endorse negative expectations such as feeling embarrassed or worried about being made fun of more than girls. Instead, boys were more likely than girls to expect to feel "weird" and like they were wasting time. Sex differences in outcome expectations did help to account for girls' greater disclosure to friends.     

Using patchwork texts in assessment: clarifying and categorising choices in their use

An emerging form of assessment is the patchwork text, an application of assessment for learning, as opposed to assessment of learning. A framework for making choices in how to use patchwork texts in higher education courses is developed, drawing on prior research on, and use of, patchwork texts. These choices reflect the fundamental objectives of patchwork texts, namely continuous learning, deep learning, integrated understanding and critical self‐reflection, while also offering options for patchwork texts which can be tailored to particular courses and individual preferences.     

Online Searching on Selected Business Databases for Management Aspects of Health Care

Reference librarians developed an assessment tool to determine if formal classroom instruction on the use of PDAs benefits medical students. The questionnaire on PDA concepts and skills, designed to assess both comfort level and self-described skill level, was administered to students before and after a mandatory hands-on PDA class. Of 105 students surveyed, 90 (85.7%) felt the class was immediately beneficial. Mean scores on all questions increased from pre-session to post-session. Score increases were statistically significant (p < .05) for almost all questions, demonstrating to faculty, students, and instructors that the PDA class is beneficial, necessary, and should remain mandatory.     

Unfulfilled: A Story of Users and Library Request Services

The current technology models for library request services present significant challenges for the user’s experience from discovery to delivery. Applying user-centered design and e-commerce modalities may allow libraries to create more engaging and useful request services for all users. The authors suggest six design principles to improve user’s experience with library request systems and offer practical applications of these principles based upon two case studies at The New School Libraries and New York University Libraries. Both cases utilize APIs currently available, suggesting that libraries may leverage current models to create a better experience for their users.     

Evolution in the Caribbean Classroom: A critical analysis of the role of biology teachers and science standards in shaping evolution instruction in Belize

A survey of the literature on evolution instruction provides evidence that teachers’ personal views and understandings can shape instructional approaches and content delivered in science classrooms regardless of established science standards. This study is the first to quantify evolutionary worldviews of in-service teachers in the Caribbean, specifically in Belize, an English-speaking nation with a high school system guided by a regional biology syllabus and strict standardized tests. Using the Measure of Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution (MATE) instrument and knowledge test, we investigated (1) the current level of acceptance and understanding of evolution as given by 97% of high school biology teachers in Belize; (2) the factors associated with acceptance and understanding of evolutionary theory. With an average MATE score of 64.4 and a mean knowledge score of 47.9%, Belizean teachers were classified as having both ‘Low Acceptance’ and ‘Low Understanding’ of evolutionary theory. A positive correlation was found between teacher acceptance and understanding of evolution. A review of the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate biology syllabus suggests that evolution plays a minimal role in the high school biology classroom. We believe that Belize presents a unique opening for future training on evolution instruction since 57% of the biology teachers self-proclaim to be unprepared to teach evolution. The results of this study have implications for policy, practice and research with teachers’ acceptance, understanding and confidence in teaching evolution serving as important predictors for instructional approaches used in the biology classroom.     

School Context, Precollege Educational Opportunities, and College Degree Attainment Among High-Achieving Black Males

Access to high-quality educational opportunities is central to growing postsecondary degree attainment. This study employs secondary data analysis of the public-use National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS:88/00) to examine how school context and precollege educational opportunities influence college degree attainment among high-achieving Black males. Findings show that approximately 40 % of high-achieving Black males attained a bachelor’s degree or higher 8 years after high school. Binary logistic regression analysis indicates that attending an urban school decreases the likelihood of bachelor’s degree attainment. Attending a private school, on the other hand, has the opposite effect—it increases the likelihood of bachelor’s degree attainment. Results also indicate that although participating in a gifted and talented program increases the likelihood of bachelor’s degree attainment among high-achieving Black males, participating in Advanced Placement has no effect. Implications for educators in K-16 educational settings are discussed.     

Exploring the impact of supplementary schools on Black and Minority Ethnic pupils’ mainstream attainment

This paper reports findings from a study commissioned by the (then) Department for Children, Schools and Families. The research mapped the provision, and explored the impact, of supplementary schools and aimed specifically to develop further understanding as to how supplementary schools might raise the attainment of Black and Minority Ethnic pupils. Drawing on a national survey and case study data from 12 supplementary schools, we highlight a range of perceived impacts identified by teachers, pupils and parents and problematise the concept of impact. We identify the unique contribution and impact that supplementary schools make to the mainstream school attainment of pupils from diverse (linguistic, cultural, ethnic) backgrounds. We suggest that there is much to be learnt by the mainstream school sector about the difference supplementary school education makes to minority ethnic children, while questioning whether mainstream indicators of impact should be applied to supplementary schools.