人文科学和博物馆：定义和联系

通常在文章的开头要首先阐明自己的态度 ,以使读者准确了解你所要谈论的问题。这篇文章关注两方面内容 :一个机构———博物馆和一个抽象的概念———人文科学。首先我想探究一下我们所说的人文科学和博物馆的含义 ,然后再把两者结合起来考虑。我要声明我并不是博物馆专家 ,而是国家人文科学基金会所称之为“人文学者”的那类人 ,意思是教某种人文学科课程的大学教师。我所涉及的领域是美国的文学和历史。对于博物馆 ,我有限的经历主要来自于大学博物馆和国家历史博物馆。我下面要谈的某些问题可能对博物馆教育工作者来说已经过时了 ,但对我…     

Stories of reading: Inside and outside the texts of portfolios

This essay employs Barbara Herrnstein Smith's notion of “contingencies of value,” the idea that evaluations of text vary because our readings take place in specific contexts and are shaped by cultural and historical exigencies. In this study, we apply this notion to the reading of student texts in a college composition portfolio assessment. Through an analysis of taped teacher discussions of students' writing and an examination of student responses to the grading process, we conclude that in every reading of a text (but especially in the reading of the multiple texts of a portfolio) readers posit an “implied author.” That is, based on their reading of a single text or portfolio, teacher-readers construct a persona that represents the author, and this projection can strongly influence the reader's evaluation of student work. Group discussions of portfolios allow teachers to expose and explore the value-laden nature of these judgments.     

School Innovation in Science: A Model for Supporting School and Teacher Development

‘School Innovation in Science’ represents a model, developed through working with more than 200 Victorian schools, to improve science teaching and learning. SIS works at the level of the science team and the teacher, providing resources to challenge and support the change process. Its emphasis is on strategic planning supported by a framework for describing effective teaching, materials for auditing practice and planning initiatives, and a networked support structure. Experience and results from the project, concerning the nature and extent of change, will be used to provide insight into the multidimensional nature of the change process and to suggest a number of principles concerning support for change. Arising out of this, the major elements of a School Innovation Model are identified, that supports a transformative agenda for schools more generally.     

Stories of reform in science education: commentary on opp(reg)ressive policies and tempered radicals

This response to the two papers (by Rodriguez and Carlone et al.) on science education reform acknowledges first the coherence of the arguments presented around four reform narratives; that of the process of becoming science-enthusiastic, the nature of beliefs of science reform teachers, the barriers to reform, and the institutional expressions of these barriers. In the commentary I first discuss the reform ‘problem’ in terms of two interacting issues—the purposes of school science and the value placed on it in an elementary school curriculum. The insights produced in these papers are then used to reflect on a range of experiences and current policy debates in Australia. Finally, in this commentary, I point out: (a) the relationship of the papers to the reform issue of opposition to Standards Based Science (SBS) from proponents’ traditional conceptions of science education, discussing how this more specific reform question relates to the two papers; and (b) the singular nature of the I-meanings characterised in the Carlone et al. paper, describing (using Australian examples) how the notions of tempered radicals and I-meanings might also be used to characterise complexities in the processes of school science reform.     

Community leaders' views of the purposes of science in the compulsory years of schooling

Accepting that scientific literacy is the primary purpose of science in the compulsory years of schooling leads to the question ‘What does scientific literacy mean in a particular community?’ This paper reports a study designed to provide some insight into that question. Data were gathered through interviews with a sample of community leaders, in the state of Victoria, Australia, about their views of the purposes of school science.

The data reveal that, although most of those interviewed had no formal post‐school science education, their life experiences provided them with useful insights into the question raised. The wisdom of such people could make an important contribution during the initial stages of curriculum development in science.

As people successful in their own fields, the study participants were lifelong learners. Consequently, their responses suggest that a primary focus of school science must be to provide students with a framework that will enable them to continue learning beyond schooling. This is not just a matter of knowledge or skills, but of feeling comfortable with science.

The methods used provide a useful example of how views about education can be gathered from thoughtful, non‐expert community members. In this instance, they allowed a reconceptualization of the purposes of school science. These community leaders argued for an education for ‘science in life’ rather than an education about science.     

Teacher adaptation to flexible learning environments

Learning Environments Research - Teaching practices respond to the prompts, resources and inherent potential of a school’s physical, social and cultural landscape. This study involved how...     

A survey of pre-service primary teachers' experiences of science in schools

In 1990, a large proportion of third year primary trainee teachers at Victoria College had observed or taught very few or no science lessons during the first two years of their course. The students felt that a lack of content knowledge, a crowded school curriculum, and problems associated with managing resources and equipment, were the main factors contributing to the low level of science being taught in schools. By the end of their third year significantly more students had taught science than after the second year. There was also a change in approach to teaching science with more practical activities being included than previously. The science method unit taught to the students in the third year of their course contributed to this increase. The students considered the hands-on activities in class to have been the most effective aspect of the unit in their preparation for the teaching of primary science. Specializations: children's learning in science, primary teacher education. Specializations: student understanding of biology, evaluation of formal and informal educational settings. Specializations: gender, science and technology, environmental education. Specializations: children's learning in science, language and science.     

Are current engineering graduates being treated as commodities by employers?

The employment scene for professionals of all sorts becomes more volatile with each decade. In engineering, graduates of past generations could reasonably look forward to a linear career trajectory characterized by upward mobility and advancement. A typical career back then might allow the graduate to move from strict technical work to creative design work, then on to technical management, and perhaps to general management—often within one firm. In contrast, today's engineering graduate is being told that a typical work pattern will probably involve six or eight or more major job changes during the working lifetime. What is not being said is that such job changes will often be lateral moves, not career progressions. The hiring of engineering graduates by non-traditional employers, seeking their problem-solving and analytical skills for resale to consulting clients, exacerbates the problem. This paper examines the causes of such changes in the engineering employment pattern, and offers suggestions for dealing with the troubling aspects of the current employment market-place.