大学英语听力教学现状及其改进方法——以河池学院大学英语听力教学个案为例

结合河池学院大学英语听力教学的现状,阐述大学英语听力教学中存在的一些问题,同时有针对性地提出改进大学英语听力教学的建议,以期提高大学英语听力教学质量.     

Technology-Enhanced Physics Programme for Community-Based Science Learning: Innovative Design and Programme Evaluation in a Theme Park

Journal of Science Education and Technology - In this study, a new physics education programme is specifically developed for a famous theme park in Hong Kong to provide community-based science...     

The impact of an Irish‐medium education option in initial teacher training on a third level institution

Abstract

This paper is based on a small‐scale study carried out to evaluate the change situation that arose in a Belfast third level institution with the introduction of an Irish‐medium option in initial teacher training within the BEd degree in 1996. Data were collected from stakeholders by way of questionnaire and semi‐structured interviews with a focus on four aspects. The first of those aspects was the change's impact on the institution. Stakeholders’ perceptions of the change was the second aspect and included academic staff, management, students taking the Irish‐medium option and head‐teachers in Irish‐medium schools. The third aspect was the way in which the academic staff coped with the change situation and the fourth was the likely future of the provision. The paper reports on recommendations around both the use of a second language as a teaching medium in teacher training and striking a balance between subject‐content and language teaching in teacher training for Irish‐medium education.     

Personal growth and development of parent leaders through a group parent education program

Many scholars assert that current parent education practices in Hong Kong are dominated by the transmission perspective. This perspective assumes inadequacies in the knowledge and skills of parents; hence, the goal of parent education appears to be the transmission of facts as well as skills development and values information that prepare children to become better members of society. Simply providing parents with knowledge about child development and teaching them certain skills cannot help them gain deeper insights. Indeed, parents find it difficult to apply what they have learned because of inadequate reflections on their goals and values related to parenthood. These criticisms have serious implications on the re-conceptualization of parent education. This article reports on a new approach to parent education, in which a group of parent leaders developed and facilitated a group parent education program (GPEP) for low-income parents. The GPEP emphasized the use of the group approach and interactive activities as well as homework to help the target parents practice the skills they learned during the program. The parent leaders taught positive parenting strategies and exchanged their own experiences with low-income parents. This research aims to study how parent leaders evaluate their challenges, growth, and development, as well as analyze the impact of the GPEP approach on these parents. The study provides valuable data to facilitate further studies on GPEP and other alternative approaches for parent education.     

An analysis of the effects of in‐service teacher training on Turkish preschool teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion

Any implementation of an inclusive policy is largely dependent on educators’ attitudes. In Turkey, many teachers who educate preschool children with Special Educational Needs (SEN), and who have not received in‐service teacher training (INSET) are observed to have negative attitudes towards their SEN students. The aim of this article is to examine differences between the attitudes of preschool teachers before and after an INSET course. Sixty‐six preschool teachers were selected for this study which had a single group pre–post‐test design. The teachers’ opinions and attitudes relating to mainstreaming SEN students in regular educational environments were assessed using the ‘Opinions Relative to Mainstreaming’ scale. The data indicate that these teachers were affected by the INSET programme in such a way that their attitudes towards the inclusion of SEN students became more positive.     

Development of a Questionnaire to Measure the Level of Reflective Thinking

Many courses aim to promote reflective thinking or reflection upon practice, but there is a scarcity of readily usable instruments to determine whether students engage in reflective thinking and, if so, to what extent. This paper reports the development and testing of such an instrument. To ensure validity, the constructs measured were derived from the extensive literature on reflective thinking, particularly the writing of Mezirow. A combination of the literature review and initial testing led to the development of a four-scale instrument measuring four constructs; habitual action, understanding, reflection and critical reflection. The final version of the instrument was tested with a sample of 303 students from eight classes of a health science faculty. The reliability of the scales was established by acceptable Cronbach alpha values. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit to the proposed four-factor structure. Comparison of mean scores between the eight classes showed predicted significant differences on each of the four scales between undergraduate and postgraduate students.     

Jamming and unjamming transition of oil-in-water emulsions under continuous temperature change

To analyze the jamming and unjamming transition of oil-in-water emulsions under continuous temperature change, we simulated an emulsion system whose critical volume fraction was 0.3, which was validated with experimental results under oscillatory shear stress. In addition, we calculated the elastic modulus using the phase lag between strain and stress. Through heating and cooling, the emulsion experienced unjamming and jamming. A phenomenon—which is when the elastic modulus does not reach the expected value at the isothermal system—occurred when the emulsion system was cooled. We determined that this phenomenon was caused by the frequency being faster than the relaxation of the deformed droplets. We justified the relation between the frequency and relaxation by simulating the frequency dependency of the difference between the elastic modulus when cooled and the expected value at the same temperature.