Research Report RECSAM: Computers in Education Project,Singapore Study

From 1986 to 1988, Regional Centre for Education in Science and Mathematics (RECSAM) at Penang organised the Computers in Education Project with financial support from the Australian Government. The aim of the Project was to provide information on the use of computers in education among SEAMEO countries. Such information, it was thought, could be useful for educators who needed to formulate sound policies regarding the introduction, management, and use of computers in schools and the roles of computers in education in general. Six countries took part in this project including a team from Singapore.     

Scaling up of Continual Professional Development for Mathematics Problem Solving in Singapore Schools

The more ambitious an educational innovation, the greater the challenge in scaling up. In this paper, we focus on the scaling up of an ambitious pedagogical practice—mathematics problem solving as a regular feature in the classroom. We adopt a long-term approach to continual professional development (CPD) that began with intensive work with one school before we broadened the programme to four other schools which span the spectrum of schools in Singapore. To evaluate this overall design, we examine the current state of each school’s capacity in sustaining mathematics problem-solving instruction. In particular, we study and report findings on these areas: the readiness of teachers, the instructional materials and supporting structures. Based on the findings, we reflect on our CPD strategies and our theory of action which guided the CPD programme.

     

黑藻属植物的核型分析

本文以根尖细胞为材料，观察了黑藻属Hydrilla植物的染色体核型。  它由两群染   色体组成：1—5 为长染色体，6—8 为短染色体。  染色体基数x=8。轮叶黑藻Hydrilla   verticillata(L. f.)Royle为二倍体；染色体数目为2n=2x=16；  雌雄之间既无染色体数   目的差别，也无异型染色体存在；核型公式为2n=2x=16＝6m+6Sm十4St。  罗氏轮叶   黑藻Hydrilla verticillata var．roxburgbii Casp系同源三倍体；  染色体数目为2n=3x=24；   核型公式为2n=3x=24=9m+9Sm+6St。     

Shedding Light on the East Asian Learner Paradox: Reconstructing student-centredness in a Shanghai classroom

The East Asian learner paradox refers to the apparent contradiction between the teacher-dominated learning environment in East Asia, which is generally perceived to be non-conducive to learning, and the outstanding performance of East Asian students in comparative studies. This study attempts to explain this phenomenon based on the perspectives of a Chinese teacher from Shanghai, his group of students, and the author's own observations as a researcher. The analysis was based on the theory of variation and it showed how the teacher handled the relationship between the procedural and conceptual aspects of the mathematics. This analysis also shows that the teacher in this study had a strong pedagogical belief and highly valued his students' thinking and participation. At the same time, his students also expressed a consistent concern for learning the mathematical content. Therefore, this author argues that what seems to be a teacher-dominated lesson may actually be interpreted as an alternative form of student-centredness, which is accepted in the teacher's culture.     

2010我国上市公司治理评价体系研究

我国上市公司治理机制具有动态性的特征。公司治理评价体系需要随公司治理环境的改变而调整。基于2010年公司治理的调查数据,经验性的研究表明,我国上市公司治理机制在整体上处于良好的运营状态,而股权结构非均衡性、中小股东控制权缺失与财务透明性不足仍然是阻碍治理机制优化的显著性因素。     

Health-education policy interface: the implementation of the Eat Well Be Active policies in schools

While grappling with their traditional core business of imbuing students with official curricular knowledge, schools have simultaneously, increasing demands to take on health promotion responsibilities. This paper examines the mandated implementation of the Eat Well Be Active (EWBA) Action Plan and its subsidiary ‘Smart’ policies in schools in the state of Queensland, Australia. Within the context of health promotion, the interaction between the health and education policy interfaces was explored. In particular, we paid close attention to the responses of the schools and their staff to the convergence of various health policies within their institutions. Drawing on Bernstein's concept of field, this paper reports our analyses of responses within the reproduction field to the imperatives of the Smart policies. The results suggest that there exists a disjunction between the recontextualising and reproduction fields in terms of the EWBA policy intent and implementation.     

Redesigning problem-based learning in the knowledge creation paradigm for school science learning

The introduction of problem-based learning into K-12 science classrooms faces the challenge of achieving the dual goal of learning science content and developing problem-solving skills. To overcome this content-process tension in science classrooms, we employed the knowledge-creation approach as a boundary object between the two seemingly contradicting activities: learning of science content and developing problem-solving skills. As part of a design research, we studied a group of Grade 9 students who were solving a problem related to the Law of Conservation of Energy. Through the lens of the activity theory, we found that students’ understanding of the intended science knowledge deepened as they made sense of the disciplinary-content knowledge in the context of the problem and concurrently, the students successfully developed solutions for the problem. This study shows that developing problem-solving competencies and content learning need not be disparate activities. On the contrary, we can harness the interdependency of these two activities to achieve dual goals in learning.     

Science Practicals in Schools: Are We Assessing Correctly?

Traditional practical examinations serve the purpose of ensuring that a candidate has some grounding in practical work. Regretably, however, they fall short in the promotion of process skills. A study done at the Institute of Education shows little relationship between tests which highlight these skills and the traditional practical tests. In today's context where emphasis should be placed on process rather than product, the continued dependence on traditional practical examinations does not seem to be in keeping with current curricula changes.     

The Effect of Learner-Generated Drawing and Imagination in Comprehending a Science Text

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of imagination and learner-generated drawing on comprehension, reading time, cognitive load, and eye movements, and whether prior knowledge moderated the effects of these two strategies. Sixty-three undergraduate students participated in a pretest-posttest between-subjects study with the independent variable being the instructional strategies with three levels (learner-generated drawing vs. imagination vs. repeated reading). The results revealed that, compared to repeated reading, learner-generated drawing fostered learners' comprehension when their prior knowledge was relatively low. Moreover, when asked to read the science text after the intervention, learners who were previously engaged with imagination spent significantly more time reading the text, and fixated longer and more frequently than those in the repeated reading condition.