Changes in teachers’ beliefs after a professional development project for teaching writing: two Chinese cases

A plethora of research has found that teachers’ beliefs directly influence their classroom practices and teaching outcomes. While numerous studies in second/foreign language writing have examined the effectiveness of different innovative approaches on students’ learning to write, there is a paucity of research on writing teachers’ beliefs about these approaches and how their beliefs change in the process of their professional development. Such a lacuna becomes prominent in English as a Foreign Language contexts, especially in China, where there are numerous calls for changing the nature of classroom practices from product-focused to process- and student-centred instruction. In order to fill this gap, this brief article reports on a case study regarding changes in two Chinese English teachers’ beliefs after attending a professional development project for teaching writing. A key research question guides this study: What changes, if any, did the two teachers experience in their teaching beliefs during the project? Two writing teachers were voluntarily recruited for a case study. Findings show that the professional development project for teaching writing broadened the teachers’ understanding of different writing theories, provided a clear model of how to integrate these new approaches into regular writing courses, changed their instructional focus and shifted their perception of teachers’ roles in teaching practice.     

高校德育内容建构的历史溯源与审视

高校德育内容是依据高校德育目标的要求加以选择和建构的。它是高校德育目标要求的具体展现。高校德育内容有其独立的历史轨迹。追溯高校德育内容建构的历史轨迹,对于反省和审视高校德育内容建构的经验与教训提供了基础。与此同时,对于合理地建构现代高校德育内容也提供了一个非常重要的历史依据。     

建设具有外事特质的大学人文精神

建设具有外事特质的大学人文精神,就是要在坚持"多元集纳、自强创新"办学理念的同时,在全校逐步建立起以"爱校、感恩、责任、奉献"为核心的具有外事特色和外事特质的大学人文精神,并变成外事人的自觉行动和推动学校蓬勃发展的坚强动力。     

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PROFICIENCY AND CONFIDENCE LEVELS IN DISPLAYING THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF BASIC ELECTROLYSIS CONCEPTS

This study was conducted with 330 Form 4 (grade 10) students (aged 15??C?16?years) who were involved in a course of instruction on electrolysis concepts. The main purposes of this study were (1) to assess high school chemistry students?? understanding of 19 major principles of electrolysis using a recently developed 2-tier multiple-choice diagnostic instrument, the Electrolysis Diagnostic Instrument (EDI), and (2) to assess students?? confidence levels in displaying their knowledge and understanding of these electrolysis concepts. Analysis of students?? responses to the EDI showed that they displayed very limited understanding of the electrolytic processes involving molten compounds and aqueous solutions of compounds, with a mean score of 6.82 (out of a possible maximum of 17). Students were found to possess content knowledge about several electrolysis processes but did not provide suitable explanations for the changes that had occurred, with less than 45?% of students displaying scientifically acceptable understandings about electrolysis. In addition, students displayed limited confidence about making the correct selections for the items; yet, in 16 of the 17 items, the percentage of students who were confident that they had selected the correct answer to an item was higher than the actual percentage of students who correctly answered the corresponding item. The findings suggest several implications for classroom instruction on the electrolysis topic that need to be addressed in order to facilitate better understanding by students of electrolysis concepts.     

初探以老庄为代表的道家思想中的国家安全观

安全是当今社会的国际性大问题,国家安全不仅仅是当代各个国家所重视的首要问题,同时也是中国古代统治阶级所重视的主要问题之一。本文就以道家学派为切入点,以老庄核心思想为研究对象,对其"贵以贱为本,高以下为基"的民本思想,"无为而治"的治国之道以及其"小国寡民"的社会思想中所蕴含的国家安全理念进行简单探究。     

理据的场约束及系统运筹——以交通乘用概念的理据为例

本文以交通乘用概念的理据为例,通过多种语言的泛时对比和汉语历时、共时比较,归纳出该概念各种可能理据的集合,比较了它们跟其知识场各常识构件间的匹配关系等．由此进一步证明了马清华（2010,2011）就理据问题提出的场约束原理。但可能的理据并不能自然实现为现实的理据,本文继而以汉语为单一分析材料,通过对其乘用概念的理据运筹活动的详细论证,表明可能的理据能否成功实现为现实理据（即语言对概念表达策略的选择）,取决于言内外多种因素的运筹结果。表达目的、言外的现实和认知条件、言内的形义基础相互作用,协同规定着概念的理据,这就把优先原理进一步发展成为系统运筹原理。本文对场约束原理的进一步证明和所发展出的系统运筹原理丰富、完善了理据理论。     

Determination of genetic relationships between evergreen azalea cultivars in China using AFLP markers

Evergreen azaleas are among the most important ornamental shrubs in China. Today, there are probably over 300 cultivars preserved in different nurseries, but with little information available on the cultivar itself or relationships between cultivars. Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers were employed to determine the genetic relationships between evergreen azalea cultivars in China. One hundred and thirty genotypes collected from gardens and nurseries, including cultivars classified in the groups East, West, Hairy, and Summer, unknown cultivars, and close species, were analyzed using three primer pairs. A total of 408 polymorphic fragments were generated by AFLP reactions with an average of 136 fragments per primer pair. The average values of expected heterozygosity and Shannon’s information index were 0.3395 and 0.5153, respectively. Genetic similarities were generated based on Dice coefficients, used to construct a neighbor joining tree, and bootstrapped for 100 replicates in Treecon V1.3b. Principal coordinate analysis (PCO) was performed based on Dice distances using NTSYS-pc software. The AFLP technique was useful for analyzing genetic diversity in evergreen azaleas. Cluster analysis revealed that cultivars in the West and Summer groups were quite distinct from other groups in the four-group classification system and that the East and Hairy groups should be redefined.     

领域本体与社群分类法结构中心性的比较研究

随着领域本体与社群分类法在知识组织研究领域中地位的日渐崛起,越来越多的学者对二者的结构属性展开了研究,一些研究中的模糊与分歧也随之产生.借助复杂网络分析的技术对领域本体网络与用户标签网络中各类中心性指标进行了计算与分析.研究得出,领域本体网络整体上具有较高的中心化程度,但节点的中心度在不同的中心性指标口径下会呈现出较大差异;社群分类法中的用户标签云在整体上内含较高的中心化程度,但在标签的个体层面上也保持了一定的自由化的特性.从结构中心性的视角澄清了模糊与分歧之处.     

高校学生用户开放存取知识需求分析

从国内高等院校学生用户知识需求的角度出发,通过问卷调查获得数据,采用常规统计与形式概念分析相结合的方法,对高校学生用户开放存取知识需求进行综合分析。结果显示,开放存取的检索效率是高校学生用户共同关注的核心焦点;关注文献的传统形式仍然是部分高校学生用户获取知识过程中的思维定势;经济成本在高校学生用户中受关注程度并不突出;学历层次和研究层次是影响高校学生用户间知识需求差异的主要因素。通过对高校学生用户开放存取知识需求特征的揭示,可从用户知识需求的角度为国内高校开放存取的相关理论研究和实践应用提供借鉴。