Two portfolio systems: EFL students’ perceptions of writing ability,text improvement,and feedback

Research into portfolio assessment (‘PA’) typically describes teachers’ development and implementation of different portfolio models in their respective teaching contexts, however, not much attention is paid to student perceptions of the portfolio approach or its impact on the learning of writing. To this end, this study aims to investigate how two groups of Hong Kong EFL pre-university students (Groups A and B) perceived and responded to two portfolio systems (with each group experiencing one portfolio system either working portfolio or showcase portfolio) in one academic writing course. The case study approach was adopted and data sources included semi-structured interviews, student reflective journals, classroom observations, and analysis of text revisions. Findings indicated that students from the showcase portfolio group (Group B) were less enthusiastic about the effectiveness of PA, and queried whether it could promote autonomy in writing, while the working portfolio group (Group A) was more receptive to the experience, and considered that a feedback-rich environment in the working portfolio system could facilitate writing improvement. The paper concludes with a discussion of how PA can be used to promote self-regulation in the learning of writing.     

残积土动力特性的试验分析研究

本文借助于室内和原位测试方法,以福建泉州花岗岩残积土为例,研究了残积土的基本工程地质特性、微观结构特性、动剪切模量、动应力-应变关系和时间效应,并将其与粘土及砂土进行比较.从大量的共振柱试验和动三轴试验,得到该土饱和及非饱和时的动力参数,非饱和效应,动应力-应变关系以及时间效应的变化规律,并用原位SASW(表面波颇谱分析)法验证了动力参数G_0的可靠性.     

Conceptions of Teaching Art Held by Secondary School Art Teachers

Research into teachers' conceptions of teaching can be justified in that deep seated beliefs impact upon the way teachers teach and influence the learning approaches of their students. This study examined conceptions of teaching art, through interviews with 18 secondary school art teachers in Hong Kong. The analysis resulted in a two‐level characterisation of conceptions under broad essentialist and contextualist orientations. There were four subordinate conception categories, namely moral development in art and aesthetic development in art under the essentialist orientation, and intellectual development through art, and expression and therapy through art as sub‐categories of the contextualist orientation. The categories were defined and delimited by six dimensions. The categories were seen as clearly distinguishable but related, though not hierarchically. There was no evidence of the category scheme being culturally specific, as the majority of the teachers held beliefs which were not consistent with the traditional manner of Chinese painting.     

Is effort praise motivational? The role of beliefs in the effort–ability relationship

In two studies, we investigated how beliefs in the effort–ability relationship moderated the effects of effort praise on student motivation. Study 1 showed that the more the participants believed that effort and ability were related positively (the positive rule) versus related negatively (the inverse rule), the more they would have positive self-evaluation and intrinsic motivation after effort praise. Study 2, with participants’ beliefs manipulated by a priming procedure, showed that the participants in the positive rule condition had better self-evaluation and more intrinsic motivation after effort praise than their counterparts did in the inverse rule condition. The results of the two studies converged to indicate that the motivational effects of effort praise depend on beliefs in the effort–ability relationship.     

International trends in health science librarianship Part 10: The Greater China area

This is the 10th in a series of articles exploring international trends in health science librarianship. This issue describes developments in health science librarianship in the first decade of the 21st century in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The next issue will report on Japan and South Korea. JM     

Confirmatory factor analysis of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory: results based on a sample of Chinese mothers in Hong Kong

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether or not the original six-factor structure of the Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory suggested by [Milner, J.S. (1986). The Child Abuse Potential Inventory: Manual (2nd ed.). DeKalb, IL: Psytec. Inc.] can be confirmed with data from a group of Chinese mothers in Hong Kong. METHOD: Eight hundred and ninety-seven mothers from 13 child care centers in Hong Kong successfully completed a set of structured questionnaires consisting, among others, of the 77-item Abuse Scale of the CAP Inventory. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to determine whether the data fits the factorial structure of the CAP Inventory identified by Milner (1986). RESULTS: The root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) of the model epsilona) is 0.031, indicating a close fit of the model in relation to the degrees of freedom. On testing the close fit against the null hypothesis that Ho: epsilona相似文献   

Mechanistic connotations of restriction of intramolecular motions (RIM)

Molecules are all in constant motions,which influence their properties.For ex-ample,in photophysics,the light emis-sion behavior of a luminogen is de-termined b...