Pairing and gender effects on children’s computer-based learning

This paper reports an experimental study in which one hundred and twenty 11 and 12 year olds worked on a computer based problem solving task couched in an adventure game format. Previous results with this type of task (Blaye, Light, Joiner, & Sheldon, 1991) indicated marked facilitative effects of working in pairs, both on children’s paired performance and on their subsequent individual performance. In this study all children were pre-and post-tested individually. For the intervening practice session subjects were assigned at random to work alone or in single- or mixed-gender pairs. Pairs showed a significant advantage over individuals, but this advantage was not carried over to individual post-test. Gender differences were also attenuated relative to previous results. The findings are interpreted in terms of detailed characteristics of the experimental design (in particular the presence of other children even in the ‘individual’ condition) and reduction of gender stereotyping in the software.     

Searching for ‘a third space’: a creative pathway towards international PhD students’ academic acculturation

Undertaking a PhD is a challenging endeavour. Pursuing a doctoral education in a ‘foreign’ context tends to increase the demands of this intellectual venture. The nature of research-based PhD programmes, often characterised by a lack of formal curricula where academic supervision lasts several years, may add another layer of complexity. Drawing upon an extended version of Urie Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological theory of human development, this paper attempts to offer a greater understanding of both academic and non-academic concerns confronting international PhD students with a view to highlighting their implications for institutional policy and practice. Underpinned by a visual metaphor approach, our research findings advocate embedding the use of ‘a third space’ as a creative pathway and strategy for maximising students’ chances of achieving a successful PhD academic acculturation journey.     

Staying on task: can a thinking skills approach support a productive pedagogy for inclusion?

This study investigates the effects of a thinking skills approach on the on task rates of pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN). There were three situations: two experimental and one controlled. The experimental situations compared on task rates of 19 primary-aged pupils with SEN in thinking skills (TS) and non-thinking skills (XTS) lessons. These same 19 pupils' on task rates were then compared to the 19 different pupils with SEN in the control situation (CON). The study found that pupils with SEN had significantly higher on task rates in thinking skills lessons compared to the non-thinking skills lessons and pupils with SEN in the control situation. This study also found that pupils' on task rate was directly proportional to the level of thinking skills content in a lesson. In addition it was found that pupils in thinking skills lessons spent significantly more time working collaboratively.     

英汉思维模式与大学英语写作

学生在英语写作中存在很多问题。究其原因，根本问题出在英汉思维模式的差异上。据此，提出大学英语写作教学的关键在于帮助学生了解英汉思维模式及英汉语言结构上的特点及差异，培养学生英语语篇思维能力。     

Students’ evaluations of the use of e-learning in a collaborative project between two South African universities

Online learning is increasingly being used in Higher Education, with a number of advantages to online learning being identified. One of these advantages is the suggestion that online learning provides for equality of opportunity. This article reports on students’ evaluations of the use of e-learning in a collaborative project between two South African universities. The results highlighted both positive and negative evaluations of the use of e-learning. The positive aspects identified were that e-learning provided for ease of communication between parties, and easy access to information and learning material. Negative aspects identified were that it presented some technical challenges; online communication was disjointed; there was unequal access to computers between students from the two universities; students felt that more face-to-face interaction is needed. The issue of unequal access to computers and the internet is highlighted as a crucial issue for e-learning in the South African context, and for the fostering of a democratising educational discourse.     

Preparing Teachers for Effective Child Protection: a pre‐service curriculum approach

A pilot programme on child abuse issues was introduced into the pre‐service teacher education curriculum at University College of Central Queensland in 1987. Queensland Department of Family Services personnel provided assistance in planning and provision of resources. Time was allocated in each of the three years so that students’ developing educational ideas could be paralleled with growth in attitudes, knowledge and thinking about child abuse. Student evaluation determined subsequent content and processes. Students involved in the programme now have completed their first year in the field and their perceptions of the programme are described together with survey results for entering students. Implications for reporting, continuing education and professional roles in prevention of child abuse are outlined.     

Electrostatic force on the rectangular shield wall of a strip transmission line

For a strip transmission line shielded by rectangular walls,the Green‘s function is helpful to construct the variation expression of the electrostatic energy.Thomson theorem is employed to determine the charge distribution on the strip.The electrostatic force on each side of the rectangular shield wall is achieved by using the principle of virtual work.The results is easy to be obtained by computerized calculation.     

«Why do you ask?» context and communication in the conservation task

Modifications of conservation tasks designed to increase their ‘social intelligibility’ have frequently been shown to improve young children’s performance. Several studies in this area have involved introducing an emphasis on fairness of distribution, but the significance of this factor has not been independently assessed. Another factor to which attention has recently been drawn concerns the child’s understanding of the experimenter’s intentions in asking the conservation question. Perner (1984) has reported that young children responded more accurately when the question was asked by an experimenter who had not witnessed the earlier stages of the procedure. This paper reports an experiment in which these two factors — the emphasis on fairness and the introduction of a naive experimenter—were manipulated independently. One hundred and twelve 4–6 year olds were divided between four conditions and tested in pairs on a task involving conservation of discontinuous quantity. The results offered clear evidence that emphasising fairness through the device of a competitive game did increase the frequency of correct responses. The introduction of a second experimenter to ask the conservation question also had a significant, if more limited, facilitative effect. Possible social and cognitive processes underlying these results are discussed.