An analysis of small group interactions of Vietnamese students under the Bourdieusian theoretical lens

Group work has been increasingly encouraged and applied in Vietnamese universities. However, very little has been known about how Vietnamese university students work in a group and what the conditions are that help establish an effective group. This study attempted to redress this gap. The research applied Bourdieu’s social field theory to examine experiences of Vietnamese students in groups. It specifically explored Vietnamese students’ perceptions of interactions with ‘cultural and linguistic others’ and how their interactions were constrained and enabled by personal and contextual factors. Employing a qualitative research methodology, the study revealed that student interactions were strongly influenced by the rules set-up in the field, possessing capital resources valued in the field and disposition towards working with other cultures.     

Social Class,Gender and Ethnic Differences in Subjects Taken at Age 14.

In this paper, we identify patterns of subject and qualification choices made at age 14. Much of the previous research on ‘subject choice’ has focussed on the later stages of educational trajectories, particularly Higher Education. However, the choices made at early branching points can limit pupils’ subsequent options, potentially contributing to educational inequalities. This paper identifies the patterns of General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) subjects chosen by a cohort of young people born in 1989/1990. We make use of the Next Steps data (formerly the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE)) which is linked to the National Pupil Database. We develop an approach to measuring the academic selectivity of subjects and qualifications. We examine the roles of social class, parental education, income, gender and ethnicity in determining participation in these curriculum groupings. Using measures of prior attainment from age thirteen, we address the question of whether curriculum differentials simply reflect differences in prior attainment or whether they actually operate above and beyond existing inequalities. We find clear socio-economic, gender, ethnic and school-level differences in subjects studied which cannot be accounted for by prior attainment.     

FROM “EXPLORING THE MIDDLE ZONE” TO “CONSTRUCTING A BRIDGE”: EXPERIMENTING IN THE SPIRAL BIANSHI MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM

The spiral bianshi curriculum, an improvement on bianshi teaching developed by Gu (2000) and in line with Marton’s theory of variation (Marton & Booth, 1997), was tried out in a primary school in Hong Kong. This improved theoretical framework for the spiral bianshi curriculum comprises four types of bianshi problems—the inductive bianshi, the broadening bianshi, the deepening bianshi, and the applicative bianshi. Based on this framework, the research team developed a set of teaching materials on the three topics of division of fraction, speed, and volume. The materials were tried out in 21 Primary 6 classes (a total of 686 students) in a school. The effect was compared with a reference group using standard textbook materials in Hong Kong. A series of instruments, pre-tests, and post-tests were administered to gauge the effects on students’ performance in solving routine and non-routine problems, as well as the affective outcomes including self-concept, attitude towards learning mathematics, approaches to learning, and conceptions of mathematics. The intervention effects of the experimental design were examined by hierarchical regression analysis. The research reveals that students using spiral bianshi teaching materials performed significantly better than their counterparts using standard textbook materials. However, no significant differences were identified among affective learning outcome variables despite the positive results on cognitive learning outcomes. The findings indicate that spiral bianshi curriculum has high potential in enhancing students’ learning effectiveness. However, further studies are needed to map its strengths in detail.     

Psychometric Properties of the Eating Attitudes Test

The study was designed to develop an instrument to examine students' reports of the type and frequency of various student behaviors in physical education classes that might disrupt classroom management. This study had multiple phases, including instrument development, preliminary studies, content-related evidence study, and an exploratory factor analysis and internal consistency reliability study. Participants for the content-related evidence study were 27 experts in physical education pedagogy. They were sent items from the student disruptive behavior instrument and asked to organize them into 3 management severity categories. Participants for the factor analysis and internal consistency reliability study were 2,309 middle and high school students from 2 states. The following 6 factors emerged from the exploratory factor analysis: (a) aggressive, (b) low engagement or irresponsibility, (c) fails to follow directions, (d) illegal or harmful, (e) distracts or disturbs others, and (f) poor self-management. Alpha reliability coefficients for the factors were mostly above .70 and the rotated factor loadings for the items ranged from .26 to .73. Investigating students' reports of the type and frequency of potentially troublesome behaviors may lead to a better understanding of student disruptive behaviors in physical education contexts.     

Wafer-scale fabrication of high-aspect ratio nanochannels based on edge-lithography technique

This paper introduced a wafer-scale fabrication approach for the preparation of nanochannels with high-aspect ratio (the ratio of the channel depth to its width). Edge lithography was used to pattern nanogaps in an aluminum film, which was functioned as deep reactive ion etching mask thereafter to form the nanochannel. Nanochannels with aspect ratio up to 172 and width down to 44 nm were successfully fabricated on a 4-inch Si wafer with width nonuniformity less than 13.6%. A microfluidic chip integrated with nanometer-sized filters was successfully fabricated by utilizing the present method for geometric-controllable nanoparticle packing.     

A capstone mathematics course for prospective secondary mathematics teachers

This article describes an innovative capstone mathematics course that links college mathematics with school mathematics and pedagogy. It describes how college juniors in a secondary mathematics teacher preparation program engage in leadership experiences that enable them to learn mathematics for teaching while developing student-centered pedagogical and assessment strategies. Examples show how students teach the class, complemented by excerpts from student journals containing students?? perceptions of their learning. Preliminary research indicates the effectiveness of this course for preparing future mathematics teachers.     

Portable classroom leads to partnership

Library faculty participation on the School of Medicine Curriculum Steering Committee led to a unique opportunity to partner technology and teaching utilizing the library's portable wireless classroom. The pathology lab course master expressed a desire to revise the curriculum using patient cases and direct access to the Web and library resources. Since the pathology lab lacked computers, the library's portable wireless classroom provided a solution. Originally developed to provide maximum portability and flexibility, the wireless classroom consists of ten laptop computers configured with wireless cards and an access point. While the portable wireless classroom led to a partnership with the School of Medicine, there were additional benefits and positive consequences for the library.     

Help children cope with change

Although this article is directed primarily to parents, caregivers will find many useful ideas here, too.