The development of a hypertext-based tutor for Geographical Information Systems

Experience gained in the construction of the world's first Geographical Information Systems tutor, ARCDEMO, emphasised the importance of accommodating different learning strategies. ARCDEMO, while highly successful, suffered from static graphical displays, a single pre-determined access path, and an overall design which restricted its scope in use. The Geographical Information System Tutor (GIST) was developed to address these problems using Apple's object-orientated HyperCard software. GIST incorporates a 'point-and-click' interface with graphical cues to initiate operations which include animated demonstrations, step-by-step illustrative graphics and graphical displays capable of user modification. The system was designed with two alternative access modes, serial or browsing , to allow different classes of user to work through the material in their preferred fashion. The use of GIST in undergraduate and short course teaching has shown how users respond well to the interface and find graphical explanations easy to follow.     

校门边的申请者

去自己理想的大学读书是每个学生的梦想,了解学校的学术环境、人文环境,乃至地理环境是每一个学生在入学前想做的事情,本文介绍了美国耶鲁大学的部分特点和校园的传统,希望读者朋友能够藉此了解一点儿美国大学校园文化。     

Improving Mathematics Teaching in Kindergarten with Realistic Mathematical Education

The present study investigates and compares the influence of teaching Realistic Mathematics on the development of mathematical competence in kindergarten. The sample consisted of 231 Greek kindergarten students. For the implementation of the survey, we conducted an intervention, which included one experimental and one control group. Children in the experimental group were taught Realistic Mathematics according to the principles of Realistic Mathematics Education. The control group was taught mathematics following the basic pedagogical principles of curriculum for kindergarten students. In order to evaluate the mathematical performance of children we used the Test of Early Mathematics Ability (TEMA-3). The results showed that the teaching technique with the use of Realistic Mathematic Education contributed significantly to the development of mathematical competence of young children. Moreover, factors such as gender, age and nonverbal cognitive ability, did not seem to differentiate the development of mathematical competence of children.     

高等教育财政

在所有OECD国家以及很多其他国家所出现的高等教育扩张,既是必要的、有益的,同时也是昂贵的,它需要与其他公共服务竞争政府的财政支出.高等教育财政的重要性不言而喻,但并不是所有国家都充分地认认到了这一点,同时这也是政治上很敏感的一个话题.本文先从经济理论以及一些国家的实际经验两个方面分析高等教育财政,继而从这两个角度审视了英国2004年公布的高等教育财政改革方案,最后在总结中指出了那些尚未完成的工作.     

The multiple sources of workplace stress among land-grant university faculty

Workplace stress has received a fair amount of treatment in the research literature over the past decade. What has not been examined, at least not systematically, is this same phenomena inacademe. Our study looked at stress among university faculty at a land-grant university located in the western region of the U. S. Analyses from the self-assessment mail survey (N = 786) reveals that faculty in the Hard Pure Nonlife (e. g., Astronomy, Math, Physics), Hard Applied Nonlife (e. g., Civil Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, Computer Science) and Soft Applied Life (e. g., Education Administration, Special Education) experience more stress than faculty in disciplines such as Hard Pure Life (e. g., Botany, Zoology) and Soft Pure Nonlife (e. g., English, Philosophy, Communications). Careful attention was paid to the different levels of stress reported by male and female faculty, with women professors reporting a higher level of stress than their male counterparts. We provide an assessment and explanation for this finding. Research ends with several proposals for individual faculty, department chairs and academic administrators for addressing the problem of workplace pressure and work overload.     

An evaluation of the impact of a Year in industry scheme

This paper reports a survey of the progress of participants in a year in industry scheme for A’ level graduates in the UK typically aged 18/19. The scheme involves spending a supervised year in industry prior to a degree programme in engineering. The evidence shows that the year in industry: has a beneficial effect on the degree classification of the academically weaker participants, but little effect on the stronger; encourages all participants to take up further study; provides participants with a more positive picture of industry and engineering; but does not provide greater motivation to enter industry; provides greater financial remuneration in the world of work than would otherwise be the case. These results can be interpreted in terms of the way young people weigh the benefits of different career paths. Our hypothesis is that this involves moving to situations where they are more likely to be treated as adults.     

Second-order conditioning: Different outcomes in fear and eyelid conditioning

Second-order conditioning has been frequently observed with the fear response but not with the eyelid response. The present experiments manipulated the temporal relationship between the second-order and first-order stimulus on second-order conditioning trials. Our results indicated that a trace second-order procedure is not effective with either response system. Second-order fear conditioning was most prominent when the second-order CS terminated at the onset of the first-order CS. This arrangement, however, did not produce second-order eyelid CRs. In eyelid conditioning, the second-order CS appears to inhibit responding to the first-order CS which immediately follows it.     

Reflections on the process of visual design

In this article, we are primarily concerned with the kinds of problems which lend themselves to solutions in visual, graphic terms. Essentially, they may be described as problems in communication which the designer attempts to solve by means of printed words or symbols, by the use of appropriate pictorial images or by exploiting audio-visual techniques.The author are practising designers who also share an interest in the teaching of graphic design; and these interests have determined the form of the discussion which follows. Some observations about the nature of design itself, about the various procedures available to the designer in tackling the problems which are brought to him, are illustrated with brief case histories selected from among those which have directly concerned the authors in the recent past. From these, they have ventured to draw some general conclusions about the possible range and scope of the contribution which the graphic designer may be expected to make-now, and in the future-to the solution of problems in visual communication.     

Educational reforms and the practices of professional learning community in Hong Kong primary schools

Abstract

This study explored the characteristics of professional learning communities (PLCs) in Hong Kong primary schools. It investigated the profiles of the strengths of professional learning community in schools under study and particularly examined the practices in schools which were identified as strong PLCs. It extends research on PLCs in the Hong Kong context and formulates a quantitative perspective to compare and validate PLC variables across schools in Hong Kong. The Professional Learning Community Questionnaire (PLCQ) for Hong Kong schools was developed to assess the PLC practices in six different areas: leadership for teacher learning, collaborative learning capacity, student-focused orientation, a culture of sharing, mutual understanding and support, and continuous professional development. A composite construct, the Professional Learning Community Index (PLCI) expressed in quantitative terms was utilized to assess the strength of PLC in a school. The research findings show that within the schools which were identified as strong professional learning communities, both the school leaders and teachers had strong emphases on the six subscales of the PLC practices.