From research to reality: Australian evidence-based practice in autism education

Many teachers are sporadic in using evidence-based practice (EBP) concerning students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Numerous reasons have been posited for this. However, no single study has worked to understand the relative importance of identified criteria in the EBP decision-making processes of teachers. Through the development of a new survey tool, the Evidence-Based Practice Innovation Survey (EBPIAS), an exploration of the decision-making process of Australian teachers in their adoption and cessation of EBP was undertaken. Teachers rated the perception that an EBP would meet the needs of their students as the most important criteria in determining their use of EBP. Conversely, the judgement that an EBP did not meet the needs of their student was the most important criteria in their decision to cease use. In comparing the relevant importance of identified criteria, teachers rated the perception of training as the second-lowest consideration in their decision to adopt and cease using EBP. Consequently, there may need to be greater promotion of, or information concerning, the training required by teachers for effective implementation supporting a more balanced and holistic approach in assessing criteria impacting the adoption of EBP by teachers in the first instance, potentially lowering cessation rates.     

高校组织理论和研究的新进展:分化还是整合?

高校组织理论和研究沿着不同的方向发展 ,因而出现了关键研究领域四分五裂的趋势。本文考察了理论、研究方法、组织行为情境、理论与实践结合以及识别专业人员等方面的发展状况 ,明确指出了该领域所面临的一些困境。作者认为 ,只有了解并关注上述问题 ,才能够保证高校组织理论和研究持续协调地发展下去     

RELIGION AS THE BASIS FOR COUNSELLING

The efficiency and the success of counselling can be frustrated by the fact that far more clients than counsellors attach importance to and profess a belief in religion. Thus it is difficult if not impossible for the counsellor to work within the spiritual/religious framework of the client to achieve a satisfactory resolution of the problem which moved the client to seek counselling in the first place. Psychological theories of religion as well as interpretations of religious experiences are explored, an example being the use of the cosmology of the Toba Batak of Indonesia as a healing resource. The way the Toba Batak have responded to modernization and Christianization might offer certain lessons as to how modern Europeans and Americans might combine spiritualism and secularism in order to remain mentally and ethically healthy.     

Technology Knowledge and Use: A Survey of Science Educators

The purpose of this study was to determine the current state of technology use and know-how among members of the Association for the Education of Teachers in Science. A web-based survey site and an e-mail merge invited members to participate in the study. The survey examined the differences between current and desired levels of knowledge about using technology as an instructional tool, to support research, to enhance productivity in classroom applications, and to enhance data collection and analysis. Large mean differences about using technology as an instructional tool were found, including: (1) teaching students at a distance, (2) database applications, and (3) desktop publishing. Small mean differences were found for telecommunications and word processing.     

2003年奥斯卡之最

“Writers.directors,actors-if we’re stuck here tonightand we run out of food,that’s the order of whom we eat.-Steve Martin,cracking a joke so funny even Harrison FordsmiledBiggest Rationalization(合理化):The producers ofche OscarS decided that the telecast should still go on despite thewar in Iraq.Okay,but we’re warning you:If the producers ofAccording to Jim try to use that excuse,we’re not buying It.Least True Rumor:That Miramax dropped fliers overBeverly Hills urging Academy members to surrender and voteMartin Scorsese for Best Director.Even Less True:Although Saddam Hussein remainsunaccounted for,there is absolutely no truth to the rumor thathis moustache was last seen trying to escape by passing itselt offas Salma Hayek’s Frida-brow.     

Scaffolding middle school students’ content knowledge and ill-structured problem solving in a problem-based hypermedia learning environment

This study investigated the effects of domain-general and domain-specific scaffolds with different levels of support, continuous and faded, on learning of scientific content and problem-solving. Students’ scores on a multiple-choice pretest, posttest, and four recommendation forms were analyzed. Students’ content knowledge in all conditions significantly increased from pretest to posttest. However, the continuous domain-specific condition outperformed the other conditions on the posttest. Although domain-general scaffolds were not as effective as domain-specific scaffolds on learning content and problem representation, they helped students develop solutions, make justifications, and monitor learning. Unlike domain-specific scaffolds, domain-general scaffolds helped students transfer problem-solving skills when they were faded. Several suggestions are discussed for making improvements in the design of scaffolds to facilitate ill-structured problem solving.     

Young adolescents' metacognition and domain knowledge as predictors of hypothesis‐development performance in a computer‐supported context

Recently, the importance of ill‐structured problem‐solving in real‐world contexts has become a focus of educational research. Particularly, the hypothesis‐development process has been examined as one of the keys to developing a high‐quality solution in a problem context. The authors of this study examined predictive relations between young adolescents' metacognition, prior domain knowledge, and hypothesis‐development performance in a computer‐supported environment. Data were collected from 11‐ and 12‐year‐old Korean students (N = 101). A hypothesised model in predicting hypothesis‐development performance was evaluated using structural equation modelling. Both metacognition and prior domain knowledge significantly predicted young adolescents' hypothesis‐development performance. Implications and limitations of the present study and issues, including the experimental design, are discussed.     

Is ‘the posthuman’ educable? On the convergence of educational philosophy,animal studies,and posthumanist theory

Formal education in Western society is firmly rooted in humanist ideals. ‘Becoming human’ by cultivating certain cognitive, social, and moral abilities has even symbolised the idea of education as such in Enlightenment philosophical traditions. These ideas are increasingly coming under scrutiny by posthumanist theorists, who are addressing fundamental ontological and epistemological questions about defining an essential ‘human nature’, as well as the elastic boundary work between the human and nonhuman subject. This paper responds to the ongoing discussions on the diverse articulations of posthumanism in education theory and animal studies by investigating possibilities of a shared conceptual framework that allows for a productive dialogue between them. By analysing some of the meanings attached to the notion of posthumanism in education theory and animal studies, the paper begins to identify some instabilities of humanist traditions/ideals of education and explores posthumanist challenges to research on the institutionalised production, mediation, and development of knowledge.     

WebTV Channel Additions: Channel Complementarity in the Broadcasting Industry

The purpose of this article is to study how WebTV channel additions influence the following relationship dimensions between a broadcasting company and its consumers: brand knowledge, brand satisfaction, direct relationship investments, and indirect relationship investments. A survey of broadcast consumers indicated positive effects of WebTV channel additions on all 4 brand relationship dimensions. The findings also indicate that brand satisfaction, direct relationship investments, and indirect relationship investments mediate the effect of WebTV channel additions on customers' use of the broadcaster's main channel. The implication of the results is that WebTV channel additions have the potential to strengthen consumer-brand relationships and that WebTV channel additions seem to complement rather than substitute a broadcast company's main channel. Based on the results, WebTV channel additions are recommended as a channel strategy for broadcasting companies. Similar studies in other industries and settings are suggested before the results can be generalized more broadly.