Twelfth-grade biology pupils' opinions on interventions of man in nature: Agreement,indifference and ambivalence

The purpose of this study was to assess the degree of ambivalence of the attitudes of twelfth-grade biology pupils in Israel towards interventions of man in nature. A questionnaire was designed in which the pupils were confronted with arguments of different levels of potential relevance (personal, global, and philosophical), three against and three in favor of each of eight “interventions of man in natural processes.” The pupil was requested (a) to rate each argument independently and (b) to “vote,” as if in a public committee, for or against each technology. The degree of ambivalence–-measured, for each item, by means of Kaplan's (1972) semantic differential half scales–-was the degree to which the pupils agreed to both positive and negative arguments. Although clear majorities of pupils voted in favor of all the “interventions,” three main patterns of responses were found: general agreement, indifference, and ambivalence. These patterns were characterized in terms of (a) the mean ratings of the arguments, (b) the differences between mean positive and negative “personal” ratings, (c) the percentages of favorable votes, and (d) the degrees of ambivalence. It was shown that pupils were able to appreciate arguments against a certain technology even in cases of strong personal feelings in favor of the technology (high ambivalence). The development of such an ability may be one of the main objectives of science education in a STS context.     

Factors in the development of proportional reasoning strategies by concrete operational college students

This study was designed as a test for two neo-Piagetian theories. More specifically, this research examined the relationships between the development of proportional reasoning strategies and three cognitive variables from Pascual-Leone's and Case's neo-Piagetian theories. A priori hypotheses linked the number of problems students worked until they induced a proportional reasoning strategy to the variables of M-space, degree of field dependence, and short-term storage space. The subjects consisted of students enrolled in Physical Science I, a science course for nonscience majors at the University of Southern Mississippi. Of the 34 subjects in the study, 23 were classified as concrete operational on the basis of eight ratio tasks. Problems corresponding to five developmental levels of proportional reasoning (according to Piagetian and neo-Piagetian theory), were presented by a microcomputer to the 23 subjects who had been classified as concrete operational. After a maximum of 6 hours of treatment, 17 of the 23 subjects had induced ratio schemata at the upper formal level (IIIB), while the remaining subjects used lower formal level (IIIA) schemata. The data analyses showed that neither M-space and degree of field-dependence, either alone or in combination, nor short-term storage predicted the number of problems students need to do until they induce an appropriate problem-solving strategy. However, there were significant differences in the short-term storage space of those subjects who mastered ratio problems at the highest level and those who did not. Also, the subjects' degree of field-dependence was not a predictor of either the ability to transfer problem-solving strategies to a new setting or the reuse of inappropriate strategies. The results of this study also suggest that short-term storage space is a variable with high correlations to a number of aspects of learning such as transfer and choice of strategy after feedback.     

National Education as a ‘Civics’ Literacy in a Globalized World: The challenges facing education in Singapore

In this paper we discuss the idea of national education in Singapore. National education, broadly speaking, is a civics programme which seeks to instil a sense of place, identity and history in young Singaporeans with a view to developing national pride and commitment. We set this discussion against the backdrop of globalization and the idea of wired communities and argue that any civics programme needs to be more than simply a nationalistic agenda. To do this we have framed national education in Singapore as a civics literacy informed by the idea of multiliteracies. In doing so, we suggest that the pedagogical work of such an approach can help to sustain the nation state of Singapore yet place the civics agenda on a global stage where national education might be seen more appropriately as global education.     

Moving Toward Family-Centered Early Care and Education: The Past, the Present, and a Glimpse of the Future

Over the past 4 decades, early care and education programs in the United States have struggled to overcome obstacles to active parent and family participation, especially in the wake of recent welfare reform guidelines requiring parents to work outside the home. This article highlights the vision and activities of four Wisconsin Early Childhood Centers for Excellence, which offer family-centered services along with services to young children. Using various strategies, these programs have empowered parents and strengthened bonds between parents and professionals. Their success suggests that new models based on family-centered goals can improve the overall quality of early care and education for young children.     

THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITIES IN PROMOTING LITERACY

This article offers a critique of the traditional role of the university in relation to the promotion of universal literacy. It describes some of the developments in university Involvement in adult basic education in the United Kingdom and suggests possibilities for the future. K argues that universities must commit themselves to a lifelong learning approach to education. They must support new access routes for adult students and collaborative models of research and practice in developing the field of literacy.     

Correlates of leisure-time reading

Pupils from middle-class homes devoted an average of 7.2 per cent of leisure time to reading. The relationship between home environment, attitude to reading and motivations for reading on the one hand and leisure-time reading on the other, was examined. The addition of these sets of variables to previously established correlates of leisure-time reading, achievement, sex, and library membership increased the proportion of variance accounted for in leisure-time reading by a significant amount (10.1 per cent). Correlations tended to be low, since leisure reading is a relatively sporadic type activity. From the perspective of developing the reading habit, the results suggest that what parents do is more important than what they are; the emphasis placed on reading in the home, on academic development and on intellectuality was related to leisure-time reading. Attitude to reading correlated more highly with leisure-time reading than any of the other variables included in the study; the correlation between attitude and time was significant even after controlling for sex, reading achievement and library membership. Among the motivational variables, reading for enjoyment was related to leisure-time reading whereas reading for utilitarian or escapist reasons was not.     

如影随形的电话

Verizon makes a new vow to marry phones to the PC It's one of the most maddening(发狂的) features of all the technology in our lives. There are so many gadgets (小玩意) to connect us—cell phones, e-mail, land-line phones—yet most of the gadgets aren' t connected to each other.     

Announcing The Encyclopaedia of School Stories

Editorial Introduction

Announcing The Encyclopaedia of School Stories     

中澳两所大学促进大学新生角色转换的对比研究

2004年7月在教育部留学基金委的双语教学项目的资助下,笔者之一(董艳)有幸到澳大利亚悉尼大学学习进修。该校作为澳洲历史最古老的大学之一,建立于1850年,有着较为深厚的文化底蕴和研究传统。学习期间,笔者对该校理学院的“学生角色转换研讨会”项目产生了浓厚的兴趣。从中发现悉尼大学在促进新生从高中到大学的角色转换方面,作了许多富有成效的工作。如从量化的角度(问卷调查)收集大学生对大学生活诸方面的体验数据,以促进学校和院系的改革等。目前,世界许多国家的高校把大学新生的角色转换作为一个重要的课题,且已产生许多研究成果。基本…