Science at the Crossroads? The Decline of Science in Australian Higher Education

The Australian Government has stressed the important role universities play in producing knowledge workers to service the needs of the technology-driven new economy. The massification of Australian higher education from 1989 rapidly increased the stock of university-educated people in all disciplines. Although university science enrolments also grew, analysis reveals both that the growth rate has been considerably less than the sector average, and that there has been a serious decline in the number of students being trained in the enabling sciences: chemistry, mathematics and physics. Recent Government policies are unlikely to reverse this critical decline.     

The Secondary School Prospectus and the Challenge of Special Educational Needs

There is an analysis of a sample of secondary school prospectuses with a focus upon special educational needs [SEN]. The background context is the Parent's Charter which promises information and choice, and the official governmental regulations for the content of the prospectus. The general analysis examines the prospectus in terms of its methodological status, quality of production, school policies, rules, uniform, extra‐curricular activities, examination results and staff qualifications. The SEN section first addresses the absence of school policy statements and explores the depiction of approaches, the nature of the SEN pupil, the pupil with physical disabilities, a textual analysis of schools’ SEN terminology and strategies for SEN.     

Beginning Elementary School Teachers and the Effective Teaching of Science

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

Introducing technology education: Using teachers' questions as a platform for professional development

This paper explores the issues and concems identified by a small group of teachers implementing technology ideas using the national document,A Statement on Technology for Australian Schools (Curriculum Corporation, 1994a), represented in four key questions they posed as a result of reflection upon their existing ideas and practices, early in the study. These same issues and concerns framed their later experiences as the study progressed. The case study of one of the teachers is used, to illustrate how the teachers implemented technology education working from their own perspectives and tackling issues and concerns that made sense to them. By reviewing the teachers' own questions about technology implementation, it is becoming, clear that what may be important for professional development in technology education is related to the questions that the teachers themselves are asking about their own, beliefs and practices.     

The Internationalisation of University Education: Australia and Finland Compared

This paper examines alternative attitudes to internationalisation, using Australia and Finland as case studies. In Australia, the principal thrust of “internationalisation” has been one of the export of educational services. The fees paid by the majority of the 84 000 international university students have become a critical part of the funding of Australia’s university system. In Finland, universities continue to be funded almost exclusively through government grants, and official philosophy towards the internationalisation of higher education differs from the more direct economic Australian model. Comparative philosophy, mobility and comparative numbers are considered. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

In their very own words: authors and scholarly journal publishing

This paper presents the results of a major investigation by questionnaire of author attitudes towards scholarly publishing, which was funded by the Publisher's Association. Altogether, the views of nearly 4,000 authors were obtained and this paper concerns just those thousand or so authors who accepted the invitation to write freely about their own personal feelings and experiences. Using QSR N6 textual analysis software, their comments were processed and themes extracted. While the rest of the questionnaire, which was formed of closed‐question, tick‐box type questions, clearly must have had some impact on their thinking, the authors had considerable latitude in regard to what they could say. The paper provides a unique opportunity to hear their views directly. The pressing topics turned out to be (in rough order of concern): the peer‐review system, copyright, journal prices, alternative business models for journal publishing, big deals, Elsevier, electronic publishing and digital journals.     

沪港澳中学数学课堂教学之比较

沪港澳中学数学课堂的主要共性有:指令性讲解为主;较为重视课堂练习;强调问题之间的内在联系;强调讲清概念;强调对算法的讲解、练习以及总结.主要差异有:上海课堂的效率最高,并有一定时间为学生提供探究性学习的机会;香港课堂练习时间最多,但练习的问题中,重复性和低复杂性的问题最多;澳门课堂练习时间最少,而练习的问题复杂性较高等.