Teacher-student development in mathematics classrooms: Interrelated zones of free movement and promoted actions

This paper applies and extends Valsiner’s ‘zone theory’ (zones of free movement and promoted actions) through an examination of an intervention to establish inquiry communities in primary mathematics classrooms. Valsiner’s zone theory, in a classroom setting, views students’ freedom of choice of action and thought as mediated by the teacher. The extension of this theory adds that teachers’ freedom of choice of action and thought is mediated by ‘significant others’ and also by the actions of students with new freedoms. The paper presents necessary theoretical constructs and provides extracts from lessons and from teacher-teacher collaboration to illustrate the theoretical extension.     

Interrogating Identity and Social Contexts Through “Critical Family History”

Tracing one's family genealogy is a complex process that requires situating a family's narratives within a historical context. This article reviews the use of critical family history research in an undergraduate Asian American studies course to examine not only the diversity and experiences of Asian Americans but also the unspoken narratives that lead to the creation of a single story. We are told single stories that often neglect the sociocultural factors—the historical reality—of our past. Our family histories are constructed historically and are embedded in social, political, and economic processes and relationships. This article argues that we need to complicate what we know about our past and examine policies and cultural practices that lead to a racialized system of power and privilege, racialized policies, and racialized oppression and progression.     

The role of outcome expectations in the experience of a state of communication apprehension

Following the trend toward cognitive explanations of social phenomena, an expectation‐based model of the processes leading to a state of communication apprehension is advanced. Further, an initial test of the model is reported. The results of this study indicated that expectations are a significant predictor of communication apprehension as measured by self‐report. In addition, importance of communicative goals and the interaction of expected outcome and goal importance were also significant predictor variables. These relationships were not observed when heart‐rate was used as a measure of anxiety.     

Overcoming resistance to formal instructional development processes

The instructional development (id) process sometimes is perceived as being too time-intensive and as delaying instructional materials development. Course writers holding these perceptions may resist following a formalid process or give only cursory attention to early stages in the process. Such a situation can create conflict between course writers and instructional designers responsible for implementing a particularid model. This article describes a way instructional designers can overcome some of the resistance to following theid process.     

怎样教科学

科学教育的主要目的是为学生进行更高层次的科学学习奠定基础;有助于学生成为社会劳动力、寻求就业机会和谋求个人发展;为学生成为具有良好科学素养的社会公民奠定基础。为此,科学教学应坚持如下原则:教学应成为促进学生学习的工具;教学要专注于核心科学思想;教学要帮助学生加深对科学的理解;教学要充分考虑学习的复杂性;教学应有助于学生主动建构科学知识;教学应将科学内容和发展学生的兴趣相结合;教师要对所有学生的学习都寄予积极的期望;教学要注重减轻学生的焦虑。这八项教学原则及其教学实践建议,为改进科学教育提供了新的视角及可资借鉴的实践策略。