Observations from the classroom: When analogies go wrongi

Specializations: teachers' pedagogical knowledge, analogical reasoning, conceptual change.     

Sex differences in the environments of graduate students and faculty

This paper considers some important psychological aspects of the academic experience for male and female graduate faculty members and students. Drawing on data collected in a recent national study of doctoral program quality, information pertaining to the graduate department's environment for learning, the extent of faculty members' concern for students, graduate student assistantship experiences, and faculty members' satisfactions and views about various departmental practices and policies are examined. Gender differences in both student and faculty member perceptions of their environments were found to be generally slight and to vary by discipline.     

Self and peer appraisal in higher education

This paper applies the mathematical technique of Data Envelopment Analysis to the problem of appraisal in Higher Education. The technique can be understood as an idealised self and peer appraisal: evaluating others in the same way that we would optimally evaluate ourselves relative to those others. The technique is applied to examples of student and staff appraisal. Although the main focus of this article is on the technique itself (its rationale, the prerequisites for use, and the insights that it yields), we also discuss the wider implications of having and using such a technique to assist appraisal.     

Education reform and subject matter knowledge

This article raises the question of what K–12 teachers need to know to teach mathematics and science well. It begins by examining reform proposals for K–12 science and mathematics teaching with an eye toward defining what good teaching practice consists of. It then examines a wide range of literature to delineate the varieties of knowledge that have been associated with this kind of teaching. While the focus is on subject matter knowledge, the article addressed the character of that knowledge rather than the content of that knowledge. Types of knowledge identified in the literature include conceptual understanding of the subject, pedagogical content knowledge, beliefs about the nature of work in science and mathematics, attitudes toward these subjects, and actual teaching practices with students. The literature is incomplete with respect to which of these is relatively more or relatively less important. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 249–263, 1998.     

Using Wikis to Collaboratively Prepare for Qualifying Examinations:

This article focuses on the experiences of seven Ph.D. students implementing a wiki to collaboratively prepare for qualifying examinations in the educational technology program at a large southeastern university. Concomitant study for such a rigorous examination is rare, and the trials and tribulations of the group are described in detail. Specific guidelines highlighting effective preparation options for qualifying exams are often elusive, and, as such, this article explores current research related to collaborative preparation and mentoring, as well as the qualifying examination process in total, in hopes of adding to the scientific body of knowledge related to these subjects. It also offers best practice strategies, suggests possible technology tips regarding wiki implementation, and seeks to better scaffold future scholars and/or mentors seeking to effectively participate in or plan for collaborative qualifying examination preparation.     

The effects of the Kalamazoo Promise on college choice

On November 10, 2005, then Superintendent of the Kalamazoo Public School System, Janice Brown announced—to the surprise of Kalamazoo’s residents—the beginning of the Kalamazoo Promise. Fully funded by a set of anonymous donors, the Kalamazoo Promise is an urban revitalization program that offers up to four years of free tuition to any public college or university in the state of Michigan for graduates of the Kalamazoo Public School system who meet certain eligibility criteria. Using the subsidy as a source of exogenous variation in the price of college, we use quasi-experimental methods to evaluate the impact of the subsidy on college choice. We find that the Kalamazoo Promise increases the likelihood that students from Kalamazoo Public Schools consider public institutions in Michigan. In addition, we find that the Kalamazoo Promise especially impacts the college choice set of students from families who earn less than $50,000 in annual income.     

真理和容忍在美国（节选）

美国没有王室,但肯尼迪家族却是这个国家的贵族;美国人不迷信．可发生在肯尼迪家族身上的恶咒却让举国惊骇。《纽约时报》说：“爱德华．肯尼迪是肯尼迪家族里最后一位可以影响美国政治的成员。他个人即是荣耀、理想主义政治和奉献的化身。”1983年,爱德华·肯尼迪在Liberty Baptist College发表Truth and Tolerancein America演讲。演讲严谨不失幽默．是模仿语音、练习演讲的优秀范本。     

Class,Ethnicity and Civic Governance: A Social Profile of Football Club Directors on Merseyside in the Late-Nineteenth Century

By presenting a wide range of evidence relating to the social characteristics of directors of Merseyside's professional football clubs, an attempt is made in this article to locate the late-nineteenth-century professional football club within the prevailing power relations of the localities in which they were based. The primary objective of the study is to assess the extent to which professional football clubs were part of a network of civic organizations utilized by the urban middle class as a means of maintaining their social and political cohesion. On the basis of the evidence presented here, it is demonstrated that a significant proportion of directors were involved in influential socio-political organizations on Merseyside. It is concluded that the Merseyside football clubs can be viewed as cultural organizations that were integral to the shaping of civic governance.     

Explaining Hong Kong Students’ International Achievement in Civic Learning

This study identifies predictors of Hong Kong students’ civic learning. It has adopted a cross-sectional quantitative design using secondary data from the 2009 International Civics and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS 2009; Schulz et al., 2010). Multi-level analysis reveals that most of the variance in student achievement can be accounted for by school level rather than individual level factors. Student background variables are largely insignificant suggesting the resilience of many Hong Kong students. Regarding Hong Kong students’ achievements in civic learning, a possible explanation is made and implications are developed for both theory and practice.