COGNITIVE STRUCTURES OF CREATIVITY: IMPLICATIONS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN

While creativity of the order which produces paradigm shifts in a knowledge domain is usually the result of the efforts of creative experts, any novel outcome of the work of a problem solver can be referred to as “creative”, be it process or product Any individual, regardless of level of expertise, is capable of creativity if he or she employs the entire cognitive system differentially and synergistically. Consequently, the aim of instruction aimed at enhancing creativity should be to provide opportunities for learners to use all three knowledge orders for creative problem solving. The paper provides various ways in which this may be done.     

Dimensions of student success: a framework for defining and evaluating support for learning in higher education

ABSTRACT

The capabilities students need for success during and beyond higher education extend far beyond specific discipline skills to include the development of productive mindsets, the management of life circumstances and the way they relate to others and identify with their profession. The provision of support for these capabilities at university can be both diverse in scope and diffuse in delivery. Consequently, the development of streamlined and integrated evaluation strategies to measure the extent to which these capabilities are being successfully delivered can be challenging. This paper describes how one Australian university used a collaborative process to design an evaluation framework for student learning services. The framework, a first for this university, represents the breadth of student support, including a typology of support for learning: connectedness, mindsets, self-management, professional identity and academic capabilities. These terms, coined as dimensions, form the scaffold of university-wide delivery of support for learning initiatives.     

Still keen and committed: piloting an instrument for identifying positive veteran teachers

ABSTRACT

Since the mid-1980s, the working lives of teachers has become an enduring research topic. Much research has focused on early-career teachers and is often reported from deficit positions, i.e. why they leave the profession. However, career trajectory studies have described a small cohort of veteran teachers who remain positive and committed to teaching. This article reports on the creation and piloting of an instrument designed to test whether this positive cohort can be empirically identified within a wider teaching population. Four constructs (experimentation, challenge, comfort and leadership) drawn from Huberman (1993), and Day and Gu (2007) formed the basis for an online pilot survey completed by 145 teachers. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis supported three of the four factors (experimentation, comfort, leadership), with challenge loading strongly with experimentation. Initial findings suggest the potential of the instrument in helping identifying positive veteran teachers within systems, as well as the voracity of the research approach. Examining and articulating how these veteran teachers maintain their positive outlook may prove valuable as many countries confront an ageing teaching workforce, increasing student numbers and difficulties in retaining experienced teachers, meaning those who remain will be expected to sustain their commitment for longer.     

Internationalization of the women's magazine industry in Taiwan context,process and influence

This paper looks at the impact of internationalization on the women's magazine industry in Taiwan. It addresses the growing concentration of ownership and control at the international level, how the subsequent standardization has affected advertising, and the implications this has had for the magazines’ readership.

The influx of international magazines to the Taiwanese market since the mid 1980s saw a marked shift of advertising toward transnational brand products. With this in mind, content analysis was conducted to compare advertising in local magazines with that of locally available editions of international titles. The domestic titles, New Woman and Nong‐nong and the Chinese editions of Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire were analysed for 1995. The results indicate that commercial forces have resulted in Taiwan's women's magazines presenting the international stereotype of women in aesthetic roles.     

Family fortunes: female students’ perceptions and expectations of higher education and an examination of how they,and their parents,see the benefits of university

This paper details a case study undertaken in 2011 which examined a small group of female students’, and their parents’, perceptions of the purpose of a university education. The research is underpinned by a review of the literature examining the views held by academics and politicians as to the benefits of higher education and of research in the field of student choices, as related to habitus and their familial experience of higher education. Data collection involved the use of mixed methods to investigate perceptions and expectations about higher education on arrival at university and whether for a small sample of postgraduate respondents, these perceptions had changed over time. The findings showed that initially there is a belief that higher education is primarily a route to economic gain but, three years after graduation, the respondents consider their time spent at the university – primarily – as a period of personal growth and fulfilment.     

An observation-based perspective of winter haze days in four major polluted regions of China

An observation-based approach is used to examine key characteristics of winter haze days in four major polluted regions in China. Major findings in this study are: first, there was no significant trend in the number of winter haze days in most provinces and districts in eastern China from 1973 to 2012, contrary to the 2.5-fold increase in the emissions of particulate matter and its precursors (PM emissions) in the same period of time. Second, meteorological and climate conditions rather than PM emissions are in control of the interannual variabilities and trends of winter haze days. These interannual variabilities (ranging from 24 to 125%) pose a substantial masking effect that must be overcome by any control of PM emissions before its impact becomes statistically detectable. Finally, we find that global warming may have contributed significantly to the trend of winter haze days in eastern China.     

Math Anxiety: Past Research,Promising Interventions,and a New Interpretation Framework

Mathematics anxiety is a pervasive issue in education that requires attention from both educators and researchers to help students reach their full academic potential. This review provides an overview of past research that has investigated the association between math anxiety and math achievement, factors that can cause math anxiety, characteristics of students that can increase their susceptibility to math anxiety, and efforts that educators can take to remedy math anxiety. We also derive a new Interpretation Account of math anxiety, which we use to argue the importance of understanding appraisal processes in the development and treatment of math anxiety. In conclusion, gaps in the literature are reviewed in addition to suggestions for future research that can help improve the field's understanding of this important issue.