The ARIADNE Project (Part 1): Knowledge Pools for Computer-based and Telematics-supported Classical,Open and Distance Education

ARIADNE is a concept of computer-based and telematics-supported educational schemes. It relies primarily on a number of interconnected knowledge pools and suitable strategies for using them, in academic education—either classical or at a distance—and for certain types of corporate continuing training. In ARIADNE, the term ‘knowledge pool’ refers to a large, indexed, storage of pedagogical elements and the set of tools, methodologies and infrastructures necessary for maintaining and exploiting it, to build and distribute structured curricula. This concept is meant to address the weaknesses of many ‘open’ training schemes advocating the usefulness of unlimited and free access to the World Wide Web (WWW). In our view, this immense—but scarcely structured— document repository can all too easily become a maze and offers, in itself, little incentive to serious learning. On the other hand, ARIADNE will use a WWW based net-interface, suitable for—and inter-operable with—most platforms commonly in use by would-be learners. ARIADNE addresses two categories of users: those who contribute to the knowledge pool system and develop training curricula (professors and pedagogical engineers) and those who may enlist in and follow these curricula (students and trainees). The system's design accounts for the need for collaboration and communication between (a) trainers, to create, customize, share and reuse pedagogical documents; (b) trainers and learners, for coaching/tutoring activities and supervision of learning; and (c) students/trainees, in peer-supported learning or group work. Long-term survival of any such technology-supported education system depends primarily on motivated participants: teachers and trainers, students and trainees, academic institutions and corporations should all find some practical advantage in its use. In this paper (Part 1), we present an overview of the ARIADNE concept, describing its pragmatic educational approach and its specific approach to authoring of pedagogical material and construction of usable curricula. In a forthcoming paper (Part 2), we will address its technological approach and present a brief review of the tools needed to implement the concept as a viable computer-based and telematics-supported distance—but also open or even classical— educational system.     

Children born at risk: What's happening in kindergarten?

Many studies examine the development of infants born at risk for medical and developmental problems during the early years of life, but far fewer follow these children into their school years. This project compared high-risk vs. low-risk children in their performance on the WPPSI at pre- and postkindergarten levels. In general, both groups of children demonstrated increases in performance; however, their patterns of performance were different. The high-risk children showed increases predominantly in the Performance areas of the test, whereas the low-risk children demonstrated increases predominantly in the Verbal areas.     

禅宗丛林管理模式与高校管理的比较与启示

本文在比较分析我国高校现行管理模式的基础上,借鉴禅宗丛林制度管理模式的某些管理理念与方法,有针对性地提出改善高校管理体制与模式的建议,认为高校应改革高层领导与学校利益脱钩的制度,改变管理观念,培育有利于个体创造性发挥的人文组织环境,建立科学民主的干部选拔机制,确立学术为中心的管理体制。     

Imitation of televised models by infants

Studies indicate that infants in our culture are exposed to significant amounts of TV, often as a baby-sitting strategy by busy caretakers. The question arises whether TV viewing merely presents infants with a salient collection of moving patterns or whether they will readily pick up information depicted in this 2-D representation and incorporate it into their own behavior. Can infants "understand" the content of television enough to govern their real-world behavior accordingly? One way to explore this question is to present a model via television for infants to imitate. Infants' ability to imitate TV models was explored at 2 ages, 14 and 24 months, under conditions of immediate and deferred imitation. In deferred imitation, infants were exposed to a TV depiction of an adult manipulating a novel toy in a particular way but were not presented with the real toy until the next day. The results showed significant imitation at both ages, and furthermore showed that even the youngest group imitated after the 24-hour delay. The finding of deferred imitation of TV models has social and policy implications, because it suggests that TV viewing in the home could potentially affect infant behavior and development more than heretofore contemplated. The results also add to a growing body of literature on prelinguistic representational capacities. They do so in the dual sense of showing that infants can relate 2-D representations to their own actions on real objects in 3-D space, and moreover that the information picked up through TV can be internally represented over lengthy delays before it is used to guide the real-world action.     

Are Canadian adolescents happy？ A gender-based analysis of a nationally representative survey

In this study, the authors analyzed data from a nationally representative survey of youth to study happiness amongst Canadian adolescents aged 12-17. Testing for differences in the level of happiness between female and male adolescents was conducted. Following this, multivariate analysis was employed to determine which factors were associated with adolescent happiness. The authors determined that the level of happiness appeared to vary between the genders, as the males reported a higher level of happiness than the females. However, the difference between the genders in terms of reported happiness was modest. The authors detected some gender differences in regards to determinants of happiness. The study＇s theoretical and practical implications are also considered.     

Needed: new models for linking the two cultures

Summaries

English

In recent years problems facing humankind have become more complex and challenging and have increasingly involved science and technology. While the public, generally, has been inadequately informed about such scientific and technical issues, public understanding of issues at the interface of science, society, and technology are an essential part of the resolution of societal problems. This paper outlines specific ways to promote understanding enabling individuals to participate more responsibly in enlightened democratic decision‐making responsive to societal needs. A systematic scheme is outlined with examples from two science education centres at tertiary institutions through activities including teaching, outreach, curriculum development, and research.     

Using kindergarten number sense to predict calculation fluency in second grade

Children's number sense in kindergarten was used to predict their calculation fluency in second grade (N = 198). Using block entry regression, usual predictors of age, reading, memory, and verbal and spatial cognition were entered in the first block and number sense measures were added in the second block. Number sense measures contributed a significant amount of variance over and above the more general predictors (26%-42%). Uniquely predictive subareas were active memory for numbers, number knowledge, and number combinations, with number combinations standing out as the strongest single predictor. Number sense screening in kindergarten, using "at-risk" versus "not-at-risk" criteria, successfully ruled out 84% of the children who did not go on to have calculation fluency difficulties and positively identified 52% of the children who later showed fluency difficulties. The relation of early number skills to later calculation fluency has important implications for math screening and intervention.