太阳能捕集器

太阳每天向地球倾泻成万倍于人类活动所需的能量,人们需要解决如何廉价地开发太阳能的问题.而自然界则不存在这个问题."太阳能电池"就长在树上,绿叶的光合作用把太阳光转化为化学能,几乎为一切自然生态系统提供着能源.的确,人们可以从植物得到启迪:如何充分利用太阳光.     

Microcomputers in Mathematics Teaching

The use of computers is of considerable value for those learning mathematics. Their effective use depends upon adequate teacher education and the provision of sufficient hardware in classrooms where mathematics is taught. The purpose of using computers in mathematics classrooms is to engage learners' interest and involvement in the mathematics they are learning. To achieve this learners need to be in control of what they are doing. At present, turtle geometry and the use of relatively limited software packages appear to be most effective for this, but in the near future it should be possible to develop software tools which are both powerful and easy to use. These are likely to include information-retrieval packages; spreadsheets; and also 'microworlds' written in a language such as Logo or Prolog.     

Surveillance,Governmentality and moving the goalposts: The influence of Ofsted on the work of schools in a post-panoptic era

This paper asks the question: to what extent do inspection regimes, particularly the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted), influence the work of a school, and how might that influence be conceptualised? It draws on an ESRC-funded study of ‘policy enactments in secondary schools’, which was based on case-study work in four ‘ordinary’ schools. Here the data set is re-examined to understand the extent to which Ofsted had an ongoing influence on the work of the leadership, management and teachers in these schools. We undertook a process of secondary analysis of the data from the project and found that the influence of the inspection agenda was strong in the schools, policy decisions were often being made to conform to Ofsted’s expectations and the influence on leadership and management was clearly apparent. In resisting this agenda we also found that schools to some extent performed ‘the good school’ for inspections. Finally, we relate this empirical evidence to conceptions of governmentality and post-panopticism to shed new light on their theoretical relevance to contemporary inspection regimes.     

Is Research Possible? A rejoinder to Tooley's ‘On School Choice and Social Class‘

This paper presents a response to some criticisms by James Tooley of our research on parental choice. The paper argues that many of Tooley's criticisms are based on systematic misinterpretations and misreadings of our work, ignorance of the procedures of qualitative research and the use of untenable speculations about sampling, data collection and the interpretation of data. It is suggested that Tooley's criticisms are ideologically driven and that if taken seriously would make qualitative social research impossible.