Returnees and Diaspora as Source of Innovation in Chinese Higher Education

This paper highlights how returnees and knowledge diaspora are important sources for China’s human resources development, identifying push and pull factors that also contribute significantly to innovation in the higher education sector. By outlining China’s key projects and schemes for recruiting international professional workers, the paper argues that bringing advanced knowledge and skills back to a country of origin through international education and experiences is neither new, nor limited to China. At the same time, the rise of a large, worldwide Chinese knowledge diaspora is now of global importance in promoting transnational scientific and business networks that underpin both research and development, and the quest for world-class universities. China’s size and weight, its determination to boost development and improve its higher education system, as well as the willingness of both diaspora and returnees to contribute, constitute its advantages. However, there remain limitations to its success, notably a lack of high-quality research, reservations regarding new ideas, low awareness of international collaborations, too much attention given to material rewards and quick results, corruption, and too many administrative controls and government regulations.     

Individual differences: Either relational learning or item-specific learning in a same/different task

Three pigeons were trained in a three-item simultaneous same/different task. Three of six stimulus combinations were not trained (untrained set) and were tested later. Following acquisition, the subjects were tested with novel stimuli, the untrained set, training-stimulus inversions, and object shape and color manipulations. There was no novel-stimulus transfer—that is, no abstract-concept learning. Two pigeons showed partial transfer to untrained pairs and good transfer to stimulus inversions, suggesting that they had learned the relationship between the stimuli. Lack of transfer by the third pigeon suggests item-specific learning. The somewhat surprising finding of relational learning by 2 pigeons with only six training pairs suggests restricted-domain relational learning that was controlled more by color than by shape features. Individual differences of item-specific learning by 1 pigeon and relational learning by 2 others demonstrate that this task can be learned in different ways and that relational learning can occur in the absence of novel-stimulus transfer.     

Academic motivation and self-regulation: A comparative analysis of undergraduate and graduate students learning online

To succeed in autonomous online learning environments, it helps to be a highly motivated, self-regulated learner. The present study explored potential differences between undergraduate (n = 87) and graduate students (n = 107) in their levels of academic motivation and self-regulation while learning online. In particular, this study provides a comparative analysis of undergraduate and graduate students' motivational beliefs (task value and self-efficacy), use of deep processing strategies (elaboration and critical thinking), and motivational engagement (procrastination and choice behaviors). As hypothesized, graduate students learning online reported higher levels of critical thinking than undergraduates. Moreover, after controlling for experiential differences, a logistic regression analysis indicated that graduate student membership was predicted by higher levels of critical thinking and lower levels of procrastination. On the other hand, undergraduate membership was predicted, somewhat paradoxically, by greater task value beliefs and greater intentions to enroll in future online courses. Implications for online instructors and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

A professional development climate course for sustainable agriculture in Australia

There are few professional development courses in Australia for the rural sector concerned with climate variability, climate change and sustainable agriculture. The lack of educators with a sound technical background in climate science and its applications in agriculture prevents the delivery of courses either stand‐alone or embedded in other courses, and adversely affects the ability of graduating students to apply climate information. This paper presents evidence from a professional development climate course with 20 professional educators and consultants and results from: surveys at the training workshop; from a questionnaire 12 months post‐workshop; and a combined interview and survey two years post‐workshop. The key finding was that professional development courses specifically addressing climate are essential, while topics should include climate and weather, the impacts of climate on agricultural systems, strategic thinking and planning options available for business. A project undertaken by professionals delivering climate education helped to improve their skills and confidence to deliver other stand‐alone climate courses or to embed climate in existing courses. The paper proposes that a suitable resource manual should be ‘problem‐based’ in its design to allow for a broad range of geographic climates, and should address a wide range of agricultural enterprises including livestock production, horticulture and cropping. The authors also propose ways to introduce and integrate applied climate knowledge and skills into the wider community. Possible progress for inter‐disciplinary education and the implications from enhancing learning about climate for sustainable agriculture are discussed.     

“A Large Object with a Small Museum”: A Narrative Analysis of Tlotlo's Experience of an Astronomy Science Center

Abstract This paper presents a narrative analysis of an elementary school student's view of his visit to an astronomy science center in South Africa. We illustrate the power of narrative in illuminating the importance of the student's perspective in understanding the conditions for learning in a museum setting. Using principles of narrative presentation, the paper describes Tlotlo's thinking throughout his participation in a school visit to the visitors' center at a radio telescope. The paper discusses six features of the visit: student misconceptions; inadequate preparation and followup; memories and imaginings; enjoyment; discussing the visit afterwards; and socioeconomic constraints on visits. These features are examined within the context of a developing country: both confirming previous research on school visits and providing new insights into how such visits can be interpreted. The significance of narrative analysis for science center educators is discussed and suggested as appropriate for current research in museums.     

Research Priorities for Mental Health Counseling With Youth: Implications for Counselor Preparation,Professional Development,and Research

Counselors encounter the needs of youth (3–17 years) in a variety of settings; however, outside of school counseling, the profession faces a lack of preparation, professional development, and research focused on mental health practice with youth. Using the Delphi method, 12 counselor educators and 15 practicing counselors were polled regarding research priorities for mental health counseling with youth. Research that considers how varying developmental stages and systems (e.g., families, schools, communities) affect the mental health of youth was identified as a priority. Implications for counselor preparation, professional development, and research are offered on the basis of these results.     

From Evidence to Action: A Seamless Process in Formative Assessment?

Based on the results of a generalizability study of measures of teacher knowledge for teaching mathematics developed at the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing at the University of California, Los Angeles, this article provides evidence that teachers are better at drawing reasonable inferences about student levels of understanding from assessment information than they are at deciding the next instructional steps. We discuss the implications of the results for effective formative assessment and end with considerations of how teachers can be supported to know what to teach next.     

Costs and benefits of bilingual education in Guatemala: A partial analysis

The benefits of bilingual education for a disadvantaged indigenous population as an investment in human capital are significant. Students of bilingual schools in Guatemala have higher attendance and promotion rates, and lower repetition and dropout rates. Bilingual students receive higher scores on all subject matters, including mastery of Spanish. The efficiency of bilingual education is confirmed by a crude cost–benefit exercise. A shift to bilingual schooling would result in considerable cost savings because of reduced repetition. The higher quality of education generating higher promotion rates will help students complete primary education and will substantially increase completion rates at low cost. The costs saving due to bilingual education is estimated at $5 million, equal to the cost of primary education for 100,000 students.