Professional knowledge or motivation? Investigating the role of teachers’ expertise on the quality of technology-enhanced lesson plans

In an expertise study with 94 mathematics teachers varying in their relative teacher expertise (i.e., student teachers, trainee teachers, in-service teachers), we examined effects of teachers' professional knowledge and motivational beliefs on their ability to integrate technology within a lesson plan scenario. Therefore, we assessed teachers' professional knowledge (i.e., content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, technological knowledge), and their motivational beliefs (i.e., self-efficacy, utility-value). Furthermore, teachers were asked to develop a lesson plan for introducing the Pythagorean theorem to secondary students. Lesson plans by advanced teachers (i.e., trainee teachers, in-service teachers) comprised higher levels of instructional quality and technology exploitation than the ones of novice teachers (i.e., pre-service teachers). The effect of expertise was mediated by teachers' perceived utility-value of educational technology, but not by their professional knowledge. These findings suggest that teachers’ motivational beliefs play a crucial role for effectively applying technology in mathematics instruction.     

Effects of key state policies on private colleges and universities: sustaining private-sector capacity in the face of the higher education access challenge

The relationship between key state policy variables — (1) relative (private–public) tuition prices, (2) state student-aid funding, and (3) public institution density — and the competitive position of private colleges and universities is examined. Elite private schools are found to be nearly impervious to state policy. Large and moderately selective private institutions are adversely affected by public institution density and low public prices. Such prices divert students who would otherwise prefer these private institutions to similar public schools. State student aid funding most affects the enrollment market shares of the small, low-selectivity private colleges enrolling the greatest proportions of minority and modest-income students. The findings suggest state policies in this era of strong demand for higher education and constrained public sector capacity should use price signals (student aid and public institution pricing) to encourage students to consider seriously whether private higher education might serve their needs as well as or better than public institutions.     

高职院校专业教育成本探讨

专业教育成本是学校评价各系办学效益好坏、管理水平高低的一个重要指标,是学校作出扩大规模、还是缩小规模,以及扩大或缩小何专业规模决策的重要因素。专业教育成本研究涉及到专业教育成本核算内容界定、专业教育成本的计量方法、对学校共同经费的分配方法等内容。     

The role of scaling up research in designing for and evaluating robustness

One of the great strengths of Jim Kaput’s research program was his relentless drive towards scaling up his innovative approach to teaching the mathematics of change and variation. The SimCalc mission, “democratizing access to the mathematics of change,” was enacted by deliberate efforts to reach an increasing number of teachers and students each year. Further, Kaput asked: What can we learn from research at the next level of scale (e.g., beyond a few classrooms at a time) that we cannot learn from other sources? In this article, we develop an argument that scaling up research can contribute important new knowledge by focusing researchers’ attention on the robustness of an innovation when used by varied students, teachers, classrooms, schools, and regions. The concept of robustness requires additional discipline both in the design process and in the conduct of valid research. By examining a progression of three studies in the Scaling Up SimCalc program, we articulate how scaling up research can contribute to designing for and evaluating robustness.     

Establishing a Competence Profile for the Role of Student-centred Teachers in Higher Education in Belgium

The increasing importance of constructivism in higher education has brought about a shift in pedagogy from a focus on the teacher to a focus on the student. This has important implications for teaching and assessment. A student-centred pedagogy implies a different role for the teacher. What exactly does student-centred teaching require from teachers’ actual teaching practice? What is expected from them in order to teach in a student-centred way? It is in order to respond to these questions that this research project has been carried out establishing a core competence profile of student-centred teachers in higher education. Qualitative data were collected by means of semi-structured in-depth interviews with teachers from different institutions for higher education in Belgium, known for their student-centred way of teaching. This research method is innovative compared to the methods used for existing competence lists in the literature, which were usually developed on the basis of conversations with pedagogical experts. By exploring practice and having teachers participate in the development of a competence list, the acceptance of a competence profile is much higher. The result of the project is a validated competence profile which takes into account the critiques on existing competence lists. The competence profile provides a further insight in the functioning of teachers within a student-centred pedagogy and can be used as a starting point for the educational development of teachers within this pedagogy.     

日本教育基本法的修改与其“教育宪法”地位探讨

日本的教育基本法是理念法,具有"教育宪法"的地位。进入21世纪后,日本政府和教育再生会议大力推动,教育基本法得以全面修正和实施。新教育基本法脱离了旧法"教育中立"的基本精神,失去了旧法的"宪法"地位,成为单纯的政府教育方针。     

信息化时代高校教师教育技术意识的培养

教育技术能力是信息化时代高校教师专业能力的重要组成部份,直接影响、决定着高等教育信息化建设的进程。教育技术意识是教育技术能力形成的前提和基础,使高校教师具备良好的教育技术意识是提高高校教师教育技术能力的切入点。通过探讨高校教师教育技术意识的内涵,提出了培养和提高高校教师教育技术意识的几条有效途径。     

高师“教育技术公共课”网络课程的设计开发与应用效果剖析

网络课程的设计开发逐渐趋向成熟,但还需要更加科学,有效的建设,本文就高师“教育技术公共课”网络课程的设计开发过程介绍了本课程建设的理论依托,双面结构框架以及开发的关键技术,并对该网络课程的运用效果进行了实验性的剖析。     

教学案例与教育叙事辨析

目前对教学案例和教育叙事尚无清晰明确的定义和区分,不利于研究的开展和写作的规范。本文从目的意义、定义内涵、基本要素、共同点和不同之处等方面,对近年来受到教育界推崇的教学案例与教育叙事研究进行了较深入的辨析,对教师在撰写教学案例和教育叙事研究时有一定的指导意义。     

陕西省教育技术学专业学生信息素养调查研究

信息素养作为教师素养体系中最重要的素养之一,研究教育技术学专业在校学生的信息素养问题显得非常必要,利用问卷调查法对陕西省10所高等院校教育技术学专业的在校生信息素养状况进行调查,旨在以陕西省为例,为全国教育技术学专业学生信息素养培养提供参考资料。