学术期刊编辑的学习力:意蕴、活化与拓展——基于知识的社会建构视角

学习是人作为高级生灵的本质特征,也是学习型社会对学术期刊编辑的客观要求。从知识的社会建构理论视角审视,学术期刊编辑既是学术传播的发现者、加工者与传承者,也是学习者与知识建构者。学术期刊编辑必须充分认识、把握学习力的意蕴,并借助编辑工作不断活化自己的学习力。通过有效学习与思维训练、注重个人知识管理、构建学习共同体、延展人际社交网络等路径,不断拓展自己的学习力。     

Differentiated instruction in small schools

Rural areas in the alpine regions suffer from dwindling student numbers. Differentiated instruction (DI) could help improve the teaching culture by allowing instructors to better adapt to heterogeneous student groups. At the beginning of a combined research and school improvement project, a survey of 162 teachers and 1180 students was conducted to obtain an overview of the types of DI that are currently practiced. In addition, we examined the school conditions that supported the implementation of DI. This cross-sectional study demonstrates a difference in practices between teachers with more- and less-developed DI cultures, and it was determined that team collaboration that includes pedagogical topics enhances teachers' use of DI.     

Students’ conceptions of knowledge, information, and truth

In this study, everyday conceptions of knowledge, information, and truth were investigated as 161 US undergraduates completed three online tasks that investigated understandings of these foundational constructs. For the first task, respondents graphically represented the interrelations of knowledge, information, and truth; the second task required them to justify those representations; and the third involved defining each term. Representations were compared to written justification to gauge consistency and data were analyzed to identify relational patterns, with six stable patterns emerging from the conceptions (e.g., knowledge establishment and truth establishment). A content analysis was performed to: (a) identify the specific language frequently used to define these terms, and (b) contrast definitions as a whole to conceptions that populate the psychological and related literatures. The significance of the resulting patterns is considered in light of the literature in epistemic beliefs and empirical implications and practical relevance are discussed.     

What do we learn from docutainment? Processing hybrid television documentaries

This study examined how hybrid documentary formats, which embed educational contents into narratives, are cognitively processed. Based on existing research and theories, two reception modes were identified: processing with a focus on the narrative plotline and processing with a focus on the thematic structure. In two experiments, two markers of narrative processing could be found for hybrid television documentaries: the experience of transportation and the narrative distance effect. In the first experiment, it could be shown that re-enactments and personal variables enhance the experience of transportation. The second experiment confirmed the narrative distance effect, which occurs independently of reception goals. This means that educational facts which are closely tied to the narrative plotline were learned better than distant facts, regardless of whether the recipients watched the documentary for information or entertainment purposes. The study supplements prior theories on hybrid processing and provides conditions under which narratives are appropriate for learning.     

早教机构教师对家长指导能力的现状调查

早教机构教师家长指导能力是教师专业能力的重要组成部分。对28所早教机构中162名教师的家长指导能力进行调查发现,早教机构教师的家长指导观较为科学,但婴幼儿教养观存在较明显的问题;能采用集体指导、个别指导、延伸指导等方式开展家长指导工作,但对家长指导的内容把握不完整,等等。早教机构及教师要致力于提高家长对婴幼儿的早期教养能力,以促进婴幼儿的身心健康和谐发展。     

数学课堂规范的讨论和分析

数学课堂规范包括支配课堂的一般社会规范和围绕特定数学交互的数学规范.数学课堂规范的特征有:数学课堂规范是"预成性"和"生成性"统一的结果;学生数学观念影响数学课堂规范的发展;社会规范和数学课堂规范之间有差异;创生数学课堂规范就是创造一种信任和尊重的学习气氛.做数学的新规范和标准也需面对传统教学方式的桎梏,学生数学观的局限性,以及数学参与公正性等的挑战性和复杂性。     

Parent Involvement: Influencing Factors and Implications

Abstract

The involvement of Mexican American parents in their children's education was explored in a year-long case study of an elementary school in Texas. Interviews, document analysis, and observations of parent activities revealed that parent involvement was influenced by several factors, including language, parent cliques, parents' education, attitudes of the school staff, cultural influences, and family issues. Although the school staff addressed some of the issues, in general, teachers did not recognize the influence that these concerns had on parent involvement. The findings have implications for teachers that affect both the level and areas of Mexican American parent involvement. An understanding of these factors will provide ways to increase and improve parent involvement.     

Pedagogical content knowledge as reflected in teacher–student interactions: Analysis of two video cases

Despite the theorized centrality of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching, we have little evidence of the relationship between PCK and students' learning and know relatively little about how to help teachers to develop PCK. This study is a preliminary attempt to address these gaps in our knowledge of PCK through exploration of two German physics teachers' classroom instruction in consecutive lessons on optics. We show how video analysis can be used to gather evidence for one aspect of teachers' PCK: their use of content knowledge in interactions with students. We identify three potentially important characteristics of this aspect of PCK: flexibility, richness, and learner‐centeredness. By contrasting teachers with high and low gains in student knowledge and interest, we explore potential mechanisms by which this aspect of PCK might affect student outcomes. Because German teacher preparation programs emphasize content more than pedagogical knowledge, these cases contribute to our understanding of the support that teachers with strong content knowledge may need in translating this knowledge into a form useful for teaching.Fachdidaktisches Wissen ist aus theoretischer Sicht besonders zentral für das Unterrichten. Aus empirischer Sicht gibt es bislang allerdings noch wenig Evidenz für den Einsatz fachdidaktischen Wissens während des Unterrichtens und seine Bedeutung für das Lernen von Schülerinnen und Schülern. Außerdem wissen wir wenig darüber, wie Lehrpersonen über die Zeit fachdidaktisches Wissen entwickeln. Diese Studie ist ein Versuch, diese Wissenslücken zum fachdidaktischen Wissen von Lehrpersonen zu bearbeiten. Dabei wird exemplarisch der Unterricht von zwei deutschen Physiklehrern in aufeinanderfolgenden Stunden zum Thema Optik untersucht. Die Studie zeigt wie Videoanalysen genutzt werden können, um Belege für einen Aspekt des fachdidaktischen Wissens der Lehrpersonen zu sammeln: Ihre Nutzung von inhaltlichem Wissen in der Interaktion mit den Schülerinnen und Schülern. In dieser Studie werden drei potentiell wichtige Charakteristika dieses Aspekts des fachdidaktischen Wissens identifiziert: Flexibilität, Reichhaltigkeit und Schülerorientierung. Durch die Gegenüberstellung von Lehrpersonen mit hohem und niedrigem Wissens‐ und Interessenzuwachs wurden potentielle Mechanismen untersucht, durch die dieser Aspekt des fachdidaktischen Wissens die Lernergebnisse von Schülerinnen und Schülern beeinflussen kann. Die Lehrerausbildung in Deutschland betont das inhaltliche Wissen stärker als das fachdidaktische Wissen. Die ausgewählten Fälle beschreiben, welche Unterstützung Lehrpersonen mit einem hohen fachlichen Wissen benötigen, um dieses Wissen so zu verändern, dass es für das Unterrichten genutzt werden kann. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 1211–1239, 2012     

Measuring instructional practice in science using classroom artifacts: lessons learned from two validation studies

With growing interest in the role of teachers as the key mediators between educational policies and outcomes, the importance of developing good measures of classroom processes has become increasingly apparent. Yet, collecting reliable and valid information about a construct as complex as instruction poses important conceptual and technical challenges. This article summarizes the results of two studies that investigated the properties of measures of instruction based on a teacher‐generated instrument (the Scoop Notebook) that combines features of portfolios and self‐report. Classroom artifacts and teacher reflections were collected from samples of middle school science classrooms and rated along 10 dimensions of science instruction derived from the National Science Education Standards; ratings based on direct classroom observations were used as comparison. The results suggest that instruments that combine artifacts and self‐reports hold promise for measuring science instruction with reliability similar to, and sizeable correlations with, measures based on classroom observation. We discuss the implications and lessons learned from this work for the conceptualization, design, and use of artifact‐based instruments for measuring instructional practice in different contexts and for different purposes. Artifact‐based instruments may illuminate features of instruction not apparent even through direct classroom observation; moreover, the process of structured collection and reflection on artifacts may have value for professional development. However, their potential value and applicability on a larger scale depends on careful consideration of the match between the instrument and the model of instruction, the intended uses of the measures, and the aspects of classroom practice most amenable to reliable scoring through artifacts. We outline a research agenda for addressing unresolved questions and advancing theoretical and practical knowledge around the measurement of instructional practice. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 38–67, 2012