现代大学还是探究的场所吗？——《探究的场所》评介

由于当代各种分化力量的共同作用,洪堡的“教学与研究相统一”原则在现代大学中受到了挑战。但在高等教育系统内外也出现了将科研、教学和高级学习整合起来的强大力量,并与各种分化力量相抗衡。在知识经济时代,大学,尤其是研究型大学,仍然是探究的场所,并在推动学术发展和社会进步的过程中发挥着越来越大的作用。     

专业课程远程教学模式的设计与实现

随着教育部对远程教育支持与推动力度的加大,远程教育教学中的问题或弊端也逐步突显,教师督导不足、师生交互不够等都严重影响了远程教育的教学质量,而这些问题都反映了课程教学模式的不合理。本文结合远程教育学习者和专业课程的特点,依据建构主义理论以及合作学习、交互式教学、发现教学方法对远程教学的启示,针对具有专业特点的课程的教学模式进行设计,并开展了具体的教学实践与反思。     

巧用“三十六计”激活语文课堂

学生的学习是一个充分调动自己的思维器官,不断发现和解决问题的过程。没有课堂提问的语文课堂是枯燥的,“满堂问”的语文课堂是低效的。课堂提问是一门学问,“智者问得巧,愚者问得笨”。因此,高效的语文课需要高水平的课堂提问与之相匹配。中国古代兵法精华“三十六计”中的“抛砖引玉”、“打草惊蛇”、“隔岸观火”、“无中生有”、“假痴不癫”这些计策,如灵活加以运用,可以打造出高水平的课堂提问,从而激活语文课堂。     

Story constellations: A narrative approach to contextualizing teachers’ knowledge of school reform

This article traces the roots of narrative research in the social sciences and education, then centers on ‘story constellations,’ a version of narrative inquiry that uncovers teachers’ knowledge of school reform in context. A fluid form of investigation that unfolds in a three-dimensional inquiry space, story constellations consists of a flexible matrix of paired narratives that are broadened, burrowed, and restoried over time. The adaptability of this narrative inquiry approach is then made visible through introducing four story constellations separately, then laying sketches of the individual story constellations side-by-side. When analyzed in a conjoined fashion, these sketches illustrate how the particularities of place and human agency in the living of school reform played out differently in differing school contexts, despite the fact that the four school sites had one story of reform in common. In the end result, the illustrations demonstrate how the use of the malleable approach drew distinctive story constellations to the surface, spotlighting teachers’ knowledge of school reform as it developed in context over time. In this way, ‘story constellations’ as a method and as a form of inquiry is illuminated.     

语文审美教育管见

语文课堂教学要担负起美育教育的使命，教师在课堂教学中应充分挖掘教材美的资源，通过审美教育使学生认识到语文本身就是自然美、社会美、艺术美的仓库，通过学习语文接受美的熏陶，培养学生真、善、美统一的健康人格。     

The historical context of science and education at the American Museum of Natural History

In this article I critically examine the historical context of science education in a natural history museum and its relevance to using museum resources to teach science today. I begin with a discussion of the historical display of race and its relevance to my practice of using the Museum’s resources to teach science. I continue with a critical review of the history of the education department in a natural history museum to demonstrate the historical constitution of current practices of the education department. Using sociocultural constructs around identity formation and transformation, I move to the present with a case study of a teacher who transforms the structure of science education in her classroom and school as a result of her identity transformation and association with a museum-based professional education program.

叙事研究在大学生思想政治教育研究中的运用

大学生思想政治教育研究中的叙事研究是思想政治教育经验的理论方式,有其鲜明的研究特点,能够弥补其他研究范式的缺陷。运用叙事研究有其现实的必要性与可能性,因而是一种值得提倡的研究方法。     

Making Connections: Learning and Teaching Chemistry in Context

Even though several studies have reported positive attitudinal outcomes from context-based chemistry programs, methodological obstacles have prevented researchers from comparing satisfactorily the chemistry-learning outcomes between students who experience a context-based program with those who experience a content-driven program. In this narrative inquiry we are able to address the question: how do the recalled experiences of a student and her teacher in context-based and concept-based chemistry programs compare? From the student’s unique perspective of experiencing both programs with the same teacher, we have constructed our collective account around four themes; namely, the extent to which the student makes connections between chemistry concepts and real-world contexts, developing research independence through engaging in extended experimental investigations related to contexts, learning chemistry concepts through contexts, and conceptual sequencing in a context-based program. The student reported real-world connections between chemistry concepts and contexts, found her engagement in the context-driven tasks interesting and productive, and identified connected sequences of concepts across the contexts studied. Despite difficulties for teachers who are required to shift pedagogies, the student’s lived experiences and outcomes from a context-based program provide some encouragement in working through these issues.     

Teachers’ perceptions of assessments of their mathematical knowledge in a professional development course

The purpose of the project reported in this article was to evaluate how assessing teachers’ mathematical knowledge within a professional development course impacted from the teachers’ perspective their learning and their experience with the course. The professional development course consisted of a 2-week summer institute and the content focus was geometry. We had decided to assess the mathematical learning of the teachers during this professional development course for various accountability reasons, but were concerned about possible negative by-products of this decision on the teachers and their participation. Thus, we worked to design assessment in ways that we hoped would minimize negative impacts and maintain a supportive learning environment. In addition, we undertook this evaluation to examine the impacts of the assessment, which included homework, quizzes, various projects, and an examination for program evaluation. Seventeen grade 5–9 teachers enrolled in the course participated in the study by completing written reflections and by describing their experiences in interviews. We learned that while our original intent was “to do no harm,” the teachers reported that their learning was enhanced by the assessment. The article concludes by describing the various properties of the assessments that the teachers identified as contributing to their learning of the geometry content, many of which align with current recommendations for assessing and evaluating grade K-16 mathematics students.

Understanding and describing mathematical knowledge for teaching: knowledge about proof for engaging students in the activity of proving

This article is situated in the research domain that investigates what mathematical knowledge is useful for, and usable in, mathematics teaching. Specifically, the article contributes to the issue of understanding and describing what knowledge about proof is likely to be important for teachers to have as they engage students in the activity of proving. We explain that existing research informs the knowledge about the logico-linguistic aspects of proof that teachers might need, and we argue that this knowledge should be complemented by what we call knowledge of situations for proving. This form of knowledge is essential as teachers mobilize proving opportunities for their students in mathematics classrooms. We identify two sub-components of the knowledge of situations for proving: knowledge of different kinds of proving tasks and knowledge of the relationship between proving tasks and proving activity. In order to promote understanding of the former type of knowledge, we develop and illustrate a classification of proving tasks based on two mathematical criteria: (1) the number of cases involved in a task (a single case, multiple but finitely many cases, or infinitely many cases), and (2) the purpose of the task (to verify or to refute statements). In order to promote understanding of the latter type of knowledge, we develop a framework for the relationship between different proving tasks and anticipated proving activity when these tasks are implemented in classrooms, and we exemplify the components of the framework using data from third grade. We also discuss possible directions for future research into teachers’ knowledge about proof.