The importance of environment for teacher professional learning in Malta and Scotland

Current reforms in the Maltese and Scottish educational contexts can only be fully implemented if teachers radically transform the way they teach. Teacher professional learning is an important mechanism that policy-makers, school leaders and administrators have to achieve this. Teacher professional learning is, above all, situated within the specific social workplace environment of teacher practice. Thus, schools need to be recognised as important sites of professional learning for teachers. In Malta and Scotland teachers were asked about their professional learning to identify how the learning environment within individual schools affects professional learning. In both countries, collaboration and school leadership were key components in determining a school’s learning environment. Data analysis led to the production of examples of expansive and restrictive features. Policy-makers, school leaders and administrators can use these features to examine how schools operate in terms of helping or hindering professional learning in the school environment.     

Home learning environment and development of child competencies from kindergarten until the end of elementary school

Literacy and mathematical competencies are essential for a successful school career and precursors of these abilities develop in kindergarten. In addition to children’s early cognitive abilities, family characteristics such as the socioeconomic status and the home learning environment (HLE) are predictors of early child competencies. However, few studies outside the US and the UK have analyzed long-term effects of the early HLE on child development, simultaneously considering various explanatory factors. In this longitudinal study, data of 920 German children were obtained in kindergarten some 18 months before school entry (child mean age: 4;10). At this point, precursors of reading, spelling and mathematics were assessed. In addition, parents were asked to complete surveys on family characteristics. Child assessments were repeated with standardized measures of mathematical and literacy abilities at the end of Grade 1 and in the middle of Grade 4 (child mean age: 9;9), the final grade in German elementary schools. In Grade 4, teachers were also asked to provide their recommendation for children’s secondary school track (“Hauptschule” for lowest secondary school track, “Realschule”, or “Gymnasium” as highest secondary school track). HLE was not only a good predictor of early abilities, but also directly predicted competencies at the end of elementary school when precursors, former academic achievement and child and family characteristics were controlled for. In addition, children living in more favorable HLEs were more likely to be recommended for higher secondary school tracks by their teachers.     

Equipping novice teachers with a learning map to enhance teaching practice

Using tools to support learning design has been proven feasible in improving the integration of technology into the curriculum. However, novice teachers are faced with two major issues, including their limited experience in learning design and limited ability in using new technologies. Learning map is explored and developed in e-Textbooks to serves as a scaffolding for novice teachers during their development into expert teachers. This paper presents a case study in which learning map is integrated into learning design with associated resources in an e-Textbook authoring environment. The participants were instructed to complete a learning design task for an e-Textbook during a one-hour session and then complete a questionnaire afterward. The results indicate that novice teachers value the learning map for learning design in e-Textbooks regardless of their background in ICT teaching and learning design. Novice teachers adopt positive attitudes toward the use of templates because of their numerous benefits. The teachers also suggested that better quality templates should be integrated into the authoring tool to distinguish the advantage of e-Textbook learning design from that of a traditional book and to provide them with additional options.     

Applications of augmented reality-based natural interactive learning in magnetic field instruction

Educators must address several challenges inherent to the instruction of scientific disciplines such as physics -- expensive or insufficient laboratory equipment, equipment error, difficulty in simulating certain experimental conditions. Augmented reality (AR) can be a promising approach to address these challenges. In this paper, we discuss the design and implementation of an AR and motion-sensing learning technology that teaches magnetic fields in a junior high school physics course. The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of using natural interaction on students’ physics learning and deep understanding compared to traditional learning tools. The 38 eighth graders who participated in this study were assigned to either an experimental group or a control group. Analysis of the results shows that the AR-based motion-sensing software can improve students’ learning attitude and learning outcome. This study provides a case for the application of AR technology in secondary physics education.     

WebIntera-classroom: an interaction-aware virtual learning environment for augmenting learning interactions

Interaction is critical for successful teaching and learning in a virtual learning environment (VLE). This paper presents a web-based interaction-aware VLE – WebIntera-classroom – which aims to augment learning interactions by increasing the learner-to-content and learner-to-instructor interactions. We design a ubiquitous interactive interface that integrates a pen-and-paper interface with a web-based whiteboard to promote effective learner-to-content interactions. We develop a learning analytics tool that instantly shows learners’ learning interactions, with which instructors can supervise learner-to-instructor interactions. We implement a high-granularity Learning Analytics Engine (hgLAE) to broadcast, record and play a lecture recording. The hgLAE identifies hotspots in a lecture recording and raises students’ awareness of the hotspots when they watch the recording. WebIntera-classroom has been deployed in 11 universities in China. The system obtained high satisfaction in the questionnaires (N?=?464) and face-to-face interviews (N?=?60) conducted with the users from China Jiliang University. We compared the students’ performance, respectively, achieved in traditional classroom and in WebIntera-classroom at China Jiliang University during 2012–2013. The result demonstrates that the students could gain performance improvement by using WebIntera-classroom.     

Disrupting a learning environment for promotion of geometry teaching

Creating a classroom learning environment that is suitably designed for promotion of learners’ performance in geometry, a branch of mathematics that addresses spatial sense and geometric reasoning, is a daunting task. This article focuses on how grade 8 teachers’ action learning changed the learning environment for the promotion of geometry teaching. This was an exploratory study in which a sample of 13 grade 8 mathematics teachers from the rural schools of a district in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa participated in a project aimed at creating mathematical learning environments through action learning while supporting and promoting the teaching of geometry. The study was qualitative and data was collected using questionnaires, classroom observations and semi-structured interviews with the teachers on a participatory action research conducted in two cycles. Results indicated that 92% of teachers changed their classroom environments by modifying instructional strategies, learner -interactions, and engagements, but could not change how they managed the classrooms due to some factors related to power dynamics andthe education policy. It is recommended that teachers be workshopped on modifying their classroom learning environments while they undergo learning in action on the promotion of teaching and learning geometry in their school defining contexts.     

VAK学习法在英语专业听力教学中的创新应用

通过运用VAK学习方式测试工具,对陕西理工学院外语系英语专业04级本科生进行测量和分析,概括了他们在课堂教学和英语学习中学习方法的相似性和差异性,并根据其结果提出了旨在充分调动学生视、动、听觉能力的创新应用方法,为更好地开展英语专业听力课程教学提供了理论依据和方法指向。     

云架构下智慧政府服务模式研究

本文分析了云计算的特点和现有电子政府的缺陷,并结合生物进化理论,揭示了云架构智慧政府出现的必然性。从理论角度阐述了云架构下智慧政府的优越性,给出了云架构下智慧政府服务的框架结构,重点介绍了云架构下智慧政府的两个重要服务平台——PaaS应用平台和SaaS服务中心的逻辑架构和基本功能。希望通过创新理论方法指导实践,探索和构建新型、智慧政府服务模式。     

院所文化的实践与创新

院所文化是一种新的历史现象,是科研院所在进行知识创新、科技创新与应用的全部实践及结果中,努力贯彻并实际体现以人为本的群体竞争与协作意识。研究和认识新时期院所文化的实践与创新,对于准确把握先进文化的前进方向,深化科技体制改革,构建有利于创新的文化环境,应对日趋激烈的国际间科技与人才竞争,增强科技创新能力,实施科教兴国战略具有十分重要的意义。     

在计算机教学中重视对学生实践能力和创新精神的培养

高等教育对高级专门人才的培养离不创新精神和实践能力。本文阐述了创新精神和实践能力对计算机专业学生的重要性，并就如何培养学生的创新精神和实践能力，在教学环境、课堂教学、教学机制等方面提出了措施和办法。