Enhancing the facilitation of online groups in higher education: a review of the literature on face-to-face and online group-facilitation

There still appears to be a gap between what online learning promises and what it can deliver in terms of student learning. Developments in online pedagogies and professional learning appear to lag behind the developments in technology and the promised benefits of technological transformation may not be realised. In this paper, we bring together perspectives that highlight vital aspects of online group-learning by reviewing the group-facilitation literature and the latest online learning literature to interrogate the pedagogical theories and practices currently used in online group-learning in higher education. We specifically focus on the interpersonal interactions between teachers and students, which are described in the online learning literature using the terms instructor immediacy, teaching presence, and social presence. We note differences in the literature regarding how teacher presence is interpreted and enacted and we expound the importance of the personal characteristics of the online teacher. Finally, we provide some signposts that might help course designers and teachers to improve online group learning: the intentional use of effective online learning pedagogies; a deeper understanding of what constitutes teacher presence; and strategies to enact that teacher presence with online groups. Recommendations for further research in online group facilitation are provided.     

Social inclusion in two worlds: the conceptualization of the social role of lifelong learning in the education policy of Brazil and the UK since the mid 1990s

Aspects of post‐16 education, particularly with reference to vocational education and training, have acquired a degree of common presentation in the policy making of many national and international organizations in recent years. This paper compares similarities and differences in the rhetoric and reality of policy implementation in Brazil and the UK in post‐16 education, particularly Technical and Vocational Education and Training. It finds an increasing alignment between these two very different countries at the levels of both discourse and practice. It argues that this reflects the dominance of international and regional agencies on whom both countries draw in developing policy, and the subsequent dissemination of those agencies' particular assumptions about the relationship between education, skills and economic performance.     

简论撬动毕业生就业市场的四个支点

随着毕业生就业制度改革的不断深入，毕业生不能充分就业的问题巳逐渐凸显出来并成为日益严重的社会和政治问题。要撬动以社会、高校、用人单位和就业部门为支点的毕业生就业市场，既要充分发挥这四个支点的内在功能，又要全面促进四个支点的整合功能。     

近十年国际高等教育评估研究的现状、热点及趋势

《高等教育评估与评价》(Assessment&Evaluation in Higher Education)作为唯一被SSCI收录的高等教育评估期刊,具有很大的学术影响力。以该期刊近十年来的载文为研究对象,运用CiteSpace文献计量软件分析国际高等教育评估的高影响力作者群体、研究热点、知识基础和前沿领域。研究结果表明:我国高等教育评估研究者的国际影响力逐步扩大;强调学生在评估中的参与度、关注反馈在评估中的地位以及重视教与学微观层面的评估为国际高等教育评估的三大研究热点;学生评教以及评估设计将是未来一段时间国际高等教育评估的前沿领域。     

论新建本科院校核心竞争力体系及其培育

新建本科院校是我国高等教育的重要组成部分和基础之一。新建本科院校的地位、功能和使命决定了其核心竞争力的构成要素有其独特性。新建本科院校要致力于探索自己的办学理念,科学定位,特色强校,以为地方社会、经济发展提供人力和智力支持,进而培育自己的核心竞争力。     

新闻舆论的社会责任及受众接受规律

新闻舆论具有凝聚人心、振奋精神、引领社会风气的重要影响，新闻舆论传播关系着社会舆论的指向．要对社会负责、对受众负责。研究新闻舆论担负的社会责任和受众接受新闻舆论引导的规律性，是为了使新闻舆论更为有的放失地进行宣传教育，避免宣传与接受脱节，也是为了进一步增强新闻宣传引导受众和教育受众的作用?     

来华医学本科留学生病理生理学学习状态调查——以温州医科大学为例

近年,来华医学留学生逐年增加,但学校在教育质量及教育方式等方面遇到了困难。病理生理学是具有中国特色的医学桥梁课程,能够比较准确地反映我们教育体系的现状。因此,系统深入地了解留学生的病理生理学的学习状态,有助于认识留学生的群体特点,从而针对性地提高教育质量。因此,我们对温州医科大学2015级84名正在学习病理生理学课程的留学生进行了相关的问卷调查。结果显示,虽然我校的留学生病理生理学教学水平有了显著的提高,但仍有教师英文授课水平不够高、教学管理落后等问题。我们将采取针对性措施,推动我校留学生教育的可持续发展,助力中国教育走出去。     

School meal time and social learning in England

ABSTRACT

This paper presents an ethnographic account of the culture of school meal time at Peartree Academy, with a specific focus on notions of social learning. This qualitative study is focused on a collection of interviews, observations, field notes and analyses what happens when the school organises its canteen as a restaurant. The focus moves away from the traditional realms of nutrition and explicitly introduces the notion of social learning in its informal sense through which a conceptual framework of a skills model is applied. The paper argues how the school dining hall known as the restaurant can foster opportunities for a form of social competence which is not necessarily seen but can be experienced in the social reproduction of its actors. The findings highlight tensions of control within the environment, which are said to impinge upon these social learning opportunities from occurring.     

《英语课程标准》的理论基础

就语言的本质而言,《英语课程标准》体现了工具性与人文性高度统一的语言观;就语言学习的意义而言,《标准》所体现的基本理念是,学习语言既有利于促进个人的全面发展,也有利于个人参与社会活动。《标准》所体现的语言学习观是,学生不是被动地从书本或教师那里接受知识,而是在语言实践活动中建构知识、发展语言能力。《标准》体现的语言教学观主要表现在三个"相结合":知识与技能相结合,语言目标与非语言目标相结合,过程与结果相结合。     

从活动理论看网络合作学习活动的设计

兴起于20世纪20年代的活动理论是理解和构建情境脉络中活动的有益框架,分析活动理论对设计网络环境下的合作学习活动具有现实指导意义。在对网络合作学习的内涵、特点及优势分析的基础上,提出在活动理论指导下,基于网络的合作学习活动的教学设计方法。