Reformation of VET and demands on teachers’ subject knowledge – Swedish vocational teachers’ recurrent participation in a national CPD initiative

This study investigates continuing professional development (CPD) of vocational teachers, with a focus on recurrent participation. Vocational teachers need to be competent as teachers and in relation to their vocational teaching subject. Reformation of Swedish vocational education in order to strengthen the working-life connection imposes demands on teachers to have up-to-date knowledge about the vocations related to their vocational subjects. To support the reform, vocational teachers have been offered to participate in a new national CPD initiative targeting their vocational competence. The study concerns participation in this initiative. Drawing on a socio-cultural perspective, vocational teachers’ CPD implies boundary-crossing between school and working-life. Theory concerning adults’ participation in education is considered relevant to understand conditions for such boundary-crossing, and learning, among vocational teachers. The article specifically investigates patterns in vocational teachers’ recurrent participation, which is expected to clarify the factors influencing further participation in professional development. The strongest predictor of recurrent participation, when adjusting for the influence of other factors, is the type of municipality that the teacher comes from, with low populated municipalities having the lowest likelihood of participation. Furthermore, recurrent participation is more likely by participating teachers from adult education or from privately owned schools, and by male teachers.     

Building student belonging and engagement: insights into higher education students’ experiences of participating and learning together

Student belonging and engagement has received increased attention in the context of an expanding and more diverse higher education student population. Student retention is regarded as a priority with many universities augmenting their retention strategies to instil a sense of belonging. This article provides insights into first year Business Management students’ experiences of starting their degrees and retention interventions at a university in the South of England. It is based on findings from an ongoing study that applied Wenger's social theory of learning and adopted an appreciative inquiry approach to focus group interviewing to investigate students’ perceptions. Students developed a sense of belonging, constructed learner identities, made sense of their learning and gained confidence, but also experienced instances of tension and frustration that raise questions about the extent to which sociality practices within evolving communities of practice can address diverse engagement and identity development needs and mitigate disengagement.     

A sociocultural perspective on mediated activity in third grade science

This ethnographic study of a third grade classroom examined elementary school science learning as a sociocultural accomplishment. The research focused on how a teacher helped his students acquire psychological tools for learning to think and engage in scientific practices as locally defined. Analyses of classroom discourse examined both how the teacher used mediational strategies to frame disciplinary knowledge in science as well as how students internalized and appropriated ways of knowing in science. The study documented and analyzed how students came to appropriate scientific knowledge as their own in an ongoing manner tied to their identities as student scientists. Implications for sociocultural theory in science education research are discussed. John Reveles is an assistant professor in the Elementary Education Department at California State University, Northridge. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2005. Before pursuing his Ph.D., he worked as a bilingual elementary school teacher for 3 years. His research focuses on the development of scientific literacy in elementary school settings; sociocultural influences on students' academic identity; equity of access issues in science education; qualitative and quantitative research methods. Within the Michael D. Eisner College of Education, he teaches elementary science curriculum methods courses, graduate science education seminars, and graduate research courses. Gregory Kelly is a professor of science education at Penn State University. He is a former Peace Corps Volunteer and physics teacher. He received his Ph.D. from Cornell in 1994. His research focuses on classroom discourse, epistemology, and science learning. This work has been supported by grants from Spencer Foundation, National Science Foundation, and the National Academy of Education. He teaches courses concerning the uses of history, philosophy, sociology of science in science teaching and teaching and learning science in secondary schools. He is editor of the journal Science Education. Richard Durán is a Professor in the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, University of California, Santa Barbara. His research and publications have been in the areas of literacy and assessment of English Language Learners and Latino students. He has also conducted research on after school computer clubs, technology and learning as part of the international UC Links Network. With support from the Kellogg Foundation, he is implementing and investigating community and family-centered intervention programs serving the educational progress of Latino students in the middle and high school grades.     

Learning styles in engineering education: the quest to improve didactic practices

This article discusses a dilemma that engineering educators encounter when attempting to develop pedagogical methods: that of finding efficient and scientifically valid didactic practices. The multitude of methods offered by educational consultants is perplexing. Moreover, the popularity of commercially offered solutions such as learning styles testing makes them appear attractive. The study presents one case of application of learning styles, the consequent problems and evaluation of results. It concludes that the use of learning styles is not supported by current pedagogical theories. Practices to foster interdisciplinary understanding between learning sciences and engineering are proposed in order to improve engineering education, most notably collaborative projects between university departments.     

Brianchon构图的研究

章揭示了Brianchon构图中一个重要的性质，阐述了构图中Brianchon点的排列规律。对深入探讨二次曲线的射影理论起到了重要的作用。     

试论中学教学习题课的教学

该就教师如何上好习题课，从选题关，启发关，学生关和总结关几个方面作了比较详细的论述。     

图式在第二语言习得中的作用

近年来，围绕图式论而开展的一系列外语教学研究，获得一些有意义的发现，拓宽了外语教学研究的领域，加深了人们对外语教学的认识。本旨在利用语言的共同性和差异性运用图式理论去探讨第二语言习得机制，指出图式对第二语言习得的重要作用及成年人学习外语的必由之路。     

论大学生人际交往障碍诊治

大学生在人际交往中具有横向化、多样化、理性化、精神化等特点,使部分大学生在人际交往中极易产生认知偏差和交往障碍,从而产生认知、情感和人格等方面的心理障碍。因此大学生在人际交往中要纠正交往中的认知偏差,学会自我调适,保持良好心态,掌握交往艺术,克服交往心理障碍,促进身心健康发展。     

以评促建重在建设--对辽宁省高等职业教育人才培养工作水平评估工作的思考

高等职业教育人才培养工作水平评估是教育行政部门、专门评价机构或学校自身，根据国家和社会赋予的高等职业教育人才培养目标和标准，对学校人才培养工作质量满足社会需要和国家法律、法规规定的程度做出的价值判断，通过评估促进学校加强自身建设，全面提高人才培养质量。     

扎根龙江大地 培养创新型人才的实践探索——赴澳大利亚大学研修启示

面对高等教育的大众化,学生数量与日俱增,学生面临着巨大的就业竞争压力。要想在这种环境下处于有利位置,就需要学生具备较强的创新创业能力,这也就决定了高校应重视创新型人才的培养。为此,作者从亲赴澳大利亚大学研修入手,对如何培养创新型人才进行了深入的比较分析,阐述了研修过后获得的思考与启示。