How teachers perceive factors that influence creativity development: Applying a Social Cognitive Theory perspective

This mixed methods study examined teachers' perceptions of creativity using Social Cognitive Theory factors (e.g., personal, behavioral, and environmental). When describing hindrances to creativity, teachers often discussed macro-environmental factors, yet when explaining or defining creativity, teachers often used personal and behavioral characteristics. Teachers did not seem to hold limited views on who can be creative or that creativity always results in products; however, some teachers' conceptions were too vague to guide the explicit facilitating of creativity. Compared to in-service teachers, pre-service teachers expressed more optimism in their future environmental support and lower self-efficacy for developing creative thinking.     

我国《政府信息公开条例》的“公众认知度”调查

研究通过开放式问卷调查,统计并分析了公众对《条例》及其颁布时间和生效时间的知晓情况、关注程度、对与自己相关度的认识、关键内容的知晓情况、对《条例》解决问题的预期、对其他国家颁布的同类法规的知晓状况以及对条例影响的评估等,并提出若干建议。     

绿色信贷新论：透过公司社会责任思想演化的思考

循着“公司社会责任→绿色责任→绿色金融→绿色信贷”的思想演化轨迹,中国的绿色信贷实践以赤道原则这个金融组织的社会责任基准为切入点,努力实现与国际绿色发展潮流的接轨。但由于制度性瓶颈和技术性瓶颈的制约,绿色信贷通往赤道原则之路依然很长。     

Rough and Tumble Play: An Investigation of the Perceptions of Educators and Young Children

This research investigated rough and tumble (R&T) play in two early childhood settings. Participants included 11 educators and 17 children (5 years old). The study focused on gaining an understanding of how early childhood educators and young children interpret R&T play. The results indicate that while there is perceived value in R&T related to the development of young children, educators are uncertain of how to manage the play. The results of this study demonstrate the need for early childhood programs to develop policies to guide how R&T is managed.     

A Comparison of Thailand and New Zealand Students’ Ideas About Energy Related to Technological and Societal Issues

This study is a cross-cultural comparison between the ideas of 49 Thai Grade 9 students and the 30 New Zealand Grade 9 students (approximately 15 years old), about energy related to technological and societal issues. Students’ ideas were explored using the Questionnaire for exploring Students’ ideas about Energy, Technological, and Societal issues (QSETS). The QSETS questionnaire gave students the opportunity to express their ideas about energy related to societal and technological issues. Both groups of students were presented with the same set of issues, but specific places were related to each student’s own country. The study reveals some interesting student ideas that might be generated from engaging in different contexts. It seemed that the 15-year-old students had difficulty in perceiving the relationship between the study of society and energy. Around 50% of both groups of students did not understand, and did not know enough about, questions which referred to the relationship between society and energy. Thai and New Zealand students held different values in decision-making. Thai students placed value on decisionmaking concerning the development of the country. They strongly believed in scientific application for solving social problems. New Zealand students valued decision-making in relation to environmental issues. They were not quite sure that scientific knowledge could solve problems. They thought that science applications caused damage to the environment. This study has implications for the development of teaching approaches in different countries.     

Students ’ perceptions of science classes in the Philippines

This study used a modified version of the Perception of Science Classes Survey (Kardash & Wallace, 2001) to survey 7,885 grade school and high school students in different provinces in the Philippines regarding their perceptions of their science classes. Factor analysis revealed five dimensions of the students ’ perceptions that relate to different aspects of the teacher ’s pedagogy and the learning environment created by the teachers: (a) Learner-Centered Pedagogy, (b) Science Inquiry Activities, (c) Positive Affect and Attitudes, (d) Grades as Feedback, and (e) Support for Self-Learning and Effort. Factor scores were compared across grade levels and genders. The results indicate a decrease in science inquiry activities and the use of grades as feedback in the higher grades, but an increase in support for self-learning and effort, and also positive affects and attitudes. These trends were discussed in relation to possible problems related to teacher practices that may contribute to low student achievement levels in science. This research was part of a research project commissioned by the Japan International Cooperation Agency-Philippines.     

University Image:

The declining number of university age students, and decreases in state and federal funding for higher education contributed to the need for many institutions of higher education to create and maintain a distinctive image (a niche) in the marketplace. New trends already evident, as higher education copes with these changes, include the increasing use of advertising, promotion and other strategic marketing tools which are applied to position or reposition institutions. This article investigates the formation of university images by applying information processing theories in relation to consumer decision-making. The study takes the perspective reflecting interests of students whose major concern is their employability after graduation. It examines the number of attributes on which graduates are evaluated, composition of these attributes, the method of attribute processing, and the effect of the university overall image on the evaluation of its graduates.     

The office for civil rights and non‐discriminatory testing,policies, and procedures: Implications for gifted education

The purpose of this study is to examine the social and self-perceptions of twice-exceptional students, those students who meet criteria for being identified as both gifted and learning disabled. In particular, we focus on how twice-exceptional students are similar to, or different from, students with only a learning disability or who are only identified as gifted. Using data collected from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we identified a group of 90 twice-exceptional adolescents as well as three matched comparison groups. Overall, twice-exceptional adolescents had less positive perceptions of maternal relationships and self-concept than did gifted or nonidentified adolescents. Further, perceptions of maternal relationships mediated and moderated group differences in self-concept. Implications for adults working with twice-exceptional adolescents are discussed.     

Dissection versus Prosection: A Comparative Assessment of the Course Experiences,Approaches to Learning,and Academic Performance of Non-medical Undergraduate Students in Human Anatomy

Many institutions rely upon prosection-based laboratories as more resource-efficient and time-effective alternatives to traditional cadaver dissection for human anatomy education. To facilitate growing enrollment numbers despite resource limitations, the University of Guelph (a non-medical institution) introduced a modified “stepwise” prosection-based laboratory cohort to supplement a dissection-based course. In this design, all students attended the same lectures, but those in the dissection-based cohort learned by performing regional dissections and students in the prosection-based cohort studied from those dissections. Prosection students thereby witnessed a “slow reveal” of structures throughout the course. This study compared the perceived course experiences, student approaches to learning, and academic performance between the two groups. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to isolate the effect of the laboratory environment on student approaches to learning and academic performance from demographic and situational covariates. Both groups reported positive course experience ratings and high average final grades that were not statistically dissimilar (P > 0.05), increased reliance on deep approaches to learning (P = 0.002), and decreased reliance on surface approaches to learning (P = 0.023). When controlling for covariates, participation in dissection had small but statistically significant positive associations with deep approaches to learning (P = 0.043), performance on laboratory oral assessments (P < 0.001), and average final grades (P = 0.039). Ultimately, both designs promoted meaningful learning and desirable performance outcomes, indicating that both dissection and stepwise prosection have the potential to facilitate high quality human anatomy instruction.     

Open Educational Resources and the Transformation of Education

The extremely rapid expansion of open educational resource (OER) initiatives and the millions of learners they attract can be understood as an indicator of an emerging revolution in education and learning. This article describes recent developments in this area and develops conceptual foundations for studies and policies on OER. We describe four different types of OER, locate these in a field of learning theories, and discuss how the wide adoption of OER may constrain and accelerate the transformation of learning and education in the knowledge society.