A consideration for physical literacy in Irish youth,and implications for physical education in a changing landscape

The concept of physical literacy (PL) has been suggested as one that can offer a catalyst for a new emphasis in physical education (PE). In the broadest sense, a physically literate child is confident, active, and can maintain health enhancing physical activity (PA) for life. PL includes engagement in PA, physical competence, and PA motivation, confidence, knowledge and understanding. The purpose of this study is to investigate the levels of PL in Irish adolescents. As part of a larger study data were collected from 535 (12.78?±?.42 years) adolescents across 20 schools, to measure physical activity, physical competence, and psychological correlates of physical activity. Less than half of participants are accumulating the minimum of 60 minutes of PA daily required for health (49% males, 26% females). Data highlight that Irish youth are performing ‘below par’ across the domains of PL, with cardiovascular fitness (45% of males and 67% of females reaching ‘optimal’ target) and self-efficacy (53% of males and 46% of females reaching ‘optimal’ target) of greatest concern. Findings are discussed in the context of the need for a targeted direction in post-primary PE in Irish schools to increase levels of PL in Irish adolescents.     

综合实践活动课程中培养学生自主学习能力

自主学习能力是信息社会和终身学习时代各类人的必备素养。综合实践活动课程中培养学生自主学习能力的策略包括:激发学生的内在学习动机,协助学生进行活动的计划安排和时间管理,教会学生利用社会性和物质性的资源,督查学生的反思能力。     

A quasi-experimental research on the educational value of performance assessment

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that performance assessment increases educational value in teachinglearning activities using a quasi-experimental research design. In this research, the three measurement criteria of educational value are suggested as ‘improvement & advancement,’ ‘sincerity & enthusiasm,’ and ‘individuality & wholeness.’ A pre-test was administered to 4 classes (156 students) in 7th grade. Classes were divided into an experimental group (2 classes, 79 students) and a control group (2 classes, 77 students), according to the pre-test results. Only the experimental group was involved in the performance assessment for 9 weeks. The results of this study show that performance assessment has a positive effect on the educational value of teaching-learning activities in schools.     

素质教育条件下活动课的开展

教育部编订的《九年义务教育小学思想品德课和初中思想政治课课程标准(修订)》有一个突出的特点,就是强调对学生创新精神与实践能力的培养,较大幅度增加了实践活动的要求。学校、学生乃至整个社会如何面对这一新的变化要求,已成了当前教育界的一个热门话题。本文从教学工作的实际出发,结合各方特点,浅析了在素质教育条件下如何开展好活动课。     

试论新形势下高校学生党员教育活动的创新与实践

新形势下,高校学生党建工作应开辟多种教育活动形式,寻找新的载体、探索新的方法,以加强对高校学生党员的培养教育,全面提高大学生党员的整体素质。     

论农村地区综合实践活动的课程资源开发

农村地区的综合实践活动课程资源与城市相比有自己独特的优势。农村学校必须因校制宜,另辟蹊径。与大自然零距离的对话,较之于现代城市的“失忆”,遗风、遗俗、遗迹等人文资源的探究以及明显的地方特色都是农村学校极好的课程资源。即使是同样的主题,利用农村的天时、地利,照样可以做出自己的特色,与城市学校各领风骚,甚至做得更强、更优。     

Contradictions of time in collaborative school research

The sustainability of research-based innovations in schools is constrained not only by systemic institutional barriers and inherent contradictions between schooling and research, but also by the related issue of time. This case study suggests that relative timescales, e.g., the collective activity of schooling over decades versus the individual actions of researchers over semesters or years, hinder the coordination and synchronization of schooling and research processes. Using cultural–historical activity theory and heterochrony, this analysis of data from a 4-year collaborative school-university research and development project suggests that, in spite of active support from school personnel, temporal conflicts undermined research activity and the sustainability of the innovation. At the same time, when researchers aligned their actions with the actions and timescales of school personnel, core elements of the innovation were appropriated into school practice.

The effects of combining simulations and laboratory experiments on Zimbabwean students’ conceptual understanding of electric circuits

ABSTRACT

Background

Information Communication Technologies are increasingly present in the African educational system at all educational levels. However, their integration into pedagogical practices to improve the quality of teaching and learning across disciplines remains the exception.     

亚里士多德论幸福

亚里士多德认为万物以善为目的，最高的善是幸福，幸福是合于德性的现实活动，最大的幸福是思辨。     

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.