Parents’ attitudes toward the english education policy in Taiwan

Taiwan, like many other countries in Asia, introduced considerable changes in English education policy in response to the need for English communication in the global market. During the process of implementing the new English education policy, the Ministry of Education (MOE) of Taiwan encountered several problems. Although researchers have examined other issues concerning the implementation of the English education policy, such as the shortage of trained English teaching personnel, the selection of textbooks and the difficulty of teaching a class of heterogeneous learners, parental attitudes toward or expectations for the English education policy itself remain unexplored. Parental opinions about English education and the extent to which parents support English education reform play a large role in the success of the implementation of the policy and are important factors for the government to consider when shaping future education policies. The perspectives of parents, therefore, should be included in a research-based examination. This study surveyed the opinions of Taiwanese parents on current English education policy and practice.     

Vibrant student voices: exploring effects of the use of clickers in large college courses

Teachers have begun using student response systems (SRSs) in an effort to enhance the learning process in higher education courses. Research providing detailed information about how interactive technologies affect students as they learn is crucial for professors who seek to improve teaching quality, attendance rates and student learning. This study investigates social, educational and emotional effects of the use of SRSs – clickers – at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Methods include participant observation, survey data from over 2000 students enrolled in three semesters of General Chemistry, and in‐depth interviews exploring the nature of student experiences with clickers. Findings suggest clickers significantly alter the social environment experienced by students as they learn. Clickers create learning environments characterized by greater activity, cooperation and conceptual application compared to traditional, lecture‐based instruction. Gender also influences whether students choose to work with peers during clicker‐prompted interaction. The qualitative analysis presented here extends upon themes identified in existing research on the effects of clickers for learning.     

Emotional and behavioural difficulties: the effects of structures,ethos and understandings on provision in Irish post-primary schools

Emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) in mainstream schools in Ireland attract much attention and significant resources, yet little research has been conducted in the Irish context about how this concept is understood by practitioners, what influences that understanding nor how that influences provision in schools. This paper is based on the findings of a study which investigated these issues among principals, special education teachers and guidance counsellors in mainstream post-primary schools, employing questionnaires (n = 36) and semi-structured interviews (n = 10). Several themes are presented regarding how EBD is conceptualised and responded to. The findings of the study suggest definitions of EBD appear to focus mostly on intrapersonal characteristics of students and suggest a resignation in the attitude of practitioners. The effectiveness of behaviour policies is ambiguous due to an imperative to produce written policies in many areas, traditional views of the homogeneity of the school population and a tendency to rely on SEN policy to address EBD issues. Responses to EBD vary considerably. Responsibility for most aspects of the school experience of students presenting with EBD appears to rest predominantly with special education teachers, even where there is access to guidance counsellors. Gender impacts on several of these issues, particularly in the type of language used in schools when discussing EBD.     

Integration of digital technologies into play-based pedagogy in Kuwaiti early childhood education: teachers’ views,attitudes and aptitudes

Scholars in the field of early childhood education are still debating the inclusion of digital technologies in play-based pedagogy and our understanding of digital play in early childhood education is still developing. This research paper examines early childhood education teachers’ views, aptitudes and attitudes towards digital technologies in their personal lives and in the classroom practices in Kuwait. This is a quantitative study in which 195 teachers completed a questionnaire designed around the key themes of the investigation in an attempt to understand how teachers are positioning themselves in terms of a play-based pedagogy and digital technologies. The key findings demonstrated that although the Kuwaiti teachers are competent users of digital technologies in their personal lives and the Kuwaiti classrooms have been digitalised to a large extent, the teachers are still hesitant in embedding these in their curriculum practices.     

Should assessment reflect only pupils’ knowledge?

In order to realise increasingly complex objectives of compulsory education, it is necessary to have in place appropriate teaching concepts as well as assessment and testing guidelines. The question, however, is what should be assessed: levels of acquired knowledge, skills or attitudes? Should assessment be only a measure of the educational process outcomes, or should it also measure the process of knowledge acquisition itself? How should assessment be carried out in order to respect the principle of fairness and justice? In this paper, we will present results of a research project in which we were interested to find out what teachers would assess if it were up to them to decide. Our survey was conducted on a representative sample of primary school teachers in Slovenia. In spite of clear regulations prescribing that teachers should only assess pupils’ progress in relation to the defined objectives and knowledge standards, teachers underlined the necessity to also consider other aspects of children’s development.     

From Collaborative Purchasing Towards Collaborative Discarding: The Evolution of the Shared Print Repository

Academic research libraries have a tradition of collaboration, from selecting foreign language material to licensing electronic resources. Although most storage facilities have tended to be local, some libraries have collaborated on operating shared storage facilities. The growth of digital repositories of printed materials has given the library community the opportunity to engage in a conversation about how to collaboratively take responsibility for the long-term selection and preservation of the print originals. Establishing regional repositories will allow member libraries to draw down local print collections. This review article will trace the major development of this progression from local storage facility to regional print repository.     

Experimenting with global governance: understanding the potential for generational change

The appropriate role for the United Nations in international dispute resolution is a matter of high profile discussion and controversy. This paper begins with this ambivalence about the appropriate role for the United Nations in the world and examines several sets of issues that relate to the future of support for the UN within the US and the prospects for global governance more generally. First, we briefly review two thematic strands in previous and contemporary scholarship:(1) arguments for increased global governance in contemporary world affairs, driven by perceptions of the changing nature of the political, social, economic and military challenges in the contemporary world system. This debate is also put in the context of the relevance of public support for global governance institutions; and (2) why it is valuable to study how the current generation of adolescents perceive issues of global governance and the impact that their views may have on that nexus in the coming years. We then move to an analysis of data generated from an experimental study of American adolescents and their attitudes toward global governance.     

Short-Term Effects of Field Programme on Students’ Knowledge and Attitude Toward Biology: a Slovak Experience

Field trips are ideal for increasing students’ experience and perceptions of various organisms and their relationship between the original habitat. However, in general field trips are greatly neglected by teachers and their short-term effects are thought to be questionable. Therefore, we conducted a one-day field trip for both improving students’ knowledge in ecology and for examining short-term effects. Based on the results of the research conducted 3 days after the trip, we found a significant and positive increase in students’ attitudes toward biology, natural environment outside and future career in biology. Moreover, students displayed a better understanding of ecology concepts like ecosystems and food webs. However, no similar pattern was observed for the control group experienced only traditional biology settings. Thus, this study is unique showing significant short-term effects of a field trip on students’ attitude and knowledge toward biology.     

Measuring attitude towards RE: factoring pupil experience and home faith background into assessment

Recent studies have increasingly favoured contextualisation of religious education (RE) to pupils’ home faith background in spite of current assessment methods that might hinder this. For a multi-religious, multi-ethnic sample of 369 London school pupils aged from 13 to 15?years, this study found that the participatory, transformative and dialogical activities of church visits, computer use and classroom debate improved attitude to RE. It revealed more readiness in girls to apply RE to their own religiosity and particularly negative attitudes to RE in pupils with no religious background. Besides indicating the validity, reliability and unidimensionality of a new short quantitative measure of pupil attitude to RE which acknowledges pupil experience and home context, the findings suggest ways to move beyond ‘banking’ paradigms to which RE remains prone.     

抗战时期重庆民众对日军轰炸的意识演变—以1938-1943年《国民公报》等报刊为主体的考察

1938年2月日机开始对重庆实施轰炸之初,虽然引起了重庆民众的惶恐不安,但由于肓目迷信观念和侥幸心理作祟,在对待政府所倡导消极防空最善之法—疏散人口上,市民遵从政府的劝导者不多,而徘徊观望者众。经过1939年5月至1941年9月间的狂轰滥炸后,民众的反应仍然呈现出两种截然不同的倾向,一为镇静有序、遵命而行;一为听天由命、罔顾政令。至1941年10月后,随着日机对重庆轰炸次数的逐渐减少,重庆民众对于轰炸之惨状,似乎也随时间的流逝而逐渐淡忘,重新回到关心自己当下的、琐碎的、现实利益的生活轨道,对防空等战时公共事务不再多加关注。