Empirical Research into Teaching

The paper argues that 100 years of empirical research into teaching has failed to provide a usable account of best practice. This is partly because of conceptual and other logical problems that cannot in practice be resolved, as has been argued before. However, it is further argued that the real reason that no useful rules of good teaching can be established is that there are no substantive and important rules covering human interactions such as teaching. It is not that science cannot get the answers; rather it is that there are not any answers, and that is why there is not a science of teaching. Every teaching event is unique and the way to determine good practice is to be clear about what one is trying to achieve and to know one’s particular audience. This is not simply sound practical advice, but logically the only path to knowledge in this area.     

课堂教学中的师生互动对问题学生产生的影响

课堂教学中的师生互动包括显性与隐性两种情况,不同的互动方式直接影响了问题学生的产生。预防问题学生的产生,应考虑以下方面:建立人格平等的师生关系,构建因材施教的良好氛围,强化实践性反思与相互性人文关怀。     

Cognitive regulations in ICT-supported flipped classroom interactions: An activity theory perspective

In recent years, most studies on flipped classrooms or flipped learning have focused on learners’ motivation, academic achievement and teachers’ and students’ perceptions of the flipped classroom. Little research has involved interactions in the flipped classroom. This study aims to show that in-class collaborative learning in the flipped classroom can not only be conceived as a collective activity consisting of discrete actions, but also as a systematic activity. From the activity-theoretical perspective, contradictions were found between components of an activity such as subject, tools, rules, community, division of labor, object and outcome. This study conducted a pre-experiment, selecting one lesson of the seventh-grade Information Technology Course as the learning content, conducted in a flipped classroom. Three triads with different compositions were specifically observed by recording their interactions. More second-level contradictions existed between subject and tools, and division of labor within the low-level triad than within the other two triads, and more first-level contradictions also occurred within the low-level triad than within the other two triads. Most second-level contradictions within the high-level triad were resolved by self-regulation of cognition. Instead, most second-level contradictions within the mixed-level triad were overcome by co-regulation or shared regulation of cognition. This study sheds light on how to effectively design and implement flipped learning, and provides a new approach for analyzing interactions in the classroom.     

远程教育中学生主体作用发挥的障碍因素与对策分析

随着教育模式的变化，学生在学习中的地位也在发生变化。远程教育的突出特点就是学生的主体性作用加强，学生成为自主学习者和知识的探究者。教师的角色也发生了重要变化：由课堂教学的主宰变为学生自主学习的指导者，由知识的传授者变为学生认知力发展的帮助者，由教学信息资源的垄断者变为学生学习的导航者，由个体劳动行为变为群体劳动行为。为此，必须深入研究远程教育下的独特教学规律，分析影响学生主体性作用发挥的因素以及远程教育模式的现实性问题，以探索强化学生主体性教育的实施对策，提高教学效率。     

构建良好的师生关系 促进人的全面发展

本文根据素质教育的要求，强调了构建良好师生关系的意义，分析了现今师生关系中存在的问题与原因，提出了改善和优化师生关系的措施。     

试析师生互动的形式化--对语文课堂师生互动的观察与反思

新一轮基础教育课程改革非常重视学科教学中的师生互动。然而 ,现有课堂教学中 ,师生互动往往华而不实 ,出现了师生互动形式化的现象。本文结合语文阅读教学课堂中的观察与实践 ,对师生互动形式化的现象进行分析 ,并试着提出一些有效的建议。     

The microworld of Phoenix Quest: social and cognitive considerations

The present paper explores social and cognitive considerations in the context of a computer-game microworld or learning culture environment. Forty-one boys and 57 girls, aged 8 to 12 years (Grades 4, 5, and 6) were observed playing a computer game called Phoenix Quest. This computer game, featuring an adolescent female protagonist, is an interactive, mystery-adventure with embedded language and mathematics activities. The issues discussed include (a) the development of a computer game learning culture or microworld, (b) interdependence in the process of learning social skills, (c) computer game-playing strategies, (d) gender differences in computer-game play, and (e) mathematics concepts explored in the Phoenix Quest environment. These findings not only contribute to the understanding of how students create and shape a microworld around a computer game like Phoenix Quest, but also indicate some of the inherent teaching and learning limitations of educational software when the guidance of a teacher is absent.     

Student and Teacher Perspectives in Computer-Mediated Learning Environments in Teacher Education

Rapid advances in technology, particularly with the Internet, have led to the availability of numerous tools to support teaching and learning. This study involved the use of an Internet application, Connecting Communities of Learners (CCL), in courses for prospective teachers. Unlike earlier studies involving the use of the CCL, the context of this study related to full-time graduate students who used the CCL to augment weekly face-to-face instruction. An interpretive study was undertaken to ascertain student and teacher perceptions of the learning environments associated with the use of the CCL. Through the use of the CCL, students were able to be autonomous in regard to their own learning, co-participate with their peers and the instructor, and establish and maintain a community of learners in which participants could interact with others as co-teachers and co-learners. The CCL was perceived as a useful tool for building learning environments in which all participants can contribute written texts as evidence of what is known and as objects from which others can learn. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Exploring student hand-raising across two school subjects using mixed methods: An investigation of an everyday classroom behavior from a motivational perspective

Student hand-raising is an everyday behavior in classroom interactions with teachers. This research presents two studies that examine the variance in hand-raising and its relation to student motivation in two school subjects, Mathematics and Language Arts. Student hand-raising is introduced as an indicator of behavioral engagement. Study 1 investigated N = 397 high school students in 20 classrooms during a videotaped lesson in each subject. Multilevel regression analysis suggests that student motivation accounts for significant variance in hand-raising. The results show subject-specific differences: Student self-concept predicts hand-raising in Mathematics, while students' situational interest predicts their hand-raising in Language Arts. Students’ externally regulated motivation is predictive across both subjects. In Study 2, N = 14 high school students were interviewed about their hand-raising behavior. The results validate and extend the findings from Study 1. Finally, this research emphasizes the importance of fostering student hand-raising and discusses the implications for future research.     

喜马拉雅山区大气与环境综合观测研究支撑青藏高原地球系统科学发展

中国科学院珠穆朗玛大气与环境综合观测研究站（以下简称“珠峰站”）位于珠穆朗玛峰自然保护区核心区域,围绕我国青藏高原生态保护和生态文明高地建设及经济社会可持续发展的国家战略科技需求,致力于地球“第三极”复杂地形山地大气过程和环境变化研究。珠峰站以气候变化下青藏高原地-气相互作用过程研究为主线,开展了针对地表、大气、环境、冰川、生态和地球物理等过程的长期定位监测和野外科学观测试验;构建了珠峰地区多时空、多手段、高精度、多要素一体化地-气相互作用综合观测研究平台,显著提升了青藏高原特别是珠峰地区的气象观测能力。珠峰站是喜马拉雅山区地球系统科学研究的重要基地,为深入系统地开展青藏高原地球系统科学研究提供了基础数据,同时也为认识青藏高原在全球变化中的作用和对全球变化的响应提供了支撑平台。