Developmental trajectories of children's spatial skills: Influencing variables and associations with later mathematical thinking

Few studies have examined the long-term relations between children's early spatial skills and their later mathematical abilities. In the current study, we investigated children's developmental trajectories of spatial skills across four waves from age 3–7 years and their association with children's later mathematical understanding. We assessed children's development in a large, heterogeneous sample of children (N = 586) from diverse cultural backgrounds and mostly low-income homes. Spatial and mathematical skills were measured using standardized assessments. Children's starting points and rate of growth in spatial skills were investigated using latent growth curve models. We explored the influence of various covariates on spatial skill development and found that socioeconomic status, language skills, and sex, but not migration background predicted children's spatial development. Furthermore, our findings showed that children's initial spatial skills––but not their rate of growth––predicted later mathematical understanding, indicating that early spatial reasoning may play a crucial role for learning mathematics.     

Theoretical Value Belief, Cognitive Ability, and Personality as Predictors of Student Performance in Object-Oriented Programming Environments

The research described in this article reports the results of a study designed to evaluate the relationship among object‐oriented (OO) computer programming task performance and a student's (1) theoretical value belief, (2) cognitive ability, and (3) personality. The results of this study do not support the assertion that cognitive ability is a main determinant of performance. Rather, the findings suggest that characteristics of an individual nature have more effect on a student's performance. This supports our belief advanced herein that theoretical value belief and personality are significant predictors of computer programming performance in OO environments. From the findings of this study, we assert that academicians who must teach OO computer programming consider these factors when developing course materials or student assistance programs.     

Apprenticing for creativity in the improvisation lesson: a qualitative enquiry

Effective teacher-student learning relationships can propel students to advanced ways of knowing and acting. In much arts based higher education learning, dynamic and fluid interplay of cognitive, meta-cognitive and aspirational aims and goals are prevalent and passed to students in a learning relationship that can be described as a cognitive apprenticeship. Interpretative phenomenological analysis is used to explore four conservatoire teachers and their musical improvisation students. Investigating in the lesson experiences reveal pedagogical applications of modeling, scaffolding, coaching, reflection and developing mastery and expertise in students. A cognitive apprenticeship model can provide a framework for teachers to understand how to develop increased student control, ownership of learning, and contextually situated instructional strategies that brings cognitive and creative thinking, action and reflection to the forefront of learning and teaching. The study reveals how educators can develop trajectories of learning and problem-solving concepts that draw students into a culture of expert practice.     

From Book to Screen: Adopting Cinematic Adaptations of Literature in the EFL Classroom to Hone Students’ Critical Thinking Skills

In light of the paramount value placed on critical thinking (CT) in higher education and the scarcity of research into the use of cinematic adaptations to this end, this study investigated the incorporation of film into the source literature to hone students’ cognitive skills in the areas of analysis, inference, evaluation, induction, and deduction. Participants were 50 third-year students of English as a foreign language (EFL) enrolled in a university in eastern Algeria for academic year 2015–2016. During the fall semester, the treatment group (n = 24) and the control group (n = 26) took a regular literature course. In the spring semester, the treatment group took a film-literature course and the control group, a reading-only course that drew on Facione's IDEAS critical thinking model. The California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) was used as a pretest and posttest. Empirical findings indicated that both groups performed on par in all cognitive areas of CT with the exception of inference, wherein the film group outperformed the reading-only group in this dimension.     

关于家庭暴力的社会认知机制研究

家庭暴力已成为一个世界性的社会问题,然而我国学者对家庭暴力的研究多集中在现象的描述、原因的探讨和完善立法等方面,因而从社会心理学角度探究家庭暴力的认知机制对揭示家庭暴力的实质具有重要意义。心理学研究指出,家庭暴力的产生及其对子女的影响而导致的暴力轮回都是认知结构上的偏差所导致,所以从改变认知结构入手的认知行为疗法将是防止家庭暴力的直接和有效的策略。     

认知语境下的新型话语误解

近年来认知语境成为了倍受瞩目的理论,在话语理解的分析中得到了广泛的应用,然而话语误解尤其是由于科技的进步、时代的发展而出现的话语误解的新形式却很少有人提及.本文尝试从认知语境的角度,用认知语境的建构因素对几个典型的新型话语误解进行分析.     

信息技术中介的探究式学习环境设计

探究式学习往往是一个问题解决的过程。本文围绕着问题解决学习所需的支撑性要素,从活动理论和情境认知学习理论的视角分别对问题、相关案例、认知工具、学习共同体和资源几方面进行了论述,由此提出了一个信息技术支持下的探究式学习环境设计的基本构架。     

数学概念的理解问题

对数学概念的理解问题是数学学习理论中的重要理论问题．就刻划数学概念理解的重要概念——数学概念的心理表征和数学概念理解的认知基础进行分析，从而对数学概念的理解问题有更深入的认识。     

“计算机科学哲学”研究论纲

为了应答计算机对传统和现时哲学观念的冲击和挑战,适应计算机科学自身进一步发展的内在需要,建立一门以计算机科学的哲学问题为对象的新科学哲学———"计算机科学哲学",已日益成为必要与可能。计算机科学哲学是关于人脑(或心智)与计算机(或机器)的相互作用关系的过程、机制及其规律的研究。其方法主要有现象学方法、进化论方法、启发式方法和跨学科方法。