Positive Perspectives on the Profession: Reframing through Appreciative Inquiry

Change theories and Organization Development strategies have long followed the problem-solving approach of looking at organizations, identifying the weaknesses and introducing interventions to “stop doing the wrong things.” In its simplest form, this approach has been successful in a variety of situations and has a popular following. Consultants or internal reviewers look for the problems, identify the cause of the problem, and introduce the intervention (new rule) to eliminate the opportunity for the repetition of the “problem.” Problem-solving is a popular perspective through which change is initiated in politics, academia, and in social media. Eliminate the “bad” and pay attention to what we have been doing wrong to improve. This article first reviews the problems posed in past Hanna lectures to some major themes: (a) the need to address societal concerns, (b) the need to reduce sub-disciplinary fragmentation, (c) the problems inherent on university campuses as a result of politics and the economy, (d) the need to re-examine the over-reliance on the scientific research paradigm at the cost of phenomenological understandings, and (e) the framing of problems to be solved by professionals in our field. The introduction of Appreciative Inquiry and is then provided as an alternative approach to examine current contextual setting with the primary emphasis away from “What problems are you having?” and toward “What is working around here?”. This alternative suggests that in all organizations there is some positive force that is moving the organization forward, and the identification of that force (what works) can lay the ground work for doing more of “what works.” Finally, three examples of Appreciative Inquiry opportunities in action from our discipline are offered for consideration.     

School Teachers' Continuous Professional Development in an Online Learning Community: lessons from a case study of an eTwinning Learning Event

A social revolution is occurring in the way information is shared, knowledge is generated and innovation takes place over the Internet and there is renewed interest in the social concept of ‘community’ to support online learning. This article describes action research conducted in the context of an eTwinning Learning Event (LE) that provides useful insights into how an online learning community can support the continuous professional development (CPD) of school teachers. Using the Community of Inquiry framework (Garrison et al., 2000), it offers empirical evidence of how cognitive, social and teaching aspects impact competence development. It suggests that online learning communities offer an appropriate environment for teachers' intellectual and emotional reflection, characterised by trust, mutual respect and shared values centred on improving pupils' learning. It also suggests that the educational experience within such a community is significantly influenced by the tutor's design and moderation of activities aimed at fostering critical thinking. The article concludes that online learning communities offer a valuable alternative to traditional teacher training by supporting teachers to learn in the context of their everyday practice, whilst collaborating and reflecting on their experience with peers across regions and countries. Concerning the wider use of social networking for learning, it suggests that educators still have a valuable role to play in ensuring that collaboration leads to an effective educational experience.     

Design of a student lab program for nanoscience and technology – an intervention study on students’ perceptions of the Nature of Science,the Nature of Scientists and the Nature of Scientific Inquiry

Background: This article describes the design and the evaluation of a student lab program on the topic of nanoscience and technology (NST), mainly focusing on Nanoscience and its applications. The program was designed for students in grades 8–10 and was part of a larger outreach program of the Collaborative Research Center ‘Function by Switching’ at Kiel University. The Model of Educational Reconstruction (MER) served as a framework for the research-based design of the student lab.

Purpose: We aimed to develop an authentic science activity in the area of NST in order to support scientific inquiry learning and to provide a deeper understanding of scientific topics.

Sample: A total of 154 secondary school students from grades 8–10 of seven different secondary schools participated in this study.

Design and methods: A pre-post questionnaire with six subscales on students’ perceptions of the Nature of Science (NOS), Scientific Inquiry (NOSI) and the involved scientists (NOST) in the area of nanoscience and nanotechnology was applied.

Results: Results show that the applied explicit and reflective approach embedded in the nanoscience content significantly improved the participating students’ perceptions of NOS, NOSI and NOST facets. After the lab visit, students’ answers corresponded to a more adequate perception of today’s science and scientists. Some gender differences in learning gains were also detected.

Conclusion: The study served its main purpose which was to investigate a well-balanced strategy to develop authentic out-of-school-learning environments with a focus on NOS/NOSI/NOST. Testing students’ perceptions of the nature of nanoscience provided insights into students’ worlds and served as feedback for the lab program. The outcomes of this study might help to better understand and further develop authentic (nano)science programs in out-of-school settings and science outreach programs.     

基于GIS的安阳旅游地理信息系统研究

以旅游地理信息系统在旅游业中的强大功能及广泛应用为出发点,阐述了安阳旅游地理信息系统的设计过程,以及围绕以旅游信息为主题的地理信息系统的相关研究和探索。     

论教师教育实践共同体的系统重构

教师教育实践共同体的有机建构必须满足中小学实践指导教师、高校教师、职前实习教师的共同兴趣。探究具有挑战性和吸引力的教育实践问题,即教育知识生产,聚焦着他们的共同兴趣。这些问题谱系包括知识问题、如何教的问题、教人如何教的问题三大支系。反思是教师教育实践共同体建构的途径。教师教育实践共同体不仅是职前实习教师反思的场所,而且为实践导师和高校导师提供了新的反思性实践的机会。积极互赖的合作教学为教师教育实践共同体实施问题探究、反思教学构筑起务实的具体操作形式。     

Supporting Inquiry Processes with an Interactive Learning Environment: Inquiry Island

This research addresses the effectiveness of an interactive learning environment, Inquiry Island, as a general-purpose framework for the design of inquiry-based science curricula. We introduce the software as a scaffold designed to support the creation and assessment of inquiry projects, and describe its use in a middle-school genetics unit. Students in the intervention showed significant gains in inquiry skills. We also illustrate the power of the software to gather and analyze qualitative data about student learning.     

When facts,truth, and reality are God‐terms: on journalism's uneasy place in cultural studies

This article tracks the uneasy coexistence of journalism and cultural studies, arguing that the tensions between the two fields have worked to mutual disadvantage. The article suggests that rethinking the ways in which journalism and its inquiry might be made a more integral part of cultural studies could constitute a litmus test of sorts for cultural studies. Figuring out how to embrace journalism's god‐terms of facts, truth, and reality alongside its own regard for subjectivity and construction could help move cultural studies into further degrees of maturation as a field.     

The Effects of Prior-knowledge and Online Learning Approaches on Students’ Inquiry and Argumentation Abilities

This study investigated the effects of students’ prior science knowledge and online learning approaches (social and individual) on their learning with regard to three topics: science concepts, inquiry, and argumentation. Two science teachers and 118 students from 4 eighth-grade science classes were invited to participate in this research. Students in each class were divided into three groups according to their level of prior science knowledge; they then took either our social- or individual-based online science learning program. The results show that students in the social online argumentation group performed better in argumentation and online argumentation learning. Qualitative analysis indicated that the students’ social interactions benefited the co-construction of sound arguments and the accurate understanding of science concepts. In constructing arguments, students in the individual online argumentation group were limited to knowledge recall and self-reflection. High prior-knowledge students significantly outperformed low prior-knowledge students in all three aspects of science learning. However, the difference in inquiry and argumentation performance between low and high prior-knowledge students decreased with the progression of online learning topics.     

沉浸理论对网络环境下的研究性学习平台构建的指导——基于《教育技术学研究方法》学习平台的实践

构建网络环境下的研究性学习平台已经成为当前教育探索的热点之一,本文在分析沉浸理论的要素和研究性学习的特点的基础上,找出了两者之间的契合点,以此为依据尝试建立了沉浸理论下网络研究性学习的模型,提出了相应的设计策略和应用反思,并通过展示实例来证明其应用价值。     

Explaining the Effectiveness of the Integrated Model of Advice-Giving in Supportive Interactions: The Mediating Roles of Politeness and Normativeness

The current study examined the effect of the Integrated Model of Advice-giving (Emotional Support—Problem Inquiry and Analysis—Advice) on recipients’ responses to advice, exploring the mediating roles of perceived regard for face and normativeness. Participants read and responded to a conversation in which they received advice from a friend regarding a problematic situation. Results indicated that perceived regard for positive face mediated the relationship between the sequential placement of emotional support and recipients’ responses to advice. Neither perceived regard for face nor normativeness mediated the relationship between the sequential placement of problem inquiry and analysis and recipients’ responses to advice. Findings of this study suggest that the provision of emotional support has a primary role in IMA and is effective in addressing the positive face needs of advice recipient.