Discourse measures for Basque summary grading

In the context of Learning Technologies, the need to be able to assess the learning and domain comprehension in open-ended learner responses has been present in artificial intelligence and education since its beginnings. The advantage of using summaries is that they allow teachers to diagnose comprehension and the amount of information remembered from text in the learning process. This study addresses the issue of automatically obtaining overall discourse scores from surface discourse measures for Basque language. Global measures have been studied for cohesion, adequacy and use of language. The approach taken was to estimate the presence of the automatically gathered surface discourse measures in expert grading decisions in cohesion, adequacy and use of language. As a consequence, three grading decision-making regression models were obtained to estimate overall grades from text written in Basque. Next, the obtained regression models were tested in corpus-containing summaries written by learners with different degrees of summarisation maturity. The results show that the obtained grading frameworks significantly reflect human decisions and are able to discriminate summarisation maturity differences.     

What do we know and where do we go? Formative assessment in developing student teachers’ professional learning of teaching science

In the context of teacher education, it could well be suggested that assessment activities that build on formative interactions between student teachers and teacher educators might offer new windows into better understanding teaching and learning. This paper presents findings from a study into a primary science teacher education initiative that seeks to build the foundations on which 24 primary science student teachers, through the use of formative assessment of their science teaching and learning, can begin developing their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). In the project, formative assessment consists of activities used by teacher educators to stimulate interactions, self- and peer-assessment in order to provide insights into how student teachers develop their PCK during a semester. Content Representations (CoRes), were used as a tool to unpack the student teachers’ approach to teaching a science topic and the reasons for that approach. The results indicate that the use of CoRes, together with subsequent self-assessment and formative interactions with teacher educators and peers, do have the potential for PCK development for student teachers. The results further highlight the need for developing reliable and valid tools for capturing and assessing student teachers’ PCK in pre-service teacher education.     

Beyond the ‘good teacher’: guiding pre-service teacher reflections on culturally diverse students

This article explores how reflective practice may be facilitated among pre-service teachers preparing to teach in culturally diverse classrooms. The significance of the mentor teacher’s ability to reveal her/himself as a reflective practitioner in order to promote student reflection is well documented. The article specifically addresses one teacher educator’s approach to offering mentor support with a focus on reflective practices related to cultural diversity. She explores how her ethnographic doctoral study on the classroom participation of adult South Sudanese students in different Australian learning environments has informed her own practice as a teacher, and ways in which her teaching philosophy and values were influenced by the sustained reflection needed to complete the study. By making explicit an aspect of her reflective practice, she aims to add to the growing body of literature on how to engage pre-service teachers meaningfully in reflection on their own classroom practice, especially in relation to teaching to diversity.     

Conceptualising,developing and assessing critical thinking in law

‘Critical thinking’ is commonly included in the lists of graduate attributes (GAs), which all Australian universities are now required to develop and implement. That efforts to do so have met with limited success is due to a range of factors including inconsistent or naive conceptualisations, the failure to explicitly develop or assess GAs, and the persistence of ‘signature’ disciplinary practices. This paper describes the design and implementation of a law course in which the development and assessment of critical thinking were core objectives. Key features of the course included an operational conceptualisation of ‘critical legal thinking’, the development of closely aligned teaching and learning activities, and an aligned, coherent and innovative assessment programme. An evaluation of the first iteration of the course identified a number of successful outcomes as well as implications for ongoing course development.     

Students' perception of university teaching behaviours

The purpose of the paper is to explore Students' perception of university teaching behaviours in Pakistan. Three hundred and fifty students from the six public sector Pakistani universities returned questionnaires. Assessment framework, learning activities and instructional strategies emerged from factor analysis as common factors. Students' views on five conceptual variables were also analysed: instructional design, active teaching, learning activities, questioning styles; and assessment framework. University teaching in Pakistan was found to be driven by assessment. This is a matter of concern for all stake holders, including the administration of the universities, teachers, students and the Higher Education Commission. A teaching behaviour paradigm shift is required, switching from knowledge-oriented teaching behaviour focused on successful passage through assessment, to teaching behaviour focused upon the development of transferable skills demanded by external markets.     

Teaching and learning across disciplines: student and staff experiences in a newly modularised system

Within modular degrees it is sometimes possible for students to broaden their education by taking modules from outside their main programme of study. This is one significant aspect of modular degrees which has not been studied. In an effort to better understand this issue, the research reported in this paper explored the experiences: (1) of students taking modules from outside their programme of study and; (2) of staff teaching modules with significant numbers of students from other programmes. In total, 820 undergraduate students responded to an on-line survey; 12 academic staff members participated in interviews. The survey focused on students’ reasons for choosing the module, their experiences of assessment and their perceptions of workload. Interviews with academic staff focused on the influence of non-programme students on teaching and assessment practices. The discussion addresses the implications of student choice and classroom diversity for teaching and assessment in modular systems.     

基于Mann-Kendall法的酒泉市近50年气候变化特征及突变分析

利用酒泉市所属6个站点1959-2008年的气温和降水资料,采用滑动平均、趋势分析和MannKendall等方法,分析该地区的气候变化的特征.结果表明:在全球变暖背景下,酒泉市的气温突变明显,而降水突变不明显.近50年来,酒泉市年平均气温和各个季节的平均气温呈显著变暖趋势,其中年平均气温在90年代中后期发生了突变,酒泉市东部的突变年份早于西部的突变年份;酒泉市年降水量呈微弱增长趋势,酒泉市东部的增长幅度略小于西部.这表明气候突变在酒泉市不同的地区会有不同的体现,突变时间不同步.     

新建本科院校课堂教学质量评价模型探析

课堂教学是影响教学质量的最主要因素,科学合理的评价一堂课的优劣是一项非常复杂的工作,我们旨在给出较为合理的课堂教学评价指标和课堂评价数学模型,开展教学的良性竞争,有效地提高教学质量,关注教师专业成长,不断提升办学内涵.     

回归主体性：我国学生评价变革的价值选择

学生评价是教育评价的重要组成部分。学生主体地位的缺失是我国学生评价的主要弊病之一,因而使以评价促进学生自主发展的基本功能较难从根本上得以实现。从价值取向、过程逻辑、方法和效果等方面阐明学生评价变革价值选择的主体性意蕴,对当前学生评价中主体性缺失问题的解决具有重要的理论和实践意义。     

中美环境议题报道的比较研究

为应对气候变暖而召开的《联合国气候变化框架公约》缔约方第15次会议,吸引了以《人民日报》与《纽约时报》为代表的中美两国主流媒体的关注。两报在报道内容上的背离使得中美两国在环境新闻领域形成新的话语交锋。二者形成差异的原因在于国情相异,意识形态观念有别,文化积淀基础上形成的生态伦理观念迥异,新闻传播理念不同等。从中我们可以得到启示,我国环境新闻的写作需以科学方法为指导,在对外传播的过程中注重策略的优化,同时力求与现行的国际传播手段接轨,重塑中国勇于承担责任的大国形象。