Scaffolding student-generated questions: Design and development of a customizable online learning system

Despite the fact that the benefits of student question generation are well documented, most students do not take part in question generation exercises during their formal schooling and are not accustomed to authoring questions. Under the premise that student question generation activities should be better supported in a timely, flexible and logistically feasible fashion, a customizable online learning environment that accentuates various scaffolding techniques has been designed and developed. The framework guiding the development of the system, and its associated designs, are described. To assess the various built-in scaffolds used to support students’ learning activities by means of question generation, a study was undertaken to that measured students’ perceived usefulness of each mechanism, as well as the effects of the perceived usefulness of the scaffolds on students’ attitudes toward question generation learning activities in general. The data collected indicated that, by utilizing computers and network technologies, the developed system provided a supportive learning environment for student’s question generation learning activities. Support features not yet included in other similar systems (including access to generic question stems with sample questions, access to model questions, two-way cyclic communication between authors of question and assessors, and the ability to conceal one’s real identity by anonymity or nickname, etc.), were confirmed to provide a high level of support. Recommendations for classroom implementations and future studies are offered.     

我国堆石混凝土筑坝技术的新发展

通过相关的工程案例，分析了堆石混凝土筑坝新技术的发展轨迹，并提出了新的研究课题，希望给技术使用者提供帮助，给机械、材料研究者一些技术思路。     

古瓷的兔形纹饰及其文化内涵

纹形装饰是古瓷装饰艺术的一朵奇葩，是艺术陶瓷的文化与价值的体现。兔形纹饰是以兔为装饰对象，撷取其蹲、跳、闪、奔、躲、仰、顾等生动形象，表现了其机灵、敏捷、勤奋、睿智、温和、仁善和勇敢的优良品性，汇集其神话传说、民间故事等优秀题材，深刻体现兔形纹饰的丰富文化内涵。经历几千年的淘炼与继承，兔形纹饰形成了独具特色的艺术风格和简、繁、符、形、神、文融为一体的完备体系。观、赏、玩、研，俱让人体味一种特殊的美感。     

大学章程之制定主体相关问题探析

大学章程制定权实质是大学自治权的核心,在法治原则下,其来源于法律的授予。法律授予制定权的对象为制定主体,制定主体中真正起作用的是行使审议和表决通过权的决策主体,行使其他权利的则为影响主体。域内外各地区有关大学章程制定主体的实践表明,制定主体一般为大学各方利益主体的联合大会。     

Effective learning in science: The use of personal response systems with a wide range of audiences

This paper describes the flexibility of Personal Response Systems (PRSs), (also known as ‘clickers’ or electronic voting systems (EVS)), as part of strategies to support students’ learning in science. Whilst variants of this technology began to appear 12 years ago, there is now a steadily increasing adoption of these systems within higher education, including science programmes, and this use has grown significantly in the last six years. They have previously been shown to offer a measurable learning benefit. Typically, someone at an institution buys these systems for learning support and they never make it out of their cases. Far less work has been done with these systems at school level. In this practitioner based paper, the broad range of practical uses for these systems is described in a variety of formal and informal learning situations – from testing the understanding of science concepts (from primary aged school children up to physics undergraduates), to undertaking evaluation of events as well as public participation in data collection for research on attitudes to careers. In addition, the data collected on such handsets can be mapped to demographic factors such as gender and age yielding further layers of analysis. Overall this is a highly flexible and transferable approach to the use of interactive technology for engaging learners of all ages as well as carrying out research.     

商贸专业产学一体化人才培养模式探讨

产学一体化是高职院校人才培养的重要途径,商贸类不同专业可从多种模式中选择适合自己的进行实践,并对教育教学方式进行系统改革、创新。     

Accumulating and visualising tacit knowledge of teachers on educational assessments

Assessments, embedded with teachers’ implicit (i.e. tacit) domain knowledge, play an important role in evaluating ’comprehension of a subject. The knowledge on the importance of both the concepts and their relationships of a subject, if captured, made explicit, and shared around, may greatly help teachers construct more effective assessments. This study establishes a methodology to accumulate tacit knowledge of specific topics from collected assessments by using an implicit knowledge extraction mechanism and, visualises the overall importance distribution of concepts by using knowledge maps for helping teachers compile their assessments. Several two stage experiments, scheduled for one semester, were conducted in the third grade natural science courses at elementary schools in Taiwan. Eighteen teachers who actually teach the courses participated in the experiments, and thirty students were in each course. In the first stage, teachers compiled assessments without using IKMAAS’s knowledge map features while in the second stage, they did use them. System usage records, questionnaires and interview results were used for evaluating the usability of the methodology and the satisfaction of using IKMAAS. The results indicate the potential of the methodology, as each of the teachers agreed that the visualised assessment knowledge helped them to comprehend the proportions of concepts they intended to test easily and, additionally, helped them to clearly notice concepts they may have ignored. Yet the results in this study also show the potential of using knowledge maps and knowledge accumulating methodology in pedagogy paradigm.     

“先前小组”辅助指导方式在测绘学科专业课程实习中的应用研究

教师少与实习任务重是测绘专业课程实习长期面临的一个突出矛盾,严重影响了学生实习的效果."先前小组"辅助指导方式能锻炼学生各项能力,调动学生学习兴趣,辅助教师高效指导全体学生完成实习任务,在较好地解决教师少与实习任务重矛盾的同时,亦体现了教育以学生为本的根本要求.     

Distance learning in advanced military education: Analysis of joint operations course in the Taiwan military

High-ranking officers require advanced military education in war tactics for future combat. However, line officers rarely have time to take such courses on campus. The conventional solution to this problem used to take the inefficient correspondence courses. Whereas Internet technologies progress, online course is the current trend for military training. However, the question is what distance learning methodology best suits such a proprietary learning purpose.This study presents a sequential process of developing distance learning courses in advanced military education. Further, the Petri-Net analytical approach is adopted to discover the essential interaction requirements of advanced military education delivered via Internet. This study developed a systematic method for designing e-learning systems according to specific requirements of target courses. The proposed approach starts by comparing on-campus programs with the existing e-learning systems to identify the steps required to transform the program into an e-learning system. After first outlining the pedagogy of the on-campus program, its proposed teaching flow through the Internet is then sketched. Finally, the Petri-Net model was used for in-depth analysis of the stages affecting the learning curve of the line office taking e-learning courses. The example of a “Joint Operations” AME course elaborated the presented approach. An e-learning system prototype was also designed accordingly. Lastly, an experiment was conducted to verify the efficiency of the presented approach.     

Stills,not full motion,for interactive spatial training: American,Turkish and Taiwanese female pre-service teachers learn spatial visualization

This study investigated how female elementary education pre-service teachers in the United States, Turkey and Taiwan learned spatial skills from structured activities involving discrete, as opposed to continuous, transformations in interactive computer programs, and how these activities transferred to non-related standardized tests of spatial visualization and mental rotation. The study used a pretest, intervention, posttest research design with experimental and comparison groups. The experimental group participated in transformational geometry visualization exercises, once a week for six weeks, for approximately 20 minutes each session. Instruments were standardized measures of spatial visualization and mental rotation; intervention activity worksheets directed the participants through 2D and 3D transformational geometry tasks in computer environments. For Turkish and Taiwanese participants, the experimental group improved significantly more than the control group in spatial visualization, while the American participants showed no such significant improvement.