_____ comprehensive and unified;
_____ able to take into account the particular possibilities of individual adult educators; and
_____ easily adjustable to the particular needs within the community.
Such a scheme can only be realized through the application of a modular structure. A scheme like this is being developed at Gwent College of Higher Education for a professional training programme which will give a Certificate in Continuing Education, conferring full teacher status in adult and further education. This development is used to illustrate the points the author wants to make. The development of a programme on such a scheme raises considerable structural and methodological problems, which are discussed and compared with what is done elsewhere. 相似文献
tell me how you spend your time
I spend all my time
around the Singer machine…’
These lines from a popular song of the nineteen forties sum up what was for many women a new reality. This paper identifies the space at the sewing machine as mother's space and the sewing machine as an important element in the psychological and financial liberation of the woman, here the Caribbean woman of the twentieth century. Evidence in support of this claim is offered predominantly from Caribbean creative writing, where artists have noted the importance of that invention in the lives of their mothers and in the achievements of their families. 相似文献
—Robert Ardrey (1972), The Territorial Imperative, Fontana
London, p. 257 相似文献
The research project was constructed in a number of early childhood centres in a variety of socio‐economic areas. All of these centres had an early intervention program in operation so that special needs or ‘exceptional’ children could be observed along with mainstream children.
The researcher is investigating children's learning styles to determine the children's preferred learning styles when exploring spatial concepts. The question of whether exceptional children progress through the same stages and in the same order as the mainstream children is also being considered.
Spatial concepts in early childhood is an area that seems to have been neglected by researchers in favour of the development of number concepts. This research project aims to add to our knowledge of how young children learn spatial concepts.
Design/Methodology/Approach: This study was conducted in Ireland using a pre-test, post-test experimental design. All students were instructed on how to complete two skills using either a traditional or blended methodology. They were subsequently assessed to determine their ability to perform the practical skills.
Findings: The findings stressed the suitability of blended learning not only when it was found that there was no significant difference between method of teaching and skill acquisition but also when it was revealed that student demographics had no major influence on skill acquisition.
Practical Implications: It can be concluded that blended learning can be used effectively for the instruction of a diverse range of practical skills in agricultural college and benefit in the successful knowledge transfer to a growing and diverse student population with more emphasis placed on the students taking charge of their own learning environment.
Originality/Value: The article demonstrates the value of blended learning as a successful medium for practical skill attainment within the agricultural college environment.
Findings: The findings stressed the suitability of blended learning not only when it was found that there was no significant difference between method of teaching and skill acquisition but also when it was revealed that student demographics had no major influence on skill acquisition.
Practical Implications: It can be concluded that blended learning can be used effectively for the instruction of a diverse range of practical skills in agricultural college and benefit in the successful knowledge transfer to a growing and diverse student population with more emphasis placed on the students taking charge of their own learning environment.
Originality/Value: The article demonstrates the value of blended learning as a successful medium for practical skill attainment within the agricultural college environment. 相似文献
Design/methodology/approach: Individual interviews and focus group discussions were held with 24 farmers over 20 months. Observations were made of these farmers as they participated with eight agricultural and social scientists in a range of innovative experiences to learn about chicory and plantain establishment and management. These learning experiences were designed around evidence-informed educational pedagogies. Data sets were analyzed using NVivo to determine common themes of affordances and barriers to learning and actual practice changes.
Findings: The affordances for learning and practice change include belonging to a learning community, enhancing self-efficacy, engaging with scientists, seeing relative advantage, reinforcing and validating learning, supporting system’s integration and developing an identity as learners. Barriers to learning and practice change include issues of: trialability, complexity, compatibility and risk.
Practical implications: The importance of basing new models of extension around evidence-informed pedagogies known through educational research to promote learning and practice change.
Theoretical implications: Sociocultural theory and self-efficacy theories of learning are critical to the success of effective agricultural extension programs.
Originality: To date, little empirical research about the affordances and barriers for pastoral farmers’ learning has been based on contemporary educational research. 相似文献
Methodology: A multiple regression analysis was employed to assess the combined effect of the knowledge bases, factors such as age of the household head, land size, marketing channels and geophysical factors (such as land slope) on linseed productivity.
Findings: The findings reveal no differences in productivity between trained and untrained farmers. They further show that training and the interaction between training and experience positively influence productivity. Our findings, however, reveal farmer education to have an inverse yet insignificant effect on productivity. Furthermore, we found that factors such as the slope of the land and the choice of marketing channel also play an important role in influencing productivity.
Practical implications: Moving away from the traditional top-down approach could be the answer to avoid a mismatch between the information given by trainers and what the farmers actually need.
Theoretical implications: The study used interaction variables of knowledge bases, and attempted to demonstrate the importance of a tacit knowledge base, which is often not well documented and therefore neglected in research.
Originality/value: The research demonstrates the combined effects that interactions between several knowledge bases have on the productivity of linseed farmers. 相似文献
Design/methodology/approach: Using Conservation Agriculture (CA) as a case study, we qualitatively explore with 26 locally based agricultural researchers the context of CA research and promotion, including their perceptions on persistent research gaps and issues in closing them.
Findings: Respondents identified that CA was not yet a finished product, with concerns regarding the benefit, feasibility and relevance of CA implementation. They asserted that while further adaptation was required, they were unable to do this due to institutional constraints within their research, extension and policy contexts.
Practical implications: We find that CA continues to be considered a donor-driven intervention in its current form and requires substantial further adaptation to local contexts before researchers will deem it ready for farmer uptake. The five research gaps identified by respondents highlight practical areas where further adaptations must occur.
Theoretical implications: Our findings suggest a lack of participatory research and extension most likely reflects limited financial, human and social capital to implement more participatory approaches. Without addressing these capacities, widespread adoption of complex farming systems change appears unlikely.
Originality/Value: Whilst many studies have identified a need for local innovation to enable CA utilisation, few have qualitatively explored directly with local researchers the capacity of such systems to do so. We address this gap in the literature. 相似文献
Design: We use the network map analysis in a case study approach as a tool to demonstrate the linkages between the key actors and stakeholders in the information network of farmers.
Findings: The government institutions are well networked among themselves but have limited interactions with non-government sources. Farmers in Bihar have strong linkages with few network actors, who are important nodes in the social knowledge network. The study showed heterogeneity and complexity in the network shape and structure across different districts.
Practical Implications: Knowledge networks and social networks are the drivers of information sharing and play a significant role in the diffusion of agricultural technology and related knowledge. Understanding these networks provides a platform for introducing the agricultural technologies and getting connected to a wider group of farming communities.
Theoretical Implications: The study shows that the network is formed by different actors and their role determine the nature and shape of the network. Knowledge of this heterogeneity is important in designing or revamping agricultural information systems.
Originality: Information and knowledge networks are least explored in the agricultural information dissemination process. Some studies have shown the role of actors and social networks, but this study uniquely explores and presents the heterogeneity of these networks. 相似文献
Design/Methodology/Approach: The research addressed a purposive sample of 30 agronomists divided into two groups (older - younger). Questionnaire-based survey was followed by a semi-structured interview.
Findings: The views of both groups of agronomists follow the same orientation and revolve around the progressive and behaviourist philosophies. In terms of practice, the intervention of older agronomists mainly relates to the progressive, the liberal and the behaviourist philosophy while that of younger agronomists around the liberal framework; evidence shows a small turn of younger agronomists towards participatory extension.
Practical Implications: The current piece of work puts forward the gaps and weaknesses of Extension in Greece both in terms of rhetoric and practice; notably, Greek agronomists do not seem capable to support bottom-up processes.
Theoretical Implications: Research detected the espoused orientation of extensionists and the ways they assist their constituencies in practice.
Originality/Value: The work reported here is considered one means of raising the awareness of the field’s needs in documenting extensionists’ educational philosophies and how they guide practice. 相似文献
Purpose: This study evaluated and compared the Singaporean and Taiwanese middle school students’ conceptions of science assessment. Within-country gender comparisons were also explored.
Sample: 424 Taiwanese and 333 Singaporean eighth graders were invited for a cross-country comparison.
Design and methods: The participants completed a questionnaire named Conceptions of Science Assessment.
Results: The findings showed that the summative assessment dominates in the Taiwanese classrooms, while formative and summative assessment are usually perceived in Singaporean classrooms. The Singaporean students had a greater tendency than their Taiwanese counterparts to perceive the purpose of assessment as a way of reproducing knowledge, and the formative assessment as improving learning, problem-solving, and critical judgment. No gender differences were found among either the Singaporean or the Taiwanese students.
Conclusions: Educators in both countries should provide learners with more opportunities to experience process-oriented science assessment activities and de-emphasize the usage of examination-oriented practices to achieve the sophistication of conceptions. 相似文献
Design/methodology/approach: A review of the literature highlights the economic and pedagogical need for adopting a networked learning approach. Two examples are described to instantiate the language for learning networks: a small community of farmers in India and large Twitter community of Australian farmers.
Findings: This paper reviews evidence that successful networked learning interventions are already occurring within agricultural extension. It provides a framework for describing these interventions and for helping future designers of learning networks in agricultural extension.
Practical implication: Facilitation of learning networks can serve to achieve efficient agricultural extension that connects farmers across distances for constructivist learning. To realize these benefits, designers of learning networks need to consider set design, social design and epistemic design.
Theoretical implication: This paper contributes a theoretical framework for designing, implementing and analysing learning networks in agriculture. It does this by integrating existing ideas from networked learning and applying them to the agricultural context through examples.
Originality/value: This paper contributes an understanding of the value of networked learning for extension in terms of economic and pedagogical benefits. It provides a language for talking about learning networks that is useful for future researchers and for practitioners. 相似文献
Purpose: The study aims to find out primary school students’ perceptions of microorganisms and to analyze whether theoretical or practical teaching interventions produce different levels in student’s learning about this topic.
Sample: The sample consisted of 199 primary students in 2nd (aged 7–8) and 6th (11–12) grades from two public schools in Albacete (Spain).
Design and method: This study uses a pre- and post-intervention questionnaire to evaluate the knowledge of students on the issue of microorganisms. We compare differences by age and two teaching–learning intervention methodologies: theoretical and practical.
Results: Results from the pre-test showed a poor understanding and several misconceptions. Children have a limited and negative view of microorganisms, mainly derived from non-formal learning. Both types of intervention provided an improvement in knowledge, but closed questions did not reveal clear statistically significant differences between methods. Open questions showed how the scientific use of the language and quality of verbalization is much better in the groups that received a practical intervention.
Conclusion: The findings can be a starting point for curriculum planners and for teachers interested in engaging students in science learning. 相似文献
Design/methodology/approach: We engage in seven participatory exercises with groups of farmers from two farmers’ associations in Inharrime district in Mozambique to identify their needs for solar fruit drying that are crucial for solar dryer technology design. We focus in the analysis on three of these exercises including a daily schedule exercise, SWOT (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats) analysis and technology requirement exercise.
Findings: Participatory research takes a dual function for integrated agricultural technology development. First, it can help to identify the technology needs of farmers and second it can enable the exchange and creation of different sets of knowledge for agricultural technology development between multiple stakeholders.
Practical implications: Participatory research provides a tool for joint knowledge exchange and creation, which allows the identified technology requirements to be translated into practical technology design.
Theoretical implications: This paper extends the concept of integrated research to integrated agricultural technology development and shows how participatory research is a tool that enables transdisciplinarity, which presents the most desired form of integrated research.
Originality: This research is highly relevant for researchers working in an interdisciplinary environment with agricultural technology development in cross-cultural contexts. From a meta-level perspective, it provides insights for joint and integrated technology development. 相似文献
Purpose: The purpose of this research, consisting of two studies, was to explore Taiwanese university science-major students’ conceptions of learning science by laboratory (CLSL).
Sample: In Study I, interview data were gathered from 47 university science-major students. In Study II, 287 university science-major students’ responses to a CLSL survey were collected.
Design and methods: In Study I, the interview data were analyzed using the phenomenographic method. Based on the findings derived from Study I, Study II developed an instrument for assessing students’ CLSL by exploratory factor analysis.
Results: Study I revealed six categories of CLSL, including memorizing, verifying, acquiring manipulative skills, obtaining authentic experience, reviewing prior learning profiles, and achieving in-depth understanding. The factor analysis in Study II revealed that the ‘verifying’ category was eliminated, but found another new category of ‘examining prior knowledge.’
Conclusions: This study finally proposes a framework to describe the variations of CLSL, consisting of three features: cognitive orientation, metacognitive orientation, and epistemic orientation. Possible factors influencing students’ CLSL are also discussed. 相似文献