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
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: 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
The overall approach to health education is identified as highly individualistic in its emphasis on individual responsibilities, attributes and skills necessary for achieving health. Contradictions, distortions and gaps inherent in this model are revealed. These contribute to identifying this kind of health education as an ideology, which serves least the needs and interests of those children who are likely to experience the greatest ill‐health.
The ways in which this approach is inappropriate for schoolchildren are illustrated by a case study, which compares the drinking experiences of a group of children with the alcohol education materials designed for them.
To conclude, improvements to both health education for slow learners and more generally to health education in schools are discussed. These include the development of an approach which is both child‐centred, and critical in locating individual choices about health within the social, economic and political contexts of local communities and wider society.
Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review of the peer-reviewed literature was undertaken to analyse the evaluations based on: (i) year of publication; (ii) location of the study; (iii) programme delivery; (iv) evaluation methods; (v) outcome variables; and (vi) inclusion of evaluation in initial programme design.
Findings: The review finds that almost all studies use an experimental or quasi-experimental research design (i.e. using a control group or counterfactual), but some studies do not account for endogeneity or selection bias. Furthermore, only a small number of the evaluations were planned as part of the original programme design, which causes difficulties in obtaining robust counterfactuals. The review also finds that relatively few evaluations, approximately 20%, measure the programme impact on environmental outcomes and only 15% of the evaluations have been undertaken for programmes in developed countries.
Practical implication: Limitations with current evaluation practice are identified, and recommendations are provided for improving practice, including better treatment of endogeneity, and the complementary use of qualitative data.
Theoretical implication: The review provides a contribution to the debate about the use of quantitative versus qualitative evaluation methods, by addressing the use of both quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods in a complementary way.
Originality/value: Despite their widespread implementation, this is the first systematic literature review for published evaluations of participatory extension programmes in the agricultural sector. 相似文献
Design/methodology/approach: This study uses a case study approach from the red meat sector in New Zealand. The case study included the development of a trial agricultural extension system established by staff from meat processing companies acting as innovation intermediaries, providing opportunities for skill development and knowledge transfer for farmers. From the case study, a framework is developed which illustrates how company staff can undertake the role of an innovation intermediary.
Findings: (1) Meat processing company staff are able to successfully undertake the role of an innovation intermediary; (2) flexibility is necessary, as staff undertook each of the functions to different degrees depending on their existing skills and knowledge of agricultural extension and the time available within their current job; and (3) adaptability is important, as staff adapted the project to meet the needs of both farmers and their employer.
Practical implications: Balancing commercial and extension roles is challenging. The framework could assist companies to clarify how individual company staff could successfully undertake specific roles.
Theoretical implications: This paper discusses factors influencing which innovation intermediary roles and functions are optimally undertaken by staff within or outside a meat processing company.
Originality/value: Analysing the role of an innovation intermediary from the perspective of meat processing company staff balancing their extension and commercial role. 相似文献
Design/methodology/approach: The characteristics that fostered co-innovation in each innovation project case study were identified from semi-structured interviews conducted with key stakeholders in each project, iterative discussions to confirm the findings and secondary document analysis. Common themes from the three cases are examined in relation to innovation system structure and function analysis and agricultural innovation system (AIS) literature. This study builds on the literature attempting to overcome methodological challenges in the applied AIS research space.
Findings: The findings have implications for co-innovation in practice; that there needs to be network-level capability and legitimacy, an understanding of priorities between actors, and adequate resources, to ensure proposed outcomes are likely to be attained.
Practical implications: Practically, project leaders need to ensure they embed an appropriate mix of actors in the research program and they also need to create and encourage room for open and honest dialogue between these actors to develop a shared vision of the future.
Theoretical implications: A conceptual model is developed to highlight and simplify lessons that can inform future projects involving co-innovation approaches to create value in the primary industries and AIS more generally. This model is unique to the applied AIS research space and provides new insights on enhancing the potential value of a co-innovation approach.
Originality/value: The paper adds to current scholarly debates and provides insight to key actions stakeholders need to take to foster co-innovation processes for successful outcomes in extension. 相似文献
Methodology/approach: Cross-sectional farm-level data were collected during July and August 2014. A sample of 198 farm households was selected for interviewing by using a multistage, random sampling technique. We employed a logistic regression model, frequency counts, and percentages to analyze the data.
Findings: Adoption decisions were mainly affected by extension-related variables – training, membership in a farmers’ group, and off-farm employment. Extension participation was found to be influenced by socioeconomic variables – age, education, household size, and distance to the extension office. Our findings reveal that distance to the extension office and off-farm employment limited participation in extension activities and adoption, respectively, and education, household size, and group membership stimulated participation in extension programs.
Practical implications: Recognition of the determinants of farmers’ participation in extension services and innovation adoption ensures that targeted extension approaches are used to address these factors in various stages of planning, delivering, and evaluating extension programs.
Theoretical implications: Innovation adoption follows a systematic decision-making process. Although personal characteristics are important, widespread use of new technology requires a conducive social and institutional context. Because contexts vary by country or region, extension services providers should create institutions favorable for innovation adoption within a social system.
Originality/value: This research is original and highly valuable to identify the factors associated with extension participation and innovation adoption in the rural hilly region of Nepal. This also provides a new direction to operationalize farmer-oriented policies of agricultural extension and so can be helpful for agricultural policy-makers in devising programs of extension services. 相似文献
Purpose: Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate Swedish technology teachers’ attitudes toward their subject, and how these attitudes may be related to background variables.
Sample: Technology teachers in Swedish compulsory schools (n = 1153) responded to a questionnaire about teachers’ attitudes, experiences, and background.
Methods: Exploratory factor analysis was used to inwvestigate attitude dimensions of the questionnaire. Groupings of teachers based on attitudes were identified through cluster analysis, and multinomial logistic regression was performed to investigate the role of teachers’ background variables as predictors for cluster belonging.
Results: Four attitudinal dimensions were identified in the questionnaire, corresponding to distinct components of attitudes. Three teacher clusters were identified among the respondents characterized by positive, negative, and mixed attitudes toward the subject of technology and its teaching, respectively. The most influential predictors of cluster membership were to be qualified for teaching technology, having participated in in-service-training, teaching at a school with a proper overall teaching plan for the subject of technology and teaching at a school with a defined number of teaching hours for the subject.
Conclusions: The results suggest that efforts to increase technology teachers’ qualifications and establishing a fixed number of teaching hours and an overall teaching plan for the subject of technology may yield more positive attitudes among teachers toward technology teaching. In turn, this could improve the status of the subject as well as students’ learning. 相似文献
Purpose This study explores the construction of different instruments for measuring science skills by categorizing items systematically on three subskill levels (science-specific, thinking, metacognition) as well as on different steps of the empirical cycle.
Sample The study included 128 fifth and sixth grade students from seven primary schools in the Netherlands.
Design and method Seven measures were used: a paper-and-pencil test (PPT), three performance assessments, two metacognitive self-report tests, and a test used as an indication of general cognitive ability.
Results Reliabilities of all tests indicate sufficient internal consistency. Positive correlations between the PPT and the three performance assessments show that the different tests measure a common core of similar skills thus providing evidence for convergent validity. Results also show that students’ ability to perform scientific inquiry is significantly related to general cognitive ability. No relationship was found between the measure of general metacognitive ability and either the PPT or the three performance assessments. By contrast, the metacognitive self-report test constructed to obtain information about the application of metacognitive abilities in performing scientific inquiry, shows significant – although small – correlations with two of the performance assessments. Further explorations reveal sufficient scale reliabilities on subskill and step level.
Conclusions The present study shows that science skills can be measured reliably by categorizing items on subskill and step level. Additional diagnostic information can be obtained by examining mean scores on both subskill and step level. Such measures are not only suitable for assessing students’ mastery of science skills but can also provide teachers with diagnostic information to adapt their instructions and foster the learning process of their students. 相似文献
Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of inquiry-based activities on pre-service teachers’ knowledge about GCC and their perceptions of teaching this subject.
Sample The participants were 102 pre-service middle school mathematics and science teachers who were enrolled in an environmental education course.
Design and methods A one group pre-test–post-test design was employed to identify changes after pre-service teachers engaged in a learning unit on GCC. The inquiry-based GCC unit was implemented during the spring semester at a public university in northeastern Turkey. The unit was implemented over seven sessions. Data were collected through two questionnaires: the ‘GCC content questionnaire’ and the ‘perceptions of teaching GCC questionnaire’. Each questionnaire was administered both before and after implementation of the unit. Content questionnaire responses were analyzed using a paired-samples t-test. Responses to the perceptions of teaching questionnaire were analyzed using inductive open coding.
Results Results indicated that after the implementation the pre-service teachers significantly improved their understanding of GCC across all items in the content questionnaire, saw several benefits of and challenges about teaching GCC, and perceived themselves as better prepared to teach about GCC in their future classrooms.
Conclusions Teacher education programs should integrate inquiry-based GCC instruction to increase pre-service teachers’ knowledge as well as their preparedness to teach about this important planetary issue. 相似文献
Union gives strength
Aesop
(ca. 620-564 BC) 相似文献
After numerous debates and discussions over the last century Norway decided in 1992 to extend the half year GCE‐course at the universities to a one year study. Due to this decision it was for the first time written National Guidelines for these kinds of studies.
This paper seeks to show how this change is carried out at one of the four universities in Norway—the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. The author presents this reform under the heading practical experience in Teacher Education. This is done because the National Guidelines for Norway underline that all theory in the GCE‐studies must be school‐based. Practical classroom experience is, in other words, supposed to be the starting point for all theory being taught as a part of the GCE‐program.
This paper also tries to view the Norwegian change in the GCE‐course from international trends within teacher education. 相似文献