The Nctm Standards and the Philosophy of Mathematics

It is argued that the philosophical and epistemological beliefs about the nature of mathematics have a significant influence on the way mathematics is taught at school. In this paper, the philosophy of mathematics of the NCTM's Standards is investigated by examining is explicit assumptions regarding the teaching and learning of school mathematics. The main conceptual tool used for this purpose is the model of two dichotomous philosophies of mathematics-absolutist versus- fallibilist and their relation to mathematics pedagogy. The main conclusion is that a fallibilist view of mathematics is assumed in the Standards and that most of its pedagogical assumptions and approaches are based on this philosophy.     

Towards a new image of science: Science teaching and non-analytical philosophy of science

This paper describes an attempt to develop a pedagogy for teaching philosophy in science rather than a philosophy of science to be taught in the Bulgarian educational system.     

CONTINGENT OBSERVATION: AN EFFECTIVE AND ACCEPTABLE PROCEDURE FOR REDUCING DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR OF YOUNG CHILDREN IN A GROUP SETTING1

Since a major task of childhood is learning to get along in a group without disrupting other children's activities, caregivers need explicit guidelines for gentle but effective procedures for dealing with disruptive behaviors in child-care settings. In a day-care center for normal 1- and 2-yr-old children, an effort was made to develop a procedure that appeared sufficiently humane and educational to be acceptable to parents and daycare workers, and yet effective in reducing disruptive play behaviors. Caregivers used the occasion of disruptive behavior to instruct the child in appropriate alternatives, then had the child sit on the periphery and observe the appropriate social behavior of the other children, “sit and watch”, for a brief period before inviting him or her to rejoin the play activities. The effectiveness of this procedure was compared with a method commonly recommended for use with young children: instructing the child, then distracting or redirecting the child to an alternative toy or activity. Contingent observation, combining instruction with a brief timeout (from being a participant in an activity to becoming an observer of the activity), proved considerably more effective in maintaining low levels of disruptions and was considered by caregivers and parents to be an appropriate and socially acceptable method of dealing with young children's disruptive behaviors. Therefore, contingent observation can be recommended for general use in day-care programs for young children.     

AN EVALUATION OF GENTLE TEACHING AND VISUAL SCREENING IN THE REDUCTION OF STEREOTYPY

Gentle teaching and visual screening techniques have been used to control severe behavior problems in persons with mental retardation. An alternating treatments design was used to compare gentle teaching, visual screening, and a task-training condition in the reduction of the high-level stereotypy of 3 persons with mental retardation. Following a baseline phase, a task-training condition using standard behavioral techniques was implemented to establish the effects of training the subjects on the tasks. Results showed a modest decrease in stereotypy. This phase was followed by an alternating treatments phase in which visual screening, gentle teaching, and baseline conditions were compared. Both procedures were superior to the control condition in reducing stereotypic behavior, with visual screening being more effective than gentle teaching. When compared with data from the prior phase, gentle teaching was found to be more effective than task training for 2 subjects but less effective for the 3rd, whose stereotypy increased during gentle teaching. Two succeeding phases in which visual screening was implemented across two and then all three daily conditions reduced stereotypy further to near-zero levels. An additional phase with 1 subject demonstrated that the treatment effects of visual screening were easily replicated across therapists. Mixed and idiosyncratic changes in collateral behaviors occurred. For example, “bonding,” the goal of gentle teaching, occurred at the same low levels under both treatments, contrary to the predictions of gentle teaching's proponents. The results indicate that gentle teaching may not be the universal treatment of choice for stereotypy its proponents suggest, and that it requires further empirical evaluation.     

THE FACILITATIVE EFFECTS OF INCIDENTAL TEACHING ON PREPOSITION USE BY AUTISTIC CHILDREN

In a comparison of incidental teaching and traditional training procedures, three language-delayed autistic children were taught expressive use of prepositions to describe the location of preferred edibles and toys. Traditional highly structured training and incidental teaching procedures were used in a classroom setting, and generalization was assessed during free-play sessions. Results clearly indicate that incidental teaching promoted greater generalization and more spontaneous use of prepositions. These findings have important implications for language programming and teacher training, suggesting that incidental teaching should be included as a standard component of language development curricula for autistic and other developmentally delayed children.     

Teaming up with temps: the impact of temporary workers on team social networks and effectiveness

Temporary workers offer immediate benefits to the bottom line; yet, it is unclear how incorporating temporary workers into teams affects how they function. We apply social identity theory to propose that temporary workers significantly reduce individual- and team-level networks and team effectiveness but that commitment to the leader and intergroup competition can help temporary and permanent employees work together more effectively. Using a sample of employees nested in teams (Study 1, n = 312), we found that status differences affected member interactions resulting in sparser advice and friendship networks for temporary workers compared to their permanent counterparts. At the team level (Study 2, n = 58), these team member differences or contract diversity impacted team functioning through advice networks, such that, teams with greater contract diversity had sparser networks and were less effective. Further, commitment to the leader was found to moderate the negative impact of contract diversity on advice and friendship network density. With the increasing use of temporary worker and the prevalent use of teams, these findings have broader implications for HR functions and present possible avenues to mitigate the negative consequences of temporary workers.     

What makes students feel authentic in an integrated RE classroom?

Abstract

The focus of this article is on 9th grade students’ (N = 9) perceptions on aspects that make them feel authentic in integrated religious education (RE) lessons among students of various faiths. All of the students had previously studied RE in segregated groups. The data was collected in a collaborative teaching experiment in Finland with student interviews. The students included young people between the ages of 15 and 16 from Lutheran RE, Orthodox RE and ethics instruction. The analysis identified five themes the students reported as having contributed to their sense of authenticity in RE: neutral pedagogical approach, approving social climate concerning diverse beliefs, space for different worldviews in instruction, group composition concerning beliefs and the position of the teacher regarding religion and his/her students.     

“三番式”临床技能教学模式的建立及其在临床医学教学中的应用与思考

传统的临床技能教学存在诸多弊端,从而影响了医学生临床技能的培养及合格医学人才的培养。我们在多年的临床教学实践基础上,构建了临床技能学实践教学平台,创建了“三番式”临床技能教学模式,并将其应用于临床实践教学中,对所取得的显著教学效果进行深入剖析。     

中美教学医院门诊病历管理对比研究

通过文献检索、走访调研并结合笔者对美国教学医院门诊病历管理的实地考察,本文对中美两国教学医院人员对门诊病历管理的认识理念、门诊病历管理的方式、病历的规范设计以及门诊病历的质量控制等方面进行了对比研究。显示我国教学医院在门诊病历管理方面与发达国家存在着差距。从提高临床医疗和医学教学质量、有利于患者疾病的诊治和培养当代优秀...     

急性创伤青年患者的心理健康水平与小组干预

为了探讨急性创伤青年患者的心理健康水平及小组干预对策,采用三种国际通用量表（SCL-90、HAMA、HAMD）对160例急性创伤青年患者进行测评,在给予传统心理护理的同时,进行小组干预,然后比较患者干预前后心理健康水平;并以既往同种病例为对照,比较治疗效果。结果显示,86．25％的急性创伤青年患者存在有不同程度的心理障碍。通过小组干预后,患者心理健康水平明显提高;患者的临床疗效明显改善。因此小组干预可显著改善急性创伤青年患者的心理应激水平,提高临床疗效。