Uncertainty,story-telling and transformative learning: An instructor’s experience of TEFI’s Walking Workshop in Nepal

ABSTRACT

This article recounts three stories from TEFI’s walking workshop in Nepal: the construction of a road through what was once a trekking path; a dance-floor encounter at a Himalayan party; and the arrival of one participant, fatigued by jet lag and disoriented by the new surroundings. These stories of confusion, discomfort and fear are linked by one common theme: the potential of uncertainty to foster deep reflection and nuanced conclusions. The premise that uncertainty is to be valued and even cultivated has been explored in educational theory, spiritual traditions, and research on transformative learning. These sources affirm the role of uncertainty in the process of knowledge creation. However, accepting this role can be challenging for educators because it requires they assume a new identity, one which they may perceive as being at odds with their status as “teacher” the identity of learner. One way for the educator to address this challenge may be through recounting their own stories of uncertainty. Stories of being immersed in unfamiliar situations that challenge, confuse and even frighten – stories, in other words of being a tourist – can foster reflection on an intellectual, emotional and spiritual level, engaging the “whole” person, and thus initiating the educator/learner’s transformative journey.     

Software for Learning and for Doing Statistics

The community of statisticians and statistics educators should take responsibility for the evaluation and improvement of software quality from the perspective of education. The paper will develop a perspective, an ideal system of requirements to critically evaluate existing software and to produce future software more adequate both for learning and doing statistics in introductory courses. Different kinds of tools and microworlds are needed. After discussing general requirements for such programs, a prototypical ideal software system will be presented in detail. It will be illustrated how such a system could be used to construct learning environments and to support elementary data analysis with exploratory working style.     

Introducing Time‐to‐Educate in a Job‐Search Model

Transition patterns from school to work differ considerably across OECD countries. Some countries exhibit high youth unemployment rates, which can be considered an indicator of the difficulty facing young people trying to integrate into the labour market. At the same time, education is a time‐consuming process, and enrolment and dropout decisions depend on expected duration of studies as well as on job prospects with and without completed degrees. One way to model entry into the labour market is by means of job‐search models, where the job arrival hazard is a key parameter in capturing the ease or difficulty in finding a job. Standard models of job search and education assume that skills can be upgraded instantaneously (and mostly in the form of on‐the‐job training) at a fixed cost. This paper models education as a time‐consuming process, a concept which we call time‐to‐educate, during which an individual faces the trade‐off between continuing education and taking up a job.     

大学生人文素质的疏离与重建

人类创造的全部文化 ,包括科技和人文两部分。他们相辅相成 ,共同促进人类的发展与进步。可如今高等教育的现实却是 ,科学技术日益受到崇拜 ,而人文素质教育则逐渐疏离。在更加强调“以德治国”的今天 ,大学教育不应是科技与人文的分离 ,而应是二者的渐趋融合 ,正确认识科学技术的作用与限度 ,关注和营造人情化的生活世界     

论高校图书馆的信息素质教育职能

信息时代的来临使信息素质成为人才综合能力的重要标志。面对信息浪潮的挑战 ,高校图书馆应充分认识到信息素质教育的重要性与自身优势 ,研究开展信息素质教育的方法 ,充分发挥信息素质教育的职能 ,义不容辞地承担起信息素质教育的重任     

国家助学贷款：问题与建议

1996年高校招生实行并轨 ,高等教育收费制度的改革已日趋明朗 ,随着扩大招生、收费制度的改革 ,迎面而来的是逐年增多的贫困生 ,为了扩大教育消费、为了不让贫困生辍学 ,政府出台了国家助学贷款政策。实施几年来 ,显现出诸多问题 ,给全面落实带来了困难。目前国家助学贷款在重点院校进展顺利 ,而在普通院校及中小型院校进展缓慢 ,必须加以研究与解决     

浅析多媒体技术在车辆工程教学中的应用

随着教育的发展 ,传统的教学方法已不能满足时代的需要 ,亟待运用现代教育技术手段 ,特别是多媒体的教学形式进入课堂 ,以发挥其特有的功能来提高学习效率。本文浅淡了如何在车辆工程教学中运用计算机多媒体的图、文、声、像并茂的特点 ,有效的激发学生的学习兴趣。     

赫尔巴特的心理学思想及其在教学过程中的应用

简述了赫尔巴特的生平及对教育学的贡献,从哲学思想入手,论述了他的心理学思想以及在教学过程中的应用。他以心理学作为教育学的基础,在一定程度上揭示了教育发展的规律,并使教育学第一次具有了科学的形式。他毕生致力于把教育学建立在心理学基础上的伟大尝试。     

财政分权与义务教育财政管理体制问题探析

我国是成功实施财政分权化的国家之一。作为公共财政框架部分之一的义务教育也实行了分权化管理,义务教育办学的责任主要地落在了县、乡两级地方政府身上。而我国庞大的义务教育事业由县、乡甚至村脆弱的财力来承担,可谓“杯水车薪”：一些农村地区和贫困山区学龄儿童无学可上,无书可读等现象屡见不鲜。可见过度分权化的义务教育财政管理体制是制约当今中国义务教育发展的症结所在。     

邓小平教育思想浅析

邓小平教育理论是邓小平理论的重要组成部分 ,本文从邓小平教育思想的战略地位 ,邓小平教育思想的指导思想及如何加强现阶段我国教育工作这三个方面的内容出发 ,使我们认识到认真学习和研究邓小平教育理论对迎接知识经济时代 ,全面实施科教兴国的战略方针 ,具有特别重要的意义。