网络环境下地震科技信息管理者的知识构成与继续教育

网络环境下对地震科技信息管理人员的职业素质提出了新的要求。本文阐述了地震系统科技信息管理者应具有的知识构成和专业技能,探讨了对其进行职业素质培养教育的问题。     

中国的地理基础教育问题研究——兼论我国中学地理课程标准的目标与内容结构

本文从中国地理基础教育改革的视角,通过对地理学发展新趋势、社会需求变化和学生心理发展的分析,阐述了地理基础教育的价值和地理基础教育改革的必要性。结合中外地理教育在实现方式与过程、课程评价以及情感态度培养等方面的比较研究,提出了我国新中学地理课程标准研制的理念与目标、地理基础教育的结构设计以及实施地理基础教育改革的关键环节。     

OUTREACH TO PRECOLLEGIATE AMERICAN HISTORY TEACHERS: THE UTILITY OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY THEMES *

The utility of introducing historical geography topics into pre-college American history courses is explored through surveys of social studies teachers in New England and at a meeting of the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE). Many history teachers claim to use geography in their courses, but use mostly map skills, place locations, and determinism. History teachers are interested in materials and workshops on historical geography themes, however, and sample, materials were well received by teachers in attendance at a national and a regional conference.     

我国外语教育规划初探

外语在现代社会中发挥着越来越重要的作用,外语教育规划应保持连贯性和系统性,使外语教育既有长期目标,也有短期的可操作性目标.回顾了新中国成立以来我国外语教育的发展,正反两方面的经验说明,外语教育规划应将当前局势需要与教育事业的长期需要协调一致,还应借鉴其它国家的先进经验.     

Mentoring undergraduates in cartography and geographic information science: An apprenticeship model

Undergraduates' participation in research has been demonstrated to contribute to the development of critical, technical thinking and problem‐solving skills, increase confidence, and enhance interest in research and graduate studies. For fields like cartography and geographic information science (GIS), teaching content should be up‐to‐date. Furthermore, practice plays a key role in daily teaching and learning. Therefore, research participation is of great significance for undergraduates majoring in cartography and GIS. Here a mentoring method is proposed for undergraduates, based on the apprenticeship model which combines mentoring functions and styles. Thirty‐one undergraduates were mentored using the method. An evaluation based on objective outcomes and subjective self‐perceptions showed that the mentoring method was effective: 71% of the subjects contributed to at least one peer‐reviewed paper or software program. Possible factors affecting the mentoring results include the length of time the undergraduates were involved in mentorship and engaged in research. The longer the undergraduates participated in the mentorship and the more time they spent on research, the more numerous their achievements. Participants demonstrated significant improvements in the following areas: Changes in attitudes toward learning and research, enhanced career/graduate school preparation and personal gains. Significant differences in “learning ethical conduct” and “professional skills” were observed between genders.     

Nature-based environmental education of children: Environmental knowledge and connectedness to nature,together, are related to ecological behaviour

The promotion of environmental knowledge is viewed as a fundamental component of environmental education and a necessary prerequisite to ecological behaviour; however, it has little effect on actual behaviour. Nature-based environmental education, which combines the acquisition of environmental knowledge with the promotion of an intrinsic driver, namely connectedness to nature, is proposed as a holistic approach to increase ecological behaviour. This paper evaluates the effect of participation in nature-based environmental education in 4th to 6th graders (N = 255). As expected, increased participation in nature-based environmental education was related to greater ecological behaviour, mediated by increases in environmental knowledge and connectedness to nature. While both factors were similarly predicted by participation in nature-based environmental education, connectedness to nature explained 69% and environmental knowledge 2% of the variance in ecological behaviour. However, the design of our data do not evidence the causality of these relations, which are solely based on theoretical assumptions supported by literature. Nevertheless, the importance of fostering both environmental knowledge and connectedness to nature as complementary drivers of ecological behaviour, as offered by nature-based environmental education, should be researched further as a highly promising approach to fostering ecologically-motivated individuals.     

Exploring the Effectiveness of Outreach Strategies in Conservation Projects: The Case of the Audubon Toyota TogetherGreen Program

Successfully engaging target audiences represents a key challenge for environmental conservation projects. In this study, we examined 354 conservation projects implemented across the United States with the intention of systematically exploring the relationships between different forms of outreach (in particular, message content and delivery) and self-reported project outcomes. Using end-of-program retrospective surveys, we found that experiential engagement and directly demonstrating and/or communicating the ease of potential conservation actions were most consistently related to achieving desired project outcomes. Although it was thought to be largely effective by project managers, we found that focusing on equipping audiences with new knowledge was negatively related to conservation outcomes. Measured outreach variables explained between 15% and 17% of the variance in project outcomes, suggesting a wide variety of unmeasured factors at play. We discuss insights relevant to engaging target audiences in future U.S. conservation projects.     

Effect of the Israeli “Green Schools” Reform on Pupils’ Environmental Attitudes and Behavior

The objective of this study was to explore the mechanism through which a reform in environmental education (EE) programs affects pupils’ relation to the environment. We surveyed 589 pupils aged 9–12 years in three types of Israeli elementary school: regular schools, schools that implement an EE program (designated “green schools”), and schools that implement a more intensive EE program (designated “persistent green schools”). Analyzing the results obtained from our questionnaire, we found that both EE programs had a positive effect on environmental attitudes. Importantly, however, only persistent green schools showed a direct positive effect on environmental behavior. In addition, we assessed the influences of various demographic and other factors on pupils’ relation to the environment. Of note, we found that students who spent their leisure time watching TV or engaging with other electronic media expressed less concern about the environment.     

Investigating education,migration and development – Moving triangles in the Pacific

Is it possible that education in the Global South leads to emigration and is therefore detrimental to development prospects? For the Pacific Islands region, this issue is particularly pertinent, given the high rates of migration and the strong emphasis placed on education as a basis for development. Although our knowledge of the bilateral relations between, respectively, education and development, education and migration, and migration and development have advanced, we know very little of the complex interplay between the three. In this article, we suggest a new approach to the trilateral relationship among education, migration and development in the Pacific Islands which may have implications beyond that region.     

苏州湿地公园自然教育发展实践和探索

2012年苏州启动了湿地自然学校项目,旨在推进湿地科普宣教工作。以苏州市10家湿地自然学校筹建实践为例,提出了湿地自然学校的相关定义、硬件解说系统和软件解说系统的设计内容,为我国湿地公园的科普宣教发展提供参考。