Novice facilitators’ changes in practices: From launching to managing discussions about mathematics teaching

Novice facilitators of professional development (PD) programs for mathematics teachers often face challenges in leading productive discussions and achieving the goals of these programs. Although research in this area is gradually accumulating, not much is known about how novice facilitators address these challenges and change their practices accordingly. This paper presents case studies of two novice facilitators of PD programs in two different countries. The analyses look at their work over one year, to illustrate the changes in their practices while managing discussions. The results show that although the facilitators operated in different contexts, their practices and their processes of change resembled, suggesting that these processes are not idiosyncratic. We argue that novice facilitators’ changes in practices correspond to changes in their resources, orientations, goals, and identities and that PD program teams can support these changes.     

Respiratory function in singers: Medical assessment, diagnoses, and treatments

A healthy voice depends upon healthy respiration. An understanding of respiratory function is essential in evaluating disorders that affect the voice. This review addresses the assessment of respiratory complaints by history, physical examination, laboratory testing, and endoscopic procedures. Allergy testing and pulmonary function testing are covered in detail. Special problems that confront the professional voice user, such as the need to optimize respiratory function even in mild disease states, exposure to environmental irritants, and the athletic demands of performance, are related specifically to respiratory function. The discussion of diagnosis and treatment of common ailments such as allergic rhinitis and bronchitis is directed toward treatment of the active singer.     

The frequency of hard glottal attacks in patients with muscle tension dysphonia, unilateral benign masses and bilateral benign masses

Hard or abrupt glottal attack (HGA) is one of the vocal behaviors often associated with benign lesion of the vocal folds. This study was designed to determine whether the frequency of HGA was different in hyperfunctional voice patients with and without vocal fold masses. One hundred and forty-seven subjects were studied. All subjects received a complete otolaryngological evaluation including strobovideolaryngoscopy, objective voice measures, and evaluation by a speech-language pathologist. Thirty-two patients were diagnosed with muscle tension dysphonia (19 male, 13 female) without vocal fold masses. Fifty-seven patients were diagnosed with unilateral vocal fold masses (29 male, 28 female), most of which were cysts. Fifty-eight patients were diagnosed with bilateral vocal fold masses (13 male, 45 female). Of the 45 females with bilateral vocal fold masses. 26 had a vocal cyst and reactive nodule and 19 had bilateral vocal fold nodules. The control group was balanced and matched based on sex and on percentage of singers and nonsingers. It consisted of 49 subjects with no vocal fold pathology (20 male, 29 female). The group was composed of professional speakers, singers, and nonprofessional speakers. All voice disordered groups demonstrated higher frequencies of HGA than the control group. Differences were found between the male and female subjects in this study. No differences were found between the various disorders. Differences were also found between the subgroups of bilateral masses, where the bilateral nodules group presented a higher frequency of HGA than the cyst and contralateral reactive nodule.     

Benefits of a teacher and coach collaboration: A case study

This paper describes a case study of a math teacher working with a math coach and the effects of their interaction. A guiding question was whether the coaching intervention had affected the teacher's classroom practices and, if so, in what way. The study utilized data from teacher/coach planning sessions, classroom lessons, follow-up debriefing sessions, and interviews with the teacher, coach and school principal. These data enabled the author to study the impact, if any, of the coaching on teacher beliefs and practices.     

化学电源制造工程研究生校内实践课程创新性教学探索

如何培养专业硕士的实践和创新能力是高等教育工作者不断探索的问题。本文以哈尔滨工业大学化学电源制造工程实践课程为例,针对该课程存在的问题,从教学手段、教学内容、教师队伍和评价体系四个方面进行课程改革。构建了研究生课内外全方位自主学习的教学体系,对有效利用实践课程提升学生的工程实践、创新及科研能力进行有益的探索。     

周期表中一些元素的英文名称解读

在化学专业英语的学习过程中,学生最早接触的是元素周期表。本文对一些元素的英文名称采用解读式的教学方法,通过将元素的英文名称同著名科学家、特定地理名称、太阳系中的星球以及神话中的人物相关联,使元素的英文名称不再枯燥乏味,而变得生动形象,这一过程可以使学生更好地体验学习的乐趣。     

"大组讨论、小组实验"化工专业实验的新思路——以甲醇制汽油实验为例

甲醇制汽油工艺参数比较多、实验时固定床反应器中催化剂的装载和反应后的冷却过程时间比较长,在化工综合实验有限的学时内,一组学生不可能将所有的实验参数摸索清楚。针对这种情况,设计了学生“大组集体讨论+小组实验+结果汇总”的实验模式。在保证学生掌握实验基本操作的基础上,得到整个工艺的完整数据,通过对数据的处理和分析,得到一个综合性较强的实验报告。通过实践,该实验模式激发了学生的实验兴趣,提升了实验效率,取得了良好的教学效果。     

A model of professional competences in mathematics to update mathematical and didactic knowledge of teachers

This paper describes part of a research and development project carried out in public elementary schools. Its objective was to update the mathematical and didactic knowledge of teachers in two consecutive levels in urban and rural public schools of Region de Los Lagos and Region de Los Rios of southern Chile. To that effect, and by means of an advanced training project based on a professional competences model, didactic interventions based on types of problems and types of mathematical competences with analysis of contents and learning assessment were designed. The teachers’ competence regarding the didactic strategy used and its results, as well as the students’ learning achievements are specified. The project made possible to validate a strategy of lifelong improvement in mathematics, based on the professional competences of teachers and their didactic transposition in the classroom, as an alternative to consolidate learning in areas considered vulnerable in two regions of the country.