Search

The purpose of this study was to explore instructional designs for promoting inquiry practices in secondary school textbooks. Three criteria were employed to select the textbooks: (1) approved by the Ministry of Education in Singapore and the Ministry of Education and Culture in Indonesia, (2) used in secondary schools, and (3) included content and practices based on the current curriculum. Based on these criteria, six science textbooks from Singapore and three from Indonesia were selected for further coding in the dimensions of learning goals of inquiry skills, nature of scientific inquiry, and inquiry types. The results showed that more activities in both the Singaporean and Indonesian textbooks focus on observing and interpreting skills. However, few activities in the textbooks from either country provide an opportunity for students to engage nature of scientific inquiry. In addition, more activities in the Singaporean textbooks were designed as guided inquiry than those in the Indonesian textbooks. Finally, it is suggested that inquiry activities in textbooks should be revised to include nature of scientific inquiry, and more textbook analysis studies are needed to reveal characteristics of inquiry activities in textbooks for different subjects.

Purpose: The study aimed to test the overall changes of health-related fitness (HRF) in minority Chinese college students and to examine HRF differences in gender, race, and year in college. Method: Participants (n = 1320) were minority college students with more than two-thirds females (ie 76.1%), and Hui, Tibetan, and Mongolia consisted of 13.8%, 13.8%, and 11.2%, respectively. Student HRF was tracked for four years. Data were analyzed using multilevel latent growth curve modeling. Results: Muscular strength and endurance were the weakest component in minority college students' HRF, while body mass index was within the category of "excellent". Males outperformed female on all components of HRF. Conclusions: It is suggested that interventions concerning minority females' HRF and muscular strength and endurance for both genders be constructed and tested.

China has shown increased engagement in International Higher Education (IHE), an interest motivated by a tremendous demand among both Chinese and international students. Conducted at a full-scale Sino-foreign joint-venture university (JVU) in China, this study seeks to explore the motivation of first-year international students for applying to and attending Sino-foreign JVU in China. A second related question investigates what they expect to experience prior to matriculation. Qualitative data collection and analyses suggest that international students at a Sino-foreign joint-venture university were motivated by a strong desire to distinguish themselves for integrative, international signaling, and instrumental purposes, and expect to change as a result of studying and living in an intercultural environment in China.

A multipurpose apparatus that can be used to measure the viscosity of solution by the Ostwald method and the surface tension of solution by the drop-weight method or by the capillary-rise method is developed. The apparatus is convenient for in-situ preparation of solutions of different concentrations and avoids the error that frothing of the liquid surface introduces into measurements.