Teacher professional development in an online learning community : a case study in Indonesia

Over the past decade the rapid pace of technological innovation has changed the knowledge-based society and gradually changed the way teaching and learning are conducted (Hargreaves, 2003). Teachers are increasingly viewed as not only the knowledge providers, but also the facilitators of a learning process. These changes have been difficult for teachers to adapt to, requiring substantial amounts of professional development. In Indonesia, the government has continually developed a number of strategic education policies and implemented various pathways to improve the professionalism of teachers. Nonetheless, there are still a large number of teachers who struggle to access the professional development support provided by the Indonesian government for a variety of reasons. This is particularly the case for teachers who work in rural and remote areas, because many of the current Teacher Professional Development (TPD) practices still focus on teacher-centred approaches instead of collaborative approaches, and often only in the format of face-to-face interaction. Research has shown that an Online Learning Community (OLC) can support TPD and facilitate collaboration among teachers. As an open and voluntary form of gathering that involves education practitioners concerned with the general practice of teaching or specialist disciplines or areas of interest (Lloyd & Duncan-Howell, 2010), OLC promotes active and collaborative learning processes (Helleve, 2010) and gives an opportunity for teachers to engage in reflective practice that can lead to transformative professional development (Windschitl, 2002). This thesis presents the results of a study that set out to develop and implement an OLC to support the current TPD practices in Indonesia. This online learning community was called the Online Learning Community for Teacher Professional Development (OLC4TPD). The study investigated the facilitating and inhibiting factors of OLC4TPD implementation in Indonesia, and analysed how OLC4TPD supported TPD within the Indonesian context

O modelo didático de professores de ciências e suas concepções de ensino e aprendizagem

Neste trabalho investigamos os modelos didáticos de 23 professores de ciências de 9º ano, que trabalham em cidades do estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil. Foi solicitado aos professores que respondessem a um questionário baseado nas ideias de Pérez (2000). Os resultados obtidos apontam que os professores combinam características dos diferentes dos modelos didáticos para formar um modelo didático híbrido, com baixo grau de coerência em relação a propostas construtivistas de ensino (como a proposta curricular oficial do Estado), e que pode ser classificado como ingênuo. Os professores apresentaram modelos que contêm características antagônicas, o que indica a necessidade de aprofundamento da reflexão dos docentes sobre as suas concepções de ensino e aprendizagem e sobre suas práticas de ensino

The Study of the Pioneer Anomaly: New Data and Objectives for New Investigation

Radiometric tracking data from Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft has consistently indicated the presence of a small, anomalous, Doppler frequency drift, uniformly changing with a rate of ~6 x 10^{-9} Hz/s; the drift can be interpreted as a constant sunward acceleration of each particular spacecraft of a_P = (8.74 \pm 1.33) x 10^{-10} m/s^2. This signal is known as the Pioneer anomaly; the nature of this anomaly remains unexplained. We discuss the efforts to retrieve the entire data sets of the Pioneer 10/11 radiometric Doppler data. We also report on the recently recovered telemetry files that may be used to reconstruct the engineering history of both spacecraft using original project documentation and newly developed software tools. We discuss possible ways to further investigate the discovered effect using these telemetry files in conjunction with the analysis of the much extended Doppler data. We present the main objectives of new upcoming study of the Pioneer anomaly, namely i) analysis of the early data that could yield the direction of the anomaly, ii) analysis of planetary encounters, that should tell more about the onset of the anomaly, iii) analysis of the entire dataset, to better determine the anomaly's temporal behavior, iv) comparative analysis of individual anomalous accelerations for the two Pioneers, v) the detailed study of on-board systematics, and vi) development of a thermal-electric-dynamical model using on-board telemetry. The outlined strategy may allow for a higher accuracy solution for a_P and, possibly, will lead to an unambiguous determination of the origin of the Pioneer anomaly.Comment: 43 pages, 40 figures, 3 tables, minor changes before publicatio

INEQUALITY IN EDUCATION AND QUOTAS FOR BLACK STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITIES

SUMMARY This article discusses the proposed definition of quotas for black students in universities in view of the widespread inequalities in the Brazilian educational system. The author defends that the proposed measure would lead to limitations and distortions, for it is based on rigid, artificial categories, in sharp contrast with the country's ethnic heterogeneity, and fails to consider key factors in the schooling experience of afrodescendants. The study of statistical series has shown that in spite of the progress made, there is still a great educational gap dividing white students from black and mulatto students. This led the author to conclude that public initiatives geared to reinforcing basic skills would constitute a more effective affirmative action than the establishment of quotas