Sam Tsai 蔡坤憲

... as metaphysics defined as being “made up of ontology , which is the study of the nature of existence and of coming to be, together with epistemology which is the theory of knowledge” (Teichman & Evans, 1995, p.2). - Teichman, J., & Evans, K. C. (1995). Philosophy: A beginner's guide. Oxford: Blackwell.

Sketching Some Postmodern Alternatives: Beyond Paradigms and Research Programs as Referents for Science Education David R. Geelan (2000) It is about Conceptual Change model again. - Personal note 1: Some possible alternative referents for thinking about science learning and teaching draw - by analogy and metaphor - on the ' psychology of personal constructs ' outlined by Kelly (1955, 1963, 1966, 1970; Bannister & Fransella, 1971), on Polkinghorne's (1992) ' postmodern epistemology of practice ', on Van Manen's (1977, 1990, 1991) ' pedagogical thoughtfulness ' and on Whitehead's (1989, 1998) ' living educational theory '. - Perosnal note 2: Polkinghorne (1992) has suggested that postmodernism in its many forms has three consequences for practices in the ' service professions ' (psychology, sociology, social work, nursing and police work, family services, education and others). He characterises these as (a) foundationlessn...

A Multidimensional Interpretive Framework on CCM - Quotation from Tyson et al. (1997, p.397) Until 1993, empirical research had focused primarily on the cognitive aspects of conceptual change (Smith, Blakesbee, & Anderson, 1993). Venville and Treagust (1996) utilized four different perspectives of conceptual change to analyse different classroom teaching situations in which analogies were used to teach biology concepts. The perspectives they used include Posner et al.’s (1982) conceptual change model , Vosniadou’s (1994) framework theory and mental model perspective , Chi et al.’s (1994) ontological category perspective , and Pintrich et al.’s (1993) motivational perspective . They found that each of the perspectives of conceptual change had explanatory value and contributed a different theoretical perspective to interpreting the role that analogies plaued in each of the classroom situations. Link: http://sam9117.blogspot.com/2004/12/good-review-of-conceptual-change.html Refere...

Revisions of the original conceptual change model Personal note from (Tyson et al., 1997) Due to the overemphasis on rational aspects of learning in the initial model (Posner, Strike, Hewson, & Gertzog, 1982), Strike and Posner (1992) revised their original model a decade later and acknowledged the importance of affective and social issues for conceptual change. The centrality of the conceptual ecology in the change process was most recognised in revised version with successively expending the features comprising the learner’s conceptual ecology (Tyson, Venville, Harrison, & Treagust, 1997). Furthermore, Strike and Posner (1992) point out that alternative conceptions may not necessarily pre-exist but “may be generated on the spot as a consequence of instruction” (p. 158), therefore, “all parts of the conceptual ecology , including scientific conceptions and misconceptions, must be seen as dynamic and in constant interaction and development ” (p. 160). Reference: Posner, G...

HOW CAN I WRITE A GOOD LITERATURE REVIEW? Remember the purpose: it should answer the questions we looked at above . Look at how published writers review the literature. You'll see that you should use the literature to explain your research - after all, you are not writing a literature review just to tell your reader what other researchers have done. You aim should be to show why your research needs to be carried out, how you came to choose certain methodologies or theories to work with, how your work adds to the research already carried out, etc. Read with a purpose: you need to summarize the work you read but you must also decide which ideas or information are important to your research (so you can emphasize them), and which are less important and can be covered briefly or left out of your review. You should also look for the major concepts, conclusions, theories, arguments etc. that underlie the work, and look for similarities and differences with closely related work. This ...

To remind myself -- Writing up Research: http://www.languages.ait.ac.th/EL21OPEN.HTM The Basics of Good Writing So you're going to sit down at your computer, go through your notes, and in a few hours produce a piece of research writing. Right? Wrong! It is impossible to start from nothing and produce a good piece of writing, because it is very hard to organize your material and write at the same time . If you are working out which piece of research to talk about next and worrying about verb agreement, you are less likely to produce a good piece of writing. Here are some suggestions: Plan your writing. Before you start writing, find a way to organize your material so that you know what you are going to write about, in what order, and what you're going to say. Try writing an outline. Trying writing your ideas down on the back of an envelope, or a piece of old paper. It doesn't have to be beautiful, it just has to help you think about what you are going to say. Use whatev...

A little and a little, collected together, become a great deal; the heap in the barn consists of single grains, and drop and drop makes an inundation. - Saadi Persian poet (1184 - 1291) You teach best what you most need to learn. - Richard Bach The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work. - Richard Bach ~ Some quotation found from Internet: The Quotation Page.

I forgot one point: Sensei also said that we don't need to worry "being hit" during keiko but we need to focus and stick on kihon (basics). People might be able hit you at the beginning. However, after a while, people won't be so easy to hit you any more. That means you have improved in the right Kendo ways, rather than developing some other bad or wrong movements to prevent "being hit". My main personal reflection for the keiko with sensei is that we all need to keep our training regularly. I remember Kai once quoted his sensei's word that if we do not hold shinai for one day, our Kendo level drops two days back. I am amazed that sensei is still doing 7 days training among 3 dojos in Taiwan. He must feel boring here. :) I think it is impossible for us to open dojo everyday here now (it should be our long term goal!). And sometimes we are busy with work or study. However, it would be still very helpful for us to remember to pick up shinai and do ...