Micro classes as a primary school-level mathematics education response to COVID-19 pandemic in China: students' degree of approval and perception of digital equity.

The article introduces a mathematics education measure in response to the COVID-19 epidemic in China and explores students' degree of approval and perception of digital equity towards the response. After the outbreak of the COVID-19, the Chinese New Century Primary School Mathematics Textbook (NCPM) committee had developed a series of micro classes (abbreviated as NCPM micro classes), and more than 25 million teachers and students in China watched the NCPM micro classes during the 3 months social isolation. Then, students' degree of approval towards the NCPM micro classes and perception of digital equity were examined after social isolation. A total of 132,740 pieces of data were collected from Chinese primary school students. Quantitative analysis of student's degree of approval towards different parts of NCPM micro classes indicated that the introduction, interaction, summary and consolidation, curriculum characteristics, and goal achievement parts of the NCPM micro classes have received high approval from students, and students with higher former achievement perceived a higher degree of approval towards the NCPM micro classes. Furthermore, we found that gender, socioeconomic status, school location, and learning location had no significant impact on students' degree of approval, indicating a digital equity exists. This study helps researchers or educators understand the mathematics education response to the COVID-19 outbreak in China and extends our understanding of primary students' degree of approval and perception of digital equity with these online classes.

Social closure, micro-class immobility and the intergenerational reproduction of the upper class: a comparative study.

This article assesses how processes of social closure enhance intergenerational immobility in the regulated professions and thus promote persistence at the top of the occupational hierarchy. We compare four European countries (GB, Germany, Denmark and Sweden) that differ considerably in their degree of professional regulation and in their broader institutional arrangements. We run log-linear and logistic regression models on a cumulative dataset based on three large-scale surveys with detailed and highly comparable information at the level of unit occupations. Our analyses indicate that children of licensed professionals are far more likely to inherit the occupation of their parents and that this stronger micro-class immobility translates into higher chances of persistence in the upper class. These results support social closure theory and confirm the relevance of a micro-class approach for the explanation of social fluidity and of its cross-national variations. Moreover, we find that, when children of professionals do not reproduce the micro-class of their parents, they still display disproportionate chances of persistence in professional employment. Hence, on the one hand, processes of social closure erect barriers between professions and fuel micro-class immobility at the top. On the other hand, the cultural proximity of different professional groups drives intense intergenerational exchanges between them. Our analyses indicate that these micro- and meso-class rigidities work as complementary routes to immobility at the top.

Application of case-based reverse teaching model based on micro-classes in Neurology teaching / 沈阳医学院学报

Objective:To investigate the advantages of case-based reverse teaching model based on micro-classes in Neurology teaching.Method:A total of 60 undergraduates of grade 2017 majoring in psychiatry from Bengbu Medical University were selected and divided into the control group and the experimental group according to random number table method,with 30 students in each group.The control group received the traditional teaching model to study Neurology.The experimental group received the case-based reverse teaching model based on micro-classes.At the end of the course,Neurology professional knowledge and case analysis ability were evaluated,and students'satisfaction with the teaching mode were compared by questionnaire scores.Results:The scores of Neurology professional knowledge and case analysis ability and the total score in the experimental group were higher than those in the control group(P＜0.05).The satisfaction score in the experimental group was also higher than that in the control group(P＜0.05).Conclusion:The case-based reverse teaching mode based on micro-classes in Neurology teaching can promote students'professional knowledge learning and mastering,and improve teaching satisfaction,which is worthy of promotion.