Videoconferencing: A New Opportunity to Facilitate Learning

The use of distance learning techniques as a means of delivering instruction in higher education classrooms has become increasingly popular with the growing diversity of today's college students. Videoconferencing has been used as a tool to facilitate the simultaneous communication of individuals across varying geographic regions through the use of telecommunication technologies that allow two-way video and audio transmissions. In this article, the authors share their journey into the world of learning about videoconferencing as a way to facilitate the teaching of courses in their newly designed hybrid program. They outline methods for selecting videoconferencing programs, provide specific steps for using a videoconferencing tool across various educational contexts, and discuss other creative ideas for using videoconferencing in PK–12 settings and beyond.     

Creating a supportive environment for college Freshmen: Underlying dimensions of the Freshman Interest Group program

The Freshman Interest Group (FIG) program aims to create a supportive environment by providing increased opportunities for interaction with both faculty and peers, helping to ease the transition from high school to college life. This study sought to verify the expected supportive functions underlying the FIG program and to determine the effects of the program on college adjustment. The results indicated that the structure of the FIG program created a more supportive environment for participants compared with freshmen in the traditional academic structure. This was especially true in looking at classmates as the source of support. No differences were found between the two groups on college adjustment.Claire F. Sullivan holds a Ph.D. from the University of Washington (1991) and an M.A. from the University of Connecticut (1984). An assistant professor at the University of Maine, she teaches courses in interpersonal communication, health communication, small group communication, and research methods. Professor Sullivan conducts research in the area of supportive communication within academic and health care settings.     

A culturally embedded model for effective intercultural communication

The goal of this paper is to outline a model of intercultural communication that provides a theoretically rigorous foundation for the training of intercultural workers. This model exists, as any does in a vast field of multiple spatial and temporal, social and political contexts. Primary among those is the increasing migration of people across and into new cultural settings. This can precipitate a range of results from increased interpersonal stress through to an awareness of an increase in the richness of experience with a culturally diverse context. The model presented in this article has been developed in response to what has been perceived as an urgent need to improve intercultural relations in various national and local institutions.     

基于RS485的小型PLC ModBus总线通信与实现

ModBus作为一种开放式通信协议,愈来愈多地被小型PLC厂家选用,并逐渐成为产品的标准配置之一。首先介绍了汇川H2U系列PLC的ModBus总线通信技术,然后给出了实现H2UPLC与MD320变频器ModBus总线通信的硬件连接、变频器参数设置以及PLC通信程序。实际应用表明该方案工程实现容易、性价比高。     

Preschool experience in 10 countries: Cognitive and language performance at age 7

The IEA Preprimary Project is a longitudinal, cross-national study of preprimary care and education designed to identify how process and structural characteristics of the settings children attended at age 4 are related to their age-7 cognitive and language performance. Investigators collaborated to develop common instruments to measure family background, teachers’ characteristics, setting structural characteristics, experiences of children in settings, and children's developmental status. Data from 10 countries are included in the analysis; in most countries, the sample of settings is representative of preprimary settings in that country. For the analysis, a 3-level hierarchical linear model was employed that allowed decomposition of variation of child outcomes into three parts—variation among children within settings, among settings within countries, and among countries. Four findings are consistent across all of the countries included. Age-7 language improves as teachers’ number of years of full-time schooling increases and the predominant type of activity teachers propose in settings is free choice rather than personal/social. Age-7 cognitive performance improves as children spend less time in whole group activities and the variety of equipment and materials available increases. There were also a number of findings that varied across countries depending on particular country characteristics. The findings support child-initiated activities and small group activities and are consistent with developmentally appropriate practices promoting active learning.     

试论主持人节目的“互动”传播模式——由解魅《非常男女》说开去

通过对极受大众欢迎的电视节目《非常男女》获得成功原因的分析,从三个层面展开对主持人节目的“互动”传播模式的论述：首先,采用“互动”传播模式必须使栏目贴近大众生活,这是栏目的立足之本;其次,采用“互动”传播模式必须使栏目无条件地为大众提供服务,并强化其教育性,这是栏目的成功之源;再次,采用“互动”传播模式要求节目主持人要有亲和力和驾驭现场的能力,这是栏目的灵魂。     

Teaching manual communication to preservice teachers of the deaf in an accredited comprehensive undergraduate teacher preparation program

NOTING THAT there are no standardized manual communication curricula or proficiency assessments available to teacher preparation programs, the author used a case study to describe how preservice teachers of the deaf are taught to incorporate American Sign Language and various forms of signed English as effective communication tools for students who are deaf and hard of hearing. An accredited undergraduate teacher preparation program located in a rural area was selected for the study. Eight curricular components were examined, and data were triangulated from observations, interviews, and document analyses. The author found (a) that manual communication was taught in three required courses making up 6.57% of the overall curriculum, (b) direct application to the classroom was limited, and (c) there was minor misalignment across the eight curricular components examined. The program did not require an exit-level proficiency exam.     

Adult Role Models: Feasibility,Acceptability, and Initial Outcomes for Sex Education

The authors present the feasibility and acceptability of a parent sexuality education program led by peer educators in community settings. They also report the results of an outcome evaluation with 71 parents who were randomized to the intervention or a control group and surveyed one month prior to and six months after the four-week intervention. The program was highly feasible and acceptable to participants, and the curriculum was implemented with a high level of fidelity and facilitator quality. Pilot data show promising outcomes for increasing parental knowledge, communication, and monitoring of their adolescent children.     

Blurring Boundaries between Technical Communication and Engineering: Challenges of a Multidisciplinary, Client-Based Pedagogy

Educational settings tend to provide highly specialized contexts for learning. In contrast, workplaces are increasingly multidisciplinary, presenting challenges often not considered in the technical communication curriculum. Our technical communication program is addressing this issue by building partnerships with programs in mechanical engineering and industrial engineering. In this article, we discuss a study of our initial semester matching technical communication students with teams of engineers in a capstone, client-based design course. We focus on challenges the students faced in the multidisciplinary, client-based experience. Based on our initial results, we suggest that academic and professional settings could do more to address the types of challenges identified. We call for a more inclusive pedagogy, one that expands the boundaries of technical communication and welcomes multidisciplinary experience in shared contexts.     

Social skills interventions across school settings: Case study reviews of students with mild disabilities

This study investigates the efficacy of a social skills training program with seven mildly handicapped students across three school settings: regular classroom, special education resource room, and recess. It was found that social skills training generated improvement on both pre-post measures and behavior ratings. Improvements were maintained 2 weeks after treatment was discontinued for seven students. All students' performance generalized from resource room to regular classroom settings; only four students' performance generalized to the recess setting.     

Program quality characteristics in segregated and inclusive early childhood settings

Program quality characteristics in 58 community-based early childhood settings which were currently serving at least one child with disabilities were examined. Observations of the environment and classrooms practices were conducted in the classrooms and teachers completed questionnaires related to beliefs in and implementation of Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP). Results indicated that segregated and inclusive settings were generally similar across measures of program quality and levels of quality were moderately good in both types of settings. Teacher demographic variables were not related to the selected program quality indicators. The similarity in selected quality characteristics may reflect ongoing convergence in practice and quality in early childhood and early childhood special education settings.     

The Nature of Nurture in Inclusive Religious Education

This article considers whether nurture has value as a concept within plural religious education settings in a common school. This exploration is carried out through a critical review of one school type in Ireland that made belief-nurture a core aim of its educational program. The findings identify a number of areas where belief-specific nurture in a plural setting raises particular difficulties: curriculum design, lesson content, the position of the teacher, and the role of belief communities. It is concluded that, while there are significant challenges to using the concept of nurture in relation to teaching about religions and beliefs in common schools, there is some justification for doing so, and a model that conceptualizes nurture in a more comprehensive way is proposed.     

Increasing inclusion in early childhood: Key Word Sign as a communication partner intervention

The importance of communication partner intervention to support the successful implementation of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) strategies has been established. Despite this, limited knowledge and use of AAC form serious barriers to inclusion. In this study, 196 pre-service early childhood teachers were taught key word signing (KWS), one common form of AAC, along with approximately 80 Auslan signs. Participants were asked to develop ideas for implementing KWS in early childhood settings. Using participant journal entries, we conducted a thematic analysis to investigate the perceived impact of using KWS in early childhood practice. Participants reported the belief that KWS was beneficial for supporting communication development. Participants identified that using KWS can facilitate inclusive approaches through reducing barriers to participation, valuing diversity, and supporting a sense of belonging. Additionally, participants reported that engaging with inclusive approaches to using KWS formed a catalyst for fostering openness to inclusion more broadly. Overall, the findings demonstrate that approaching KWS as a communication partner intervention holds potential for contributing to the conditions for inclusion in early childhood settings in line with social relational and human rights models of disability. Implications for teacher education and inclusive practice are discussed, as are the limitations of this study.     

Developing functional requesting: acquisition, durability, and generalization of effects.

This study investigated the effects of a language program called the missing-item format, on the acquisition of requesting during snack periods. The missing-item format, an assessment and training approach, develops a child's spontaneous requesting skills in everyday tasks. Generalization and response-durability measures were also collected. The missing-item format produced effects in requests for targeted snack items, but not for the majority of generalization and durability measures. A generalization training program was then implemented, using the missing-item format. As a result, a requesting repertoire that was durable and generalized across multiple settings and stimulus conditions was established in both students.     

A long-term experiment to investigate the relationships between high school students’ perceptions of mobile learning and peer interaction and higher-order thinking tendencies

In this study, a one-year program was conducted to investigate the relationships between students’ perceptions of mobile learning and their tendencies of peer interaction and higher-order thinking in issue-based mobile learning activities. To achieve the research objective, a survey consisting of eight scales, namely, usability, continuity, adaptive content, collaboration, communication, problem-solving, critical thinking and creativity, was developed. A total of 658 students from 38 high schools in Taiwan filled in the questionnaire after experiencing issue-based mobile learning activities. From the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, it was found that the questionnaire had high reliability and validity. The structural equation model further revealed that the provision of adaptive content in the mobile learning had positive impacts on the students’ tendency to interact with peers (i.e., collaboration and communication), which further affected their tendency to engage in higher-order thinking (i.e., problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity). The findings of this study provide a good reference for researchers and school teachers who intend to promote mobile learning in school settings.     

Advocating for Sustainability: A Report on and Critique of the Undergraduate Capstone Course

ABSTRACT

The authors provide an overview of what capstone courses do by presenting information from across the field based on materials received from and interviews with technical and professional communication program administrators and faculty. The authors then point to opportunities to improve the course. Finally, the authors argue for sustainable program development as the theoretical framework to perform programmatic work.     

Evaluating an induction training program for Greek teachers using an adjusted level model approach

This study is about the evaluation of an induction training program for Greek teachers. The program was evaluated by adopting an adjusted level model approach. Qualitative and quantitative data collection procedures were applied in order to assess the value of the training. The induction training was provided to Greek teachers who are appointed as permanent public employees at the beginning of each academic year. The results were encouraging for the applicability of the level model based evaluation in educational settings. The sequential hierarchy of the model was also tested and supported for the levels that were assessed quantitatively. Further evidence is needed in order to support the integration of methods and the sequential order of the level model approach.     

Socialization in the “virtual hallway”: Instant messaging in the asynchronous Web-based distance education classroom

This research reports the findings from a survey that examined the differences in communication between students who used instant messenger (IM) services and those who did not in the same asynchronous distance education Web-based course. It was found that students who used IM services found it easier to communicate, felt a stronger sense of community, and had more venues for informal and social communication about not only class material, but also information about the school and their common degree program. In traditional classroom buildings, the common spaces such as hallways provide the venue for this informal communication; IM services can enhance the distance education environment by providing the “virtual hallways” for students and instructors to meet.     

Investigating the Psychometric Properties of the ACEI Global Guidelines Assessment (GGA) in Four Countries

The ACEI Global Guidelines Assessment (GGA) was developed to provide an international assessment tool that can be used by early childhood educators to develop, assess, and improve program quality worldwide. This pilot study was conducted in four countries to investigate the psychometric properties of the GGA within and across different countries. A total of 168 programs and 336 early care and education professionals participated in this study from communities in the People’s Republic of China, Guatemala, Taiwan, and the United States. The results show strong internal consistency for each subscale and the total GGA as well as moderate interrater consistency for the five subscales. A comparison of item ratings and the qualitative evidence suggests moderately acceptable congruence between the ratings and evidence to support the ratings. Patterns of program practices were identified within and across the participating sties and countries that reflected both unique and common practices. These results suggest that the GGA has potential as a useful and effective tool both for understanding early childhood program quality within and across countries and as a means of helping practitioners to establish and/or improve the quality of their services.