Formative Assessment in EFL Writing: An Exploratory Case Study

In second‐language writing, assessment has traditionally focused on the written products and how well (or badly) students perform in writing. Teachers dominate the assessment process as testers, while students remain passive testees. Assessment is something teachers ‘do to’ rather than ‘with’ students, mainly for administrative and reporting purposes (i.e. summative). Such assessment, being more retrospective than prospective, holds little value for teaching and learning. In recent years, with a major paradigm shift in assessment and evaluation in English language teaching, writing assessment informed primarily by a product and summative orientation, is considered increasingly inadequate. Such assessment, which focuses on measurement – i.e. marking, monitoring and checking, fails to capture the formative potential of assessment for promoting learning. A formative approach to assessment, on the other hand, focuses more on inquiry – i.e. discovering, diagnosing and understanding, as well as the opportunities assessment provides for improving teaching and learning. To harness the potential of formative assessment in the writing classroom, it is axiomatic that classroom assessment practices be geared towards maximizing student learning. This provides the impetus for my study, which investigates an EFL teacher's attempt to implement formative assessment in her writing classroom and its impact on her classroom practice and students' beliefs and attitudes to writing.     

Introducing Case Management to Students in a Virtual World: An Exploratory Study

This paper discusses a small, exploratory study introducing students to case management using role-plays conducted in a virtual world. Data from pre- and posttest questionnaires (to assess self-efficacy regarding a range of case management tasks) suggest students felt more confident in their abilities after virtual role-play participation. Also discussed is preparing students for learning in a virtual world, some best practices to consider when developing virtual world experience, and larger contextual issues of increased broadband access to avoid exacerbating educational disparities.     

The Difference Differentiation Makes: Extending Eisner's Account

In this analysis Jane Blanken‐Webb extends Elliot Eisner's account of how learning in the arts contributes to the creation of mind. Drawing on the psychoanalytic theory of D. W. Winnicott, Blanken‐Webb argues that the acts of meaning making to which Eisner attends rely on a prior developmental achievement — namely, the establishment of self‐in‐relation‐to‐world. This prior development is important to recognize in order to appreciate all that is at stake and at play within acts of meaning making. To demonstrate this, Blanken‐Webb points to reverberations of an earlier process of psychological differentiation embedded within such acts that are crucial for aesthetic experience and that carry on a continual process of refinement of self‐in‐relation‐to‐world. While Eisner has a great deal to offer regarding the importance of providing students access to multiple forms of representation, this perspective adds that in doing so we are expanding on a foundation of self‐in‐relation‐to‐world, thus facilitating an educational unfolding that is much deeper than we typically recognize.     

The Acquisition of Conceptual Skills: An Exploratory Study

It was hypothesized that explicit instruction in the use of a conceptual framework would be more effective than feedback about behavior in teaching the conceptual skills of problem definition and goal formulation to beginning practicum students. Counseling trainees received one of two kinds of supervision, instruction or feedback, in written form following an interview with a role-play client. They subsequently interviewed two more role-play clients. After each interview, trainees formulated problem definitions, short-term goals, and outcome goals for the case. At the end of the experiment, they rated the supervision they received and their own counseling performance in the three interviews. Results did not support the hypothesis, but rather the reverse. Feedback was found to be more effective in teaching goal formulation and was perceived by trainees to be more effective.     

Answering the Call: How Group Mentoring Makes a Difference

Mentoring programs answer the call for social justice for many students who are in success-inhibiting environments. This study employed a case study design to investigate the perceived benefits from a group mentoring program. Data was collected from pre- and post-assessments focus groups, and artifacts. Four participant benefits were revealed: comfort, non-academic support, academic support, and safety. This study argues that group mentoring offers a viable option to traditional mentoring approaches. Additionally, recommendations include further exploration into benefits from other types of group mentoring programs. Schools with scarce volunteers and monetary resources could benefit from the implementation of this mentoring approach.     

Mathematical Communication in the Classroom: A Teacher Makes a Difference

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) states that “Communication is an essential part of mathematics and mathematics education” (2000, p. 60). In fact, communication is one of the five process standards emphasized by NCTM. The communication standard highlights the importance of young children communicating their mathematical thinking coherently to peers and teachers. This standard also states that young children should use math language to express mathematical ideas (Baroody, 2000; Ginsburg, Inoue, & Seo, 1999; NCTM, 2000; Rubenstein & Thompson, 2002; Whitin & Whitin, 2003). Teachers must create a link between mathematics and language (Rubenstein & Thompson, 2002; Stigler & Hiebert, 2004). This article focuses on the informal strategies used by Melissa (a kindergarten teacher) that promoted the use of math language. The strategies were identified during a 3-month observational period in her classroom at Clinton Elementary (pseudonym). Clinton Elementary is located in a low-income neighborhood of a southern city that has a population of approximately 450,000. The neighborhood population is predominantly African-American (Davis, 1994).     

Cognitions of Supervisors-In-Training: An Exploratory Study

Multiple measures were used with nine supervisors-in-training to explore supervisor development. Students' responses suggested some difficulty in assuming the supervisor role and dealing with relationship dynamics.     

An Exploratory Comparative Case Study of Employee Engagement in Christian Higher Education

Numerous studies have identified a positive correlation between employee engagement and overall organizational performance. However, research on employee engagement specifically within higher education is limited, and even less attention has been focused on engagement within the context of Christian higher education. An exploratory comparative case study research design was used to explore two faith-based universities that are atypical examples of excellence as measured by the Best Christian Workplace Institute (BCWI) “Employee Engagement and Organizational Culture” survey. Analysis of data gathered from 53 interviews with employees and document analysis led to the identification of institutional characteristics that fostered employee engagement at two universities that consistently exhibited high rankings of employee self-reported engagement based on the BCWI survey results. Despite substantial differences between the two institutions, commonalities were identified in many of the characteristics that fostered employee engagement on the two campuses. The findings revealed that the shared themes of mission, community, empowered human resource departments, and a sense of positive momentum all contributed to the atypically high employee engagement levels that resulted in a positive and empowering organizational culture.     

An Exploratory Case Study of Formal Similarityand Psychological Similarity in Language Transfer

Second language Learners’ awareness of the native-target language "distance" was said to be included in the constraints of language transfer,i.e.whether or not learners actually transfer a form can depend in part on the degree that learners establish a similarity between the two languages in form and psychology.This paper aims to explore the roles that formal similarity and psychological similarity playing upon language transfer and the detailed relationship between them each other,by analyzing the data coming from two cases where Chinese students’ acquiring Japanese and English,so as to provide a scientific experimental basis for better understanding of language transfer and higher efficiency of second language learning.     

An Exploratory Case Study of Dutch Children's Attitudes Toward Consumption: Implications for Environmental Education

This critical essay based on empirical study draws upon research on the differences in attitudes toward consumption among Dutch upper-elementary school children with different socioeconomic backgrounds. This article examines two strands of theory: critical literature on the conceptualization and practice of sustainable consumption, and the theory of postmaterialist values. By synthesizing these strands of theory the author outlines a number of paradoxes and challenges in theory and practice of consumption and lays a foundation for teaching sustainable consumption at the upper-elementary school level. The Cradle-to-Cradle framework is proposed as a form of strategically significant environmental education that can be used for teaching consumption.     

Indigenous Crisis Counseling in Taiwan: An Exploratory Qualitative Case Study of an Expert Therapist

In this study, we adopted a single qualitative case study method to explore and examine indigenous approaches to crisis counseling in Taiwan, through the distinct lens of an expert Taiwanese counseling psychologist. In-depth, open-ended interviews were conducted with the psychologist (as the case) to document her lived clinical experiences counseling a grief-stricken Taiwanese family in crisis (as the context). Using open-code data analysis, five cultural themes were abstracted from the interviews: a) significance of counselor’s authority and expertness; b) primacy of client-counselor rapport and relationship; c) centrality of collective familism; d) observance of indigenous grief response and process; and e) adherence to face-saving communication and interpersonal patterns. Implications for implementing crisis counseling practice and research with native Taiwanese/Chinese clients based on these preliminary findings are discussed.     

关于网络教育“四学期制”的实践与研究

本文在浙江大学远程教育学院有关网络教育"四学期制"改革实践的基础上,分析了"四学期制"在实施过程中出现的部分问题,归纳了其桐对于传统的两学期制而存在的优点与弱点,总结了学期制度改革所取得的主要经验,并进一步提出了"四学期制"未来发展趋向的设想.     

What a Difference the Community Makes: Zero Tolerance Policy Interpretation and Implementation

The implementation of zero tolerance policies raises important questions. In this article we explore how zero tolerance policies are interpreted, implemented, and enforced differently in urban, rural, and suburban districts, and how this results in unequal numbers of expulsions and suspensions. Using a policy analysis framework, we explored how administrators from economically and culturally distinct communities developed an understanding of zero tolerance policy. In some cases, administrators modified the policy to meet the needs and culture of their districts, while in other situations, administrators adhered to the policy as written. The varying interpretations allowed some children to remain in school for particular offenses while other children were expelled immediately for similar infractions. Our data show that this policy adversely impacts a disproportionately higher number of students color in urban school districts.     

高等学校科研诚信问责制机理与构建——基于案例的探索性研究

科研诚信问题治理是一个世界性难题,加强问责是重中之重.基于新制度主义理论探究高等学校科研诚信问责制的逻辑机理及建设的突破方向,可为加强科研诚信问题治理提供一个初步的分析框架.以澳大利亚麦考瑞大学为案例进行研究显示,构建"四轮驱动"式整合性全过程科研诚信问责制,通过"明责—知责—察责—追责",有助于达到科研诚信问责制系统完备、科学规范、运行有效的目的与要求.我国高等学校加强科研诚信问责制度建设需从理念、体系、内容、工具、运行等维度进行突破.通过设立专门负责科研诚信问题治理的相关机构,系统建立健全科研诚信问责机制,绘制总体性的科研诚信问题治理流程图,将部门、问责链、机制整合起来,发挥综合效应,进一步促进我国高等学校科研诚信问责制度体系现代化,提升科研诚信问题治理能力,提高科研诚信水平.     

发展性教师评价初探

发展性教师评价是发展性课程评价体系的一个重要组成部分，是与新一轮基础教育课程改革相适应的教师评价制度。     

An Exploratory Study of Stress in a British University

This paper reports an exploratory study of stress and psychological well-being in British University staff. Unlike previous studies of stress in University staff, this study examines stress not only in relation to lecturing staff, but also research and support staff. Principal components analysis of a fifteen item stressor scale revealed two orthogonal dimensions, relating to quantitative overload stressors and role stressors respectively. Both were found to be related to a measure of psychological well-being. Differences in these stressor factors were found between the various types of university employee; academic staff were found to report more work load and managerial stressors, but reported fewer role stressors.     

Facilitating Reading Habits and Creating Peer Culture in Shared Book Reading: An Exploratory Case Study in a Toddler Classroom

Fifteen toddlers (2- to 3-years old, nine boys and six girls) in a university preschool classroom were observed for 7 months while spending time with books during transition time, between story time and lunch. This qualitative case study investigated the ways that teachers can facilitate toddlers’ reading habits by providing literacy opportunities in unstructured learning environments and explored the contexts in which toddlers engage in independent reading activities. The findings of this study show that (1) toddlers can develop literacy through participating in meaning-making activities with peers while reading books together in unstructured environments and (2) toddlers want to read and choose to read in order to satisfy their curiosity, involvement, and social interchange, just as older children do.     

What a Difference a Label Makes: Positioning and Response in an Afterschool Tutoring Program

In this qualitative case study, we used the framework of positioning to show how college-age tutors and their middle school tutees interact in an afterschool tutoring setting with regard to ability. The authors show how educational tracking and understandings of disability permeated tutoring spaces and influence tutors’ instructional decisions. Even though the tutors’ participation in this program was framed as an act of social justice, the tutors do not feel empowered to use a critical lens when discussing tracking and/or disability because, as the authors posit, the framing of the college students as role models and these middle school students as “needy” prohibits conversations that do not have easy answers.     

Development of School Attendance Difficulties: An Exploratory Study

This article discusses aspects of school attendance difficulties, focusing on why a minority of children decide to miss school. It is an exploratory study representing a developmental approach that aims to establish the immediate determinants of school absence to gain more understanding of the nature of attendance difficulties and eventually inform practitioner methods. Questionnaires, designed to measure attitudes, perceptions and parent–child interaction over school absence were administered to two hundred and nine 12–13 year olds attending a comprehensive school. Thirty-five individual interviews were carried out with good and poor attenders to clarify the questionnaire responses. It was concluded that school attendance difficulties develop like other defiant behaviour problems, with parental reaction playing a major role. Government policies encouraging the use of punitive measures with parents of poor attenders do not provide practitioners or pastoral staff with the sophisticated working methods necessary to help poor attending children achieve an education.