Student feedback in the college classroom: A technology solution

Technology in the university classrooms has made great strides in the area of presentation of materials. Ceiling-mounted projectors and media carts with projection capabilities have made the multimedia classroom presentation a routine event for much of the worl of higher education. Now there is technology that permits the instructor to solicit student responses during class via wireless keypads. This allows all students to respond simultaneously and the instructor to know the results immediately. This article reports the results of a pilot study on student reaction to a specific system (LearnStar). Students were uniformly positive in their appraisal of this technology as a teaching tool. The proposal for a classroom with LearnStar capability was funded by the Auburn University College of Liberal Arts. The College has a technology fund to encourage development of new and innovative technologies.     

College student learning from televised versus conventional classroom lectures: A controlled experiment

In a controlled experiment, students in two sections of introductory sociology were exposed either to conventional classroom lectures or to the same lectures broadcast live in an adjacent room on a television monitor. Except for the first round of six lectures, when technical problems appeared to have lowered test performance by the experimental groups, learning under the two lecturing modes was statistically equivalent. Self-reported class attendance, also, seemed to have been unaffected by lecturing modes. This study confirms the general pattern of results from a number of prior, albeit less rigorously designed, studies of live vs. televised lecture courses.     

Becoming a teacher: The transition from teachers' college to classroom life

In the light of the recent literature on beginning teachers, this paper elaborates upon their concerns and how these concerns relate to school environments and to the teaching profession. The paper presents a qualitative study based upon interviews with beginning teachers and a content-analysis of the protocolled interviews. Findings indicate the co-existence of both commonalities and distinctive characteristics of beginning teachers' concerns in various types of schools. While commonalities pertain to concerns inherent in the teaching profession, distinctive characteristics pertain to school environments. The latter seem to be an influential factor in the professional socialization of beginning teachers. Practical implications are drawn for teacher educators, school advisers and inspectors.

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Zusammenfassung Angesichts neuerer Literatur über Junglehrer, arbeitet dieses Papier ihre Einstellungen heraus und wie diese Einstellungen mit dem Schulumfeld und dem Lehrerberuf in Verbindung zu bringen sind. Das Papier stellt eine qualitative Studie dar basierend auf Interviews mit Junglehrern und eine Inhaltsanalyse der Interviewprotokolle. Die Ergebnisse weisen auf eine Koexistenz sowohl gemeinsamer als auch unterschiedlicher Merkmale in den Einstellungen von Junglehrern in den verschiedenen Schultypen hin. Während die gemeinsamen Einstellungen inhärent dem Lehrerberuf zuzuordnen sind, gehören die unterschiedlichen Merkmale zum Schulumfeld. Das letztere scheint ein Faktor zu sein, der die berufliche Sozialisation der Junglehrer beeinflußt. Praktische Folgerungen werden daraus für die Lehrerausbilder, Schulbehörden und Schulinspektoren gezogen.

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Résumé A la lumière des études récentes qui existent sur les enseignants débutants, cet article examine en détail les problèmes que ceux-ci rencontrent et leurs rapports avec l'environnement scolaire et la profession d'enseignant. Il s'agit d'une étude qualitative basée sur des interviews d'enseignants débutants et une analyse du compte rendu écrit de ces interviews. Les résultats révèlent la coéxistence de caractéristiques communes et distinctives dans les problémes des enseignants débutants des différents types d'écoles. Si les problèmes communs à tous font partie inhérente de la profession d'enseignant, les caractéristiques distinctives ont trait, elles, à l'environnement scolaire. Celui-ci semble être un facteur qui influe sur la socialisation professionnelle de l'enseignant qui débute. Des implications pratiques sont présentées pour les professeurs chargés de la formation des futurs enseignants, les conseillers et inspecteurs d'écoles.

     

Transformation of classroom spaces: traditional versus active learning classroom in colleges

Educational environment influences students’ learning attitudes, and the classroom conveys the educational philosophy. The traditional college classroom design is based on the educational space that first appeared in medieval universities. Since then classrooms have not changed except in their size. In an attempt to develop a different perspective of educational environment, a new design of classroom, the active learning classroom (ALC), was established at SoongSil University in Korea. Two questionnaire surveys were conducted for diagnosing the educational effects of students’ learning in the ALC and comparing the results with those obtained regarding the traditional classroom. The result proved the existence of a ‘golden zone’ and a ‘shadow zone’ in the traditional classroom, which discriminate students’ learning experiences depending on seating positions. On the contrary, the ALC did not produce such positional discrimination. Students perceived the ALC environment as more inspirational, especially in regards to active class participation. Students with more emphasis on academic achievement showed greater tendency to share information and to create new ideas in the ALC. However, in the traditional classroom setting, only students with high GPAs were more motivated to learn while the gap in learning attitudes was offset in the ALC setting. In-depth discussions about research findings were undertaken and four suggestions were provided in support of school administrators and relevant institutional personnel, faculty members, and researchers for future utilization of the ALC.     

大学课堂教学中讨论式教学的组织

讨论式教学法对于培养学生形成批判性思维,增进协作意识,提高学生的口头表达能力和自主学习能力具有重要作用。本文着重探讨了讨论教学组织过程中讨论题目选择、讨论方式选择、讨论技巧和总结评价中应注重的问题。     

Improving interpersonal relations in the college classroom: An empirical investigation

The effect of small interpersonal discussion groups on student interpersonal relations was examined. A Group Psychology class with small interpersonal groups was compared to two other similar-level psychology classes with more traditional formats. One of these controls (a placebo group) had small, academically oriented discussion groups, and the other (a standard control group) was a medium-sized lecture class. TotalN was 258. The quality of within-class interpersonal relations for the experimental group exceeded that of the controls on all dependent variables. These effects, however, did not extend to behavior outside the class. This finding was supported by the results of a two-year follow-up (N=74).     

Improving the process of education: Total quality management for the college classroom

This article's purpose is to improve the effectiveness of classroom teaching by proposing a specific program for continuous improvement toward instructional excellence. Total quality management (TQM) is a systematic approach which utilizes four main elements: quality defined by the customer, top leadership responsibility for quality improvement, increased quality through systematic analysis of work processes, and quality improvement by continuous effort conducted throughout the organization. A strategy for continuous classroom improvement is developed through an examination of various definitions of quality and a comparative analysis of dimensions of quality, service quality, and effective teaching which aims to inspire and give direction.James P. Gilbert is an Associate Professor of Operations Management at The University of Georgia. He received his MBA from Western Illinois University and Ph.D. from The University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His research interests include: total quality management methods, service management systems, and Japanese management techniques. Kay Keck is Director of Graduate Programs at The University of Georgia and teaches the first-year marketing course for MBA students. She obtained an MBA from the University of Kansas, and Ph.D. in Management Science from The University of Texas at Dallas. Her research interests center around sales management, services marketing, and applications of TQM in both sales and higher education. Ronald D. Simpson is Director of the Office of Instructional Development at The University of Georgia, where he also is professor of Higher Education and Science Education. He holds degrees from The University of Tennessee and The University of Georgia.     

非言语交际在高校英语课堂教学中的运用

本文从非言语交际在高校英语课堂教学中的应用入手,阐明在高校英语教学中只有意识到非言语交际的重要性,并且培养学生的应用能力,外语教学质量才能提高,只有既注意语言教学又不忽视非言语的外语教学,才是完整的、成功的教学。     

语言输出视角下大学英语课堂优化设计研究

本文结合语言输出理论的实质及其在二语习得中的功能,阐述了以学生输出为主的任务型导向在大学英语教学中的重要性,提出了加强会话策略帮助学生流利输出语言,利用预制语块提升学习者语言输出的表达方式,以及以写作为目标注重输出的课堂教学等语言输出视角下大学公共英语课堂教学优化发展的建议。     

关于提高高校英语课堂有效性的策略分析

英语作为国际通用性的语言,在国际社会中具有重要的地位。随着我国开放程度日益加深,学习和应用英语也是我们在国际接轨中必须要做的事情之一。高校英语是当前中国高校课程安排中的一项重要的基础课程,大学生作为建设祖国未来的生力军,学好大学英语非常重要。在本文中,笔者就提高高校英语课堂有效性的策略进行了研究与分析。     

Skipping class in college and exam performance: Evidence from a regression discontinuity classroom experiment

In this paper we estimate the effect of class attendance on exam performance by implementing a policy in three large economics classes that required students scoring below the median on the midterm exam to attend class. This policy generated a large discontinuity in the rate of post-midterm attendance at the median of the midterm score. We estimate that near the policy threshold, the post-midterm attendance rate was 36 percentage points higher for those students facing compulsory attendance. The discontinuous attendance policy is also associated with a significant difference in performance on the final exam. We estimate that a 10 percentage point increase in a student's overall attendance rate results in a 0.17 standard deviation increase in the final exam score without adversely affecting performance on other classes taken concurrently.     

Mind the gap: Investigating test literacy and classroom literacy

Focusing on the 2006 examination paper on Richard III , this article starts by examining the assumptions about reading Shakespeare that inform the Key Stage 3 national tests for 14-year-olds in England. It then analyses one student's response to the test, contrasting this performance with evidence drawn from classroom observation and digital video data.     

Fear appeals in the primary classroom: Effects on test anxiety and test grade

The present study investigated whether fear appeals used prior to a test increased self-reported test anxiety and had a detrimental effect on test scores. Forty primary school pupils were instructed for one week under a low threat condition under which no fear appeals were made and another week under a high threat condition in which fear appeals were made salient. An end-of-week test was given in both conditions. Pupils reported an increase in test anxiety related worrisome thoughts and autonomic reactions under the high threat condition, but not in off-task behaviours. Test scores were lower under the high threat condition, but were not attributable to the increases in test anxiety related thoughts and autonomic reactions. This study adds weight to the argument that fear appeals are a damaging classroom strategy, but the mechanism by which fear appeals are reducing test scores is not yet clear.     

Note-taking in the college classroom as evidence of generative learning

College student notes were analysed with respect to the amount of words copied directly, omitted and added to the teacher’s overheads or PowerPoint slides in order to understand the effect of teacher scaffolds on student generative learning during initial encoding. Scores on quizzes taken at the end of classes from which notes were collected were analysed with respect to the content of student notes and teacher scaffolds. Statistically significant results were found when comparing how much students copied, added and omitted, whether teachers used PowerPoint presentations or overheads, and with respect to the amount of information teachers presented visually. Significant effects also were found on performance quiz items with respect to the amount of information that teachers provided.     

传统文化渗透于大学语文课堂教学之我见

中国传统文化对于大学语文教学具有十分重要的意义,有助于提升当代大学生的人文素养。在大学语文教学中渗透传统文化,要求教师务必在教学工作中采取相应的策略与举措。笔者基于多年的教学经验,认为有针对性地选取教学篇目,教学过程中紧密结合学生兴趣和社会实际,采用情境教学等创新型教学方法,能够有效地将传统文化融入大学语文教学工作中,以实现更好地弘扬中华传统文化、培养具有人文情怀的优秀人才的目的。     

关于大学英语教学中文化融入的思考

本探讨了语言与化的关系，并指出大学英语果中应在教会学生掌握语言知识的同时，要适当地教目的语的化。作提出了目的语化的教学内容和教学方法以及学习化的重要性。     

Self-ratings versus teacher-ratings of adolescents' type A behavior pattern in the normal classroom

Self-ratings versus teacher-ratings of adolescents' Type A Behavior Pattern were compared with 80 eighth-grade and 70 eleventh-grade teenagers from a typical high school in Melbourne, Australia. Data indicated that there were significant differences in the ratings from these two sources, with little predictive power from teachers' ratings to adolescents' ratings. Implications for the reliable and comprehensive assessment of adolescents' Type A Behavior Pattern are discussed.