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.     

课堂应答系统在大学课堂教学中的应用

信息技术在当今高校教育中已经得到广泛应用,但是在构建师生互动课堂方面,中国高校教学方式没有太大改变。课堂应答系统作为在国外教学中应用比较成熟的一种教学手段,对于改进我国高校教学是一个很好的补充。主要介绍了什么是课堂应答系统,其应用环境及使用流程,介绍了两种基于课堂应答系统的最常用教学模式,并对此系统在应用过程中的优势与不足进行了分析。     

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.

     

Online versus traditional classroom instruction: an examination of developmental English courses at an Alabama community college

A study was conducted at a community college in northeast Alabama to determine how the format of developmental English courses impacted student withdrawal rates and final grades. The two course formats examined were online/hybrid and face-to-face courses. Data were obtained from a 4-semester time frame: fall 2012, spring 2013, summer 2013, and fall 2013. It was determined that students enrolled in the online course were far more likely to withdraw from the course or attain a nonpassing, nontransferable grade than their counterparts who chose the face-to-face course format. The researchers found similar results to larger studies at community colleges in Virginia and the state of Washington.     

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.     

The effects of classroom climate on college science students: A replication study

This replication studied the effect of two specific classroom climates on learning of science process skills and content achievement in college science classes. Two classroom climates were established and designated as discovery classroom climate (DCC) and nondiscovery classroom climate (NDCC). The term discovery denotes the degree of freedom the teacher established in classroom interactions, both verbal and nonverbal. Verbal interactions were monitored with the Science Laboratory Interaction Categories. These data indicate that students in the two classroom climates achieved equally as well on learning of biological content of the course and on scores in science process skills as measured by the Welch Science Process Inventory. This study indicates students in the less directive discovery climate learned as much content as a more directive comparison class—they lost nothing of what is traditionally sought in a college science class. Differences between the original and the replication study on the Science Process Inventory were noted.     

浅谈高校英语课堂教学改革

随着社会的快速发展,对英语的要求越来越高。给高校的英语教学带来挑战:传统的英语教学模式已不再适应,需要改革。在传统的教学模式中,学生是被动的客体,教师是主体,填鸭式地灌溉知识给学生,教学效果差。传统的英语课堂教学改革要求教师把学生的英语学习主要看成是一个学生主动进行语言实践应用的过程,所以英语教师应该充当英语教学活动的设计者和组织者的角色,而不是知识传授者的角色。     

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。     

课堂管理视角下激发大学生英语学习动机的策略

学习动机被认为在第二语言学习中影响外语学习成绩的重要情感因素之一。英语学习动机的强弱决定了学生在英语学习过程中的努力程度。因而在英语学习中如何从教师角度在课堂管理理论的基础之上来激发大学生的英语学习动机无疑是非常重要的。     

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).     

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。     

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。     

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。     

Achievement versus aptitude in college admissions: A cautionary note based on evidence from Chile

In recent years there has been a debate over the alleged superiority of achievement tests over aptitude tests on the grounds that the first would be fairer for college admissions and less influenced by family background. The switch from aptitude tests to achievement tests in Chile presented a unique opportunity to examine this claim. Regression analysis was used to assess the impact of the change in test performance using data from seven cohorts of test-takers. The evidence does not support the superiority of achievement tests, particularly when these assess extensive contents.     

服务主导逻辑下的高职管理课教学模式探究

传统的课堂教学模式越来越不适应高职人才培养的需求,课堂教学方法革新已经成为学界的研究焦点和共识。另外,服务主导逻辑作为当今国际前沿著名的跨学科服务范式,在课堂教学研究和应用方面仍然有限。鉴于此,本文聚焦高职课堂背景,首先探索提出基于服务主导逻辑的教学模式,并以一个学期的高职管理课教学实践为应用案例进行探析,以期为高职课堂教学提供一些新的参考,为促进高职人才培养模式革新和人才培养质量的提高提供一些有益的探索。     

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.