Emotion recognition and communication for reducing second‐language speaking anxiety in a web‐based one‐to‐one synchronous learning environment

e‐Learning is becoming an increasingly popular educational paradigm because of the rapid growth of the Internet. Recent studies have argued that affective modelling (ie, considering a learner's emotional or motivational state) should also be considered while designing learning activities. Many studies indicated that various learning emotions markedly impact learning outcomes. In the language education field, many studies have investigated anxiety associated with learning a second language, noting that anxiety has an adverse effect on the performance of those speaking English as a second language. Therefore, how to reduce anxiety associated with learning a second language to increase learning performance is an important research issue in the language education field. Accordingly, this study employed a sensor, signal processing, wireless communication, system‐on‐chip and machine‐learning techniques in developing an embedded human emotion recognition system based on human pulse signals for detecting three human emotions—nervousness, peace and joy—to help teachers reduce language‐learning anxiety of individual learners in a web‐based one‐to‐one synchronous learning environment. The accuracy rate of the proposed emotion recognition model evaluated by cross‐validation is as high as 79.7136% when filtering out human pulse signals that have bias. Moreover, this study applied the embedded emotion recognition system to assist instructor's teaching in a synchronous English conversation environment by immediately reporting variations in individual learner emotions to the teacher during learning. In this instructional experiment, the teacher can give appropriate learning assistance or guidance based on the emotion states of individual learners. Experimental results indicate that the proposed embedded human emotion recognition system is helpful in reducing language‐based anxiety, thus promoting instruction effectiveness in English conversation classes.     

TRANSITION,LOSS, AND GROWTH: PROCESSES OF POSITIVE ADAPTATION

Positive adaptation to the transition events of later life is a neglected area in the literature of gerontology and educational gerontology. Drawing on the literature of social and clinical psychology, gerontology, adult development, and adult education, as well as on original research findings, this paper formulates a model for viewing the transitions and losses of the aging process as opportunities for growth and self‐enhancement. Major categories of social‐psychological transition events are reviewed; the social‐psychological resources that aging individuals bring to these events are summarized; and three processes of adaptation to transition (grieving, stress management, and learning) are discussed in terms of their relevance to the problem. The usefulness of reflective learning as an adaptive strategy particularly appropriate to the later third of life is emphasized. Implications for further research and applications to practice are presented.     

Is Inquiry Learning Unjust? Cognitive Load Theory and the Democratic Ends of Education

Cognitive load theorists Paul Kirschner, John Sweller and Richard Clark argue that an array of inquiry-based pedagogies widely promoted in teacher preparation programmes are out of step with current cognitive science and should be eliminated for novice learners. According to these cognitive load theorists, inquiry-based pedagogies are likely to increase achievement gaps between the lowest and highest achieving students while reducing total learning. On almost any theory of justice in educational provision, an educational practice that results in the acquisition of fewer total educational goods by students and greater inequality in the distribution of goods will be considered unjust. I argue that inquiry-based pedagogies can be defended, even for novice learners, not as means to other goods but as embodiments of the least controversial liberal-democratic educational ends. I claim that once understood as part of the ends of liberal democratic education, inquiry-based pedagogies cannot be rightly eliminated from educational pathways. In addition, I argue that by interpreting cognitive load theory in light of uncontroversial liberal democratic educational ends, central claims about instructional design that are advanced by both cognitive load theorists and their opponents are either moderated or overturned. Most notably, the claim that there are no domain-general inquiry skills which need to be taught, which is advanced by cognitive load theorists against inquiry theorists, is revealed to be self-refuting. Integrating cognitive load theory into processes of liberal democratic problem-solving turns out to be a biologically secondary domain-general inquiry skill of just the sort cognitive load theorists deny exists.     

On the image of hate in education: desirable emotions,learning, and the visibility of bodies in educational relations

ABSTRACT

In this article I explore how images of hate from the work of feminist, psychoanalytical educational thinkers Deborah Britzman and Alice Pitt, and from Sara Ahmed's investigation into the cultural politics of emotion, function to shift the ideal-image of pedagogically desired emotions and complicate the emotional landscape of educational relations. Analysing two counter-images, I consider the ambivalent role of hate in the pedagogical lives of teachers and students, and the ways in which hate may actually support learning and motivate a desire for pedagogy as shared world-making. In different ways, each of the counter-images explores the idea that educational relations need to be able to address hate. Yet the second counter-image leads me to question whether all the bodies involved in those relations have been taken into account.     

SOCIAL DETERMINANTS AND POTENTIALS OF EDUCATION IN LATER LIFE: THE CASE OF AUSTRIA

Various theoretical concepts such as plasticity, competence, and potential have recently been applied to underline the possibility of later‐life development and change. Value and limitations of these concepts are discussed in view of learning in later life. A review of the special case of Austria and the educational attainments of its elderly indicates that social reality is slow in its transformation and that the disadvantageous educational achievements credited to today's older people hardly encourage them in pursuing later‐life studies. The paper reports results obtained by means of two questionnaires filled out by older students and teachers. This empirical investigation examines the influence of societal norms, social setting in institution‐related learning situations (age‐homogeneity vs. age‐heterogeneity), and instructors’ attitudes toward older students. The results demonstrate that permanent education and proper stimulation of the learning processes depend on a complex relationship between (competent) individuals, their social surroundings, and learning conditions that often prove unfavorable.     

A Conceptualisation of Emotion within Art and Design Education: A Creative,Learning and Product‐Orientated Triadic Schema

There is a resurgence of interest in the powerful concept of emotion in current educational policy and practice. This article calls for the recognition and conceptualisation of a triadic schema for theorising the location of emotion within a creative educational experience. The schema represents emotion within three domains within current practice: Person, Process and Product. The principal focus of the article is pupils aged 5‐16 and consideration is given to the application of the conceptualised schema within art and design education as represented by the national curriculum statement of importance. The central hypothesis of the work is that greater recognition of an emotional dimension within a triadic schema ‐ developing emotional capacity in students to engage in a creative process (person); stimulating emotional engagement through appropriate learning contexts (process) and facilitating the emotional interfacing with outcomes (product) ‐ will help conceptualise the powerful interrelationship between emotion, creativity and learning. Based upon an extensive synthesised literature review a schema, developed through abductive reasoning and grounded theory, ultimately conceptualises the overarching theme of emotion within a creative, learning and product‐orientated experience within the primary and secondary stages of England's education system.     

远程教育环境下的英语情感教学

英语是远程学习者颇感困难的课程。情感教学有助于帮助学生克服畏难情绪,树立学习信心。从分析英语情感教学的内涵入手,通过对学习动机和学习障碍、面授课的设计、学习支持服务、师生的合作关系及评价等方面的论述,阐明了远程教育环境下实施英语情感教学的必要性。     

Emotion Regulation Strategies That Promote Learning: Reappraisal Enhances Children’s Memory for Educational Information

The link between emotion regulation and academic achievement is well documented. Less is known about specific emotion regulation strategies that promote learning. Six‐ to 13‐year‐olds (N = 126) viewed a sad film and were instructed to reappraise the importance, reappraise the outcome, or ruminate about the sad events; another group received no regulation instructions. Children viewed an educational film, and memory for this was later assessed. As predicted, reappraisal strategies more effectively attenuated children’s self‐reported emotional processing. Reappraisal enhanced memory for educational details relative to no instructions. Rumination did not lead to differences in memory from the other instructions. Memory benefits of effective instructions were pronounced for children with poorer emotion regulation skill, suggesting the utility of reappraisal in learning contexts.     

Student Self‐evaluation Processes in Student‐centred Teaching and Learning Contexts of Australia and England

Student self‐evaluation processes and their impact on pedagogy, in the promotion of sound reflective student [1] practices, are the focus of this article. The ways in which students self‐evaluate and teachers integrate these self‐evaluative processes into their teaching practice in Australian and English contexts are analysed. The educational sites chosen for focus are engaged in implementing student‐centred teaching and learning practices. This article is based on research that draws on data analysed using case‐study methodology. For a period of 6 months student self‐evaluation processes were examined in both an Australian secondary high school and an English Further Education (EE) college which was piloting the advanced General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ) science programme. The introduction of the skills of self‐evaluation to students offers an added dimension to the current learning environment. It provides students with opportunities to take increased responsibility for, and a more active role in, their own learning. An underlying assumption of this research is that there exists a need to examine how learning in the classroom is structured, and that it is this dimension to teaching and learning that makes a difference. A fundamental premise is that student self‐evaluation is an educative activity.     

优秀大学英语教师的培养途径研究——以情感因素为例

大学英语教师的情感直接影响大学英语的教与学.然而,班级人数过多以及四、六级考试的压力等因素制约优秀大学英语教师的成长,可通过充分利用情感因素实现培养优秀大学英语教师的目的.     

The Influences on Educational Management Learning

This paper draws on findings from a research study in which educational managers at different career stages were interviewed about their conceptions and experiences of educational‐management learning. The study highlighted the diverse and individual influences on the process of learning to become an educational manager and indicated that teachers acquire managerial expertise by a variety of means. The seven most common opportunities through which educational‐management learning was gained have been identified, and they are analysed from the point of view of the learner in terms of: (i) their relative importance to the learning process, (ii) how (and if) they affect practice or thinking, (iii) when (at what points in the learning curve) they are effective. This study suggested that the value and effectiveness of the different developmental processes may reflect some of the personal characteristics peculiar to the individual educational manager. These significant characteristics are also discussed.     

ERNST VON GLASERSFELD'S RADICAL CONSTRUCTIVISM AND TRUTH AS DISCLOSURE

In this essay Clarence Joldersma explores radical constructivism through the work of its most well‐known advocate, Ernst von Glasersfeld, who combines a sophisticated philosophical discussion of knowledge and truth with educational practices. Joldersma uses Joseph Rouse's work in philosophy of science to criticize the antirealism inherent in radical constructivism, emphasizing that Rouse's Heideggerian critique differs from the standard realist defense of modernist epistemology. Next, Joldersma develops an alternative conception of truth, in terms of disclosure, based on Lambert Zuidervaart's work in aesthetics. Joldersma concludes by arguing that this notion of truth avoids the pitfalls of both realism and antirealism, giving educational theorists a way forward to accept some of the major insights of constructivism with respect to learning and teaching without having to relinquish a robust notion of truth.     

THEORY,METHOD AND PRACTICE OF NEUROSCIENTIFIC FINDINGS IN SCIENCE EDUCATION

This report provides an overview of neuroscience research that is applicable for science educators. It first offers a brief analysis of empirical studies in educational neuroscience literature, followed by six science concept learning constructs based on the whole brain theory: gaining an understanding of brain function; pattern recognition and consciousness; mind maps, mnemonics and other learning devices; concrete multisensory experience; higher-order creative reasoning via a multimedia-infused environment and positive emotion in educational settings. It is vital to the future of results-based education that discoveries regarding the cognitive learning process are taken into consideration when designing instruction. This research offers science educators neuroscience-backed information as a foundation to develop results-oriented curricula and teaching methods. Future research could further extend an empirically driven education system.     

高职英语合作学习模式的实验与分析

通过问卷、实验和对比等方法,对高职英语合作学习模式进行了分析和探讨,并与传统教学模式的结果进行对比;结果表明：合作设计情景→呈现目标话题→小组合作活动→师生发布结论的合作学习模式的运用,实现了把课堂还给学生,使学生在自主、合作、共享的课堂舞台中培养探究能力和表达能力的目的。这一模式对促进学生自主学习和课堂参与程度,提高学习成绩具有积极意义。     

EDUCATION AND CITIZENSHIP IN ENGLAND

The author stresses the fact that the English educational system has perpetuated or exacerbated already existing social differences. According to him, the English school system is still denying the possibility of a true and active citizenship. Looking at the basic principles of Education Acts and reform ‘campaigns’ in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and at the re‐structuring processes of English education, he states (pointing at his own work and that of Shrosbree and Allsobrook) that differentiation once and again took place along social class lines.     

Identity learning: the core process of educational change

The aim of this paper is to offer an additional perspective to the understanding of educational change processes by clarifying the significance of identity learning. Today’s innovations require changes in teachers’ professional identity. Identity learning involves a relation between social‐cognitive construction of new meanings and individual, emotional sense‐making of new experiences. This relationship between cognition and emotion asks for a strong learning environment: the question is whether schools provide these strong learning environments. To answer this question, the paper provides an overview of the existing knowledge about schools as contexts for teacher learning and change. It will become clear that the emotional side of the change process has been overlooked. A model for identity learning is presented, involving both meaning‐giving and sense‐making. Building on this model, it is discussed how school leaders can build strategies for the identity learning of teachers.     

Assessment for learning? Thinking outside the (black) box

This article draws on a survey of 83 teachers, to explore the concepts of ‘assessment for learning’, ‘assessment’ and ‘learning’. ‘Assessment for learning’ is categorized as meaning: monitoring pupils' performance against targets or objectives; using assessment to inform next steps in teaching and learning; teachers giving feedback for improvement; (teachers) learning about children's learning; children taking some control of their own learning and assessment; and turning assessment into a learning event. Conceptions of assessment include assessment‐as‐measurement and assessment‐as‐inquiry. These conceptions are related to two conceptions of learning: learning‐as‐attaining‐objectives and learning‐as‐the‐construction‐of‐knowledge. The conceptions of assessment‐as‐measurement and learning‐as‐attaining‐objectives are dominant in English educational policy today. The article suggests that these conceptions need to be challenged and expanded, since conceptions held by those who have power in education determine what sort of assessment and learning happen in the classroom, and therefore the quality of the student's learning processes and products.     

THE SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPLICATIONS OF PROGRAMMED LEARNING

Information on five areas of social activity possibly related to English language learning was collected from three groups of secondary school pupils (Asian, West Indian and English). Results indicate considerable group differences in the use of school and public libraries, out‐of‐school activities, out‐group choice of friends, job aspirations and parental encouragement. Some factors would seem from the results to facilitate the English language learning of the Asian group.     

The doctoral viva voce as a cultural practice: the gendered production of academic subjects

This article reports on a recent small‐scale phenomenological study into the student experience of the doctoral viva voce. It was prompted by strong concerns about viva voce processes on the part of a Director of Graduate Studies in an English university. The study involved semi‐structured interviews with 20 respondents from eight English universities in a range of disciplinary areas. An initial analysis of the interviews illuminated the powerful affective dimensions of the viva voce and the gendered nature of its processes. Resisting the binary separation of reason and emotion, the paper draws upon discursive theories of affect, gender and subjectivity to consider the affective economies that are illuminated in this data and suggests that this involves the reproduction of gendered hierarchies.     

Moments of Intensity: Affect and the Making and Teaching of Art

Affect often arises unexpectedly within the process of making art (along with other creative activities). In this article I argue for affect as a necessary and constructive dynamic within educational processes specifically for art and design. After a consideration of its recent neglect within art education, I revisit the notion of affect with reference to a number of thinkers who provide different perspectives, but particularly through the lens of the US psychologist Silvan Tomkins. Through him and others I seek to understand how affect can be recognised and cultivated in pedagogic situations. I do so by reflecting on the making and teaching experiences of students following an MA in Art and Design in Education and a practice‐based PhD, as witnessed by me (supervisor/co‐tutor), as recounted by students and as discussed in post‐event conversation/semi‐structured interviews.