The storytelling project: innovating to engage students in their learning

This research explores the development of issues surrounding and reactions to the use of non‐accounting stories in accounting to engage and motivate first‐year students. The stories were drawn from the students' main areas of study. Students were challenged to draw analogies between a story and accounting. This process allowed them to create common meanings and understandings as they participated in a group dialogue about the relevance of each story. By using stories in areas with which the students were familiar, they were able to appreciate links between accounting and other disciplines. Initially the lecturer told the stories but in response to student feedback, students were encouraged to find or develop stories to share. Students found both the factual and fictitious stories enhanced their learning. When the students became storytellers, they took ownership of their learning and a more critical approach consistent with a deep approach to learning. Despite some initial concerns expressed by the lecturer, the storytelling project has led to increased motivation among non‐accounting first year students who are undertaking some limited study of accounting.     

What are the personal attributes a teacher needs to engage Indigenous students effectively in the learning process? Re-viewing the literature

ABSTRACT

Background: Teachers have the potential to make an enormous positive impact on the lives of their students, and may enter the classroom with a deep-set belief that education is, fundamentally, benevolent and good. However, such an uncritical stance may fail to account for the negative experiences of Indigenous students in Australia, where teachers are often cited as the primary reason Indigenous students leave school or refuse to go to school. Despite this, Aboriginal communities remain strong advocates of education and continue to lobby for a genuine and meaningful role in decision making.

Purpose: Given teachers’ critical influence, a collaboration was formed between the two authors: a Gamilaroi (Aboriginal) woman and a non-Indigenous Canadian woman, to conduct a review of the research. We asked: ‘What are the personal (non-academic) attributes a teacher needs to engage Indigenous students effectively in the learning process?’

Method: The literature review focused primarily on the Australian context and used a framework-based synthesis approach, whereby a decolonising ‘Relationally Responsive Standpoint’ framework was identified a priori. This provided the structure for extracting and synthesising the literature.

Findings and Discussion: The themes arising from the literature review were organised and considered through the framework, which foregrounds awareness through Respecting (self/motivations), Connecting (interpersonal) and Reflecting (knowledge) before concluding by Directing (future role). In Directing, the implications of the findings are discussed through yarning, a dialogical and dynamic approach with a strong future focus regarding the next steps of research and action.

Conclusions: Reviewing the literature in this way offers teachers, researchers, teacher educators and, arguably, policy-makers an opportunity to consider the personal attributes necessary to engage Indigenous students. It highlights the importance of critical self-reflection to being a relationally responsive teacher. We believe that the findings span international and professional boundaries and could impact on Indigenous Peoples globally, if all professions engage with an understanding of their own axiology and ontology.     

Teachers using annotations to engage students in assessment conversations: recontextualising knowledge

Assessment for Learning practices with students such as feedback, and self- and peer assessment are opportunities for teachers and students to develop a shared understanding of how to create quality learning performances. Quality is often represented through achievement standards. This paper explores how primary school teachers in Australia used the process of annotating work samples to develop shared understanding of achievement standards during their curriculum planning phase, and how this understanding informed their teaching so that their students also developed this understanding. Bernstein's concept of the pedagogic device is used to identify the ways teachers recontextualised their assessment knowledge into their pedagogic practices. Two researchers worked alongside seven primary school teachers in two schools over a year, gathering qualitative data through focus groups and interviews. Three general recontextualising approaches were identified in the case studies; recontextualising standards by reinterpreting the role of rubrics, recontextualising by replicating the annotation process with the students and recontextualising by reinterpreting practices with students. While each approach had strengths and limitations, all of the teachers concluded that annotating conversations in the planning phase enhanced their understanding, and informed their practices in helping students to understand expectations for quality.     

A science need: Designing tasks to engage students in modeling complex data

In this information age, the capacity to perceive structure in data, model that structure, and make decisions regarding its implications is rapidly becoming the most important of the quantitative literacy skills. We build on Kaput’s belief in a Science of Need to motivate and direct the development of tasks and tools for engaging students in reasoning about data. A Science of Need embodies the utility value of mathematics, and engages students in seeing the importance of mathematics in both their current and their future lives. An extended example of the design of tasks that require students to generate, test, and revise models of complex data is used to illustrate the ways in which attention to the contributions of students can aid in the development of both useful and theoretically coherent models of mathematical understanding by researchers. Tools such as Fathom are shown as democratizing agents in making data modeling more expressive and intimate, aiding in the development of deeper and more applicable mathematical understanding.

A cyclical self-assessment process: towards a model of how students engage in self-assessment

While significant progress has been made on understanding the effects of student self-assessment, the processes by which these effects occur are much less studied. The present research identified the actions involved in a cyclical self-assessment process. In this qualitative study, 17 undergraduate students from a teacher education institute took part in in-depth interviews focusing on the common actions students normally undertake to self-assess. The findings identified the following three actions that are commonly undertaken in the self-assessment process: (1) determining the performance criteria, (2) self-directed feedback seeking and (3) self-reflection. The paper discusses the implications of the findings and concludes with suggestions for promoting student self-assessment.     

The use of electronic media to develop transferable skills in science students studying anatomy

Transferable skills such as team working, communication, information gathering, critical thinking, and peer assessment are essential for graduates seeking employment in the competitive jobs market. Use of online discussion boards have grown to allow students to communicate with each other at a time and location of their choosing. This study aimed to develop transferable skills using specially developed online components supported by discussion boards and chat rooms. Students enrolled in the Human Anatomy and Histology module at the University of Manchester were put into groups of six or seven students (26 groups in total). Two e-learning components were constructed to develop transferable skills. Each group had a discussion board and chat room available to assist communication in completion of the components. Peer marking was also done on this media. Data collected showed the discussion boards were heavily utilized (average number of posts per group was 48). Eighty-three percent of students found the discussion boards useful to complete the tasks. Students felt their team building and critical analysis skills had improved. Peer assessment was well received by students. Using online discussion boards proved an excellent way to develop transferable skills in a large group of science students.     

Academic music: music instruction to engage third-grade students in learning basic fraction concepts

This study examined the effects of an academic music intervention on conceptual understanding of music notation, fraction symbols, fraction size, and equivalency of third graders from a multicultural, mixed socio-economic public school setting. Students (N?=?67) were assigned by class to their general education mathematics program or to receive academic music instruction two times/week, 45?min/session, for 6?weeks. Academic music students used their conceptual understanding of music and fraction concepts to inform their solutions to fraction computation problems. Linear regression and t tests revealed statistically significant differences between experimental and comparison students?? music and fraction concepts, and fraction computation at posttest with large effect sizes. Students who came to instruction with less fraction knowledge responded well to instruction and produced posttest scores similar to their higher achieving peers.     

坐看千岛起云帆

千岛之国的印度尼西亚,是一个阳光炽烈透亮、四季沙白风清的地方,是一个产生诗歌和美好文章的地方,是一个使男性开朗刚健、让女性十指柔若无骨的地方。 那里的土地和人民养育了成千上万的写作人、教书人,包括华裔华侨。当然,在整个20世纪当中,特别是60年代到90年代这30年当中,那里的天堂鸟曾几度哭泣,和平鸟曾几度被折     

The motivations to study and expectations of studying of undergraduate students in business and management

The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between motivations to learn and expectations of learning and to see if there are any differences across student groups based on their choice of degree programme and level of study. Six scales were used from Pintrich et al.’s Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, of which two were adapted for this study, to measure motivations to learn and expectations of learning amongst undergraduate students. Across different levels of study and programmes, 564 responses were collected. The study suggests that there is a correlation between the degree of importance and interest that students attach to their studies, their beliefs about how well they will do and their overall levels of motivation to learn. These relationships vary across different student groups. The study also found that the degree of anxiety about assessment experienced by students was independent of their motivations and expectations and did not differ significantly between any student groups.     

课堂教学中组织发现学习的策略

美国著名教育心理学家布鲁纳认为 :学校教学最重要的目的是帮助每一个学生获得最好的智力发展。对于教学而言 ,作为结果的知识固然重要 ,但更重要的是了解获得知识的过程 ,应让学生进行充分的智力思考 ,让他们进行自己的探索活动。因此 ,在数学教学中 ,不仅应向学生传授数学结构知识 ,而且要培养学生探究问题的能力 ,培养独立解决问题和预见未知的能力。笔者现结合自己在高中代数中“给出数列 {ａｎ}的递推公式ａ1=ｂ ,且ａｎ 1=ｃ·ａｎ ｄ ,求出它的通项公式”这一节课的教学实践 ,谈谈在教学过程中 ,如何组织学生发现学习的一些体会 ,谈…     

民族生汉语学习中语音语法功能的体现

语音是人类发音器官发出的代表一定意义的声音,起着承载语义、区别语义的作用,也担负着区别语法功能的作用,其区别语法功能的作用主要体现在音节和语流中。     

Approaches to studying in deaf and hearing students in higher education

We conducted a survey to compare the responses of 149 deaf students and 121 hearing students taking the same courses to a shortened and adapted version of the Approaches to Studying Inventory. In general, the impact of deafness on approaches to studying was relatively slight, and deaf students appeared to be at least as capable as hearing students of engaging with the underlying meaning of the materials to be learned. We used factor analysis to identify eight scales, and differences between the two groups were statistically significant on four of these scales. Discriminant analysis indicated that deaf students found it more difficult to relate ideas on different topics and that this was more marked in those who preferred to communicate using sign. However, deaf students were more likely than hearing students to adopt a critical approach and to analyze the internal structure of the topics studied.     

谈如何帮助初任政治辅导员尽快进入角色

面对新世纪 ,能否培养合格的社会建设人才 ,政治辅导员的重要是不容置疑的。高校基层党务工作者要不失时机地在思想、工作等方面积极地教育引导政治辅导员尽快进入角色做好大学生政治思想工作     

浅谈辅导员与学生和谐人际关系的构建

辅导员与学生的人际关系构成高校师生关系中最重要、最基本的人际关系之一。受来自辅导员和学生两方面各种因素的影响,两者之间存在着多样关系模式。辅导员在两者关系中的核心地位,要求他们从自身出发。采取多种有效措施,构建起和谐的师生关系。实现师生关系的和谐是辅导员有效地开展工作的基本要求,这对构建和谐校园甚至和谐社会有着巨大的促进作用。     

高职学生参与科技创新活动的研究及探索

结合笔者近年来指导本校航模小组的高职学生从事航模制作和航模科技创新活动经验,分别从高职学生参与科技创新活动的目的、方式、思路等方面对高职学生从事科技创新活动的情况提出一些观点,并对活动中所面临的问题和难点进行了初步探讨。     

高职英语专业学生听力学习调查问卷分析

"听、说、读、写"是英语学习的四大要素。学习英语的前提首先是要能听懂,其次才能与人沟通,读懂文章,进行写作。听力对于英语专业学生来说是至关重要的。论文以调查问卷的形式,从影响学生听力的困难因素、学生听力学习策略这两方面进行调查,并对调查结果进行分析,从而对高职英语专业学生听力学习提出建议。     

Approaches to studying in higher education Portuguese students: a Portuguese version of the approaches and study skills inventory for students

This paper examines the validity of the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students—short version (ASSIST; Tait et al. in Improving student learning: Improving students as learners, 1998), to be used with Portuguese undergraduate students. The ASSIST was administrated to 566 students, in order to analyse a Portuguese version of this inventory. Exploratory factor analysis (principal axis factor analysis followed by direct oblimin rotation) reproduced the three main factors that correspond to the original dimensions of the inventory (deep, surface apathetic and strategic approaches to learning). The results are consistent with the background theory on approaches to learning. Additionally, the reliability analysis revealed acceptable internal consistency indexes for the main scales and subscales. This inventory might represent a valuable research tool for the assessment of approaches to learning among Portuguese higher education students.