Problem-Based Learning in Social Work Education: Students’ Experiences in Denmark

Problem-based learning (PBL) constitutes a promising way of integrating academia and social work practice because PBL fosters engagement with real-life problems and enhances important skills needed in social work practice. However, little attention has been given to social work students’ experiences of PBL. In this article we address this gap by exploring experiences of learning and learning preferences among master’s-level students in a Danish social work education setting where extensive problem-based project work is used. We find a discrepancy between students’ preferred learning and when they experience learning the most. Possible reasons for this discrepancy, and implications for teaching, are discussed.     

My First Lesson in China

When I got there I was confronted by scenes of confusion:bodies rushing everywhere, screaming, shouting and crying-and that was just the parents.     

The Role of the First Language in Mongolian Learner''''s Learning of English

1 .ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＩｎＩｎｎｅｒＭｏｎｇｏｌｉａＡｕｔｏｎｏｍｏｕｓＲｅｇｉｏｎ ,ｍｏｒｅａｎｄｍｏｒｅＭｏｎｇｏｌｉａｎｓｔｕｄｅｎｔｓｂｅｇｉｎｔｏｌｅａｒｎＥｎ ｇｌｉｓｈｉｎｔｈｅｒｅｃｅｎｔｙｅａｒｓａｓａｆｏｒｅｉｇｎｌａｎｇｕａｇｅ (ｏｒａｓａｔｈｉｒｄｌａｎｇｕａｇｅ)ａｔｃｏｌｌｅｇｅｓａｎｄｕｎｉｖｅｒｓｉｔｉｅｓ.Ｂｅｆｏｒｅｔｈｅｙｇｏｔｏｃｏｌｌｅｇｅ,ｍｏｓｔｏｆｔｈｅｍｈａｖｅｎ’ｔｌｅａｒｎｅｄＥｎｇｌｉｓｈｂｙｒｅｓｔｒｉｃｔｉｏｎｓｏｆｖａｒｉｏｕｓｃｏ…     

The ‘Learning in Regular Classrooms’ initiative for inclusive education in China

The purpose of this article is to understand the Learning in Regular Classrooms (LRC) initiative for inclusive education in China. First, the paper reviews the policy, legislation, and practice in relation to the LRC. It then goes on to explore the specific social–political context of the LRC, and compares the Chinese LRC with the Western approaches to inclusion and integration. The authors then discuss the challenges posed by the attempt to further promote the LRC or inclusive education in the collectivist culture and socialist political context of modern China.     

The First Watch in Switzerland

Switzerland is famous for its watches. However, it was not this country that made the first watch in the world. It was the Britain who did it. Here is a story of how the watch was brought to Switzerland. Many years ago, an Englishman was traveling to Ital…     

Problem-Based Learning in 9th Grade Chemistry Class: ‘Intermolecular Forces’

This research study aims to examine the effectiveness of a problem-based learning (PBL) on 9th grade students’ understanding of intermolecular forces (dipole–dipole forces, London dispersion forces and hydrogen bonding). The student’s alternate conceptions about intermolecular bonding and their beliefs about PBL were also measured. Seventy-eight 9th grade students were stratified by cognitive levels and then randomly assigned to experimental (PBL, 40 students) and control (lecture-style teaching, 38 students) groups. Following a preparatory lesson where activation and remediation of existing knowledge occur, a pre-test was given, and no significant difference was found between the two groups of students (p > .05). After the instruction was completed, a post-test and also a questionnaire related to the quality of the problem, the teacher’s role and group functioning were administered. Results from the post-test of both groups (p < .05) and questionnaire showed that PBL is affective on students’ achievement, remedying formation of alternate conceptions and also social skills.     

The Impact of Learning Communities on First Year Students’ Growth and Development in College

This study investigated the direct and indirect relationships between participating in a learning community, student engagement, and self-reported learning outcomes. Using a sample of 241 freshmen at a single urban research university who took the College Student Experiences Questionnaire, the results indicate that after controlling for demographic characteristics and entering composite ACT score, the relationship between learning community participation and learning outcomes are mediated by students’ levels of engagement. Learning community participation was not directly related to educational gains but was indirectly related to educational gains through student engagement. Student engagement in turn was strongly related to educational gains.     

Conceptions of ‘Ideal’ Leadership in Accepted and Rejected Principal Training Candidates

Abstract

Process of acquisition of grammar was studied with 320 children randomly selected from 2nd, 4th, and 6th graders in three schools representing different socioeconomic backgrounds. Ss were individually presented 6 nonsense sentences and asked to guess the meaning of a stimulus word planted in each sentence. Two types of cues, grammatical "signal" and "signal plus syntactic position," were provided to suggest three parts-of-speech (noun, verb, and modifier). Responses were classified either as homogeneous (proper grammatical identification) or heterogeneous.

No difference was found in frequency of homogeneous responses with regard to children's socio-economic background. Significant differences were associated with increase in cue information and with increase in age.     

A Pilot Study in the Field of Professional Further Education — Cooperative Learning in a Multimedia Learning Environment

ABSTRACT

Based on cooperative learning models, the present study investigated the specific effects of performance, interpersonal relations and affective variables in a computer‐based cooperative learning environment. Subjects were male and female adults who studied a multimedia learning program as a professional training task. After randomization 50 subjects worked in cooperative settings, while 25 subjects worked individually as a control group. In keeping with our assumptions, the subjects benefited from being paired. Further advantages for cooperative learning seem likely if instructions are modified and cooperative strategies used.     

The Success of Schools in Implementing Eight Restructuring Designs: A Synthesis of First‐Year Evaluation Outcomes

In the UK there has been strong governmental pressure on schools to adopt a technicist‐rational approach to management. This paper reports an investigation of the relationship between the efficiency of resource management and school effectiveness using data from 117 secondary school inspection reports undertaken by the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED). School effectiveness is assessed in terms of qualitative and quantitative measures of the quality of learning and teaching reported by inspectors. Quantitative indicators of the extent to which schools are assessed as ‘efficient’ in managing resources were derived. Statistical analysis suggests a positive association between school effectiveness and rational management practice.     

Special Education Teachers’ Self-Efficacy in Implementing Social–Emotional Learning to Support Students with Learning Disabilities

This study was designed to determine how special education teachers (SETs) in Saudi Arabia perceive their self-efficacy in implementing social–emotional learning (SEL) practices to support students with learning disabilities (LD). The data were collected by surveying 109 SETs of students with LD who teach at elementary and middle schools in Riyadh. The findings demonstrate that SETs had low to moderate self-efficacy in putting SEL into practice, and the participants highlighted the importance of receiving support that can enhance their self-efficacy in SEL. Moreover, the study's findings show some statistically significant variations in the responses of the teachers, as those who attended more professional development programs reported higher levels of self-efficacy. Additionally, middle school teachers and teachers with fewer years of experience showed a higher need for receiving support to enhance their implementation of SEL. Recommendations for future studies and practices are provided.     

Evaluating an Experiential Learning Program: The GLCA – Philadelphia Urban Semester

Abstract

Hie present study is an evaluation of the GLCA-Philadeiphia Urban Semester, a program of off-campus experiential learning for college students. The goals of the program were to help students understand the city, to develop self-understanding, and to learn about a field of work related to the occupational goals. Data were gathered from 315 students who had attended the program during the period 1968-1973 on how positively or negatively they evaluated selected aspects of their experiences. These overall evaluations were related to a series of independent variables by means of a regression analysis. The findings of this study show that an overwhelming majority of students evaluated the urban semester extremely positively. Secondly, it was found that students who developed a positive self-concept and held a positive attitude toward work during the urban semester ranked the program significantly higher than those students who did not develop positive self-concepts and positive attitudes towards work. Further research comparing this program to more traditional types of campus programs is suggested.     

The Spring Festival in China

About the Spring Festi-val, there are manylegends,one of whichgoes like this.Thou-sands of years ago,there lived a de-mon.He did much damage to the village people,so everyone was afraid of him and hated him.     

The Role of Motivation in Language Learning

The role of motivation in language learning has been studied since the 1960s. It is indeed one of the most important areas of linguistics. This paper suggests strategies of motivating language learners and focuses on the role which motivation can play in language learning. The concept of motivation from different points of view is defined, a number of suggestions on how to motivate language learners are presented and the role of motivation based on various motivational theories are highlighted. With regard to the role of motivation in language learning, it is concluded that motivation plays an increasingly important role in many aspects, such as identifying with the target language society, achieving long-term and short-term goals, improving language learners‘ internal and external powers and exerting a group force. It also indicates that there should be more research areas to be examined and a long way is probably requlred to go in future theoretical and practical study.     

The Importance of Informal Learning in EFL

除了课堂上的正规学习,在日常生活中老师应如何抓住时机丰富学生的英语知识呢?您不妨一试以下作者的建议。     

Cooperative Learning in China’s College English Teaching

With the elaboration on the theoretical bases and significance of the cooperative learning and the practical situation of college English teaching as well,this article probes into potentially applicable strategies in college English teaching in light of existing research.     

Development of an Instrument for Assessing Undergraduate Science Students’ Perceptions: The Problem-Based Learning Environment Inventory

This study aimed to develop and validate a problem-based learning environment inventory which would help teachers and researchers to better understand student views on problem-based learning environments. The development of the inventory included the following four steps: Item Formulation; Content Validation; Construct Validation; Reliability Calculation. It has 23 items allocated to four scales: (1) Student Interaction and Collaboration; (2) Teacher Support; (3) Student Responsibility; (4) Quality of Problem. Each learning environment item had a factor loading of at least 0.40 with its own scale, and less than 0.40 with all other scales. The results of the factor analysis revealed that the four scales accounted for the 53.72% of the total variance. The alpha reliability coefficient for the four scales ranged from 0.80 to 0.92. According to these findings, the Problem-based Learning Environment Inventory is a valid and reliable instrument that can be used in the field of education.