A Study on the Effects of Online Interaction for the EFL Learners ’Writ-ing Motivation

With the rapid development of information technology, how to utilize the Web in the field of language teaching has become a heated issue in the foreign language teaching reform around the whole world. ...     

Adolescent English Learners’ Use of Digital Technology in the Classroom

This study looked at how five adolescent English Learners (ELs) in an English as a second language class use the available digital technology. Data collected consisted of classroom observations, student and classroom documents, and focus student interviews. Data collection and analysis were simultaneous processes. Findings suggest adolescent ELs use their personal smartphones and school-provided laptops on a regular basis for entertainment and scaffolding purposes.     

A Study on the Effects of Online Interaction for the EFL Learners’ Writing Motivation

With the rapid development of information technology, how to utilize the Web in the field of language teaching has become a heated issue in the foreign language teaching reform around the whole world. For so many years, during the teachercentered English writing teaching process, students have no choice but to accept model essays and recite the well-performed sentences and structures. it is hard for teachers and students to conduct an effective interaction, which leads to students’ lacking of writing motivations. The author conducted the experiment with QQ group as a medium, and analyzed the results of the experiment among 66 students from Wuhan University, in order to study how to make good use of the network environment to promote the communication and interaction between students, and then enhance their writing motivation. The experimental data and discussions show that online interaction can motivate students to complete writing tasks, especially enhance their instrumental achievement and intrinsic motivation.     

Does the Visual Appeal of Instructional Media Affect Learners’ Motivation Toward Learning?

While authors like Mayer (2009) suggest that designers should avoid using visuals for the purpose of attracting learners’ interests, some scholars suggest that visuals could influence learners’ emotions. In this study the author investigated whether the perception of the visual appeal of instructional handouts affects learners’ self-reported motivation to learn from the handouts. Two handouts were prepared for this study: a minimalist handout following Mayer’s (2009) Coherence Principle and an appealing handout complying with everyday visual trends. Participants were instructed to look at the handouts in different orders according to groups and were asked about their impressions of the handouts. The appealing handout was perceived as motivating when it was seen after the minimalist handout. However, the group that saw the minimalist handout first did not perceive the appealing handout as motivating. The result implies that not only the design but also the learning context influences learners’ self-reported motivation to engage with the handout.     

Why Throw the Negs Out with the Bathwater? A Study of Students' Attitudes to Digital and Film Photographic Media

As today's digital applications hold our gaze and become increasingly ubiquitous, it is easy to dismiss the previous technologies and processes that provided yesterday's creative opportunities. Photography has been revolutionised by digital capture and transmission in the past decade. It could be argued that there is a digital orthodoxy in education, which has democratized and engaged increasing numbers of students, and has had a particular influence in A Level Photography. Over the past decade many traditional darkrooms have been replaced by computer suites. My concern is that if secondary schools and colleges with the facilities to teach film are forced to convert to a singular digital mode, we may be throwing the negs out with the bathwater. This study uses qualitative and quantitative research that I have undertaken at a Further Education college in England. It explores students' attitudes to learning Photography with an artistic curiosity, which includes experiential learners, and those that eschew the digital age who are content with the organic variety of analogue learning that film offers. They make their own case for maintaining the opportunity to learn through hybrid activity that embraces both media, for a multiplicity of learning opportunities and media that are not limited by any orthodoxy, digital or otherwise.     

A Survey of Adverbial Connectors in EFL Learners’ Writing:A Comparative Study

Through a comparative study of the use of ACs (ACs) in EFL learners’ writing at different English writing proficiency, Chinese EFL learners’ use of ACs are analyzed with the hope to provide valuabe suggestions in Enligh writing teaching and learning.     

Delivery Method: Does it Matter? A Study of the North Carolina Developmental Mathematics Redesign

In 2009, the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) began the process of redesigning developmental mathematics (DMA) courses. The first classes were offered in 2012 with final state implementation in fall 2013. The purpose of this study was to examine the subsequent gateway course success rates achieved by former DMA students in relation to the delivery method (i.e., teacher-centered, student-centered, and computer-centered) used in the redesigned North Carolina DMA courses. Students included in this study took a gateway math course and a developmental math course during the same or previous academic year. Students who participated in student-centered and computer-centered instruction in their DMA course had a statistically significant pass rate in subsequent gateway courses compared with students receiving teacher-centered instruction. Along with the findings, this paper discusses considerations for redesign, including the choice of delivery methods and instructional techniques, and recommendations for further research.     

Does Thoughtfully Adaptive Teaching Actually Exist? A Challenge to Teacher Educators

In this article, we explore the roots of thoughtfully adaptive teaching in reflection. Drawing on the conceptual work of Dewey and Schon, we examine reflective practice in teaching as a tool for resistance against institutional pressures to standardize teaching practices. We describe 2 programs of research related to this topic. One program of research is focused on teacher adaptations to practice in the classroom. The second program of research is focused on coaching teachers to develop strategies for thoughtfully adaptive teaching. We draw on the work of Janks around deconstruction and reconstruction for critical teaching practices.     

Does Student Philanthropy Work? A Study of Long-term Effects of the “Learning by Giving” Approach

Student philanthropy is a teaching strategy designed to engage students actively in the curriculum, increase awareness of social needs and nonprofit organizations, and teach grant-writing and grant-making skills. This is the first study to examine long-term effects of student philanthropy by surveying alumni years after their experience with this teaching strategy. A majority of respondents indicated that student philanthropy had a positive effect on their awareness, learning, beliefs, and intentions. Further, 86% of student philanthropy alumni had recently made charitable contributions, 71% reported volunteering, and 15% served on nonprofit boards – all of which are much higher than the national averages for these behaviors.     

A Qualitative Study of British Student Teachers’ Lesson Planning Perspectives

Abstract

Five student teachers on a one year, internship based Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course, were tracked in an attempt to understand their lesson planning perspectives. The investigation concentrated on the key areas of the planning process as it related to their learning, their beliefs about planning, the process of planning and the factors that influenced that process. The data are presented in the form of two case studies and the discussion includes the implications for future research in the area, as well as recommendations for reforming the role of lesson planning in teacher education.     

A New Politics of the Principalship? Accountability-Driven Change in New York City

How do principals adjust to new standards and measurement rulers of school performance when they are coupled with high-stakes consequences? Adopting a contingent view of leadership and a multiple accountabilities framework, this qualitative study explores how high school principals enacted their accountability in New York City, by comparing two periods: just before such policy changes took effect and just after. We observed large differences in principals' attention to external political, bureaucratic, and market accountabilities; how much accountability conflict or alignment was experienced; and how principals' sense of professionalism was constructed. These differences may portend a new politics of the principalship.     

A Study of the Cooperation in the Classroom

In the past, the teachers are traditionally regarded as information givers; Knowledge flows only one way from teachers to students, while the students are usually considered as information receivers and they are very passive and boring. New syllabus requires cooperation between teachers and students, So teachers may need to re-think their approaches when they teach students, Teachers not only need to build up a positive relationship with the students, but also need to establish a clear understanding of how they expect and want things to be.     

Student–Faculty Collaborative Research: A Qualitative Study of Experiences with the Authorship Determination Process

Mentoring students through collaborative research can be an effective method for cultivating student development as scholars; but negotiating the division of responsibilities and recognition may be difficult due to the inherent complexities of the relationship between collaborators and the research process itself. A national sample of 440 students and faculty in education and social science disciplines described their positive and negative experiences with authorship determination in student–faculty collaborative research. Qualitative analysis of these responses revealed important themes and informed the development of suggestions for articulating authorship to avoid potential difficulties.     

When Does Scale Anchoring Work? A Case Study

Providing information to test takers and test score users about the abilities of test takers at different score levels has been a persistent problem in educational and psychological measurement. Scale anchoring, a technique which describes what students at different points on a score scale know and can do, is a tool to provide such information. Scale anchoring for a test involves a substantial amount of work, both by the statistical analysts and test developers involved with the test. In addition, scale anchoring involves considerable use of subjective judgment, so its conclusions may be questionable. We describe statistical procedures that can be used to determine if scale anchoring is likely to be successful for a test. If these procedures indicate that scale anchoring is unlikely to be successful, then there is little reason to perform a detailed scale anchoring study. The procedures are applied to several data sets from a teachers’ licensing test.     

Influence of Personality on SLA—A Qualitative Case Study of ESL Chinese Students

This study aims to examine the influence of personality on second language learning.The whole study was based on the researcher’s regular interviews with two ESL Chinese students and the observation of their performance during their first semester.Additional data was collected via a simplified Myers Briggs Type Indicator(MBTI)and interviews with their teachers and a native speaker of English.Overall English proficiency was assessed using two Institutional TOEFL tests and their current GPA during their ESL studies.A positive relationship was found between extraversion and spoken English while a slight but passive correlation emerged between extraversion and overall English achievement.     

Strategy Use in the Comprehension of English Idioms——A Comparative Study of Good and Poor Chinese English Learners

This study investigates whether L2 learners of English rely on their L1 (in this case Chinese) when attempting to comprehend an idiom in English and whether the student’s level of proficiency has any effect on L1 use in understanding L2 idioms. Using think-aloud protocol, the following conclusions were reached: 1) Almost all subjects translated English idioms into Chinese and searched a match, i.e. there exist transfer and interference of L1 in understanding L2 idioms.2) When the L1 was unable to help for understanding different idioms, good students were able to use conceptual strategies (i.e. metaphors and schema) better than poor students. This paper concludes with a suggestion that metaphor instruction be used to teach L2 idioms since a student cannot get very far when relying solely on his L1.     

Does Neoliberalist-based Internationalized Higher Education Function in Chi-nese Context? A Case Study of the University of Nottingham Ningbo China

Despite the dispute on whether the impacts of globalization and internationalization on the development of economy, society, culture and education are true, the fact we cannot deny is that neoliberalis...