基于初中英语写作教学中合作学习的实施策略

本文结合小组合作学习的理论和初中英语写作教学的特点,总结了合作学习理论下的英语写作教学的具体实施方法。     

操作技能训练的教学策略

操作技能的训练是职业技术教育中一种重要的学习过程,与认知学习相比,具有自身的特点。在学习科学的视野中,操作技能的训练根据不同的阶段,应该采用不同的教和学的策略,随时调控,才能取得较高的训练质量。     

Why students need to be prepared to cooperate: a cooperative nudge in statistics learning at university

Despite the potential benefits of cooperative learning at university, its implementation is challenging. Here, we propose a theory-based 90-min intervention with 185 first-year psychology students in the challenging domain of statistics, consisting of an exercise phase and an individual learning post-test. We compared three conditions that manipulated the exercise phase: individual work, cooperative dyadic instructions (structuring three basic components of cooperative learning: positive goal interdependence, individual responsibility and promotive interactions) and cooperative dyadic interactions (the three basic components with an additional cooperative nudge, namely explaining why and how to cooperate in this task) in order to test whether a progressive increase in benefits occurs as the cooperative structure is reinforced. Results indicated a linear trend in individual post-test learning and competence perception, from individual work to cooperative instructions to cooperative interactions. Competence perception mediated the effect of experimental conditions on learning. The results highlight the benefits of the cooperative nudge.     

如何有效地在大学英语课堂中实施合作学习

合作学习是目前大学英语课堂中广为采用的教学策略。本文从学习小组的划分,教师的主导作用,评价的方式,合作意识的培养等方面入手,对于如何有效地在大学英语课堂中实施合作学习提出一些建议。     

The role of training in improving peer assessment skills amongst year six pupils in primary school writing: an action research enquiry

Peer assessment is where students assess the quality of a peer's work. Studies have demonstrated its positive impact on learning yet most of these are in higher education. This study used training to improve the quality of written feedback in a year six primary school classroom. Action Research was selected as a research strategy given the need to find a solution to a classroom problem. Convenience sampling was used as the research focused on the class of children where the issue lay. Methods used to evaluate the quality of training included documents, observations, informal interviews and mind maps. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data produced. The findings indicate that training may help to improve the quality of children's written feedback in primary school, as it has done in other contexts. Further research is needed to verify these results given the small sample size and absence of controls.     

合作学习在视听说课口语教学中的应用

合作学习是广泛应用于语言教学的一种教学法。本文记录了将合作学习理论应用于《大学英语视听说》课口语教学中一项为期17周的实验。比较实验组和对照组的结果表明,在口语训练中合理地采用合作学习法能够显著增加学生的语言输出、提高交际的流畅性和有效性。     

论舞蹈技巧中女生学习挺身前空翻过程及训练方法

舞蹈技巧中挺身前空翻是女班教学大纲所规定的重要教学内容之一,它是整个女班舞蹈技巧教学中的重中之重.本文对舞蹈技巧课女生挺身前空翻动作技术的学习过程及训练方法进行分析并阐述挺身前空翻的学习过程及训练方法.     

Implementing interactive courseware into EFL business writing: computational assessment and learning satisfaction

The implementation of interactive courseware within a task-based learning (TBL) approach was conducted for English Writing for Business to Chinese students in an applied foreign languages department housed in a university of technology. The development of the interactive courseware is based on Mayer’s multimedia learning theory, which allows learners to construct verbal and visual cognitive representations and integrate them; its language learning focus is keyed to Chapelle’s suggested criteria for development of multimedia CALL (computer assisted language learning). According to the curriculum, students had to accomplish three tasks rooted in the real world workplace: inquiry, negotiation, and complaint. Evaluation of the interactive ESP courseware into TBL instruction was based upon data from students’ pre- and post-writing performance measured by three different types of online computational assessments. In addition, a questionnaire survey about learning satisfaction was administered. The results indicate that students had significantly better post-writing performance and showed greater satisfaction after self-studying with the courseware-implemented instruction, which effectively integrated content knowledge, integrative English skills and writing practices embedded in the courseware. This instruction could be a potentially useful for teaching business writing by providing both content knowledge and its related integrative language practice.     

An experimental investigation into the efficiency of cooperative learning with consideration of multiple grouping criteria

The present study conducts an experimental investigation to compare the efficiency of the cooperative learning method with that of the traditional learning method. A total of 42 engineering students are randomly assigned to the two learning conditions and are formed into mixed-ability groups comprising three team members. In addition to the regular daytime classes, homework sessions are arranged such that the out-of-hours learning method and learning time can be effectively controlled. The students’ academic achievement is evaluated by means of unit tests in the daytime classes and homework tests in the out-of-hours sessions. As an alternative method for resolving the multiple grouping criteria problem, the analysis of covariance method is used to compensate for the initial difference in the prior knowledge of the students in the two learning conditions regarding the course contents. The results show that given an equivalent learning time, the students in the cooperative learning condition outperform those who study alone in both the unit tests and the homework tests. Therefore, it is concluded that cooperative learning has a higher efficiency than the individualistic learning method.     

Teachers' attitude and perception towards cooperative learning implementation: Influence of continuing training

The aim was to assess the influence of a training program on teachers' attitudes and perceptions related to the implementation of cooperative learning in educational contexts. This influence was assessed based on the teachers' knowledge area, educational stage, age, gender and years of teaching experience. 990 teachers from 60 schools participated. Results indicated a positive attitude from the teachers, regardless of their subject area or educational stage. However, significant differences were found regarding age and teaching experience. Training has proven to be a powerful predictor of success for the implementation of cooperative learning in educational settings.     

Bridging the gap: teachers cooperating together to implement cooperative learning

Cooperative learning (CL), in spite of extensive research and documented benefits, is not widely used in England. A review of the literature shows that it requires a staged and sustained approach to implementation, which has led to a gap between its potential and actual use. The case study cited here provides one example of bridging that gap through schools working together, with a community of facilitators, or experts, to provide support. As interest grows internationally into teachers cooperating in professional learning communities, this article argues that collaborative cultures provide the key to implementing and sustaining CL. In other words: teachers cooperating together also support pupils learning together.     

Using outdoor learning to augment social and emotional learning (SEL) skills in young people with social,emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD)

ABSTRACT

Under-developed social and emotional learning (SEL) skills limit educational progress and make it difficult for children and young people with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) to form effective relationships with peers and ADULTS. This paper focuses on an SEL intervention set within an outdoor learning context. The research was practitioner led and used an action research (AR) approach to implement and evaluate the SEL intervention. Research participants (aged 12–13 years) were recruited from a UK special school and were all considered to have SEBD. The paper provides evidence for the specific SEL skills that participation in outdoor learning can enhance. The evidence suggests that outdoor learning can be an effective approach for educators wishing to augment the SEL skills of young people with SEBD.     

Utilising social networking sites to improve writing: a case study with Chinese students in Malaysia

With the advancement of technology, writing in English is no longer confined to the classroom as nowadays students are exposed to various forms of writing on the Internet. Specifically with Generation Y in mind, online writing is a new method that needs to be implemented to enhance Malaysian students’ writing skills. This article aims at identifying what motivates English as a Second Language students to write in English on Facebook. Ten Chinese-speaking students from a private urban school were selected for this study. These students had just started secondary education after being educated in Chinese-vernacular elementary schools for six years. The students were required to participate in an ongoing discussion on their Facebook class page in order to complete a writing task. Data for this study comprised both online discussions and interviews. The findings suggest that peer influence and school surroundings motivated the students to write better in English on Facebook. The findings also imply that the use of technology in writing tasks made students write better in English owing to the exchanges of feedback and ideas that took place through this social networking site.     

Feedback in Hong Kong secondary writing classrooms: Assessment for learning or assessment of learning?

While much of L2 teacher feedback research has focused on the effectiveness of feedback and its impact on student revision and writing, little has been done to examine teachers’ feedback in the larger classroom context of teaching and learning to ascertain the functions teacher feedback serves from an assessment-for-learning perspective. Using multiple sources of data from 26 secondary teachers’ written feedback to 174 student texts, interviews with six of the teachers and 18 students, the present study investigates the nature of teacher feedback and the functions it serves in the teaching-learning-assessment process in the writing classroom. The findings show that teacher feedback focuses largely on assessing writing summatively, primarily serving the purpose of assessment of learning, rather than assessment for learning – i.e., using feedback as a pedagogical tool for improving the teaching and learning of writing. The study calls for greater attention to the implementation of assessment for learning in the writing classroom, and specifically the use of feedback for formative purposes.     

Developing essay writing skills: an evaluation of the modelling behaviour method and the influence of student self-efficacy

Social cognitive learning theory has shown that observational learning positively influences essay writing development in high-school students, and that self-efficacy impacts on motivation. This study investigated the relative contribution of model observation, model evaluation, post-submission feedback, and factors relating to self-efficacy, as measured through academic confidence, in the essay writing development of 142 university students. The research compared students’ essay marks between two semesters in order to explore whether observational learning had an impact on the development of the complex skills involved. The results revealed that all students benefit from traditional feedback and higher levels of self-efficacy when developing their essay writing performance. Underperforming students particularly benefited from actual essay writing. However, contrary to the predictions drawn from the literature, students in this study did not appear to benefit from observational learning when developing their skills. Limits to social learning theory are discussed.     

Embedding publication skills in science research training: a writing group programme based on applied linguistics frameworks and facilitated by a scientist

Few systematic efforts have been reported to develop higher degree by research student skills for writing publishable articles in science and technology fields. There is a need to address this lack in the light of the current importance of publication to science research students and the high supervisor workload entailed in repeated draft correction, especially when students use English as an additional language. An interdisciplinary teaching approach to address this need has recently been developed featuring analysis frameworks from applied linguistics (AL) research, with successful outcomes in short, stand-alone workshops facilitated by an applied linguist teaching alone or in teams with scientists. Its use by a scientist alone has not previously been investigated, although scientists are well placed to address this development need. We investigate the suitability and effectiveness of this approach for use by a scientist to embed training, in the context of the first two years of operation of a school-level writing group programme, and identify features of the approach that align with participants’ perceptions of benefit. Student response to the programme has been strongly positive, with increased confidence to write for publication and complete their degrees, and high activity towards publishing papers on their degree research. The presenter reports maintenance of his own publication output in spite of the time spent on this training, as a result of increased writing efficiency. Features of the approach that map to perceived benefit include its basis in AL frameworks for analysis of student-provided example papers; incorporation of relevant aspects of English usage and grammar in the frameworks; and inclusion of response to reviewer comments as an integral part of article writing.     

Longitudinal contributions of executive functioning and visual-spatial skills to mathematics learning in young Chinese children

One hundred sixty-five Hong Kong Chinese children were administered measures of early mathematics, visual-spatial skills, and executive functioning (working memory, inhibition, shifting, updating) once in kindergarten (mean age?=?62.80 months, SD?=?3.74) and again in first grade (mean age?=?77.25 months, SD?=?4.60). In kindergarten, visual-spatial skills, inhibition, shifting, and working memory were all uniquely associated with concurrent mathematics performance; in first grade, only working memory and visual-spatial skills were significantly related to concurrent mathematics abilities. Furthermore, working memory and visual-spatial skills in kindergarten predicted 19% of the variance in children’s mathematics performance in first grade, beyond the autoregressive effects of mathematics performance in kindergarten as well as demographic variables. Findings highlight the importance of working memory and visual-spatial skills for young Chinese children in mastering mathematics.