Who dares to disconnect in the age of uncertainty? Teachers’ recesses and ‘off‐the‐clock’ work

In 1999, all student teachers at secondary I level at the University of Bern who had to undertake an internship were asked to participate in a study on learning processes during practicum: 150 students and their mentors in three types of practicum participated—introductory practicum (after the first half‐year of studies), intermediate practicum (after two years of studies) and final practicum (after three years of studies). At the end of the practicum, student teachers and mentors completed questionnaires on preparing, teaching and post‐processing lessons. All student teachers, additionally, rated their professional skills and aspects of personality (attitudes towards pupils, self‐assuredness and well‐being) before and after the practicum. Forty‐six student teachers wrote daily semi‐structured diaries about essential learning situations during their practicum.

Results indicate that in each practicum students improved significantly in preparing, conducting and post‐processing lessons. The mentors rated these changes as being greater than did the student teachers. From the perspective of the student teachers their general teaching skills also improved, and their attitudes toward pupils became more open. Furthermore, during practicum their self‐esteem and subjective well‐being increased. Diary data confirmed that there are no differences between different levels of practicum in terms of learning outcomes, but give some first insight into different ways of learning during internship.     

Students’ Views of Learning in Vocational Education

The aim of this study was to investigate students’ conceptions of learning and approaches to learning within vocational education. A group of car‐mechanic students (n = 30) were interviewed at the end of their programme. The phenomenographic approach was used as the point of departure, and, as a result of the analysis, qualitative similarities and differences in students’ conceptions and approaches were found. The distribution of conceptions and approaches showed that half of students were classified as representing a quantitative view of learning and as favouring a surface approach. However, in order to encourage students to develop a qualitative view of learning and to use deep approaches, more attention must be paid to the ways in which students conceive learning within the school context and how they actually do in order to meet the demands they experience within their education.     

Experiencing Clay: Inquiry‐based Learning and Assessment for Learning

This article presents an examination of the effects of using an inquiry‐based learning pedagogy to teach ceramics to pre‐service teachers (my students) at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. At the beginning of the study the students were asked to conduct experiments on the properties of clay. The results indicate that half of them were able to transfer the knowledge and inquiry skills they had acquired from the experiments to their subsequent artwork production, but that the other half could not. I realised that the students needed more guidance to bridge the gap between their initial inquiries and their subsequent artistic creations. This could be done by explaining clearly the objectives of the inquiry‐based learning activities; employing strategies of assessment for learning: that is, setting explicit assessment criteria; involving the students in self‐assessments; and focusing more on methods of knowledge transfer and ways of bringing about improvements.     

Reconstructing educational theory from the authority of personal experience: how can I best help people learn to teach?

This paper reports data from a three‐year self‐study of teaching two types of students: science method students in theBEd program at Queen's University (Canada), and grade 12 physics students in a secondary school. By returning to the secondary school classroom after many years, I had the opportunity to revisit personally some of the challenges and dilemmas awaiting those beginning their careers as physics teachers. By listening closely to my students, I studied their experiences of learning as I experienced my own ‘re‐learning. One goal of my return to the secondary classroom was to explore ways in which I could model in my own teaching the processes of learning from experience that I wanted to convey to those learning to teach.

From this self‐study has emerged the construct of'authority of experience’ (Munby and Russell, 1994) as a term that can inform reflective practice by suggesting to teachers that they give attention to their own voices and to those of their students, and generally consider the ways in which experience has authority in relation to other sources of authority about teaching and learning to teach. The paper provides data to illustrate this construct and its potential value to those learning to teach. It also considers ways in which this stance toward teacher education represents a reconstruction of educational theory.     

Science Students' Perceptions of Engaging Pedagogy

During their years of schooling, students develop perceptions about learning and teaching, including the ways in which teachers impact on their learning experiences. This paper presents student perceptions of teacher pedagogy as interpreted from a study focusing on students' experience of Year 7 science. A single science class of 11 to 12 year old students and their teacher were monitored for the whole school year, employing participant observation, and interviews with focus groups of students, their teacher and other key members of the school. Analysis focused on how students perceived the role of the teacher's pedagogy in constructing a learning environment that they considered conducive to engagement with science learning. Two areas of the teacher's pedagogy are explored from the student perspective of how these affect their learning: instructional pedagogy and relational pedagogy. Instructional pedagogy captures the way the instructional dialogue developed by the teacher drew the students into the learning process and enabled them to “understand” science. How the teacher developed a relationship with the students is captured as relational pedagogy, where students said that they learned better when teachers were passionate in their approach to teaching, provided a supportive learning environment and made them feel comfortable. The ways in which the findings support the direction for the middle years and science education are considered.     

Understanding student pathways in context-rich problems

This paper describes the ways that students’ problem-solving behaviors evolve when solving multi-faceted, context-rich problems within a web-based learning environment. During the semester, groups of two or three students worked on five physics problems that required drawing on more than one concept and, hence, could not be readily solved with simple “plug-and-chug” strategies. The problems were presented to students in a data-rich, online problem-based learning environment that tracked which information items were selected by students as they attempted to solve the problem. The students also completed a variety of tasks, like entering an initial qualitative analysis of the problem into an online form. Students were not constrained to complete these tasks in any specific order. As they gained more experience in solving context-rich physics problems, student groups showed some progression towards expert-like behavior as they completed qualitative analysis earlier and were more selective in their perusal of informational resources. However, there was room for more improvement as approximately half of the groups still completed the qualitative analysis task towards the end of the problem-solving process rather than at the beginning of the task when it would have been most useful to their work.     

‘What can I do to help?’: Postsecondary students with learning disabilities' perceptions of instructors' classroom accommodations

This qualitative research report adopts a critical pedagogy perspective to examine the provision of classroom accommodations for postsecondary students with learning disabilities. Although instructors in the United States are bound to abide by disability rights laws, we also believe instructors can act in ways that allow students to feel comfortable in disclosing their disabilities and in requesting and accessing accommodations for these disabilities. We engaged the voices of 10 university students living with learning disabilities through a series of semi‐structured interviews. These students offered a variety of statements on the ways that their disabilities were accommodated or not by their instructors. We classified these perceptions into three kinds of accommodation perceived by university students with learning disabilities: non‐accommodation, formal accommodation and accommodation for all students. We discuss the implications that these types of accommodations have for pedagogy and offer recommendations for effective techniques for accommodating for all. We hope the voices of these students will serve to enhance communication between students with learning disabilities and their professors.     

中职学校学生英语学习效率低的原因及对策

由于近年来中等职业学校生源质量下降,在校学生学习成绩不佳,学习效率不高,特别是英语学科,大多数学生学习动力不足,方法不当,有些甚至放弃英语学习。本文通过问卷调查及相关数据资料,分析了学生英语学习效率不高的原因,并提出了分层教学、因势利导,使其明确学习动机,纠正学习方法,提倡随兴而导,凸现个性教育等相关对策。     

Cluster score performance of learning disabled students on the Woodcock-Johnson psycho-educational battery

Research suggests that the Woodcock-Johnson may be ineffective in its ability to identify learning disabled students, to depict their aptitude accurately, and to highlight processing strengths and deficits. Seventy-one previously identified learning disabled students were given the WJPEB, and their cluster score performance was evaluated. Using three different methods of obtaining discrepancies, only slightly more than half of the LD students were identified. Memory deficits were apparent. Support is given for cautious use of the WJPEB in LD diagnosis.     

Writing as a tool for constructive learning: Students' learning experiences during an experiment

Education students' learning experiences were investigated in an experiment where writing was used as a central tool for learning. Experimental group students (n = 15) studied three textbooks, carried out writing assignments requiring knowledge transforming, discussed their assignments in groups and wrote a long essay. Control group students (n = 13) read the same books on their own without engaging in activating learning tasks, attended lectures and took an exam. After the course the students were interviewed and asked what they felt they had learned during the course. They were also asked to fill in a learning assessment form. The interviews and the questionnaire assessments produced similar results. The experimental group students described their learning in a greater variety of ways than did the students in the control group. They emphasised the development of their thinking, changes in their conceptions of the topics studied and their acquisition of communication and study skills more than the control group students. The findings of the present study support earlier studies of writing-to-learn, suggesting that activating textbook reading by means of writing tasks and group discussions may enhance learning of the kind that higher education is aiming at: understanding, conceptional change and the development of critical thinking.     

On the Roots of Difficulties in Learning about Cell Division: Process‐based analysis of students’ conceptual development in teaching experiments

Empirical investigations on students’ conceptions of cell biology indicate major misunderstandings of scientific concepts even after thorough teaching. Therefore, the main aim of our research project was to investigate students’ difficulties in learning this topic and to study the impact of learning activities on students’ conceptions. Using the Model of Educational Reconstruction, a four‐phase design was carried out. Firstly, there was the clarification of science subject matter. Secondly, students’ conceptions were investigated, and finally, the learning activities were designed. An evaluation of these learning activities was carried out using five teaching experiments, each with three 9^th grade students (15–16 years, Grammar school). Interpretation of students’ “pathways of thinking” and their conceptual change during instruction was framed theoretically by experiential realism. Theoretical framework, methods and outcomes of the study may contribute to a deeper understanding of students’ ways of thinking in the field of cell biology and reveal the process of conceptual development by using well planned learning activities.     

Participation in transition review meetings: a case study of young people with learning disabilities leaving a special school

Transition into adulthood has been identified as a critical period in the lives of young people with learning disabilities, with national guidance and legislation emphasising the role of participation and inclusion as central to the transition process. In this article, Steven Carnaby, a clinical psychologist working with adults with learning disabilities in London and a lecturer in learning disability at the Tizard Centre, University of Kent; Patricia Lewis, head of the sixth form and SENCo; Di Martin, senior teacher and former SENCo; John Naylor, deputy head of the sixth form and head of arts; David Stewart OBE, headteacher, all from the Shepherd School, Nottingham, report the outcomes of a small-scale case study exploring these issues. The project ran for four years and, in Phase 1, evaluated the ways in which students with learning disabilities were involved in their transition review meetings as they entered their final year at school. This first phase found that many students were excluded from meaningful discussion in their planning meetings, highlighting students with more severe disabilities as being more vulnerable to exclusion. After a series of recommendations were made for improving practice in terms of inclusion and participation, Phase 2 of the study assessed ways in which practice in these areas had improved. The school had developed more individualised ways of working using person-centred techniques to enhance meaning for students. At the close of this article, the authors summarise these improvements and propose further strategies for enhancing the participation process.     

论多媒体条件下大学英语自主学习能力的培养

多媒体技术在英语教学中运用越来越广,多媒体建设对提高大学公共英语自主学习能力有积极作用,并从"因材施教确定自主学习目标","充分利用多媒体优势培养学生的自主学习能力"以及"教师摆正位置,扮演好引导者角色"三个方面进行了论证.     

"一村一名大学生计划"专业学员自律学习能力的培养

本文在分析“一村一名大学生计划”专业学员的构成情况、影响其自律学习因素的基础上，从转变观念、掌握学习方法、整合资源等三个方面提出了培养“一村一名大学生计划”专业学员自律学习能力的途径。     

Anger in relation to school learning

Recent years have seen an increased interest in the study of emotions. This is especially true for anger, which had neither been studied intensively in main stream psychology nor in educational psychology. The focus in the first part of this article is on the conceptualization and measurement of anger. A distinction is made between various anger constructs: “Trait-Anger” refers to a frequency judgment about experiencing anger, “Anger-In” and “Anger-Out” are typical ways in which students express their anger, and “Anger-Control” refers to the way students try to reduce their Anger-In or Anger-Out. In the second half of the article, an attempt is made to demonstrate that specific ways of expressing and controlling one's anger may differentially affect school results, as reflected in grade-point-average (GPA) for native language learning. The predictive power of the separate anger measures is investigated as well as the predictive power of various product terms including anger measures, anxiety and coping profiles. The implications of these findings for learning and instruction are discussed.     

英语兴趣小组的建立及实践探索

外语教学一直为大家所关注,它作为一门外来语言,教与学有其自身的特点。课堂教学只是其中一部分,而课外的学习也是举足轻重的。外语兴趣小组突出在于＂兴趣＂上,而不是在于＂外语＂上。要让学生对外语学习产生兴趣,在有兴趣的基础上学习外语,从而达到学好外语的目的。外语兴趣小组作为一种课外类型的辅导不能像课堂教学那样从正面对学生进行词汇的增加、语法的讲解、知识点的灌输,而要从侧面进行疏导。但又不能脱离教材,要结合教材,有一定的连贯性,对课堂教学形成一种互补。笔者通过一年半的探讨,初步构建了外语兴趣小组的辅导模式。     

Academics’ experiences of understanding of their subject matter and the relationship of this to their experiences of teaching and learning

In this paper we focus on the issue of how academic staff experience the understanding of their subject matter and the relationship of this understanding to their experience of teaching. In recent years there has been a substantial amount of research into how academic staff conceive of teaching and learning, how they approach their teaching, and how their approaches to teaching relate to how their students approach their learning. In our present project this research is being extended by looking at the way 31 academics from four broad fields of study experience their understanding of their subject matter and how this relates to the way they experience their teaching. Using a phenomenographic approach we show that academics who experience their subject matter in atomistic and less integrated ways experience their teaching in more information transmission and teacher-focused ways, while those with a more integrated and holistic experience of understanding their subject experience their teaching in more conceptual change and student-focused ways.in final form: 9 September 2004     

National Identity in EFL Learning: A Longitudinal Inquiry

This article draws on a longitudinal study of four Chinese students’ English learning experiences during their college years and explores the ways in which EFL learning has influenced their sense of national identity. The study captures the changes they have experienced in constructing identities over a prolonged period in the context of mainland China where strong sense of national identity has been historically promoted and where there is currently unprecedentedly close interaction between local cultures and western cultures. Drawing on interviews and diary studies as the primary data source, this study identifies a three‐stage development in the national identities of the college students that proceeds from initial admiration of English‐speaking cultures, to antagonism towards alien things, before then reaching a stage of conciliation between the national and the global. The findings suggest that China’s deeply‐rooted culture of collectivism and altruism plays a role in shaping English learners’ national identity and that the learners also demonstrate considerable agency in constructing national identities at different stages of English learning.     

‘But when you are doing your exams it is the same as in China’ – Chinese students adjusting to western approaches to teaching and learning

Investigations of Chinese students and their approaches to learning have emphasised a dichotomy in ‘western’ and ‘Confucian’ approaches to education but in a longitudinal study of Chinese postgraduate students’ academic adjustment to a British university the dichotomy is less than real. The focus of this research was on an in-depth study of students’ own conceptualisation of their learning and the vocabulary they used to describe their adjustment. Ethnographic interview data were collected from 14 participants studying different disciplines at three points during their first 10 months of study in a British university. The data show how students brought certain concepts of learning with them, acquired new ones, and found ways of combining the two. Students are aware of the contextual nature of their new learning processes, and the relationship between the two sets of ideas is not one of substitution but rather of extension and interaction.

The implications for teaching and learning are discussed.     

元认知：一种提高大学生英语听力能力的有效策略

学习者是否有元认知意识（一种学习策略,即掌握和利用认知知识来调控认知过程）是衡量他们学习能力的一个很重要的指标。本文针对大学英语听力方面存在的问题,从听力计划的制订和听力相关知识的准备,听力过程的调控,听力结果的评价三方面探索元认知意识对提高大学生英语听力能力的积极作用;同时在如何培养学生的元认知意识来提高他们的听力能力方面也做了一些有意的探讨。