The use of language in understanding subject matter

Empirical results show that frequently the meaning of expressions used by students in expressing their understanding of subject matter does not correspond to the meaning of those expressions in the subject matter theory that the students are expected to learn. There is also often a lack of identity of meaning between the same students’ use of the same expression from one use of the expression to another, in very similar contexts. The context gives a specific meaning to any expression. This variation in context and meaning is very central to the phenomena of teaching and learning. In educational research there is a need to differentiate between specific meanings expressed in conceptualizing subject matter, on the one hand, and concepts and meanings seen as parts of cognitive systems and social languages, on the other. The contextual character of the use of language is crucial to the understanding of teaching and learning and needs to be more carefully considered. The article is a discussion of the problem of varying meanings of language expressions in relation to major traditions of research, focusing on meanings and concepts within the field of learning and teaching.     

Reconsidering conceptual change from a socio-cultural perspective: analyzing students’ meaning making in genetics in collaborative learning activities

In the learning sciences, students’ understanding of scientific concepts has often been approached in terms of conceptual change. These studies are grounded in a cognitive or a socio-cognitive approach to students’ understanding and imply a focus on the individuals’ mental representations of scientific concepts and ideas. We approach students’ conceptual change from a socio-cultural perspective as they make new meaning in genetics. Adhering to a socio-cultural perspective, we emphasize the discursive and interactional aspects of human learning and understanding. This perspective implies that the focus is on students’ meaning making processes in collaborative learning activities. In the study, we conduct an analysis of a group of students’ who interact while working to solve problems in genetics. In our analyses we emphasize four analytical aspects of the students’ meaning making: (a) the students’ use of resources in problematizing, (b) teacher interventions, (c) changes in interactional accomplishments, and (d) the institutional aspect of meaning making. Our findings suggest that students’ meaning making surrounding genetics concepts relates not only to an epistemic concern but also to an interactional and an institutional concern.

The epistemological role of language use in learning: A phenomenographic intentional-expressive approach

In research on learning, one of the fundamental questions concerns issues of language and thought. A number of empirical studies have revealed the interplay between understanding of subject matter and meanings of language expressions to be more dynamic and ambiguous than is commonly acknowledged. The aim of this article is to outline an alternative intentional-expressive approach to the interplay between use of language and understanding of subject matter as a contribution to the theoretical development in research on learning. The approach is based on a conception of language that focuses on the function of learners’ language use in relation to subject matter in developing and expressing understanding. The learner is seen as an agent, and the focus is on the use of language from the learner's perspective. Four aspects of the relation between learners and subject matter are described and discussed. Conclusions concern the value of this approach as a complement and alternative to the dominant communicative and cognitive approaches to the role of language in learning.     

Monet, Malaguzzi, and the Constructive Conversations of Preschoolers in a Reggio-Inspired Classroom

This study was conducted in a Reggio inspired child care classroom of 4-year olds where the fundamental principles of Reggio Emilia preschools are interpreted for a Canadian context. Qualitative case study methodology was employed to investigate how social interaction plays a role in young children’s learning processes. Drawing on social constructivist views of children’s learning and socialization, children’s discussions and interactions within a preschool learning group were examined. Examination of children’s discourse is valuable not only for understanding individual and group learning experiences but also for illuminating children’s agency and their active roles in their own learning. The study focused on the in-depth study of six children’s activities during a ‘Shades of Pink’ project. As the project, ‘Shades of Pink’ unfolded, the children faced cognitive conflict while they were talking about the details of Monet’s painting, but worked toward building common understandings. In this study, children are considered to be meaning makers and active participants in their own learning processes. In addition, the relationships between children became a context in which the co-construction of theories, interpretations and various understandings of reality took place. Small group work became a basis for creating unity, a space in which thoughts took shape as well as a way to compare interpretations; with the result that new thoughts and meanings were produced.     

cMOOC的内涵及其主体观、知识观和学习观

cMOOC是关联主义学习理论与开放教育理念在网络学习与非正式学习领域的实践发展,体现了后现代主义课程范式．对传播、分享与创新知识具有重要意义。首先通过分析、提取和总结国外学者早期对MOOC的表述．结合cMOOC的字面意义初步提出了cMOOC的描述性定义。进而分析了cMOOC与0CW、传统网络课程之间的区别：然后分析了cMOOC的差异性、自治性、交互性或关联性、开放性、参与性、生成性特征;最后基于关联主义学习理论、自组织理论与后现代主义课程论视角解析了cMOOC的主体观、知识观与学习观。结论是cMOOC主张交往、对话、理解与包容的关系型主体观：主张将知识看成是主体间协商对话的结果,倡导知识的境脉性、流变性与网络化;主张学习就是持续地创建个人知识网络的过程。     

Teaching-for-Learning (TFL): A Model for Faculty to Advance Student Learning

In light of the widespread recognition of the enduring challenge of enhancing the learning of all students—including a growing number of students representing diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds—there has been an explosion of literature on teaching, learning, and assessment in higher education. Notwithstanding scores of promising new ideas, individual faculty in higher education need a dynamic and inclusive model to help them engage in a systematic and continuous process of exploring and testing various teaching and assessment practices to ensure the learning of their students. This paper introduces a model—Teaching-for-Learning (TFL)—developed to meet this need. Clifton F. Conrad received his bachelor’s degree in History and his master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Kansas and his Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Michigan. He is Professor of Higher Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and his research focus is on college and university curricula with particular emphases on program quality, liberal education, and teaching and learning. Jason Johnson received his bachelor’s degree in Comparative History of Ideas and his master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Washington. He is nearing completion of his Ph.D. and working as a Teaching Assistant in Higher Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his research focuses on rhetoric in higher education. Divya Malik Gupta received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Human Development and Family Studies from Maharaja Sayajirao University in Gujarat, India. She is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.     

Transformation through Language Use: Children’s Spontaneous Metaphors in Elementary School Science

This article examines the role elementary school children’s spontaneous metaphors play in learning science. The data consists of tape recordings of about 25 h from five different schools. The material is analysed using a practical epistemology analysis and by using Dewey’s ideas on the continuity and transformation of experience. The results show the rich and varied meanings that children put into their spontaneous metaphors. Their metaphors deal with facts as well as norms and aesthetics in relation to the science content taught and they influence learning both through what is made salient, as well as through their relations to the children’s possibilities of proceeding with their undertakings. Often one and the same metaphor encompassed all these cognitive, aesthetic and normative aspects at the same time. It is discussed how this rich meaning can be cultured in a productive way, and how the children’s spontaneous metaphors, with all their relations, can be used to enhance conceptual learning and also learning about the nature of metaphor use in science. Through their connection with various experiences of the children, it is also shown how children’s spontaneous metaphors have the potential to enliven and humanise the subject.     

The non-instrumental vision of the learning society

This essay considers the non-instrumental vision of the learning society through the analysis of its conceptual logic and meaning based on A. J. Cropley’s approach. It outlines a view of the learning society whereby learning is an end in itself rather than a means of achieving other economic or civic purposes, as currently described in relevant literature and policies. How the learning society might possibly be developed in practice without attachment to any further concerns is considered. When regarded as being an end in itself, the learning society focuses on the inherent value of learning. Learning is valuable for its very presence, in the sense that it has decisive, long-term effects in shaping one’s character. The development of one’s “learning to become” can become effective when one learns in the learning society. This view opens up a “thought experiment” of how the learning society could be supported in practice. The internal consistency of this possible logic of society and meaning as explored here can be seen as a goal to strive for, a commitment to uphold.     

Teachers and children’s loneliness: A review of the literature and educational implications

The present study is a critical review of the research literature concerning the links between the teacher and children’s loneliness. More specifically, the issue of children’s loneliness in the school is summarized. Research data documenting that loneliness is a risk factor in children’s development are briefly reviewed. Next, hypotheses and research data are reviewed on the following aspects: (I) the association between children’s loneliness and the quality of the teacher-child relationship from the viewpoint of attachment theory; (II) the teacher’s attitude toward children’s loneliness and his or her perceptions of his or her effectiveness in dealing with it; (III) the teacher’s ability to identify lonely children; and (IV) the children’s perceptions of the role of the teacher in the emergence and alleviation of their loneliness. Finally, on the basis of the existing data, critical questions are formulated, suggestions for future research are made, and educational implications for teacher training and school-based interventions are discussed.     

Language experience narratives and the role of autobiographical reasoning in becoming an urban science teacher

One of the central challenges globalization and immigration present to education is how to construct school language policies, procedures, and curricula to support academic success of immigrant youth. This case-study compares and contrasts language experience narratives along Elena’s developmental trajectory of becoming an urban science teacher. Elena reflects upon her early language experiences and her more recent experiences as a preservice science teacher in elementary dual language classrooms. The findings from Elena’s early schooling experiences provide an analysis of the linkages between Elena’s developing English proficiency, her Spanish proficiency, and her autobiographical reasoning. Elena’s experiences as a preservice teacher in two elementary dual language classrooms indicates ways in which those experiences helped to reframe her views about the intersections between language learning and science learning. I propose the language experience narrative, as a subset of the life story, as a way to understand how preservice teachers reconstruct past language experiences, connect to the present, and anticipate future language practices.     

The design of motivational agents and avatars

While the addition of an anthropomorphic interface agent to a learning system generally has little direct impact on learning, it potentially has a huge impact on learner motivation. As such agents become increasingly ubiquitous on the Internet, in virtual worlds, and as interfaces for learning and gaming systems, it is important to design them to optimally impact motivation. The focus of this paper is on the design of agents and avatars (one’s self-representation as a visual agent) for enhancing motivational and affective outcomes, such as improving self-efficacy, engagement and satisfaction, moderating frustration, and/or improving stereotypes. Together with motivational messages and dialogue (which are not discussed here), the agent’s appearance is the most important design feature as it dictates the learner’s perception of the agent as a virtual social model, in the Bandurian sense. The message delivery, through a human-like voice with appropriate and relevant emotional expressions, is also a key motivational design feature. More research is needed to determine the specifics with respect to the ideal agent voice and the role of other nonverbal communication (e.g., deictic gestures) that may contribute to the agent’s role as an embodied motivator, particularly in the long-term.     

Metaphors in mathematics classrooms: analyzing the dynamic process of teaching and learning of graph functions

This article presents an analysis of a phenomenon that was observed within the dynamic processes of teaching and learning to read and elaborate Cartesian graphs for functions at high-school level. Two questions were considered during this investigation: What types of metaphors does the teacher use to explain the graphic representation of functions at high-school level? Is the teacher aware of the use he/she has made of metaphors in his/her speech, and to what extent does he/she monitor them? The theoretical framework was based on embodied cognition theory. Our findings include teachers’ expressions that suggest, among other ideas: (1) orientation metaphors, such as “the abscissa axis is horizontal”; (2) fictive motion, such as “the graph of a function can be considered as the trace of a point that moves over the graph”; (3) ontological metaphors; and (4) interaction of metaphors. We also show that teachers were not aware of using metaphors.     

The Scaffolding of Emergent Literacy Skills in the Home Environment: A Case Study

The ways in which parent-child interactions can encourage the development of emergent literacy skills in young children remains to be fully explored. The present report describes how one parent scaffolded her young child’s emergent writing and letter knowledge in the home. Environmental print provided many rich and meaningful examples for the parent to show that print conveys meaning and is constructed with letters that have names and make sounds. The parent used idiomorphs, a multisensory approach incorporating the tracing of letters and whole body movements, and common household objects to guide the child’s learning of letter names, sounds, and shapes. Emergent writing skills were scaffolded by using directional language and by the child copying environmental print. The strategies and examples that are described may give guidance to parents and teachers on how to provide engaging opportunities for literacy learning in the home environment or in an early educational context.     

Mediators of a Preservice Teacher’s Use of the Inquiry-Application Instructional Model

This paper reports on one preservice teacher’s use of the Inquiry-Application Instructional Model (I-AIM) to plan and teach an instructional sequence on photosynthesis to 5th-grade students. Analysis of the preservice teacher’s planned and enacted instructional sequences and interviews shows that the preservice teacher was successful in leveraging the conceptual change but not the inquiry aspects of the I-AIM. The mediators of this preservice teacher’s use of the I-AIM included her approach to teaching science, the curriculum materials she had available, and the meanings she made of the underlying frameworks. Understanding the mediators of preservice teachers’ uses of instructional models can inform teacher educators’ approaches to supporting preservice teachers in using instructional models for organizing science instructional sequences.     

Interactive Read Alouds: Teachers and Students Constructing Knowledge and Literacy Together

Interactive read alouds are important learning opportunities for emergent readers because teachers and peers can actively model and scaffold comprehension strategies, engage readers, and cultivate a community of learners. Using data from a 9 month ethnographic study in an urban kindergarten classroom, this article describes how the teacher’s approach facilitated rich interaction in the classroom as students read and made sense of stories together. Findings of this study demonstrate how interactive read alouds were important learning opportunities for emergent readers because they provided opportunities for open-ended responses combined with specific reading instruction. The interactive read alouds created a space where meaning was constructed through dialogue and classroom interaction, providing an opportunity for children to respond to literature in a way that builds on their strengths and extends their knowledge.     

Word sense disambiguation using semantic relatedness measurement

INTRODUCTION The need to determine the degree of semantic similarity, or more generally, relatedness, between two lexically expressed concepts is applied in such ap- plications as word sense disambiguation (WSD), determining discourse structure, text summarization and annotation, information extraction and retrieval, automatic indexing, lexical selection, and automatic correction of word errors in text. All human languages have words that can mean different things in different contexts, s…     

From crayons to perfume: Getting beyond contrived collegiality

Based on reflections from over a decade of research, scholarship, and programmatic applications, this article provides evidence of impact from the work of Professor Andy Hargreaves with a specific focus on his concept of contrived collegiality. Explorations into matters of emotion provided an entry point through which the author has addressed the potential for overcoming patterns of contrived collegiality. Early research resulted in a theoretical framework of emotional epistemologies which has been foundational to the design and delivery of professional development and master’s degree programs as well as further research into the evidence of impact from this approach to leadership development. The engagement with emotional meaning making, when treated as a way of building trust and developing collaborative learning communities, has proven a good match for the otherwise relatively contrived collegiality that Professor Hargreaves identified. Professor Hargreaves’ contributions to the author’s journey are a feature of the piece.     

Patterns of Variation in Teaching the Colour of Light to Primary 3 Students

This paper shows how the patterns of variation created in the teaching were critical in helping a class of Primary 3 students in Hong Kong to learn about the colour of light, so that the students attained conceptual rather than procedural knowledge. A ‘Learning Study’ approach was adopted, which is a Lesson Study grounded in a particular learning theory to improve teaching and learning. This study, based on the learning theory of Variation advanced by Marton and Booth, was premised on three types of variation: variation in students’ ways of experiencing what is to be taught/learnt (V1), variation in teachers’ ways of dealing with the ‘object of learning’ (V2), and the use of ‘pattern of variation’ as a guiding principle of pedagogical design to enhance students’ learning (V3). In planning the lesson, a conscious effort was made to create relevant patterns of variation, i.e. varying certain critical aspect(s) while keeping other aspects of the object of learning invariant in order to help students to discern those aspects. Comparison between the results of the pre- and post-test shows that there was significant gain in the students’ learning outcomes with respect to the intended object of learning. The findings contribute knowledge to how the Theory of Variation can be used in practice. It also illustrates how teachers can make use of this theoretical framework to analyze their own teaching and thereby, develop an analytical awareness of teaching and learning.