Testing a model of teaching for anxiety and success for English language teaching

Much research has shown that there is a negative relationship between high levels of anxiety and success for English language teaching. This paper aimed to test a model of teaching for anxiety and success in English language teaching to affect anxiety and success levels at the same time in a control-experiment group with pre- and post-test study design. Anxiety levels were measured by anxiety questionnaires and electroencephalograph recordings of brain waves and success was measured by grammar tests prepared by the researcher. Results of Mann–Whitney U Test, Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test and ANOVA pointed to a statistically significant difference in anxiety and success levels between the experiment and control group. Discussion of the results as well as implications for future research is presented.     

I am sailing—towards a transactional analysis of ‘body techniques’

In recent years there has been a growing interest in questions related to embodiment and learning. Within the field of ‘body pedagogics’ great efforts have been made to develop theory and methodology that can deal with the corporeal aspects of experience and knowledge without adopting any form of dualistic conceptions of body/mind and organism/environment. This article connects to this body of research. The purpose is to first present a synthesis of James' radical empiricism, Dewey's transactional understanding of experience and learning and Marcel Mauss' concept of ‘body techniques’ and the notion of education embedded in it. Against the background of this theoretical development, and with a Transactional Model of Analyzing Bodying (TMAB), we then show how we can analytically come to terms with different dualistic problems that research into ‘body pedagogics’ has to deal with. We use an empirical example of dinghy sailing to create knowledge about what we learn when learning embodied knowledge, and how this learning takes place. We argue that experience is an important concept for understanding the acting knowing human being, describing how experience is organized and developed and outlining how this organization can be understood as learning. We hold that situations where someone learns to embody certain knowledge are cases of overt actions, in which we can see what kinds of relations are created and how these relations become meaningful for further action.     

Assessment by project work in snow engineering

Assessment in the form of a large project and field- and laboratory work was shown to be successful when applied to a course in snow engineering for university students with various backgrounds. The course was interdisciplinary, with teachers representing three different engineering disciplines. The project work was assessed by a report, a short oral presentation and an optional presentation such as a home page, a poster or a physical model. The students experienced that they had learned more with this assessment strategy than from courses with a final written exam. Peer evaluation of the relative contributions to the project work was applied and was appreciated by the students. The experiences of practical engineering tasks during the project work were also appreciated.     

Ground level ozone exposure and distribution over the historical Peninsula of Istanbul

In this study, passive samplers were used to measure ozone exposure distribution maps over the historical peninsula of Istanbul, Turkey. The study area is partially important due to the presence of cultural and historical buildings and structures distributed all over the peninsula. Unesco's World Heritage list covers four zones located in this historical peninsula in Istanbul. It is necessary to evaluate the pollution distribution in high resolution to construct effective risk management strategies. For this purpose, 50 sampling stations were installed within the study area. Three sampling campaigns within different seasons (summer, winter and fall) showing different ozone distribution characteristics were carried out. Seasonal measurements of ozone exposure values were used to obtain a yearly exposure level, which is an important part of risk characterization. Seasonal ozone exposure maps over the historical peninsula were obtained using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) based interpolation models with high resolution. Risk maps including five regions, based on ozone exposure levels were created. Structures and historical regions located within these risk zones were identified. Based on the defined exposure regions, we found that the Archaeological Park, one of the items on UNESCO's list, is located within the most risky region.     

Effects of axial conduction in laminar tube flow with convective boundaries

Heat transfer in laminar tube flow with convective boundary conditions and axial heat conduction in the fluid is solved exactly. The effects of the external Biot numbers and the axial conduction in fluid on the temperature distribution and the local Nusselt number are determined for both the upstream and the downstream regions. In order to illustrate the effects of velocity profile, the results for the slug flow and the parabolic velocity profiles are plotted simultaneously. The heat transfer characteristics of the flow are found to be rather sensitive to the Péclét number, the external Biot numbers and the velocity profile in the thermal entrance region.     

Training for Service in Developing Countries

In June 1979, the Swedish Government appointed a Commission of Inquiry to look into the total training requirements for Swedish personnel in contact with the developing countries. This action was taken against a background of increased Swedish involvement in the development countries, in aid, industry and a large number of voluntary organisations, and in the light of the demands made on Swedes serving in developing countries due to living and working in an alien environment.

The Commission commenced its work in September 1979* and worked closely with a reference group consisting of representatives drawn from the Swedish administration, the business world, the missionary societies and the trade union movement. This article summarises those parts of the Commission's report which are relevant to the theme of this issue.     

Unpaving the Road to Hell: Disrupting Good Intentions and Bad Science About Islam and the Middle East

Teachers across all subject areas engage students, in some way, in the study of otherness—other societies, other cultures, other practices. Often teachers and teacher educators attend to teaching about others with strong desires toward social justice as they seek to make a difference and do good. However, with insufficient tools to interrogate their practices and beliefs to think critically what good actually entails, they can unwittingly pave the road to hell. When good intentions are additionally coupled with the bad science of incomplete knowledge, misinformation, and weak arguments, the road can get treacherous. In this article, we examine the road to hell as it winds through teaching about a specific other, Muslims. We examine how good intentions and bad science about Muslims and Islam have worked to cement stereotypes, promote intolerance, shut down learning, and in doing so thwart education for social justice. Peering closely, we examine commonly voiced student conceptions of Muslims/Islam/The East and highlight the good intentions and bad science behind many of the popular discourses that students advance. We then offer strategies for building a different path, by problematizing good intentions and repairing bad science.     

The development of the nature of science view scale (NOSvs) at university level

Background: Determining individuals’ views of the nature of science is quite important for researchers since it is both a component of scientific literacy and a fundamental aim of science education.

Purpose: This study aims to develop a NOSvs for assessing prospective teachers’ views of the nature of science and to analyse their psychometric properties.

Sample: A total of 565 prospective teachers participated in the study.

Design and methods: The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) Index and Bartlett’s Sphericity Test were used in this study. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to determine the construct validity of the scale. Cronbach’s Alpha (α) coefficient was calculated for the reliability of the study.

Results: It was consequently found that the KMO was larger than .50. That Bartlett’s Sphericity Test was also statistically significant. The items with item-total correlations smaller than .30 were removed from the scale. Cronbach’s α values calculated for each sub-scale were above .70. In consequence of the first CFA performed, fit indices were found to be below the expected level. For this reason, three more items with the least item-total correlations were removed from the scale. Following the CFA, the final form of the scale included 36 items and five sub-scales.