The effects of cooperative learning on enhancing Hong Kong fifth graders' achievement goals,autonomous motivation and reading proficiency

Research indicates that cooperative learning with teacher‐guided instruction is more effective in helping young children to learn than cooperative learning with minimal guidance. In the present study, two different cooperative learning activities (jigsaw and drama) and a control condition (a traditional teacher‐led approach) were compared. The participants were 279 Grade 5 Hong Kong students located in nine classrooms. The two experimental conditions emphasised teachers' cognitive support in helping students to understand a text through both teacher‐led and student‐led activities. Post‐test data included a reading comprehension test and three questionnaires that investigated students' goal orientations, initial level of relative autonomy and perceptions of instructional practices. Findings indicate that students in the jigsaw group outperformed students in both the drama group and the control group in the reading comprehension test. The implications of conducting cooperative learning activities with well‐planned teacher guidance are discussed.     

Kindergarten teachers adjust their teaching practices in accordance with children’s academic pre‐skills

This study examined the extent to which kindergarten children’s academic pre‐skills are associated with their teachers’ subsequent teaching practices. The pre‐skills in reading and math of 1268 children (655 boys, 613 girls) were measured in kindergarten in the fall. A pair of trained observers used the Classroom Assessment Scoring System instrument to observe 49 kindergarten teachers on their emotional support, classroom organisation and instructional support in kindergarten in the spring. The results of the multilevel modelling showed that low levels of academic pre‐skills in kindergarten classrooms in the fall predicted high classroom quality in the classrooms later on. The results suggest that the overall level of children’s academic pre‐skills in the classroom plays an important role in the ways in which teachers adapt their instructional practices to the needs of a particular classroom.     

Utilising multimedia ESP programme in enhancing flight attendants' safety knowledge and problem solving skills

A multimedia English for Specific Purposes (ESP) programme was developed to train flight attendants. The programme comprised of two units. Unit one is listening comprehension, which provides the flight attendants' with specific information of Airbus A340. Unit two is reading comprehension, which provides the flight attendants with the emergency procedures. The effect of this programme on the flight attendants' safety knowledge and problem solving was measured using an achievement test which comprises two parts; the first part includes 10 multiple‐choice questions based on listening comprehension and measuring safety knowledge; the second part includes 15 multiple‐choice questions based on reading comprehension and measuring problem solving situations. The sample of the study consists of 36 flight attendants divided into two groups. The test was administered as a pretest and a posttest for the equivalence of the groups and their achievement. The results revealed that the computerised ESP programme has a measurable effect on the flight attendants' recall of safety knowledge and problem solving skills. The researchers recommended that similar computerised ESP programmes should be designed in order for the flight attendants to be well equipped with skills and knowledge in dealing with emergency problems that they may occur during flight.     

Anytime,anywhere, anyplace: Articulating the meaning of flexible delivery in built environment education

This paper describes a process for negotiating aspects of flexible learning through the consideration of flexibility from student, teacher and institutional perspectives. The process aimed to reconcile, in an Australian school of architecture, the competing demands of learner's increasing flexibility demands, teacher's attributes and pedagogical objectives and the structural limitations that militate against the delivery, resourcing and maintenance of flexibility. Results indicated that the only categories of flexibility (out of time, content, access/entry requirements, pedagogy and delivery) that were demanded by students were pedagogy (but only in the choice of working in groups) and delivery; whereas teachers were merely willing to offer flexibility in delivery. Thus, what students desired of teaching, and what teachers were able to provide, were multiple mediums of knowledge delivery that allowed students flexibility in when and where they could learn. These findings, it is suggested, have relevance for course redesign throughout the creative/visual arts.     

Integrating ICT into classroom practice in modern foreign language teaching in England: making room for teachers' voices

Current government policy in the UK places teachers of all subject areas under pressure to embed ICT into their pedagogic practice to improve teaching and learning. This article attempts to compare that policy with the situated reality of a small number of Modern Foreign Language teachers striving to comply. The voices of four teachers are presented as they began to embed the use of ICT (primarily their newly acquired Interactive Whiteboards) into their existing classroom approach. The story of their developing practice is examined for signs of transformation; the complexity of a real situation is thus contrasted with a simplified ideal. By means of this investigation, examples of sophisticated pedagogical thinking are explored to demonstrate that it is perhaps not so easy to transform the learning process, with or without ICT.

La politique actuelle du gouvernement du Royaume‐Uni exerce une pression sur les enseignants de toutes matières pour qu'ils intègrent les technologies d'information et de communication dans leurs pratiques pédagogiques afin d'améliorer l'enseignement et l'apprentissage. Cet article essaye de comparer cette politique avec la réalité contextualisée d'un petit nombre de professeurs de langues étrangères qui font leur possible pour s'y conformer. Les voix de quatre enseignants y sont présentées alors qu'ils commençaient à intégrer l'informatique (et en particulier leurs tableaux interactifs récemment acquis) dans leur approche pédagogique actuelle. L'histoire du changement de leurs pratiques est remise en question pour trouver des indications de transformation. La complexité d'une situation réelle peut alors être mise en contraste avec une idée simplifiée. De par cette étude, on peut examiner des exemples de la réflexion pédagogique développée pour montrer que ce n'est pas tellement facile de transformer les méthodes d'apprentissage, avec ou sans l'outil informatique.

Die Gegenwärtige Regierungspolitik in Großbritannien setzt Lehrkräfte aller Schulfächer unter Druck, moderne Informationstechniken in ihre pädagogische Praxis einzubeziehen, um den Unterricht und den Lernprozess zu verbessern. Dieser Beitrag versucht, diese Politik mit der realen Situation einer kleinen Anzahl von SprachlehrerInnen zu vergleichen, die sich bemühen, den Anordnungen nachzukommen. Die Stimmen von vier Lehrkräften werden vorgelegt, die damit begonnen haben, Informations‐ und Kommunikationstechnologie (hauptsächlich ihre neu erworbenen interactive whiteboards (interaktive Tafeln)) in ihre gegenwärtige Unterrichtsmethode einzubeziehen. Es wird untersucht, welche Veränderungen es bei zunehmender Praxis gibt. Die Vielschichtigkeit einer realen Situation wird somit dem vereinfachten Idealfall gegenübergestellt. Mittels dieser Untersuchung werden Beispiele hochentwickelten pädagogischen Denkens erforscht und dazu verwendet, um zu zeigen, dass es doch nicht so einfach ist, den Lernprozess zu verändern—mit oder ohne ICT.

La política actuel del gobierno del Reino Unido sitúa a los profesores de todos los departamentos bajo la presión de arraigar ICT en la práctica de su pedagogía para mejorar la enseñanza y el aprendizaje. Este artículo intenta comparar esa política con la realidad de un pequeño número de profesores de idiomas extranjeros que se esfuerza por llevarla a cabo. La voz de cuatro profesores nos presenta como empoezaron a arraigar el uso de ICT (primeramente con la reciente adquisición de los Whiteboards Interactivos) como enfoque en sus clases actuales. La historia de su práctica en desarrollo está acompañada de indicios de cambios. Por eso la complejidad de una situación real se contrasta con un ideal más simplificado. Por medio de esta investigación, se exploran ejemplos de pensamiento pedagógico sofisticado para demostrar que quizás no sea tan fácil transformar el proceso de aprendizaje, con o sin ICT.     

The limitations of retraction notices and the heroic acts of authors who correct the scholarly record: An analysis of retractions of papers published from 1975 to 2019

While researchers with retracted papers – publications that are withdrawn because of significant errors or scientific misconduct – carry a permanent stain on their publishing records, understanding the causes and initiators of such retractions can shed a different light on the matter. This paper, based on a random sample of 2,046 retracted papers, which were published between 1975 and 2019, extracted from Retraction Watch and the websites of major publishers, shows that 53% of the retraction notices do not specify who initiated the retraction. Nearly 10% of the retraction notes either omit or do not contain information related to reasons for retractions. Furthermore, most of the retracted papers in our sample have no limitation section; those who do are commonly unhelpful or irrelevant. The results carry three implications for scientific transparency: retraction notices need to be more informative; limitation sections ought to be a required and even an open section of all published articles; and finally, promoting ‘heroic acts’ in science can positively change the current publishing culture.