基础英语与职业英语相融合的高职英语课程研究

高职英语教学应突显职业教育的特点,注重教育的应用性、实践性和实用性。而高职英语课程一直沿袭传统的基础英语教学模式,主要以英语基础知识讲授为主,脱离学生职业发展的需求。通过分析高职英语课程现状,指出构建基础英语与职业英语相融合的高职英语课程的有效途径,旨在探索新的高职英语教学模式,完善高职英语课程,培养出符合社会和用人单位需求的高技能高职人才。     

“I Managed It Pretty Good”: Birth Narratives of Adolescent Mothers

The aim of this study was to understand adolescent mothers’ childbirth experiences. Semistructured interviews were conducted with participants recruited from a community-based program for adolescent mothers. Fourteen mothers described their birth experiences. Using a narrative analytic approach, responses were reconstructed into birth stories. Stories, condensed into poetic form, were compared and contrasted. Four unique categories emerged: connected births, surreal births, disconnected births, and disempowered births. Categories differed by agency, support, and emotional tone. Positive support was found in stories that portrayed high agency and positive affect, whereas problematic support was apparent in stories that conveyed passivity, frustration, and disappointment. This study has implications for tailoring childbirth education for adolescent mothers and can inform health-care professionals working with this population.     

Taking a Different Route: Contribution of Articulation and Metacognition to Intervention With At-Risk Third-Grade Readers

This study compared the impact of 2 types of small-group interventions targeting below-level 3rd-grade students. The study compared WordWork decoding and spelling instruction (Calfee, Miller, Norman, Wilson, &; Trainin, 2006 Calfee, R. C., Miller, R. G., Norman, K., Wilson, K., &; Trainin, G. (2006). Learning to do educational research. In M. A. Constas &; R. J. Sterenberg (Eds.), Translating theory and research into educational practice: Developments in content domains, large scale reform, and intellectual capacity (pp. 77–103). New York, NY: Routledge. [Google Scholar]; Calfee &; Patrick, 1995 Calfee, R. C., &; Patrick, C. L. (1995). Teach our children well: Bringing K–12 education into the 21st Century. Stanford, CA: Stanford Alumni Assoc. [Google Scholar]), which includes attention to articulation and metacognition, with a more traditional phonological awareness program (Torgesen &; Bryant, 1993 Torgesen, J. K., &; Bryant, B. R. (1993). Phonological awareness training for reading. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed. [Google Scholar]). University education students delivered the interventions with equal instructional time and fidelity, to both groups. Students in both intervention groups engaged in repeated readings of connected text to promote transfer. The impact of training was assessed through decoding, spelling, and oral reading fluency measures. Results indicated that WordWork produced more positive results in decoding, spelling, and fluency, and had significantly fewer treatment resisters.     

Embedding Mathematical Dialogue in Parent–Child Shared Book Reading: A Preliminary Investigation

Research Findings: Shared book reading provides a meaningful context for rich conversations to occur between a child and an adult and offers opportunities for children to be exposed to a range of vocabulary and concepts that often extend beyond their everyday experiences. Few studies have examined parent–child shared book reading as a context for embedding mathematical discussion. The purpose of this study was to examine systematically the effect of training parents to focus on mathematical concepts and vocabulary during shared book reading. Specific research questions were as follows: (a) Did parents increase their use of math talk during shared storybook reading following training? (b) Did parents generalize intervention strategies? And (c) did children increase their use of math talk during shared storybook reading? Results from a yoked multiple-baseline design with 6 dyads indicated variability across the dyads with 2 general patterns. Math talk increased following training for 3 of the dyads, whereas verbal mathematical behavior did not show consistent change for the other 3 dyads. Practice or Policy: Results are discussed in the context of home support for early mathematical development.     

Experimental Evaluation of the Value Added by Raising a Reader and Supplemental Parent Training in Shared Reading

Research Findings: In an effort toward developing a comprehensive, effective, scalable, and sustainable early childhood education program for at-risk populations, we conducted an experimental evaluation of the value added by 2 family involvement programs to the Texas Early Education Model (TEEM). A total of 91 preschool classrooms that served minority populations of low socioeconomic status were randomly assigned to TEEM, TEEM plus Raising a Reader (RAR), or TEEM plus RAR augmented by Family Nights. Assessments of oral language and print knowledge were completed by more than 500 children at the beginning and end of the school year. Multilevel analyses of covariance controlled for classroom nesting and individual differences in age, ethnicity, and pretest scores. Although RAR alone demonstrated no added value, augmentation of RAR with Family Nights demonstrated significant impacts on measures of oral language (ts = 1.81–2.51, .05 < ps < .01) and print knowledge (t = 2.39, p < .01). Practice or Policy: Thus, parent training in shared reading practices appears to be necessary for children to benefit from programs that enrich the home literacy environment. That the combined program particularly benefited children who started preschool lagging behind in school readiness (ts = 1.64–2.49, ps < .05) suggests that this comprehensive model offers hope for closing the achievement gap.     

The Influence of Rurality and Parental Affect on Kindergarten Children's Social and Behavioral Functioning

Research Findings: Children's early academic achievement is supported by positive social and behavioral skills, and difficulties with these skills frequently gives way to underachievement. Social and behavioral problems often arise as a product of parent–child interactional patterns and environmental influences. Few studies have examined the role of a salient aspect of children's environments, community locale, in the relationship between parenting practices and child outcomes. Using a large, nationally representative sample, we examined whether preschool parenting practices and children's social-behavioral skills in kindergarten were related to geographic setting (rural vs. city, suburban, and town). Results indicated that rural children experienced greater difficulties with parent-reported externalizing behaviors. Furthermore, rural parents displayed less emotional support than parents in other settings. Preschool parenting behaviors were associated with social skills and behavior problems in kindergarten, as reported by both parents and teachers. Parents' emotional supportiveness was found to account for the relationship between geographic setting and parent-reported children's social skills, such that rural parents who provided less emotional support had children with lower social skills in kindergarten. Practice or Policy: Findings of this research indicate that rural children may face particular risk for behavioral issues and highlight the need for increased behavioral supports in rural communities. Moreover, our results suggest that interventions designed to promote parents' support of children's emotions may have particular utility for rural families.     

Peer Play Interactions and Learning for Low-Income Preschool Children: The Moderating Role of Classroom Quality

Research Findings: The present study examined the degree to which the association between interactive peer play and academic skills was dependent upon the level of classroom quality for a representative sample of culturally and linguistically diverse urban Head Start children (N = 304 children across 53 classrooms). Peer play interactions within the classroom were assessed by teacher assistants in the fall of the year; observations of the quality of classroom instructional, emotional, and organizational support were conducted in the middle of the year; and norm-referenced direct assessments of literacy, language, and mathematics skills were administered in the spring. Findings from multilevel models indicated that disruptive and disconnected peer play behaviors early in the preschool year were associated with lower literacy and language skills regardless of classroom quality. However, interactive peer play early in the year was associated with higher mathematics outcomes when children were enrolled in classrooms characterized by high instructional support. Practice or Policy: Implications for early childhood research, practice, and policy are discussed.     

Development of a Short-Form Measure of Science and Technology Self-efficacy Using Rasch Analysis

Despite an increased focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in U.S. schools, today’s students often struggle to maintain adequate performance in these fields compared with students in other countries (Cheek in Thinking constructively about science, technology, and society education. State University of New York, Albany, 1992; Enyedy and Goldberg 2004; Mandinach and Lewis 2006). In addition, despite considerable pressure to promote the placement of students into STEM career fields, U.S. placement is relatively low (Sadler et al. in Sci Educ 96(3):411–427, 2012; Subotnik et al. in Identifying and developing talent in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM): an agenda for research, policy and practice. International handbook, part XII, pp 1313–1326, 2009). One explanation for the decline of STEM career placement in the U.S. rests with low student affect concerning STEM concepts and related content, especially in terms of self-efficacy. Researchers define self-efficacy as the internal belief that a student can succeed in learning, and that understanding student success lies in students’ externalized actions or behaviors (Bandura in Psychol Rev 84(2):191–215, 1977). Evidence suggests that high self-efficacy in STEM can result in student selection of STEM in later educational endeavors, culminating in STEM career selection (Zeldin et al. in J Res Sci Teach 45(9):1036–1058, 2007). However, other factors such as proficiency play a role as well. The lack of appropriate measures of self-efficacy can greatly affect STEM career selection due to inadequate targeting of this affective trait and loss of opportunity for early intervention by educators. Lack of early intervention decreases selection of STEM courses and careers (Valla and Williams in J Women Minor Sci Eng 18(1), 2012; Lent et al. in J Couns Psychol 38(4), 1991). Therefore, this study developed a short-form measure of self-efficacy to help identify students in need of intervention.     

The Flipped Classroom in Training and Development: Fad or the Future?

This article provides an overview of the characteristics of the flipped classroom, discusses the foundations of this innovative instructional model, and analyzes the possibility of adoption and application to corporate learning platforms. The article assesses whether the flipped classroom is simply a temporary trend in education and learning or has the potential to truly revolutionize instructional design and delivery in the realm of training and development.     

Beyond Cost Justification: Evaluation Frameworks in Corporate Distance Training

Evaluation remains one of the biggest challenges for workplace training professionals today. Few organizations have mastered training evaluation, with even fewer moving beyond assessing learner reaction and satisfaction. The introduction of technology‐based distance training, coupled with large initial investments in technologies that are needed to support distance training programs, has further exacerbated evaluation efforts for training organizations. This article looks at the changing environment of training evaluation and the application of evaluation methodology in corporate distance training.