Science Teachers’ Use of a Concept Map Marking Guide as a Formative Assessment Tool for the Concept of Energy

In this study, we investigated the value of a concept map marking guide as an alternative formative assessment tool for science teachers to adopt for the topic of energy. Eight high school science teachers marked students’ concept maps using an itemized holistic marking guide. Their marking was compared with the researchers’ marking and the scores of a multiple-choice diagnostic test. Statistical analysis revealed that teachers evaluated students’ concept maps consistently, but the concept map scores were only mildly correlated with the multiple-choice test scores. We explored what each assessment method revealed in terms of students’ understanding with one student’s performance as a showcase. Teachers’ views on using the marking guide of concept maps as an assessment tool were also included. We discuss the value of the concept map marking guide as a formative assessment tool for science teachers to create and modify in order to encourage students’ conceptual learning.     

Transforming text for distance learning

This article is intended to help those who wish to transform existing text into good teaching material for use in distance learning. It contains a number of checklists to help transformers in their work and a number of examples of transformed materials to illustrate some of the possibilities.
The extent to which existing materials might need to be changed in order to produce good teaching materials will depend on the quality of the materials provided. However, although major changes may be considered desirable, they may not always be acceptable to all those concerned with the development of the materials. The article discusses factors that need to be taken into account in determining both the desirability and feasibility of possible changes.     

Overwork and career-centered self-validation among the Japanese: Psychosocial issues and counselling implications

Overwork and workaholism among Japanese corporate workers and related psychosocial issues are explored. Ishiyama's (1989) model of self-validation is used as a conceptual framework. The Japanese culture and the corporate structure are treated as the context in which social pressure for overwork and obsessive work-preoccupation are espoused. The authors examine the nature and consequences of overwork and career-centered self-validation, in terms of family, marital, and existential issues, as well as stress andkaroshi (death by overwork). Implications to counselling and social and systemic change are discussed.     

The alienation response of children abused in out-of-home placement

THIS BRIEF COMMUNICATION addresses program abuse in out-of-home placement which deepens what we identify as the alienation response in the already alienated child. Alienation is defined as a state of feeling separate, apart, not being able to relate effectively with another, not belonging, and with impaired ability to connect the inside world of feelings with the outside environment. Program abuse is seen as any act or condition permitted in a program that further alienates a child. In evaluating a child's degree of alienation and developing creative methods to reach the most severely “child alone,” the use of the Alienation Chart in Figure 1, has been helpful to our staff.     

Psychological Correlates of Help Seeking for Eating‐Disorder Symptoms in Female College Students

This study investigated the psychological correlates of treatment seeking for eating disorders in female college students. Results indicated that 56% of the 106 participants with eating‐disorder symptomatology did not believe their behaviors warranted therapy. Women with eating‐disorder symptoms who did not believe their behaviors warranted therapy exhibited higher levels of immature defenses and lower endorsement of sociocultural norms concerning attractiveness than did women who believed treatment was needed. These findings hold implications for the prevention and treatment of college women's disordered eating.     

Evaluating MBA-Program Admissions Criteria: The Relationship Between Pre-MBA Work Experience and Post-MBA Career Outcomes

It has become common practice among U.S. business schools to require potential students to have substantial work experience before admission to MBA programs. Yet, the benefits of this selection criterion have not been fully articulated nor empirically examined. This article explores the relationships between years of pre-MBA work experience and post-MBA career outcomes. Specifically, we examine the effects of prior work experience on cash compensation, career satisfaction, number of promotions, and individuals' propensity to stay with their first post-MBA employer. Results indicate that previous work experience is not significantly related to graduates' tenure in their first post-MBA position. Furthermore, counter to conventional wisdom, MBAs without prior work experience were more satisfied, had received more promotions, and earned more cash compensation than some of their more experienced counterparts. The implications of these findings for those responsible for admissions in graduate professional schools and for corporate recruiters are discussed, along with suggestions for future research.     

The Politics of Emotions in ELT: Structure of Feeling and Anxiety of Korean English Teachers

ABSTRACT

Using the notion of structure of feeling by Raymond Williams, this article seeks to illuminate an ideological understanding of Korean English teachers’ anxiety and deep sense of insecurity in English language teaching (ELT). Through a discussion of how their anxiety is grounded deeply within unequal social relations and how they reframe their anxiety through critical reflection on the cultural and ideological bias of their own anxiety, it points out the intricate relationship between ideology and emotion; teachers’ emotions are shaped by dominant ideologies that constitute the social structures constraining their position as teachers, while their engagement with those emotions also enables their self-transformation towards gaining confidence as teachers. The results of the study emphasise the tension between social structure and agency in teachers’ emotional experiences and discuss implications for teacher education and development.