English language learning difficulty of korean students in a Philippine Multidisciplinary University

This qualitative study analyzed the English language learning difficulties of 13 purposively chosen Korean students relative to their sociolinguistic competence, motivation in using the English language, and cultural factors. Interview responses were transcribed, categorized and thematised according to saliency, meaning and homogeneity. The findings of the study disclosed that, on the whole, while the subjects never had the opportunity to use the English language in Korea, they use it almost everywhere in the Philippines. Their difficulties exist both in daily conversation and in the academic setting. Such difficulties are attributable to both the subjects’ and the Filipinos’ different entry points in the learning and use of English. Despite cultural barriers in communication, however, the Koreans studying in the Philippines are instrumentally motivated to learn the English language.     

Performance and acceptance when using tablets as a multiple document learning tool: do application and guidance matter?

This study addressed whether an application adapted to working with multiple documents implemented in an iPad Pro tablet would promote students’ multiple document comprehension and acceptance of tablets as a multiple document learning tool relative to controls who used a traditional application adapted to sequential reading of single documents. Results indicated that students using the multiple document reading application outperformed the control students in terms of comprehension and also worked more efficiently on the assigned multiple document task, but only if given explicit guidance in selecting, organizing, and integrating information by utilizing the functions of the application. Still, after task completion, the more effective and efficient students guided in using the functions of the multiple document reading application displayed much less acceptance of tablets as a multiple document learning tool than did the control students. We discuss possible explanations for this intriguing performance-acceptance paradox and suggest some avenues for future research in this area.

     

Sorting or mixing? Multi-track and single-track schools and social inequalities in a differentiated educational system

In the Dutch stratified secondary educational system, schools vary in how many tracks are offered. While the tendency in the Netherlands is for schools to become smaller, a relevant policy question is whether multi-track school settings promote equality of educational opportunity. Comparing single-track schools at the pre-university and pre-vocational levels with multi-track schools offering the same exams, and using relative geographical distance as an instrument of school choice, the analyses showed that single-track pre-university schools enhance the probability of obtaining a pre-university diploma without delay, but more strongly so for students from disadvantaged backgrounds (who have a lower chance of going to such schools). The single-track pre-vocational schools were associated with a lower likelihood of achieving a diploma at a level higher than pre-vocational education. Multi-track schools within a varied system will not automatically enhance equal opportunities, as middle-class children will also benefit from the additional options that multi-track schools provide.     

The Hourglass Approach: Analysing Science Classroom Discursive Interactions Through Intercontextual Lens

One of the challenges for analysing science classroom discourse is a better understanding of intercontextual relationships in the learning process. In this paper, we used orientations from ethnography in education to organise and propose an analytical metaphor called the hourglass approach. It involves three phases of analysis that correspond to the parts of the hourglass. The first phase involves obtaining a continuous cross section of classroom history and the intersections between sociocultural contexts and the science learning contexts, throughout this track record. The second phase involves discourse analysis of few selected events is the vertex of the hourglass. Finally, in the third phase, the analysis of interactions is focused on intercontextual relationships for the interpretation of science learning opportunities. We illustrate this approach based on interactions during science lessons in a first-grade class. In particular, we discuss, in greater detail, how a meaningful intercontextual element in the participants’ group (i.e. the gender norm), intermingled with the engagement of students in practices from the conceptual, epistemic and social domains of scientific knowledge.

     

Are Broad-Based Vouchers an Effective Way to Support Life-Long Learning? Evidence from an Australian Reform

Research in Higher Education - Increasing mature-age access to education and training in a way that is responsive to changing labour market needs is a key policy challenge. In this paper we examine...     

促进艺术性教学在高校体育教学中应用的研究

高校体育教学是培养大学生的一种教学活动,其目的能使大学生获得体育知识,掌握体育技术与体育技能,更重要的是能使大学生懂得如何做人的道理。在体育教育与教学活动中从体育教师的基本动作姿态到体育教师的风度神情,从体育课的组织形式到学生的活动体验无不包含着艺术性的教学。体育教学中的艺术性教学是一种高品位、高质量的教学形式。     

IT Entry knowledge and skills of university teachers vis-à-vis their interest levels: the case of the oldest university in Asia

Technology, considered as the new language of teaching and learning, is an irrevocable reality. Any institution of higher learning is expected to look into the future without losing sight of its core capabilities-the malleability of its faculty members. Today, more than ever, teachers are expected to operate in an environment where “hiteach”, “hi-touch” and “hi-tech” govern their instructional behaviors. It is in this light that this study was conducted to situate teachers coming from a time-tested institution, such as the University of Santo Tomas, the oldest university in Asia, in terms of their IT knowledge, skills, and interests with a view to identifying implications on how faculty development programs may be made more responsive to the present-day educational structure.     

What can evidence-use in practice learn from evidence-use in policy?

Abstract

Background: This paper approaches evidence-informed practice from the perspective of evidence-informed policy-making. Using the findings of a recent study of evidence-use by educational policy-makers to raise questions about evidence-use by educational practitioners, it seeks to explore what such a study might tell us about how to understand and improve evidence-use by educational practitioners.

Purpose: The paper aims, therefore, to identify potential connections, shared insights and common issues between evidence-use in policy and evidence-use in practice. It does this by focusing on two specific areas: the nature of the evidence (i.e. what evidence is used) and the nature of the use (i.e. how evidence is used). The paper outlines what was found about each of these aspects of evidence-use in policy, and then considers what questions and issues these findings might raise for evidence-use in educational practice.

Sample: The empirical study on which this paper is based was an in-depth study of the use of evidence within educational policy development in Australia. It focused on the development of three specific education policies within one Australian state education department and involved interviews with 25 policy-makers who were actively involved in the development of these policies.

Design and methods: The policy-based study involved the following data collection processes: (i) in-depth semi-structured interviews with 25 policy-makers who were involved in the development of the selected policies; (ii) documentary analysis of policy documents, background research reports and other relevant papers relating to the selected policies; (iii) unstructured observation (where possible) of meetings and events connected with the development of the selected policies; and (iv) feedback from 40 wider policy staff who took part in a verification workshop to discuss the project’s emerging findings.

Findings: Drawing on the findings from the original policy study, two areas of potential connection to evidence-use in practice are explored. First, in relation to ‘varieties of evidence and uses’, the negotiation of diverse evidence types and the potential for using evidence in multiple and varied ways appear to be features of evidence-use that are common to educational policy-makers as well as educational practitioners. Secondly, in relation to ‘narrowness of evidence sources’, there is potential for both policy-makers and practitioners to use a narrow (rather than broad) selection of evidence, due to a tendency to work with certain evidence types as a starting point (e.g. performance data) and a tendency to draw on certain evidence sources more frequently (e.g. well-known, familiar research sources).

Conclusions: This paper emphasises: (i) the need for more integrated (or joined-up) understandings of evidence-use across contexts of practice and contexts of policy; (ii) the importance of continued efforts to understand and represent evidence-use more effectively within educational practices; and (iii) the value of paying careful attention to the quality and qualities of evidence-use within and across the different settings of educational practice and policy.     

Elements affecting the development of professional learning communities in schools

This article focuses on the development of professional learning communities (PLCs), which are communities within schools, composed of voluntary participating teachers facilitated by school principals with a specific task to accomplish as part of a larger innovation project. Four PLCs were observed during 3 years by using questionnaires and participatory research. The questionnaires revealed that PLCs differed in their group characteristics, collective learning processes and outcomes. Through participatory research, we explored seven elements affecting the development of PLCs, namely, task perceptions, group composition, tensions between roles, beliefs about alignment, reflective dialogues, socialisation and ownership. Beliefs about alignment, ownership and socialisation had sufficient impact on the development of the PLCs. A case study including two contrasting PLCs indicated interrelations between task perceptions and ownership by members and between ownership and socialisation activities. Regarding implications, this research suggests to explicitly create and facilitate reflective dialogues and ownership over time for PLCs to flourish.     

Inspecting a picture before reading affects attentional processing but not comprehension

Abstract

This study investigated whether presenting a picture before reading can encourage situation-model construction. We compared two conditions (n?= 30) which differed in whether a picture of the initial situation described in a narrative text was presented before reading (i.e. pictorial-support condition) or not (i.e. no-picture condition). Situation-model construction was measured using both process- and product-oriented measures. Eye-tracking data indicated online resource allocation to the different levels of text representation: surface, textbase, and situation model. Literal text questions and inference questions were used as an offline indication of textbase and situation-model processing, respectively. The results showed that a picture presented before reading led to a redistribution of processing resources during reading, evidenced by a shift from textbase to situation-model processing. This attentional shift did not translate into higher comprehension scores. The results were interpreted in line with multimedia learning theories suggesting pictures can serve as a mental scaffold for situation-model construction.