EFL teachers’ challenges and dilemmas in transferring theories and practices cross-culturally

This paper explores the performance and shared learning experiences of a group of English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers studying in a U.S.-based graduate program. In order to assimilate the knowledge, a voluntary group was naturally formed outside a graduate course. The group meetings lasted from 4 to 5 hours on a weekly basis during a 13-week semester. The focus of this paper is to report and discuss the challenges and dilemmas facing EFL teachers when transferring new theories and knowledge to participants’ home contexts.     

良家婦女之不成家數的哀歌

經過前面兩節的討論,我們已可清楚地見到,在傳統文化中,婦女之寫作原是處在一個極為弱勢的地位.首先,作為一個女子,從一開始就失去了與男子一樣受同等教育之機會,即使幸而接受了教育,具有了寫作的能力,但是在以士人文化為中心的言志之詩的寫作中,婦女既根本不可能具有任何修、齊、冶、平的高遠志意,則其所寫的詩篇,自然就處在了弱勢的地位.     

The Role of Computer Simulation in an Inquiry-Based Learning Environment: Reconstructing Geological Events as Geologists

Several researchers have investigated the effects of computer simulations on students’ learning. However, few have focused on how simulations with authentic contexts influences students’ inquiry skills. Therefore, for the purposes of this study, we developed a computer simulation (FossilSim) embedded in an authentic inquiry lesson. FossilSim integrated data from real field investigations with geological laws for identifying the sequence of geological events. Data were collected from two experiments to examine ninth graders’ abilities for reconstructing a sequence of geological events with the aid of FossilSim. The sample groups in Experiments 1 and 2 were 58 and 11 ninth graders, respectively. The results indicated that the authentic inquiry lesson promoted the development of students’ inquiry skills. In addition, FossilSim played a key role in engaging students to apply geological laws, make multi-scale observations, and clarify their ideas about geological time.     

Topics and Features of Academic Medical Library Tutorials

ABSTRACT

In a 2007 study, librarians at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Library examined freely available online tutorials on academic medical library Web sites. The team identified tutorial topics, determined common design features, and assessed elements of active learning in library-created tutorials; the team also generated a list of third-party tutorials to which medical libraries link. This article updates the earlier study, describing changes and trends in tutorial content and design on medical libraries' Web sites; the project team plans to continue to track trends in tutorial development by repeating this study annually.     

新疆撒拉族历史迁徙与文化变迁研究

文章通过梳理相关历史文献并结合田野调查资料,描绘了新疆撒拉族的历史渊源和形成的历史过程;新疆撒拉族在迁徙的历史进程中,为了立足新的环境与周边民族文化进行了长期的互动、积极调适,社会文化发生了积极的变迁.     

The Impact of Congruency Between Preferred and Actual Learning Environments on Tenth Graders’ Science Literacy in Taiwan

This study explored the effects of congruency between preferred and actual learning environment (PLE & ALE) perceptions on students’ science literacy in terms of science concepts, attitudes toward science, and the understanding of the nature of science in an innovative curriculum of High Scope Project, namely Sci-Tech Mind and Humane Heart (STMHH). A pre-/post-treatment experiment was conducted with 34 Taiwanese tenth graders involved in this study. Participating students’ preferred learning environment perception and pre-instruction scientific literacy were evaluated before the STMHH curriculum. Their perceptions toward the actual STMHH learning environment and post-instruction scientific literacy were also examined after the STMHH. Students were categorized into two groups; “preferred alignment with actual learning environment” (PAA) and “preferred discordant with actual learning environment” (PDA), according to their PLEI and ALEI scores. The results of this study revealed that most of the students in this study preferred learning in a classroom environment where student-centered and teacher-centered learning environments coexisted. Furthermore, the ANCOVA analysis showed marginally statistically significant difference between groups in terms of students’ post-test scores on scientific literacy with the students’ pre-test scores as the covariate. As a pilot study with a small sample size aiming to probe the research direction of this problem, the result of marginally statistically significant and approaching large sized effect magnitude is likely to implicate that the congruency between preferred and actual learning environments on students’ scientific literacy is noteworthy. Future study of this nature appears to merit further replications and investigations.     

Comparison of Earth Science Achievement Between Animation-Based and Graphic-Based Testing Designs

This study developed two testing devices, namely the animation-based test (ABT) and the graphic-based test (GBT) in the area of earth sciences covering four domains that ranged from astronomy, meteorology, oceanography to geology. Both the students’ achievements of and their attitudes toward ABT compared to GBT were investigated. The purposes of this study were fourfold as follows: (1) to examine the validity and the reliability of ABT, (2) to compare the difference of ABT and GBT in student achievements, (3) to investigate the impact of ABT versus GBT on student achievements with different levels of prior knowledge and (4) to explore the ABT participants’ attitudes toward ABT in comparison with GBT. A total of 314 students, divided into two groups, participated in the study. Upon completion of the test, the students who took the ABT were given the survey, Attitude toward Animated Assessment Scale (AAAS). The results of the study indicated that ABT was a valid and reliable way of testing. While no significant difference was found between the test formats in student achievements in general, practical significance existed when the study further compared the impact of ABT versus GBT in student achievements with various levels of prior knowledge. It was found that low prior knowledge students performed better in ABT while high prior knowledge students performed better in GBT. Finally, more than 60% of the participants who took ABT were satisfied and held positive attitudes toward ABT.     

An evaluation of two approaches for teaching phonemic awareness to children in Head Start

Several research studies linking early phonemic awareness to the prevention of later reading difficulties strongly suggest that phoneme segmentation and blending, rather than rhyming and alliteration abilities, are the key aspects of phonemic awareness that are related to the prevention of difficulties. Yet there is a persistent belief among many educators that instruction in rhyming and alliteration are adequate to develop phonemic awareness and developmentally more appropriate than segmentation and blending activities. Using quasi-experimental methods, I evaluated two approaches for teaching phonemic awareness to 4- and 5-year-old children in four Head Start classrooms. The first approach focused on rhymes, alliteration, and story activities. The second approach focused on phoneme segmentation and blending in the context of sounding out actual words. Results showed that children taught using the second approach produced significantly greater gains in phonemic awareness and letter–sound knowledge, compared to children using the first approach. Both approaches were more effective when teachers had previously taught attention skills to their children.     

Teacher loyalty of elementary schools in Taiwan: the contribution of gratitude and relationship quality

Gratitude was an important missing factor in the extant relationship quality and relationship loyalty model. We introduced gratitude into the model of relationship quality and relationship loyalty. Two hundred and eighteen teachers from elementary schools in Taiwan were used to conduct an empirical research. The results show that teachers' gratitude has positive direct effects on teachers' trust, satisfaction and commitment. Teachers' trust has no significant effect on behavioural loyalty but has a significant effect on attitudinal loyalty. However, teachers' satisfaction has no significant effect on attitudinal loyalty but has a significant effect on behavioural loyalty. Teachers' commitment has a significant effect on behavioural and attitudinal loyalty. The mediating role of commitment implies that it (1) partially mediates the relationship between teachers' trust and attitudinal loyalty, and fully mediates the relationship between teachers' trust and behavioural loyalty; (2) partially mediates the relationship between teachers' satisfaction and behavioural loyalty, and fully mediates the relationship between teachers' trust and attitudinal loyalty.     

Investigating Students’ Conceptions of Technology-Assisted Science Learning: a Drawing Analysis

This study investigated high school students’ conceptions of technology-assisted science learning via drawing analysis, and explored how students with different degrees of computer experience and science learning self-efficacy may show different conceptions via their drawings. The participants included 335 senior high school students in Taiwan (179 male and 156 female). All of them were asked by guiding questions to make two drawings to represent their conceptions of technology-assisted science learning in actual and ideal contexts, respectively. Their background information including computer experience and science learning self-efficacy were obtained using self-reported questionnaires. Through drawing analysis, seven categories of conceptions of technology-assisted science learning were identified, including types of technology, location of learning, types of learning activities, content of learning, participants of learning activities, affordance of learning technology, and effects of learning technology. The results further revealed that the students’ conceptions of actual and ideal technology-assisted science learning significantly differed in some sub-categories of all categories except the category of participants of learning activities. Moreover, students’ computer experience and science learning self-efficacy may link to different conceptions of technology-assisted science learning. Future research and directions are also discussed.