Living with CATE: the case of reflective student teachers

This paper considers the effect of the introduction of market forces into teacher education both in terms of the loss of autonomy on the part of the providers, the teacher educators, and in terms of the growth of ownership by the consumers, the student teachers, of their learning. Specifically it identifies the paradigms of teacher education which are absent from the Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (CATE) criteria, such as enquiry‐oriented teacher education, but which are important for promoting professional self‐awareness amongst teachers. This paper describes and evaluates an exercise undertaken by student teachers on a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) course which both promotes self‐reflection and meets some of the criteria set by CATE. It concludes that it is possible to promote self‐reflective teaching within the confines of the CATE criteria so long as certain procedures are followed.     

International Cross-Cultural Online Learning and Teaching: Effective Tools and Approaches

“Study abroad” college programs can transform domestic students into a kind of “global citizens” with international experience and cross-cultural competences demanded in the emerging global market. Can a full-time international online undergraduate class serve as a virtual alternative to study abroad experience? Two questions were asked of a virtual class on Social Control that was taught for more than ten years: (1) Can an international online class can be a virtual option to the study abroad and (2) Which selected pedagogical tools and approaches can stimulate creativity of students and contribute to achieving a sufficient level of student satisfaction in this class? Students from several countries were taught in a virtual classroom while being physically “at home.” The research was based on observations and analysis of student-led discussions that were required of students. The class improved students’ substantive knowledge and created a learning environment to develop their skills in cross-cultural open dialogue with virtual classmates. The teaching design allowed instructors to attain many educational goals, enhance students’ understanding of foreign countries and cultures, and learn from each other through online communication. The results confirmed the effectiveness of selected pedagogical approaches and asynchronous communication technology in an international online class. Their effectiveness was demonstrated through the students’ postclass feedback and evaluation of the class. Findings indicate that an international online class can indeed help the students learn cross-cultural communication firsthand and obtain knowledge beneficial for future jobs in a global market.

In higher education, online distance education is useful for teaching large classes distributed among different campuses and universities or for teaching students abroad. Web 2.0 tools are widely used in the United States with transnational partnership programs (Martins 2015; Starke-Meyerring and Wilson 2008c). The American Center for the Study of Distance Education helps newcomers in this field learn transactional distance theory and tap into the broad experience already assembled by U.S. universities and other centers (Open University in the United Kingdom, similar Centers in Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, and Sweden).     

A bricolage exploration in genkan space: tengu and adjunct TEFL in the Japanese university context

This paper reports on research focusing on a group of adjunct teachers of English employed in Japanese universities. Grounded in interpretive epistemology foregrounding constructionist traditions, this research employed bricolage as way of inquiring into, then representing, these teacher’s experiences utilising multi-perspectival, multi-theoretical and multi-methodological approaches. Employing elements of Turnerian liminality and blending these with Japanese cultural mythology, this paper explores participants’ experience, knowledge and identity. Through interviews and focus groups, participants (n = 43) gave voice to their lived world in Japanese universities locating their ‘place’ as simultaneously inside and outside the boundaries of mainstream Japanese society and universities. As ‘liminal personas’, participants likened themselves to a ‘necessary evil’ in the context of internationalising the curriculum. Thus, their condition is understood to be both ambiguous and paradoxical. The Japanese university is likened to genkan (a common architectural feature in Japanese houses resembling an entrance hall or transitional space between inside and outside worlds) space and employing Japanese mythology, it is argued these teachers share features attributed to Tengu (Tengu are goblin-like monsters in Japanese mythology with long noses and bright red faces who traditionally act in mischievous, disruptive ways).     

Keywords and vocabulary acquisition: Some words of caution about words of assistance

Consistent results of two experiments with relatively technical, native language vocabulary, showed that effectiveness of keyword methods depended upon whether meanings of words to be learned were abstract or concrete and whether comprehension was assessed immediately or after a delay. Keywords bearing acoustical similarities to vocabulary items whose meanings were presented as sentences consistently facilitated students’ retention of the meanings of concrete items on immediate posttests. However, in contrast to recent research on foreign language vocabulary having simpler definitions, these experiments showed that it may be difficult to use the keyword method to aid long-term retention with moderately complex. abstract, native language vocabulary. Parts of this study, which was partially supported by the Kansas State University Bureau of General Research, were presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Boston, 1980.     

The promises of numeracy

The aim of this study is to better understand the notion of early algebraic thinking by describing differences in grade 4–7 students’ thinking about basic algebraic concepts. To achieve this goal, one test that involved generalized arithmetic, functional thinking, and modeling tasks, was administered to 684 students from these grades. Quantitative analysis of the data yielded four distinct groups of students demonstrating a wide range of performance in these tasks. Qualitative analysis of students’ solutions provided further insight into their understanding of basic algebraic concepts, and the nature of the processes and forms of reasoning they utilized. The results showed that students in each group were able to solve different number and types of tasks, using different strategies. Results also indicated that students from all grades were present in each group. These findings suggest the presence of a consistent trend in the difficulty level across early algebraic tasks which may support the existence of a specific developmental trend from more intuitive types of early algebraic thinking to more sophisticated ones.     

Index of science reading awareness: An interactive-constructive model,test verification,and grades 4–8 results

The purpose of this study was to develop and verify the Index of Science Reading Awareness (ISRA) based on a model of an efficient, successful interactive-constructive science reader and three independent metacognitive awareness domains. Several researchers have noted the need for efficient, reliable, and valid measures of metacognition. ISRA data collected on 532 students (Grades 4–8) were analyzed using factor analyses, linear structural modeling, and analyses of variance (ANOVAs) to help verify the model and the test. The factor analyses and linear structural modeling indicated that these data did not support the assumption about the three independent metacognitive awareness domains, but suggested that the model and the test were structured around the design features of science reading, science text, and science reading strategies. One-way ANOVAs indicated significant, predicted reading ability and gender differences but unexpected grade-level differences. The composite metacognitive awareness data indicated that most Grade 4–8 students have surface knowledge about science reading, science text, and science reading strategies, and indicated specific targets for explicit science reading instruction. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 27-51, 1998.     

Speech and the “new” philosophies

Speech philosophy, in the face of the current anti‐intellectualism, deals with the place of rational‐logical elements in discourse. The author argues for the supremacy of reason in communication, and calls for neo‐classical communicative logic fused with the social direction of thought. Such a goal inevitably incorporates value judgments. Thus the intellectual, logical, and ethical components are an unbroken continuum in their expression and effect.     

Communication and Social Identity Theory: Existing and Potential Connections in Organizational Identification Research

This essay builds on the growing, but underdeveloped, role of communication in work based on Social Identity Theory (SIT) as it relates to identity and identification in the organization. Five existing areas of connection between communication and SIT in organizational identification research are documented and assessed. These include salience of dual/multiple identifications, computer-mediated communication and virtual work related to identification, relationally focused work identities, organizational-level identities, and disidentification and related forms.