Examination of Eco-Behavioral Assessments Designed for Understanding Complex Behaviors and Environments.

Second-generation intervention research requires methods for overcoming challenges to understanding complex learning ecologies and interactions of students. Eco-behavioral assessments (EBAs) are one solution to past intervention research challenges. EBAs record the effects of ecological variables in students’ behavior and daily interactions. The utility of EBAs in second-generation research has increased substantially. Numerous EBAs now exist for use with all ages of learners and provide a valid, reliable, and cost effective method for intervention research. This paper examines 18 EBAs as well as software systems designed to support and enhance the use of EBAs. The examination serves as a comprehensive resource to better understand how EBAs can be used in answering complex questions about students’ learning and for advancing second-generation research

Expectations eclipsed in foreign language education: learners and educators on an ongoing journey / edited by Hülya Görür-Atabaş, Sharon Turner.

Between June 2-4, 2011 Sabancı University School of Languages welcomed colleagues from 21 different countries to a collaborative exploration of the challenging and inspiring journey of learners and educators in the field of language education.\ud \ud The conference provided an opportunity for all stakeholders to share their views on language education. Colleagues met with world-renowned experts and authors in the fields of education and psychology, faculty and administrators from various universities and institutions, teachers from secondary educational backgrounds and higher education, as well as learners whose voices are often not directly shared but usually reported.\ud \ud The conference name, Eclipsing Expectations, was inspired by two natural phenomena, a solar eclipse directly before the conference, and a lunar eclipse, immediately after. Learners and educators were hereby invited to join a journey to observe, learn and exchange ideas in orde

Treat him as a normal baby: paediatrician's framing of parental responsibility as advice in the management of a genetic condition

Oral Presentation - Parallel Session 2: 2E Risk and Uncertainty/Ethics: no. 2E.4Parental responsibility in the management of genetic conditions has been the focus of both family-oriented interview-based research (e.g. Arribas-Ayllon et al. 2008; 2011) as well as real-life face-to-face genetic counselling research (Sarangi fc; Thomassen and Sarangi 2012). The current paper is an attempt to contribute to the latter tradition involving paediatricians and parents where parental responsibility is constitutive of professional advice. The genetic condition in question is G6PD deficiency (commonly known as favism), a mild hereditary disorder prevalent in Asia (Zayts and Sarangi 2013). We draw on 18 consultations in a maternal unit in Hong Kong (recruitment ongoing) where paediatricians communicate with mothers of newborns diagnosed with G6PD. We employ theme-oriented discourse analysis – comprising activity analysis and accounts analysis (Sarangi 2010) – to examine how the paediatricians frame their advice-giving trajectories – on to which elements of parental responsibility (in terms of future actions and moral selves) can be mapped. We show how 'causal responsibility' (Sarangi, fc) that concerns potential consequences of the mothers' actions in managing the condition emerges as a dominant thread in our data corpus. 'Causal [parental] responsibility' is embedded in the paediatrician's advice-giving trajectories which include, among other things, how to 'treat' these children, ranging from safeguards against certain medications and food to prevention of negative physiological scenarios (such as an acute hemolytic reaction). We examine closely the attendant discourse devices through which parental responsibility is framed, e.g., modalisation, contrast, character/event work. We conclude that, in terms of temporality, 'causal [parental] responsibility' is 'forward-looking' as the mothers' responsible actions can normalise the child’s immediate and future wellbeing.postprin

A Comparative Study of American-Born Chinese and Non American-Born Chinese Students\u27 Language Learning Motivation, Language Acquisition, and Ethnic Identity Development in Chinese Language Schools

This dissertation is a non-experimental comparative and correlational study. It compares the three variables of language learning motivation, language acquisition, and ethnic identity between American-Born Chinese (ABC) and Adopted Chinese students (Non-ABC) at Association of Chinese language schools on the East Coast of the United States. One hundred and eighty-two ABC and 70 non-ABC students enrolled in Chinese language classes in the fall semester of 2004 participated in this study. Additionally, this study identifies the teaching categories that are most commonly applied in the Chinese language school classroom. The data were collected through a survey method. The research instruments used for this investigation consisted of questionnaires of students\u27 learning motivation, language acquisition, and ethnic identity, and the nine teaching categories used by teachers. The statistical techniques adopted to analyze the data included Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and multiple regression analysis

Needs Assessment of National Communication Association Conference Presentations: Members\u27 Perceptions of Presentation Effectiveness, Values, and Challenges

This study analyzed the National Communication Association (NCA) members’ perceptions regarding the effectiveness of their own and their peer presentations and the challenges they faced when preparing and giving conference presentations. Overall, participants (n = 187) feel fairly content with the effectiveness of NCA conference presentations and the value they have gained from them. The effectiveness of others’ presentations has a significant association with members’ perceived value of the conference presentations. The lack of experience and lack of confidence are key variables that heighten anxiety which can impact the effectiveness of presentations. Process anxiety was positively associated with presentation effectiveness whereas performance anxiety was negatively associated with presentation effectiveness. This needs assessment provides informed suggestions for making academic presentations more effective in the future