OFMTutor: An operator function model intelligent tutoring system

The design, implementation, and evaluation of an Operator Function Model intelligent tutoring system (OFMTutor) is presented. OFMTutor is intended to provide intelligent tutoring in the context of complex dynamic systems for which an operator function model (OFM) can be constructed. The human operator's role in such complex, dynamic, and highly automated systems is that of a supervisory controller whose primary responsibilities are routine monitoring and fine-tuning of system parameters and occasional compensation for system abnormalities. The automated systems must support the human operator. One potentially useful form of support is the use of intelligent tutoring systems to teach the operator about the system and how to function within that system. Previous research on intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) is considered. The proposed design for OFMTutor is presented, and an experimental evaluation is described

TEACHING ENGLISH BASED ON GAME TECHNIQUE TO THE SECOND GRADE STUDENTS OF SDN MASARAN I, SRAGEN

This final project report was written based on the job training done by the writer as an English teacher in SDN Masaran I, Sragen. In teaching English, the writer applied game techniques as the techniques of teaching. The game technique applied by the teacher was matching pairs game. The teacher applied this game to make the students enjoy the English learning activities. The teaching process based on matching pairs game was divided into three steps. They were introduction, explanation and practice. In the first step as the introduction, the teacher made two pre-teaching activities called, reviewing the previous lesson and presenting the new material. Then, the teacher offered the students to play matching pairs game. The next step was explanation. Here, the teacher explained how to play this game and its rules. Last, the teacher asked them to p lay the game based on the teacher‟s guidance. During the job training activities, the writer got some useful exp eriences. There, the teacher can understand how to handle the students in the class by applying game technique. There are also some benefits got by the writer during the job training activities. The writer is able to control the class well and knows how to arrange the lesson plan appropriately

Preservice elementary school teachers' knowledge of fractions: a mirror of students' knowledge?

This research analyses preservice teachers' knowledge of fractions. Fractions are notoriously difficult for students to learn and for teachers to teach. Previous studies suggest that student learning of fractions may be limited by teacher understanding of fractions. If so, teacher education has a key role in solving the problem. We first reviewed literature regarding students' knowledge of fractions. We did so because assessments of required content knowledge for teaching require review of the students' understanding to determine the mathematics difficulties encountered by students. The preservice teachers were tested on their conceptual and procedural knowledge of fractions, and on their ability in explaining the rationale for a procedure or the conceptual meaning. The results revealed that preservice teachers' knowledge of fractions indeed is limited and that last-year preservice teachers did not perform better than first-year preservice teachers. This research is situated within the broader domain of mathematical knowledge for teaching and suggests ways to improve instruction and student learning

Information systems for interactive learning: Design perspective

This paper aims to present and discuss educational issues and relevant research to universities and colleges in the Arabian Gulf Region. This include cultural, students’ learning preferences and the use of information and communication technology. It particularly focuses on interactive learning through the consideration of learning styles. It explores the sequential-global learning styles profile of undergraduate students as part of a continuous research in Information Systems design with a particular focus on the design of Interactive Learning Systems (ILSs). A study to examine the learning style profile of undergraduate students in a cohort of Management Information Systems at a UAE university has been conducted, and a discussion and recommendations on how these findings can be reflected on the design of ILSs are provided

Integrating Information Literacy into the Virtual University: A Course Model

published or submitted for publicatio

Innovative learning in action (ILIA) issue six: Innovative practice in assessment

Welcome to this, the sixth edition of Innovative Learning in Action (ILIA) which focuses our attention on the theme of innovative practice in assessment. On the face of it, innovative assessment may be regarded as any form of assessment which involves the application of a new technique, method or tool. However, to quote Graham Mohl (2007): ‘Innovative assessment is not just some trendy new technique dreamt-up purely to save on the amount of time teachers spend on marking, it is a genuine attempt to improve quality of learning in higher education. If we do save time in the process then all the better for our own learning.’ http://www.city.londonmet.ac.uk/deliberation s/assessment/mowl_index.html. The range of work in this edition of ILIA demonstrates how colleagues are readily embracing this fundamental principle. These papers and snapshots show us how contributors are actively exploring, reviewing and modifying their practice to address assessment principles and strategies helping to produce active learners who are reasoning, critical, highly motivated, capable of self-evaluation and equipped with transferable skills to enable them to flourish in the 21st century global economy. Whilst covering diverse and extensive territory both conceptually and practically, in their entirety these works share common ground in embracing the notion of ‘the redistribution of educational power’ (Heron, 1981). Assessment therefore becomes something which is not simply ‘done to’ students, but it is also ‘done by’ and ‘done with’ students (Harris and Bell, 1990) and is as much about enhancing the quality of their learning as it is about measuring their performance. Some of these works may challenge traditional positions and approaches and in so doing I hope they will provide you with a stimulating and thought-provoking opportunity to reflect on practice and student learning

Teaching Manuscripts in the Digital Age

This chapter reflects on the author’s practical experience teaching palaeography in several different contexts at the start of the so-called “digital age”. Material for manuscript-studies is becoming available at an enormous rate: perhaps most obvious are the results of the large-scale digitisation programmes which are making high-quality colour facsimiles of manuscripts available online to wide audiences. At the same time, Virtual Learning Environments provide new possibilities for teaching and learning, and many tools for research on manuscripts can also be used for teaching. Perhaps more fundamentally, however, it has often been noted that scholarship is changing as a result of digital tools, resources, and methods. What, then, of teaching? Should the teaching of manuscript studies also change along with the scholarly discipline, bringing the Digital Humanities into our classes on palaeography and codicology? To begin answering this question, and to suggest some pedagogical possibilities brought about by technology, the author’s own experiences are discussed. Some limitations of technology for teaching are then considered, and some general remarks are then provided on the relationship between palaeography and Digital Humanities, two fields which are both fighting for recognition as full academic disciplines and not “mere” Hilfswissenschaften

ENGLISH TEACHING ACTIVITIES IN ACCORDANCE WITH COMPETENCY BASED CURRICULUM IN THE FIRST GRADE OF SMP N 1 TAWANGSARI SUKOHARJO

Evy Yunianti. 2008. English Teaching Activities in Accordance with Competency Based Curriculum In the First Grade of SMP N 1 Tawangsari Sukoharjo. English Diploma Program, Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts, UNS. The Final Project is about the description of the teaching-learning method used by the English teacher in the first grade of SMP N 1 Tawangsari Sukoharjo and the activities done in accordance with competency based curriculum. The Local Government has had the autonomy to organize the education curriculum independently. Therefore, every school in a region should arrange their own education curriculum and competence. SMP N 1 Tawangsari Sukoharjo has been practicing this new regulation by holding an English teaching-learning process with Competency based Curriculum in the newest form KTSP (Educational Unit Level Curriculum). The writer did a Job Training to compose the final project in SMP N 1 Tawangsari. The purpose is to report the method used and the English activities done in SMP N 1 Tawangsari. There are many methods which can be used by the teacher. The teacher in this school has been already using the newest method, Competency Based Curriculum. This final project describes the new method used and how the teacher practiced it. The data was taken from the observation and interview in the school of SMP N 1 Tawangsari. Firstly, she observed the class and the activity there. Then, at the second day, the writer was positioned as the teacher for class VII D, she must come there twice a week to teach the student. She continued the topic in that semester and taught the student by practicing the theory given in Diploma Program. The Job Training held from 6th of February until 15th of March 2007. During the Job Training, the writer did also some interview with the English teacher there and some librarians, and also the head of SMP N 1 Tawangsari. She also got the data from the information of an administration staff. The Discussion of the data leads to the teaching-learning process held in SMP N 1 Tawangsari is starting to use the newest competency based curriculum based on UU No. 20 tahun 2003 about National Education System and Government Rule that instruct in National standardizing. Then, in teaching a second language to the students, the teacher should understand some points about the student’s characteristic generally; a teacher in this competence is hoped as a controller and a facilitator who let the students explore themselves maximally Some problems related to the students were the lack of more modern facilities and English daily community. Therefore, the solutions may be the school should obtain more modern facilities such as some latest CDs, video, and native speaker. Then it will be better when the teacher build an English atmosphere in and around the class by writing or drawing everything related with English. Many trials can develop the student ability

The significance of the reflective practitioner in blended learning

This is a case study paper concerned with the introduction of blended learning on a part-time higher education programme for mature students. The interpretive work draws on four action research cycles conducted over two years with two student cohorts. Discussion is based on observations, staff and student focus groups and interviews examining the students’ expectations and experiences. The initial focus of the action research was on the introduction of technology into the teaching and learning experience. The great advantage of an interpretive approach, however, is to allow the findings to determine the course of the research. During the first action research cycles, the focus of the research soon changed from the use of technology in blended learning to the role of the practitioners involved. We advocate the key role of reflective practitioners in facilitating blended learning and suggest that action research is a useful framework to develop this. Keywords: Educational Technology Implementation, Electronic Learning (E-Learning), Teacher Improvement, Teacher Preparation, Action Research, Asynchronous Communications, blended learning, part-time student, reflective practice