Trialing project-based learning in a new EAP ESP course: A collaborative reflective practice of three college English teachers

Currently in many Chinese universities, the traditional College English course is facing the risk of being ‘marginalized’, replaced or even removed, and many hours previously allocated to the course are now being taken by EAP or ESP. At X University in northern China, a curriculum reform as such is taking place, as a result of which a new course has been created called ‘xue ke’ English. Despite the fact that ‘xue ke’ means subject literally, the course designer has made it clear that subject content is not the target, nor is the course the same as EAP or ESP. This curriculum initiative, while possibly having been justified with a rationale of some kind (e.g. to meet with changing social and/or academic needs of students and/or institutions), this is posing a great challenge for, as well as considerable pressure on, a number of College English teachers who have taught this single course for almost their entire teaching career. In such a context, three teachers formed a peer support group in Semester One this year, to work collaboratively co-tackling the challenge, and they chose Project-Based Learning (PBL) for the new course. This presentation will report on the implementation of this project, including the overall designing, operational procedure, and the teachers’ reflections. Based on discussion, pre-agreement was reached on the purpose and manner of collaboration as offering peer support for more effective teaching and learning and fulfilling and pleasant professional development. A WeChat group was set up as the chief platform for messaging, idea-sharing, and resource-exchanging. Physical meetings were supplementary, with sound agenda but flexible time, and venues. Mosoteach cloud class (lan mo yun ban ke) was established as a tool for virtual learning, employed both in and after class. Discussions were held at the beginning of the semester which determined only brief outlines for PBL implementation and allowed space for everyone to autonomously explore in their own way. Constant further discussions followed, which generated a great deal of opportunities for peer learning and lesson plan modifications. A reflective journal, in a greater or lesser detailed manner, was also kept by each teacher to record the journey of the collaboration. At the end of the semester, it was commonly recognized that, although challenges existed, the collaboration was overall a success and they were all willing to continue with it and endeavor to refine it to be a more professional and productive approach

Measuring and Improving the Effectiveness of High School Teachers

Discusses the need to invest in multiple methods to measure a teacher's effectiveness, as well as in high-quality evaluations and career development to improve it. Describes "value-added" analysis, its limitations, and other measures of effectiveness

Educational Technology Topic Guide

This guide aims to contribute to what we know about the relationship between educational technology (edtech) and educational outcomes by addressing the following overarching question: What is the evidence that the use of edtech, by teachers or students, impacts teaching and learning practices, or learning outcomes? It also offers recommendations to support advisors to strengthen the design, implementation and evaluation of programmes that use edtech. We define edtech as the use of digital or electronic technologies and materials to support teaching and learning. Recognising that technology alone does not enhance learning, evaluations must also consider how programmes are designed and implemented, how teachers are supported, how communities are developed and how outcomes are measured (see http://tel.ac.uk/about-3/, 2014). Effective edtech programmes are characterised by: a clear and specific curriculum focus the use of relevant curriculum materials a focus on teacher development and pedagogy evaluation mechanisms that go beyond outputs. These findings come from a wide range of technology use including: interactive radio instruction (IRI) classroom audio or video resources accessed via teachers’ mobile phones student tablets and eReaders computer-assisted learning (CAL) to supplement classroom teaching. However, there are also examples of large-scale investment in edtech – particularly computers for student use – that produce limited educational outcomes. We need to know more about: how to support teachers to develop appropriate, relevant practices using edtech how such practices are enacted in schools, and what factors contribute to or mitigate against successful outcomes. Recommendations: 1. Edtech programmes should focus on enabling educational change, not delivering technology. In doing so, programmes should provide adequate support for teachers and aim to capture changes in teaching practice and learning outcomes in evaluation. 2. Advisors should support proposals that further develop successful practices or that address gaps in evidence and understanding. 3. Advisors should discourage proposals that have an emphasis on technology over education, weak programmatic support or poor evaluation. 4. In design and evaluation, value-for-money metrics and cost-effectiveness analyses should be carried out

Students’ Perceptions of Their Teachers’ Performance in Teaching Engineering Drawing in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions

There have been concerns about the performance of Nigerian school teachers’ in delivering occupational related courses. However, there are currently limited empirical data on this phenomenon – in particular with respect to the teaching of engineering drawing – to justify further actions from educational managers and policy makers. The aim of this study was to assess teachers’ performance in teaching engineering drawing using students’ perception as indicator of teachers’ performance. The study utilized a cross-sectional research design method with the target population of technical education students drawn from four (4) Federal Colleges of education (Technical) in Northern Nigeria. Stratified proportionate sampling technique was used to arrive at the study sample of 253 technical education students. A specifically designed instrument, the Students’ Perceptions of Teachers’ Performance Scales (SPTPS) was used to gather data on the three performance dimensions namely contextual, task and adaptability performance. The exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis methods were conducted to validate the performance constructs. The instrument has a high reliability of 0.90 based on the Cronbach Alpha method. The result of the analysis using estimation method indicates that students perceive their teachers’ performance to be at a slightly above average level (M= 3.51 ± 0.05 at the 95% confidence level). The teachers’ task performance, in particular, is found to be the least developed among the three dimension of performance while their adaptability performance is the highest while still being less than excellent. The data support the conclusion that there are aspects of teachers’ performance in teaching engineering drawing that is less than excellent and in need of further enhancements

Students’ Perceptions of Their Teachers’ Performance in Teaching Engineering Drawing in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions

There have been concerns about the performance of Nigerian school teachers’ in delivering occupational related courses. However, there are currently limited empirical data on this phenomenon – in particular with respect to the teaching of engineering drawing – to justify further actions from educational managers and policy makers. The aim of this study was to assess teachers’ performance in teaching engineering drawing using students’ perception as indicator of teachers’ performance. The study utilized a cross-sectional research design method with the target population of technical education students drawn from four (4) Federal Colleges of education (Technical) in Northern Nigeria. Stratified proportionate sampling technique was used to arrive at the study sample of 253 technical education students. A specifically designed instrument, the Students’ Perceptions of Teachers’ Performance Scales (SPTPS) was used to gather data on the three performance dimensions namely contextual, task and adaptability performance. The exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis methods were conducted to validate the performance constructs. The instrument has a high reliability of 0.90 based on the Cronbach Alpha method. The result of the analysis using estimation method indicates that students perceive their teachers’ performance to be at a slightly above average level (M= 3.51 ± 0.05 at the 95% confidence level). The teachers’ task performance, in particular, is found to be the least developed among the three dimension of performance while their adaptability performance is the highest while still being less than excellent. The data support the conclusion that there are aspects of teachers’ performance in teaching engineering drawing that is less than excellent and in need of further enhancements

Informing Writing: The Benefits of Formative Assessment

Examines whether classroom-based formative writing assessment - designed to provide students with feedback and modified instruction as needed - improves student writing and how teachers can improve such assessment. Suggests best practices

The impact of a multi-strategy academic writing handbook on Emergent bilinguals’ cross-curricular writing competences

La escritura académica en una segunda lengua puede ser uno de los requerimientos más complejos en la educación superior debido a los elementos lingüísticos, estratégicos y procedimentales que esta abarca al igual que los procesos cognitivos superiores que involucra. A pesar de su presencia permanente en la academia, los profesores no han encontrado aún una forma apropiada para enseñar y evaluar la escritura que garantice el progreso de los estudiantes y el apoyo continuo a lo largo de su proceso de aprendizaje. De esta manera, este estudio de caso de métodos mixtos apunta a diseñar y evaluar la efectividad de un Manual de Referencia para la Escritura Académica (MREA) que pretende proveer la asistencia constante que los estudiantes necesitan para solidificar su conocimiento de escritura y el material pedagógico apropiado que los docentes requieren para unificar los prácticas de enseñanza y evaluación de la escritura; este manual está fundamentado en los enfoques de la escrita como proceso y basada en el género, análisis de errores y evaluación..

Making a Difference?: The Effects of Teach for America in High School

Uses longitudinal data from North Carolina to estimate the effectiveness, in terms of gains in student test scores, of TFA teachers relative to traditional teachers. Focuses on math and science teachers in the first study of TFA effects in high schools