A Handbook of Learner-Centered Projects to Suppliment Fifth Grade, Social Studies Curriculum

This handbook has been created in an effort to assist teachers with establishing a hands-on, learner-centered environment. The purpose of this handbook is to assist educators with teaching fifth grade, Social Studies curriculum. This handbook will help teachers to organize fifth grade expectations into thematic, learner-centered, intrinsically motivated projects that will allow for a well-planned, teacher facilitated, and educational experience. This is more than just a how-to manual; it includes the theoretical and empirical basis thesis for using thematic, cross-curricular projects, to enhance student retention, motivation and independent learning

Localizing CLT: A Case Study of a Western-Trained Chinese EFL Teacher at a Chinese University

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is a second language teaching method prevalent in most English teacher training programs in the Western world. The majority of teacher trainees in CLT-based programs learn English as a foreign language in order to return to their home countries and become English as Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. In many cases, students report that the CLT training environment varies greatly from their experiences as an EFL teacher. This paper investigates the perception of one Western-trained EFL teacher of CLT in China and the strategies she developed to balance communicative methods and traditional Chinese teaching. Realizing the obstacles to implementing CLT in her classroom, Laura developed strategies to adjust to the Chinese context. Using both her learning experience of growing up in China and her educational experience in the United States, Laura was able to navigate conflicting pedagogical backgrounds.

Exploring Metacognitive Online Reading Strategies of Non-Native English-Speaking Translation Students

International students, a growing population in US universities, need to possess excellent reading skills in order to succeed. American universities also benefit from admitting students who do not require remedial English classes. Reading online has become an integrated part of college education, which requires students to have additional skills. Awareness and usage of online reading strategies, known as metacognitive online reading strategies, are proven tools to enhance reading skills in online environments. The purpose of this mixed-method study was to investigate the metacognitive online reading strategies employed by highly proficient non-native English-speaking graduate students of Translation, Interpretation and Language Education at Middlebury Institute of International Studies to find out the types of reading strategies students report using, and how they use them when reading an academic text online on a laptop. Two conceptual frameworks were employed to analyze the data: metacognition theory and metacognition model. Quantitative data were collected from 46 students through the Online Survey of Reading Strategies (OSORS). Qualitative data were obtained through recording think-aloud sessions with six volunteers who individually read a TOEFL practice passage and said what they thought as they read the passage. The quantitative findings revealed that students used most of OSORS strategies in the three categories or Global strategies, Problem-solving strategies, and Support strategies. They used problem-solving strategies the most and support strategies the least. The qualitative data analysis revealed that students used most of the strategies that were relevant to the reading task. Moreover, they gave precedence to focusing and maintaining a steady reading pace over other strategies, and bundled related strategies to understand difficult text. Strategies such as slowing the speed of reading, rereading, reading aloud, and guessing meanings were activated together. Data also showed that they students decided on using various computer skills depending on their reading needs, engaging in a parallel metacognitive processing to their reading. Finally, the participants valued reading as part of their career, and made comments on contents of the passage in relation with the real world. Thus, comprehension was not the last step in the metacognitive process, internalizing and remembering the new information was

Pre-service Chinese English as A Foreign Language (EFL) Teachers Perceptions about Implementation of Communicative Language Teaching

The government of China requires that the Communicative Language Teaching Approach (CLT) should be applied in primary and secondary school English education by issuing the New Curriculum early in 2001 to develop learners competence of using the language; however, implementation of CLT is still a big challenge confronting pre-service Chinese EFL teachers who experienced the traditional teaching approach over an extensive period of time. I conducted a case study research on the perceptions about CLT of twelve pre-service EFL teachers from Liaoning Province, China, to explore: a) what are pre-service Chinese EFL teachers\u27 perceptions about CLT and its implementation in the Chinese context? b) What are the important factors that affect their perceptions about CLT and its implementation? Vygotsky\u27s sociocultural theory was applied as the framework to examine the process of the participants\u27 perceptions. The study indicates that these pre-service EFL teachers considered CLT as an ineffective teaching approach for transferring linguistic knowledge, but they suggested implementing a small amount of communicative activities to relieve the repressed feelings of learners who learn English under the traditional teaching approach. The examination system, the previous English learning experience, the internalized Chinese culture of learning, and the pre-existing beliefs of teaching are the important factors influencing how these pre-service teachers were aware of, understood, interpreted, and emotionally related to English teaching using a communicative approach. These pre-service EFL teachers developed new beliefs of teaching in the process of training; however, lack of role models in the local educational realities prevented them from applying and creating communicative methods. Therefore, I suggest that teacher educators incorporate reflective discussions and demonstrate various implementations of CLT in EFL teacher-training programs.\u2

Researches in Adult Learning and Education: the European Dimension

The book represents several contributions that guide the readers in the comprehension of the paradigmatic shift from adult/lifelong education, to adult/lifelong learning. At the same time it presents the contexts where adults learn: the organized contexts, such as the institutions and services, and the informal contexts. The book is one of a series dedicated to adult learning and education developed under the auspices of ESRALE (European Studies and Research in Adult Learning and Education) an EU supported project. Its companion books are Maria Slowey (ed.) Comparative Adult Education and Learning. Authors and Texts and Vanna Boffo, Paolo Federighi, Ekkehard Nuissl, Empirical Research Methodology in Adult Learning and Education. Authors and Texts

How to design for persistence and retention in MOOCs?

Design of educational interventions is typically carried out following a design cycle involving phases of investigation, conceptualization, prototyping, implementation, execution and evaluation. This cycle can be applied at different levels of granularity e.g. learning activity, module, course or programme. In this paper we consider an aspect of learner behavior that can be critical to the success of many MOOCs i.e. their persistence to study, and the related theme of learner retention. We reflect on the impact that consideration of these can have on design decisions at different stages in the design cycle with the aim of en-hancing MOOC design in relation to learner persistence and retention, with particular attention to the European context

Exploring the use of video-based materials in the Japanese university English language classroom

Use of video materials is widespread in language lessons today. Yet how video is used in the classroom by participants remains an under-researched area. My original contribution to knowledge is to identify ways in which participants use video and video-based materials in the classroom ecology. To do so, I synthesize literature on video for language teaching with research in the small but growing area of materials use. Through a data-driven approach (Corbin & Strauss, 2008), I uncover details from the classroom context to explain relationships between video-based materials and classroom interaction of university learners and instructors at a private university in Japan. Using multiple case study, the data set includes audio recordings of lessons, non-participant observations, teacher interviews, student questionnaires, and classroom materials. Participants use one of two local textbooks, each of which features a different genre of video as materials. I track topics in learner interaction, and trace language common to a variety of classroom activities as related to the materials. While use of materials by both learners and teachers is examined, unlike much of the prior research on materials use, particular focus falls on the peer interaction of the learners in relation to the materials. I argue that participants’ use of video materials impacts the language-learning process through learning opportunities that emerge during interaction in video-based activities. These interactions demonstrate a high degree of collaboration between participants while engaging with video-based materials. My thesis expands knowledge of affordances in language education (van Lier, 2004) by detailing both established and previously unidentified examples of the notion. Furthermore, interaction elicited by use of the video materials shows consistent shifts from topics found in the materials to more personal topics, illustrating that learners take control of these activities by making materials more relevant to their lives in order to sustain interaction, which can lead to learning opportunities

Instructional Designers\u27 Perceptions of their Personal Background and Experiences in their Work

This study examined how the personal characteristics of instructional designers influenced their current instructional-design practice (ID). I first looked at the instructional designers’ perceptions of the relationship between their personal characteristics and their ID practice. I then looked at how these variables were used by the designers to influence their ID practice. The study was guided by the following questions: What specific personal characteristics instructional designers perceive as being an important influence on their ID practice? How do instructional designers use specific personal characteristics to influence their ID practice? How do instructional designers use specific personal characteristics to diversify their ID practice? Specific personal characteristics included personal attributes such as age, and experiences, including prior work experiences. Personal characteristics were informed by the literature, the pilot study, and personal experiences. This qualitative research study used interviews as the primary source for data collection. The theoretical framework was symbolic interactionism. A pilot study was used to test and fine-tune the research data-collection methods and analysis. A snowball sampling technique yielded 15 instructional designers working in a higher education setting in the United States. I included instructional designers who did not receive formal training in ID but who obtained the necessary skills to perform the job through experience. The data analysis followed the guidelines proposed by Miles and Huberman, Kvale and Brinkmann, Roulston, and Rubin and Rubin. Findings showed that instructional designers perceived that specific personal characteristics such as (a) gender, (b) age, (c) key people, (d) spirituality, (e) philosophy, (f) formative years, and experiences such as (a) education—student experiences in the classroom, and program preparation, and (b) work experiences—prior work experiences, and ID professional work experiences influenced their ID practice. These personal characteristics influenced the designers ID practice by adding a secondary perspective through their cultural and biological influences, and by directly informing their approach to process through educational and work experiences. Study results showed that specific personal characteristics and experience allow instructional designers to alter their current ID practice, thereby transforming a once-homogeneous process to a heterogeneous one

Learners in the West, practitioners in the East: An investigation of the teaching experiences of Chinese EFL teachers

Doctor of PhilosophyCurriculum and Instruction ProgramsSocorro G HerreraFueled by present-day internationalization and globalization, an unprecedented growing number of Chinese English teachers go to English-speaking countries to pursue graduate degrees in ESL/EFL teacher education programs and return to teach in China. These teachers are the learners in the West and the pioneer practitioners in the East. It is pivotal to understand the nature of these teachers’ learning and teaching experiences. This qualitative study explored the English teaching experiences of Chinese EFL teachers who received professional teacher training in a TESOL program in the United States and returned to their home country. Through phenomenological case study with purposeful and criterion-based sampling, four participants were invited to describe their lived experiences of early English learning, teacher training, and English teaching in China to develop a contextually based understanding of the phenomenon. The data sources included semi-structured interviews and documents. The sociocultural theory was used as the theoretical framework in the study. The findings highlighted the significance of Western TESOL training on teachers in terms of broadening their horizon, developing critical perspectives on viewing the world, empowering their TESOL knowledge, practical knowledge, and themselves as EFL teachers. At the same time, the study discovered the complexity of EFL teaching, considering teachers’ previous learning experiences and various contextual factors. The study will contribute to Western TESOL programs and provide implications for future practice in China

Recontextualising issues in the 'NISTCOL" environmental education curriculum module for Primary Diploma by Distance Learning in Zambia

This study investigated the recontextualising of the NISTCOL environmental education curriculum module for the Primary Teachers’ Diploma by Distance Learning (PTDDL) in Zambia. It focused on three case sites, the NISTCOL EE curriculum module for PTDDL and the University of Zambia, the National In-Service Teacher’s College (NISTCOL) and four basic schools: chalimbana, Bimbe, Chongwe and Silver Rest. The study looked at teacher professional development in environmental education in Zambia. The aims and goals were to investigate the NISTCOL EE curriculum and identifying issues that were associated with lecturers in the recontextualising process and further examine what issues were associated with curriculum recontextualisation in Zambian schools. For the conceptual constructs, the research drew on Bernstein’s (1990) framework of pedagogic discourse, it traced how the pedagogic discourse was de-located from the field of production and re-located into the pedagogic practice of each stated case above. It further examined the continuities, discontinuities and changes in the official environmental discourse as it was recontextualised. The study particularly focused on Bernstein’s conceptual constructs of selective appropriation and ideological transformation. In each case the Bernstein framework is used to analyze the process to identify recontextualising issues influencing pedagogical practice in the Zambian schools and college. The study revealed that each case under focus was unique but through examining the environmental discourse and pedagogical discourse in each case recontextalising issues were identified. Each case was influenced by different factors, such as lack of policy synergy, lack of EE vision at national level in Zambia, experience and knowledge, ideologies and emphasis, and depth of engagement. These factors provided me with a deeper insight into the curriculum recontextualising processes in Zambian schools