ENHANCING PRE-SERVICE TEACHER TRAINING: THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN ONLINE MODEL TO DEVELOP REFLECTIVE PRACTICE

Abstract. The thesis explored and analyzed an online virtual learning environment (VLE) as a vehicle for facilitating the reflective capabilities of third year pre-service ESOL teacher trainees during field experience block practice. This period was chosen for the study because it is an important time during which neophytes are encouraged, through reflection, to connect theory and practice by applying the learning from their Bachelor of Education tertiary programs to the dynamics of their classroom experiences. The VLE was selected because of the potential benefits of the asynchronous, collaborative discussion forums as a platform on which reflections could be posted and shared. Using action research methodology over eighteen months, three case studies were conducted and a model which could scaffold trainee online reflections constructed. This model entails trainees applying a well-known reflective practice development tool from Argyris and Schön (1978) to enable them to conduct their own small-scale action research projects based on their practicum experiences. It is also designed to facilitate critical thinking that examines events from different perspectives. Findings suggest that trainees could apply the initial single loop learning cycle to their work and report on the outcomes of this. They also suggest that neophyte reflections are improved through online collaboration and asynchronous communication. Thus, the online virtual learning environment can be an effective vehicle for facilitating reflective practice during practicum. However, more research in this field is required as despite these positive results, deeper levels of reflection attempting to apply the second or double loop learning cycle were found to be relatively rare, even when those interactions were co-constructed using tutor Socratic dialogue to guide participant thinking processes. The study concludes by arguing that there is a strong case for this kind of research as it provides trainee teachers with a virtual space to exploit the opportunities that arise during block practice for reflective practice capability development

The Pedagogical Variation Model (PVM) for Work-Based Training in Virtual Classrooms: Evaluation at Kuwait University

A collaborative research initiative was undertaken to evaluate the pedagogical variation model (PVM) for online learning and teaching at Kuwait University. Outcomes from sample populations of students—both postgraduates and undergraduates—from the Faculty of Education were analyzed for comparison. As predicted in the PVM, the findings indicate that online e-learners do have preferences for particular e-moderator online teaching strategies. No generalizations can be made due to the small size of the sample. However, joint international research initiatives are developing online learning materials in order to widen access to Web courses and resources.Cet article porte sur une initiative de recherche collaborative entreprise pour évaluer le modèle de variation pédagogique (MVP) dans l’apprentissage et l’enseignement en ligne à la l’Université du Koweït. Nous avons analysé, à des fins de comparaison, des résultats tirés d’échantillons d’étudiants des premier, deuxième et troisième cycles de la faculté d’éducation. Tel que prédit par le MVP, les résultats indiquent que les apprenants en ligne ont effectivement des préférences quant aux stratégies d’enseignement en ligne avec modérateur à distance. La taille réduite de notre échantillon ne nous permet pas d’en tirer des conclusions générales. Toutefois, des initiatives de recherche entreprises avec des partenaires internationaux visent le développement de matériel pédagogique en ligne de sorte à élargir l’accès aux cours et aux ressources en ligne.

Learning Freedom: A Journey in Training

This Training Course-linked Capstone (CLC) integrates learning related to experiential learning theory, engaged pedagogy, emergent learning, and the nature of consciousness, with relevant experience gained throughout my reflective practice phases at SIT Graduate Institute, toward my development as a trainer. This CLC is intended to serve as an exploratory window into the fundamental grounding for my approach to training, and the journey of my growth in applying theoretical principles in practice. It is rooted in my personal experiences with self-oppression and liberation, which I investigate in order to better understand the relationship between those two concepts, as well as their relevance on a personal level and as a trainer. The theories and published works I reference are mainly drawn from ICHR 5410 Training of Trainers: Ethics and ICHR 5025 Training Design in Experiential Learning (TDEL), which I experienced during the on-campus phase at SIT Graduate Institute. The majority of my insights are derived from reflective self-analysis, which has taken place throughout the past year-and-a-half, during my Reflective Practice phase and beyond, in developing my own professional practice over the past year. The theories and practices discussed in this paper are connected to the work of training as the practice of freedom

Chapter 1 : Learning Online

The OTiS (Online Teaching in Scotland) programme, run by the now defunct Scotcit programme, ran an International e-Workshop on Developing Online Tutoring Skills which was held between 8–12 May 2000. It was organised by Heriot–Watt University, Edinburgh and The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK. Out of this workshop came the seminal Online Tutoring E-Book, a generic primer on e-learning pedagogy and methodology, full of practical implementation guidelines. Although the Scotcit programme ended some years ago, the E-Book has been copied to the SONET site as a series of PDF files, which are now available via the ALT Open Access Repository. The editor, Carol Higgison, is currently working in e-learning at the University of Bradford (see her staff profile) and is the Chair of the Association for Learning Technology (ALT)

Study on the Implications of Asynchronous GMO Approvals for EU Imports of Animal Feed Products

The aim of this study is to understand the implications of asynchronous approvals for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) that are imported to the European Union for use within animal feed products, specifically with regard to the EU livestock sector, as well as upon the upstream and downstream economic industries related to it. Asynchronous approval refers to the situation in which there is a delay in the moment when a genetically modified (GM) event – modifying a specific trait of a plant or animal – is allowed to be used in one country in comparison to another country. In the perspective of this study, the asynchronous GMO approvals concern the use of GM varieties of plants that are approved in the countries which supply them to the EU, in one form or another of feed material, before these are approved by the EU

Comparative analysis of asynchronous cellular automata in stochastic pharmaceutical modelling

In pharmaceutical modelling, cellular automata have been used as an established tool to represent molecular changes through discrete structural interactions. The data quality provided by such modelling is found suitable for the early drug design phase where flexibility is paramount. While both synchronous (CA) and asynchronous (ACA) types of automata have been used, analysis of their nature and comparative influence on model outputs is lacking. In this paper, we outline a representative probabilistic CA for modelling complex controlled drug formulations and investigate its transition from synchronous to asynchronous update algorithms. The key investigation points include quantification of model dynamics through three distinct scenarios, parallelisation performance and the ability to describe different release phenomena, namely erosion, diffusion and swelling. The choice of the appropriate update mechanism impacts the perceived realism of the simulation as well as the applicability of large-scale simulations

Shared User Interfaces of Physiological Data: Systematic Review of Social Biofeedback Systems and Contexts in HCI

As an emerging interaction paradigm, physiological computing is increasingly being used to both measure and feed back information about our internal psychophysiological states. While most applications of physiological computing are designed for individual use, recent research has explored how biofeedback can be socially shared between multiple users to augment human-human communication. Reflecting on the empirical progress in this area of study, this paper presents a systematic review of 64 studies to characterize the interaction contexts and effects of social biofeedback systems. Our findings highlight the importance of physio-temporal and social contextual factors surrounding physiological data sharing as well as how it can promote social-emotional competences on three different levels: intrapersonal, interpersonal, and task-focused. We also present the Social Biofeedback Interactions framework to articulate the current physiological-social interaction space. We use this to frame our discussion of the implications and ethical considerations for future research and design of social biofeedback interfaces.Comment: [Accepted version, 32 pages] Clara Moge, Katherine Wang, and Youngjun Cho. 2022. Shared User Interfaces of Physiological Data: Systematic Review of Social Biofeedback Systems and Contexts in HCI. In CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'22), ACM, https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.351749

Voice Interaction Online

This chapter examines the potential for voice activities to enhance online learning. Although research related to online writing tools (such as e-mail, discussion threads, blogs, and wikis) is growing and the use of synchronous and asynchronous voice tools (such as internet phone, VoiceThread and multimodal web conferencing) has developed rapidly, little is known about the effects of systematically implementing these voice tools in formal educational settings (Millard, 2010). This chapter first provides a brief overview of the available online voice systems, the design principles of online voice interaction, and prior research and frameworks regarding voice interaction in online and blended learning. It then reports on a study of a systematic application of an asynchronous voice recording system integrated into a learning management system in an undergraduate blended-learning English course. The research found that the voice system was adequately usable and was associated with a positive change in the students‘ perceptions of speaking English over the semester. Half of the students were reluctant to talk to an online program, whereas the other half were willing to do so. Regular use of online voice assignments encouraged high attendance rates for the in-person classes. This suggests the potential power of asynchronous online voice interaction to help support students‘ learning

TRACE: A Stigmergic Crowdsourcing Platform for Intelligence Analysis

Crowdsourcing has become a frequently adopted approach to solving various tasks from conducting surveys to designing products. In the field of reasoning-support, however, crowdsourcing-related research and application have not been extensively implemented. Reasoning-support is essential in intelligence analysis to help analysts mitigate various cognitive biases, enhance deliberation, and improve report writing. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to designing a crowdsourcing platform that facilitates stigmergic coordination, awareness, and communication for intelligence analysis. We have partly materialized our proposal in the form of a crowdsourcing system which supports intelligence analysis: TRACE (Trackable Reasoning and Analysis for Collaboration and Evaluation). We introduce several stigmergic approaches integrated into TRACE and discuss the potential experimentation of these approaches. We also explain the design implications for further development of TRACE and similar crowdsourcing systems to support reasoning