Bridging the mismatches between the lecturers’ and students’ beliefs about the value of written feedback on their assignments: A Private Malaysian University Case Study

This multi-method, qualitative study seeks to examine issues surrounding the purposes and roles of the written feedback provided by Malaysian lecturers in a private university on assessed student assignments written in English in two subject disciplines – English and science. The overall purpose of the study was to investigate the views and practices of staff and students that relate to provision and reception of assignment feedback and, in particular, their perceptions relating to its role and effectiveness. An on-going issue is that although formative feedback is supposed to enhance students’ learning, students are often unable to interpret and apply the feedback that they receive. Recently, sociocultural theorists have advocated the incorporation of students’ own views about feedback back into formative assessment to improve the effectiveness of feedback and further assist students to self-regulate their learning (Murphy, 2000; Nicol, & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006; Scott, 2005). Ten lecturers (five English and five science) were recruited through their participation in an initial survey, which was followed by a case study approach using multiple data collection methods. First the lecturers were interviewed individually and their students were interviewed in groups to obtain their beliefs towards written feedback in general. Then, using think-aloud protocols, each lecturer was observed providing written feedback on one or three students’ assignments. This was followed by interviews with those students whose assignments were marked during the think-aloud sessions to obtain their responses towards their lecturers’ feedback. Finally, summaries of these student responses to the feedback were then presented back to the individual lecturers to elicit their responses and reflections. The approach to the analysis of the data was a combination of grounded theory and thematic analysis (Glesne, 2011). The thematic findings were then subject to further analysis using socio-cultural theory, specifically the concepts of Zone of Proximal Development and Activity Theory. The main findings suggest that, although the English and science lecturers had pre-conceived beliefs about what constitute good written feedback practice, four contextual factors: the policies relating to assessment and feedback of the local and partner universities, the lack of training among the lecturers, the lack of training of students in Academic Writing and the students’ poor English proficiency caused the lecturers to modify practices of their provision written feedback in ways that diverged from their beliefs. It was also found that the lecturers’ feedback did not match students’ expectations in terms of the purposes, types and foci of feedback, and the amount of guidance preferred in the feedback. However, when the students’ responses were made revealed to the lecturers, some lecturers decided to incorporate students’ views into their feedback practices. My findings suggest a number of contributions to the field of teacher cognition, second language instruction and social-cultural theory. While few studies have examined the influence of contextual factors on teacher cognition, this study revealed the role of contextual factors in moulding lecturers’ beliefs. Other potential contributions include implications for the practical application of written feedback, expanding the existing activity theory framework to examine conflicts caused by the different beliefs and practices within an institution, and the application of think-aloud protocols to the investigation of teacher cognition

The practice firm concept: a competency approach to teach key business skills

Whether it is called “Core Skills (UK)”; “Employability Skills (Canada)”; “Essential Skills (New Zealand)”; “Workplace Know-how (USA)” or “Project and Transfer Oriented Training (Germany)”, globally we have been concerned with integrating key competencies with learning outcomes to provide the workforce with potential employees that are employable in day one. The Department of Business Administration, HKIVE (Tsing Yi) supports this view by incorporating “the Practice Firm Concept” into course delivery, with the belief that it enhances the quality of teaching and fosters life-long learning skills. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how this Concept has been developed and incorporated in our business curriculum

"So, Tell Me What Users Want, What They Really, Really Want!"

Equating users' true needs and desires with behavioural measures of 'engagement' is problematic. However, good metrics of 'true preferences' are difficult to define, as cognitive biases make people's preferences change with context and exhibit inconsistencies over time. Yet, HCI research often glosses over the philosophical and theoretical depth of what it means to infer what users really want. In this paper, we present an alternative yet very real discussion of this issue, via a fictive dialogue between senior executives in a tech company aimed at helping people live the life they `really' want to live. How will the designers settle on a metric for their product to optimise

Promoting Team-Based Exercise Among African American Breast Cancer Survivors

Physical activity benefits the health and well-being of breast cancer survivors (BCS). Yet, many African American survivors do not routinely exercise and have increased risk of poor outcomes. The purpose of this mixed-method study was to identify motivational factors compelling African American BCS to participate in a 14-week team walking program and to intend to continue exercise after the intervention concluded. Focus groups were held with participants (n = 12) before and after training. Content analysis discovered themes before the intervention: Not wanting to go at it alone, exercise not a life or treatment priority, cancer treatment affected activity, advocates to exercise, and can exercise really help? Four themes postintervention themes included: In the same boat, changed mind-set, improved weight and activity, and overcoming barriers. Physical data verified improvements. Results suggest that a team-based exercise training program may assist in overcoming a sedentary behavior tendency and subsequently improve health among survivors

Survivors Speak: A Qualitative Analysis of Motivational Factors Influencing Breast Cancer Survivors’ Participation in a Sprint Distance Triathlon

Aims and Objectives To examine motivational factors influencing breast cancer survivors to participate in triathlon training, complete a triathlon and maintain an exercise thereafter. Background Routine exercise has been shown to improve quality of life and reduce recurrence for breast cancer survivors. Yet physical and psychological factors present barriers for initiating and maintaining an exercise routine. Research is limited in exploring factors of exercise motivation from the survivor\u27s perspective. Design Qualitative design using focus groups and individual follow-up phone interviews to explore motivation for exercise initiation and maintenance. Methods One to two weeks after completing a triathlon, 11 breast cancer survivors who trained together participated in one of three focus groups to discuss their experience. Five months post triathlon 6 of the 11 participants were successfully contacted and phone interviews were conducted to explore exercise maintenance. Focus groups and interviews were analysed using content and thematic analysis. Results Five themes emerged (1) Champion for Exercise, (2) Part of a Team, (3) Everyone Had a Story, (4) Not Really Exercise and (5) What Do We Do Now? Overall, survivors recognised their need for lifestyle change (e.g. moving from a sedentary lifestyle to a more active one). More importantly, they identified the team approach to exercise initiation was crucial in their success in sustaining a behavioural change. Conclusions Emphasis needed on developing team exercise training programmes for survivors. Nurses can play a critical role in discussing with survivors, the benefits of exercise initiation and maintenance. Relevance to clinical practice Breast cancer survivors are hesitant to initiate routine exercise. Training with women who share a common lived experience increases the likelihood of success. Nurses are in a position to encourage breast cancer survivors to participate in group exercise programmes as a way to improve quality of life

Telling stories in the use of portfolio assessment in higher education: some implementation issues

Evidence has shown that the results of traditional standardized tests characterized by pencil and paper formats, multiple-choice responses and time-restricted completion are not sufficient in telling how pupils engage in the learning process and their progress in learning. In addition, these tests tend to emphasize on the assessment of basic skills but fail to measure higher level thinking and problem solving skills. This inadequacy can be addressed by incorporating authentic assessment approaches such as performance tasks, portfolios, and grading for team effort. This paper aims to tell stories from an action learning research group whose members have used ‘portfolio’ as an alternative assessment strategy in higher education

Shinto and Christian festivals: An analysis of the Japanese religious policy in wartime Singapore

Master'sMASTER OF ART

Neurofascin-155 IgM autoantibodies in patients with inflammatory neuropathies

Objectives Recently, IgG autoantibodies against different paranodal proteins have been detected and this has led to important advances in the management of inflammatory neuropathies. In contrast, not much is known on IgM autoantibodies against paranodal proteins. Methods In the present study, we screened a large cohort of patients (n=140) with inflammatory neuropathies for IgM autoantibodies against neurofascin-155, neurofascin-186 or contactin-1. Results IgM autoantibodies against neurofascin-155 were detected by ELISA in five patients, four with inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) and one with Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), and were confirmed by ELISA-based preabsorption experiments and Western blot. Titres ranged from 1:100 to 1:400. We did not detect IgM anti-neurofascin-186 or anti-contactin-1 antibodies in this cohort. All patients presented with distally accentuated tetraparesis and hypesthesia. Remarkably, tremor was present in three of the patients with CIDP and occurred in the patients with GBS after the acute phase of disease. Nerve conduction studies revealed prolonged distal motor latencies and F wave latencies. Nerve biopsies showed signs of secondary axonal damage in three of the patients, demyelinating features in one patient. Teased fibre preparations did not demonstrate paranodal damage. Conclusion In summary, IgM neurofascin-155 autoantibodies may be worth testing in patients with inflammatory neuropathies. Their pathogenic role needs to be determined in future experiments

Live birth following double-factor pre-implantation genetic diagnosis for both reciprocal translocation and alpha-thalassaemia

published_or_final_versio

Cloning of anti-tumor human gene SMARCB1/INI1 for the treatment of rhabdoid tumors

Rhabdoid tumors are malignant tumors found in the kidneys and other soft tissues of adolescents, with the average age of diagnosis between 15 and 24 months. Currently, patients diagnosed with rhabdoid tumors are treated with a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. These patients face a survival rate below 25%. The mutations of the SMARCB1/INI1 gene have been found in the majority of rhabdoid tumors including the atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors (ATRT). The SMARCB1/INI1 protein has the potential to be developed as a tumor suppressing protein-based drug for the treatment of childhood rhabdoid tumors. To test this, we cloned the SMARCB1/INI1 gene from the human genome into a protein expression vector (pET28a). The recombinant human SMARCB1/INI1 protein will be isolated from E.coli cells using Ni-NTA resin-based chromatography and the anti-tumor activity of purified human SMARCB1/INI1 protein will be analyzed in tumor cell culture in vitro in future study.Biochemistry and Molecular Biolog