On the nature of reflective practice in English language teaching : importance, successful realization and challenges

The knowledge of the importance of reflection in the field of teaching is crucial for an understanding of teacher development. There has been a considerable amount of literature published on reflective practice highlighting the need for quality reflection in various fields of study. Questions have been raised about the challenges or obstacles which might occur on the way towards successful realization of teacher trainees’ reflection. Factors found to be influencing its effectiveness and meaningfulness have been explored in several studies. Debate continues about the best strategies for meaningful reflection which would lead towards professional development of English language teachers. Despite the fact that the issue of reflective practice is widely recognised as a serious concern, research has consistently shown that many English language teacher trainees lack knowledge of meaningful reflection on their teaching. Therefore, the paper intends to focus on reflective practice in English language teaching, especially during teaching practice. In addition, it seeks to discuss its importance, successful realization and possible challenges in the process. Moreover, the paper presents partial research findings based on qualitative data obtained from feedback sessions conducted on a sample of pre-service English language teacher trainees.peer-reviewe

Prison Education in Slovakia from the Teacher\u27s Perspective

The present study deals with teaching practices in prison education in Slovakia. Attention is paid to secondary school teachers who, at the same time, teach adult prisoners. The aim of the qualitative research conducted was to find out in what ways, in the view of the teachers approached, prison education and school education differ and how they react to the differences. Another objective was to find out whether the teachers feel competent enough to teach prisoners. It was found out that theabsence of teacher training for prison education and the power of the prison regime strongly affect teaching practice. The teachers adjusted the syllabus, the pace and demands placed on the learners to the limited conditions of the prison regime. The authors believe that the present study could shed more light on teaching practices in prison education and help recognize such areas where specific teacher training is needed

Numerical study of cancer cell invasion dynamics using adaptive mesh refinement: the urokinase model

In the present work we investigate the chemotactically and proteolytically driven tissue invasion by cancer cells. The model employed is a system of advection-reaction-diffusion equations that features the role of the serine protease urokinase-type plasminogen activator. The analytical and numerical study of this system constitutes a challenge due to the merging, emerging, and travelling concentrations that the solutions exhibit. Classical numerical methods applied to this system necessitate very fine discretization grids to resolve these dynamics in an accurate way. To reduce the computational cost without sacrificing the accuracy of the solution, we apply adaptive mesh refinement techniques, in particular h-refinement. Extended numerical experiments exhibit that this approach provides with a higher order, stable, and robust numerical method for this system. We elaborate on several mesh refinement criteria and compare the results with the ones in the literature. We prove, for a simpler version of this model, $L^\infty$ bounds for the solutions, we study the stability of its conditional steady states, and conclude that it can serve as a test case for further development of mesh refinement techniques for cancer invasion simulations

Measuring the susceptibility to visually induced motion sickness and its relationship with vertigo, dizziness, migraine, syncope and personality traits

BACKGROUND: The widespread use of visual technologies such as Virtual Reality increases the risk of visually induced motion sickness (VIMS). Previously, the 6-item short version of the Visually Induced Motion Sickness Susceptibility Questionnaire (VIMSSQ short form) has been validated for predicting individual variation in VIMS. The aim of the current study was to investigate how the susceptibility to VIMS is correlated with other relevant factors in the general population. METHODS: A total of 440 participants (201M, 239F), mean age 33.6 (SD 14.8) years, completed an anonymous online survey of various questionnaires including the VIMSSQ, Motion Sickness Susceptibility Questionnaire (MSSQ), Vertigo in City questionnaire (VIC), Migraine (scale), Social & Work Impact of Dizziness (SWID), Syncope (faintness), and Personality (‘Big Five’ TIPI). RESULTS: The VIMSSQ correlated positively with the MSSQ (r = .50), VIC (r = .45), Migraine (r = .44), SWID (r = .28), and Syncope (r = .15). The most efficient Multiple Linear Regression model for the VIMSSQ included the predictors MSSQ, Migraine, VIC, and Age and explained 40% of the variance. Factor analysis of strongest correlates with VIMSSQ revealed a single factor loading with VIMSSQ, MSSQ, VIC, Migraine, SWID, and Syncope, suggesting a common latent variable of sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: The set of predictors for the VIMSSQ in the general population has similarity with those often observed in patients with vestibular disorders. Based on these correlational results, we suggest the existence of continuum of underlying risk factors for sensitivity, from healthy population to patients with extreme visual vertigo and perhaps Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness

Global existence of weak solutions to viscoelastic phase separation: Part II Degenerate Case

The aim of this paper is to prove global in time existence of weak solutions for a viscoelastic phase separation. We consider the case with singular potentials and degenerate mobilities. Our model couples the diffusive interface model with the Peterlin-Navier-Stokes equations for viscoelastic fluids. To obtain the global in time existence of weak solutions we consider appropriate approximations by solutions of the viscoelastic phase separation with a regular potential and build on the corresponding energy and entropy estimates.Comment: 29 pages, 28 figure