The role of the classroom teacher in a speech improvement program.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

The Influences Of Teacher Self-Reflection Practices While Interacting With Families

Self-reflection in early childhood education is one reform effort that has taken hold in the education community. This study shares some of the findings of a qualitative study that explored how five teachers identified and implemented strategies of self-reflection, and how these strategies informed their practice. The purpose of this study was to better understand self-reflection and how it influences interactions with families. The theoretical framework originates in the works of Touchpoints® and Bandura, and applies a theoretical framework to give voice to the teachers within the context of their community action program. Four themes were culled from the data and categorized within three methods. These themes highlighted how the teachers internalized and practiced self-reflection in this program. The findings suggest that these teachers had a sophisticated understanding of self-reflection and learned to reflect through various opportunities, and in different contexts. This study has implications for the ways in which teachers learn about self-reflection, practice strategies while interacting with families, and is insightful for teacher to become reflective practitioners

The effectiveness of "Learning by doing" as a strategy that uses the elaboration of didactic material done by the learners

Tesis (Pedagogía en Inglés)Nowadays, the instruction of vocabulary on the acquisition and learning of English as a second language is important and it has been recognized as a relevant aspect by academics and theoreticians of the area. The aim of this study is to prove, through a concrete and an experimental form, the effectiveness of the constructivist strategy that uses the elaboration of didactic material as an improvement manner for the acquisition and learning of explicit vocabulary that, at the same time, may be meaningful to the pupils. The “Learning by Doing” strategy has been built under the perspective of the theory of constructivism, which has been adapted to be applied on two different educational establishments; both subsidized. The first school is located in El Belloto and the second school institution located in Villa Alemana. Accordingly, the thesis study was carried out on 5 different courses with a final average of 132 students. This inquiry has a quantitative nature with a quasi – experimental design that has as a sample a paired – dependent kind, which took into account the control subunits and the experimental subunits from each EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classroom where the strategy previously mentioned was conducted. As described on the previous paragraph, the results were analyzed using a mathematical – statistical type of measurement denominated “T – Test” table. These demonstrated that the constructivist strategy namely “Learning by Doing” improve the learning of explicit vocabulary on those grades belonging to the primary education. Nowadays, the instruction of vocabulary on the acquisition and learning of English as a second language is important and it has been recognized as a relevant aspect by academics and theoreticians of the area. The aim of this study is to prove, through a concrete and an experimental form, the effectiveness of the constructivist strategy that uses the elaboration of didactic material as an improvement manner for the acquisition and learning of explicit vocabulary that, at the same time, may be meaningful to the pupils. The “Learning by Doing” strategy has been built under the perspective of the theory of constructivism, which has been adapted to be applied on two different educational establishments; both subsidized. The first school is located in El Belloto and the second school institution located in Villa Alemana. Accordingly, the thesis study was carried out on 5 different courses with a final average of 132 students. This inquiry has a quantitative nature with a quasi – experimental design that has as a sample a paired – dependent kind, which took into account the control subunits and the experimental subunits from each EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classroom where the strategy previously mentioned was conducted. As described on the previous paragraph, the results were analyzed using a mathematical – statistical type of measurement denominated “T – Test” table. These demonstrated that the constructivist strategy namely “Learning by Doing” improve the learning of explicit vocabulary on those grades belonging to the primary education.En la actualidad, la instrucción del vocabulario es importante para la adquisición y aprendizaje del inglés como segunda lengua. Esto ha sido reconocido como un aspecto relevante por académicos y teóricos del área. El objetivo de esta investigación es probar a través de una forma concreta y experimental la efectividad de una estrategia que usa la elaboración de material didáctico como manera de mejorar la adquisición y el aprendizaje del vocabulario explícito, y que éste a su vez sea significativo para el alumno. La estrategia “Learning by Doing” ha sido construida bajo la perspectiva de la teoría del constructivismo, la cual ha sido adaptada para ser aplicada en dos establecimientos educacionales diferentes, ambos subvencionados. El primero situado en El Belloto y el segundo ubicado en Villa Alemana. Por consiguiente, esta investigación se realizó en 5 cursos diferentes con un promedio final de 132 alumnos. Esta investigación tiene una naturaleza cuantitativa con un diseño cuasi – experimental y tiene como muestra un tipo dependiente y pareado, la cual tomó en consideración las subunidades controles y las subunidades experimentales de cada clase “EFL” en donde la estrategia previamente mencionada fue llevada a cabo. Según lo descrito en el párrafo anterior, los resultados fueron analizados usando un tipo de medición matemático – estadística denominada tabla “T – Test”. Éstos demostraron que la estrategia constructivista nombrada “Learning by Doing” mejoró el aprendizaje de vocabulario explícito en aquellos cursos pertenecientes a la educación general básica. Sin embargo, el curso perteneciente a la enseñanza media no mostró ninguna señal de mejoramiento cuando la estrategia que usa la elaboración de material didáctico llegó a su fin

Exploring the Secret Garden: the growing importance of ICT in the home

The use of ICT (information and communication technology) in homes is growing faster than its use in schools and colleges-and there are already more systems in homes than in educational settings. This article argues that we should attempt to enter the area which most research on ICT in education tends to ignore: the secret garden of the learner at home. It is based partly on two pilot case-studies of secondary schools and a small sample of their students. Given the paucity of research in this area the article poses more questions than it answers. What are the implications of ICT use at home for teachers in schools? Do home systems interfere with school education or can they be used to enhance it! How should teachers respond to, and assess, work done using home ICT? Is the home situation widening the gap between one set of pupils (the "haves" of ICT) and another? Suggestions for school policies and action research for the future are put forward

New Perspectives in Teaching Pronunciation

pp.165-18

Practical Student Self-affirmation

This research paper focuses on student peer interactional relationships in a tertiary level classroom setting in Japan. The research is based on the use of one piece of technology, Microsoft PowerPoint, to illustrate student peer interactional relationships during presentation tasks throughout the 2015 Spring Semester. The application of the particular software used in this research is of little importance, in that any piece of software could be used to investigate student interaction. The important findings of this research indicate that students can be made aware of their self-affirmation through an application of sociolinguistics and an introduction of critical pedagogy that encompasses a significant reduction in the influence of the traditional ‘teacher’ role to the benefit of student empowerment. The role of the student changes from being the passive object to that of a more active Subject role, as that of the ‘teacher,’ or better termed ‘facilitator,’ dispenses their traditional paternalistic, authoritative Subject position, in favor of being one that helps to bring about ‘…an outcome (as learning, productivity, or communication) by providing indirect or unobtrusive assistance, guidance, or supervision,’ on the part of the ‘facilitator,’ as it is defined in the Miriam-Webster dictionary (2015). For students to adopt a more active role requires a change in study habits, which requires more effort. However, this adheres perfectly to the Kyoai College motto; ‘You can develop your ability though it might be hard’ (Kyoai, 2015)

Why choose an english career path?: type of motivation of three freshmen students of an english teaching program at a chilean private university

Tesis (Profesor de Inglés para la Enseñanza Básica y Media y al grado académico de Licenciado en Educación)As English has been the language used to communicate worldwide and has had an impact on the educational system and the working life, the aim of this study is to discover how elements such as type of school and agents influence students’ motivation to enter an English teaching program. This study has a qualitative approach and its research design is life stories. This research focused on freshmen students’ thoughts and experiences, which were collected through semi-structured interviews containing questions that address the participants’ past, present, and future experiences. Freshmen students were chosen for this research since they could provide us with the opportunity to comprehend the elements that influenced their decisions to choose the program. Finally, the data were analyzed by the four researchers individually and the product was discussed collectively so that the study was reliable enough. The results showed that the most predominant types of motivations were intrinsic and altruistic. Furthermore, it was discovered that the type of school they attended influenced the development of these motivations in different degrees.Debido a que el inglés ha sido el idioma predilecto para la comunicación global, éste ha tenido un impacto en el sistema educacional y la vida laboral. El objetivo de este estudio es descubrir cómo elementos como tipo de escuela y agentes, influencian la motivación de estudiantes de primer año para elegir estudiar la carrera de pedagogía en inglés en una universidad privada de Chile. El estudio tiene un enfoque cualitativo, cuya técnica de investigación es historias de vida. El centro de interés es la recolección de pensamientos y experiencias de estos estudiantes a través de entrevistas mixtas que contienen preguntas que apuntan a experiencias de los participantes en el pasado, el presente y el futuro. Elegimos entrevistar a estudiantes cursando el segundo semestre de universidad porque nos provee de la oportunidad de conocer los elementos que influenciaron la decisión de estudiar esta carrera. Finalmente, los resultados fueron analizados por cada uno de los cuatro investigadores por separado para luego discutir los resultados en conjunto, esto con el fin de proporcionar la confiabilidad requerida. Los resultados mostraron que los tipos de motivación predominantes fueron motivación intrínseca y altruista. Además se demostró que el tipo de colegio influenciaba el desarrollo de estas motivaciones en distintos grados

Appraising capacity building among engineering students in selected universities in Southwestern Nigeria

A journal article on capacity building in Nigerian universities for Engineering students.This paper examined capacity building among engineering students in selected universities in south-western Nigeria. One hundred and fifty-one final year engineering students took part in the survey. A structured questionnaire were administered to the respondents as a tool for data collection. The data collected were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistical analysis using SPSS. The results showed that 66.9% of the respondents had passion for their choice of engineering courses. Out of 110 students that had access to computer system, about 87.4% had related engineering application software on their personal computer while only 76.2% could use them proficiently. Based on the students' responses, 93% of them expressed that their departments lacked adequate and state-of-the art equipment for practicals, 54% stated that practicals were carried out occasionally, while 95.6% indicated that Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (S1WES) was very relevant to their study of engineering. The ANOVA conducted on the data showed that SIWES had significant effect on the understanding of their core courses (p<0.005). Also, the core values of the universities were significant to capacity building. The paper concluded that Nigerian universities had potentials to develop the needed human capacity in engineering but they can do better through provision of adequate equipment, strengthening the SIWES programme and laying more emphasis on vocational as well as entrepreneurial skills

E-Coaching in Organizations: A Study of Features, Practices, and Determinants of Use

Employee development in organizations is moving away from classroom instruction to more individualized, flexible forms of just-in-time learning and support, such as e-coaching. E-coaching, conducted partially or entirely at a distance, offers convenience, cost-savings, efficiency, and improved access to people and resources. However, research on e-coaching for work-related purposes is limited. This descriptive and exploratory study used mixed methods to examine e-coaching extent, technologies and practices, and factors that influence deployment and success in organizations. A web-based survey gathered opinions from over two hundred workforce learning and performance professionals. Semi-structured interviews gathered critical incidents from twenty e-coaches. The researcher used Chi-square, analyses of variance, and regression analyses to examine differences by e-coaching level and the influence of individual, organization, and innovation factors. Data showed that most coaching was delivered with little technology, with strong expectations for growth despite weak perceptions of coaching success and organizational support. E-coaching was more typically used as an alternative to face-to-face rather than as an opportunity to do something altogether new, and typically used to serve geographically dispersed employees, provide just-in-time support, address issues of scheduling, provide greater access to expertise and multiple perspectives, and reduce costs. E-coaching involved mostly e-mail, land line telephone, and sharing electronic files, with limited use of video conferencing, and was typically part of a formal and blended learning and development initiative rather than an ad hoc or standalone activity. Certain coaching purposes, topics, and beliefs about e-coaching usefulness as well as a supportive environment were strong predictors of e-coaching level, technology choices, and perceived efficacy. Coaches valued relative advantage, compatibility, and familiarity over media richness, and they used technology-based tools to increase presence, humanize the experience, connect proteges to peers and resources, and track client progress. Many respondents felt that face-to-face contact was necessary for sensitive feedback, physical interactions, or addressing deeper issues. Group and just-in-time coaching received enthusiasm which supports the importance of learning by doing and on-demand resources. Findings converge with the literature and suggest several practical implications for organizations, individual coaches, and others interested in the effective design, support, and implementation of e-coaching for development and performance support