English-for-teaching:rethinking teacher proficiency in the classroom

The expansion of English teaching in state education systems places increasing demands on English language teachers and how they are trained. A major thrust of these efforts has focused on improving teachers' English language proficiency. This expectation is manifested in policy and pedagogical directives that teachers 'teach English in English'. We argue for a reconceptualization of teacher language proficiency, not as general English proficiency but as a specialized subset of language skills required to prepare and teach lessons. This concept of English-for-Teaching as a bounded form of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) for the classroom builds on what teachers know about teaching, while introducing and confirming specific classroom language. This article describes how the construct was developed and then describes sample classroom tasks and the language needed to enact them in three major areas: managing the classroom, understanding and communicating lesson content, and assessing students and giving feedback.

Challenges of Teaching Written Communication in the Cloud

Report published in the Proceedings of the National Conference on "Education and Research in the Information Society", Plovdiv, May, 2014

Lecturers' experiences of assessing generic skills in an active learning environment for engineering education in Malaysia - Emergent findings

The aim of this paper is to explore the engineering lecturers' experiences of generic skills assessment within an active learning context in Malaysia. Using a case-study methodology, lecturers' assessment approaches were investigated regarding three generic skills; verbal communication, problem solving and team work. Because of the importance to learning of the assessment of such skills it is this assessment that is discussed. The findings show the lecturers' initial feedback to have been generally lacking in substance, since they have limited knowledge and experience of assessing generic skills. Typical barriers identified during the study included; generic skills not being well defined, inadequate alignment across the engineering curricula and teaching approaches, assessment practices that were too flexible, particular those to do with implementation; and a failure to keep up to date with industrial requirements. The emerging findings of the interviews reinforce the arguments that there is clearly much room for improvement in the present state of generic skills assessment.

Az egyetemi hallgatók véleménye a kommunikációs készség fejlesztésének fontosságáról = Importance of communication skills according to bachelor and master students

Kutatásomban arra a kérdésre kerestem a választ, hogy a Budapesti Corvinus Egyetemen a hallgatók miként vélekednek a képességek, készségek fejlesztésének fontosságáról az egyetemi képzésen belül. Ennek érdekében 2015 februárjában kérdőíves felmérést végeztem 106 hallgató megkérdezésével. A hallgatók 90%-a egyetértett azzal az állítással, hogy a szakmai ismeretek átadása mellett a képességek, készségek fejlesztésére is hangsúlyt kell helyezni az egyetemi oktatásban. A jövőbeli sikerességük szempontjából a három legfontosabbnak tartott képességek: a problémamegoldó képesség, a gondolkodási képesség és a jó kommunikációs készség. A hallgatók tisztába vannak a jó kommunikációs készség fontosságával az élet számos területén, viszont szembe kell nézni az egyetemi oktatás korlátozott lehetőségeivel. Az oktatók gyakran kényszerülnek választás elé, mire helyezzék az oktatásba elsődlegesen a hangsúlyt, milyen módszertant alkalmazzanak. Ezt a döntést segíti, ha ismerjük hallgatóink preferenciáit, céljait, viszonyukat az egyes módszertani eszközökhöz. Jelen tanulmány ebben kíván segítséget nyújtani. _______ The purpose of this study was to investigate students’ opinion about the importance of skills and abilities development within university. In February 2015 a survey was conducted by interviewing 106 students. More than 90% of students agreed with the statement that beside professional skill transfer, skills and abilities development should be emphasized as well. According to students’ opinion the three most important skills for their future success are: problem-solving, creative thinking and communication skills. Students are aware of the importance of good communication skills in many areas of life but the opportunity of its development is restricted. Lecturers are often forced to make a choice about teaching goals, priorities and teaching methods. Knowledge about students’ goals, preferences and feelings about teaching methods supports this decision. This study intends to provide assistance in this.

Teaching Sorting in ICT

This article is aimed at considering how an algorithmic problem - more precisely a sorting problem - can be used in an informatics class in primary and secondary education to make students mobilize the largest possible amount of their intellectual skills in the problem solving process. We will be outlining a method which essentially forces students to utilize their mathematical knowledge besides algorithmization in order to provide an efficient solution. What is more, they are expected to use efficiently a tool that has so far not been associated with creative thinking. Sorting is meant to be just an example, through which our thoughts can easily be demonstrated, but - of course the method of education outlined can be linked to several other algorithmic problems, as well.

The knowledge and use of critical thinking teaching strategies of faculty in associate degree nursing education programs

The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge and use of critical thinking teaching strategies by full-time and part-time faculty in Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) programs. ^ Sanders CTI (1992) instrument was adapted for this study and pilot-tested prior to the general administration to ADN faculty in Southeast Florida. This modified instrument, now termed the Burroughs Teaching Strategy Inventory (BTSI), returned reliability estimates (Cronbach alphas of .71, .74, and .82 for the three constructs) comparable to the original instrument. The BTSI was administered to 113 full-time and part-time nursing faculty in three community college nursing programs. The response rate was 92% for full-time faculty (n = 58) and 61% for part-time faculty (n = 55). ^ The majority of participants supported a combined definition of critical thinking in nursing which represented a composite of thinking skills that included reflective thinking, assessing alternative viewpoints, and the use of problem-solving. Full-time and part-time faculty used different teaching strategies. Full-time faculty most often used multiple-choice exams and lecture while part-time faculty most frequently used discussion within their classes. One possible explanation for specific strategy choices and differences might be that full-time faculty taught predominately in theory classes where certain strategies would be more appropriate and part-time faculty taught predominately clinical classes. Both faculty types selected written nursing care plans as the second most effective critical thinking strategy. ^ Faculty identified several strategies as being effective in teaching critical thinking. These strategies included discussion, case studies, higher order questioning, and concept analysis. These however, were not always the strategies that were used in either the classroom or clinical setting. ^ Based on this study, the author recommends that if the profession continues to stress critical thinking as a vital component of practice, nursing faculty should receive education in appropriate critical teaching strategies. Both in-service seminars and workshops could be used to further the knowledge and use of critical thinking strategies by faculty. Qualitative research should be done to determine why nursing faculty use self-selected teaching strategies. ^

The effects of using an alternative method for teaching badminton to post secondary level students in Taiwan

The effect of teaching method in physical education is an important issue and has been a concern of the expert teacher. Teachers are expected to create a model of teaching in their field; therefore, it is reasonable to question what is the effect of an alternative teaching method on student performance in physical education. This study explores whether teaching methods with advanced planning, behavior and belief in high enthusiasm, use of instructional strategies and evaluation, together termed a systematic teaching approach, used in a physical education activity would provide an effective environment for learning which supports student achievement in the psychomotor, cognitive, and affective domains. This study also investigated whether there was a difference in performance between students who were taught with a systematic teaching approach and students who were taught with the traditional teaching model. Information was collected using two performance skills, a written test, and one questionnaire. The 68 participants were randomly assigned into either an experimental group or a control group. Two teachers were assigned to either the experimental group or the control group. The teaching experiment took place at Tamsui Oxford University College in Taiwan and lasted eight weeks. ^ Research questions were analyzed using the t-test. Results indicated that a significant difference in students' performance was found between the experimental group and the control group on both the skill tests and the paper test. Analysis of student attitude toward their teacher and their course on the questionnaire indicated a significant difference between the experimental group and the control group. ^ The findings of this study imply that students who were taught with a systematic teaching style were significantly superior to students who were taught with the traditional model on these measures. This finding supports the contention that effective teaching in physical education is related to advanced planning, high enthusiasm, instructional strategy and evaluation and that all physical education teachers should implement these planning elements in the development of the teaching strategies. ^

Effectiveness of the Teaching Enrichment Activities to Minorities (TEAM) program at increasing underrepresented students in gifted programs

This study examined the effectiveness of the TEAM (Teaching Enrichment Activities to Minorities) program in preparing and identifying underrepresented students for entrance into the gifted program. Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) developed the TEAM program as an intervention program aimed at developing student's thinking skills and critical thinking skills in all subject areas and prepare students for possible placement into the gifted program. ^ A systematic sampling strategy was utilized to select three TEAM schools from each of the six regions in M-DCPS for the sample, for a total of 18 schools. A pool of the students that participated in the TEAM program in 2003-2004 in the 18 schools selected were identified as the TEAM Sample students. A matching sample was created from 18 public schools in Miami-Dade County that did not implement the TEAM program in 2003-2004. The Matching Sample created a match for 806 students in the TEAM sample, for a total of 1612 subjects for the study. ^ This study used a logistical regression design to analyze the relationships of multiple independent variables, including: ethnicity, limited English proficiency, gender, free/reduced lunch status, grade level, reading achievement, mathematics achievement, and participation TEAM on the dependent variables of referral for the gifted program and eligibility into the gifted program. The first analysis found the variables of grade level, participation in TEAM, reading achievement, and mathematics achievement were all significant variables in determining if a student was referred for the gifted program. The second analysis found the variables of grade level, gender, free/reduced lunch status, reading achievement, and mathematics achievement were all significant variables in determining if a student was eligible for the gifted program. ^ Recommendations based on the results of this study include the expansion of the TEAM program in M-DCPS to include additional grade levels and schools. Additionally, adopting a broadened definition of giftedness and reviewing the screening and placement policies for potentially gifted students is recommended. Adopting multicultural and broader definitions of giftedness and constructing better tools and programs, such as TEAM, for assessing and identifying potential gifted students, represent small steps towards creating equitable education for all students. ^

A comparison of content-based and context-based teaching on ninth-grade mathematics achievement

The purpose of this study was to determine if an experimental context-based delivery format for mathematics would be more effective than a traditional model for increasing the performance in mathematics of at-risk students in a public high school of choice, as evidenced by significant gains in achievement on the standards-based Mathematics subtest of the FCAT and final academic grades in Algebra I. The guiding rationale for this approach is captured in the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) report of 1992 that resulted in school-to-work initiatives (United States Department of Labor). Also, the charge for educational reform has been codified at the state level as Educational Accountability Act of 1971 (Florida Statutes, 1995) and at the national level as embodied in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. A particular focus of educational reform is low performing, at-risk students. ^ This dissertation explored the effects of a context-based curricular reform designed to enhance the content of Algebra I content utilizing a research design consisting of two delivery models: a traditional content-based course; and, a thematically structured, content-based course. In this case, the thematic element was business education as there are many advocates in career education who assert that this format engages students who are often otherwise disinterested in mathematics in a relevant, SCANS skills setting. The subjects in each supplementary course were ninth grade students who were both low performers in eighth grade mathematics and who had not passed the eighth grade administration of the standards-based FCAT Mathematics subtest. The sample size was limited to two groups of 25 students and two teachers. The site for this study was a public charter school. Student-generated performance data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. ^ Results indicated that contrary to the beliefs held by many, contextual presentation of content did not cause significant gains in either academic performance or test performance for those in the experimental treatment group. Further, results indicated that there was no meaningful difference in performance between the two groups. ^

The effects of using rap music on the fluency skills of 2nd grade African American students

A concern for both educators and policy makers is how to increase the reading achievement of African American students. Studies have shown that rap music, which has its roots in the African American community, can be used as a tool to facilitate this increase, specifically how using rap songs in reading lessons can improve a child's reading motivation, information recall, and vocabulary development. There are also studies on how repeated reading of a text can help improve a child's reading fluency. Yet, there are no studies that combine rap music and repeated reading of a text. This study describes the effects of using a culturally responsive reading strategy on the fluency, decoding, and comprehension skills of African American students. ^ The sample consisted of 105 African American students within eight, second grade classrooms at two different elementary schools. The classes were randomly selected and assigned to the rap group or the control group. Students received eight half-hour sessions using either a rap text or a traditional text in a repeated reading lesson. All of the students were pre-tested and post-tested on the Oral Reading Fluency and the Nonsense Word Fluency portions of the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Literacy Skills Test. Additionally, a researcher constructed comprehension quiz was given to the students at the beginning, middle, and end of the study. Research questions were analyzed using ANOVAs and t tests. ^ The hypotheses were not supported but there was some evidence that rap music in a reading lesson helped improve the fluency skills of African American students at one of the schools. The results also revealed that rap music used in a reading lesson initially improved the comprehension skills of African American students. The rap treatment may not have worked best overall because of the lack of intensity of the treatment. ^ The study has shown some evidence to support using culturally appropriate materials such as rap with students. There needs to be more research on the interaction between teaching methods, materials, and students. ^

Can Executive Skills Help Underachieving Bilingual Students? Pedagogical Implications

The author explores solutions for bilingual students’ underachievement by embedding elements of executive functioning into bilingual education. Based on analysis of theoretical perspectives, the author recommends teaching executive functions to bilingual students. Implications indicate the importance of embedding executive functions in curriculum development, textbook compiling, and instruction.

Gaining insight into teaching: A phenomenological exploration of the lived experience of Teachers of the Year

What qualities, skills, and knowledge produce quality teachers? Many stake-holders in education argue that teacher quality should be measured by student achievement. This qualitative study shows that good teachers are multi-dimensional; their effectiveness cannot be represented by students' test scores alone. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain a deeper understanding of quality in teaching by examining the lived experiences of 10 winners or finalists of the Teacher of the Year (ToY) Award. Phenomenology describes individuals' daily experiences of phenomena, examines how these experiences are structured, and focuses analysis on the perspectives of the persons having the experience (Moustakas, 1994). This inquiry asked two questions: (a) How is teaching experienced by recognized as outstanding Teachers of the Year? and (b) How do ToYs feelings and perceptions about being good teachers provide insight, if any, about concepts such as pedagogical tact, teacher selfhood, and professional dispositions? Ten participants formed the purposive sample; the major data collection tool was semi-structured interviews (Patton, 1990; Seidman, 2006). Sixty to 90-minute interviews were conducted with each participant. Data also included the participants' ToY application essays. Data analysis included a three-phase process: description, reduction, interpretation. Findings revealed that the ToYs are dedicated, hard-working individuals. They exhibit behaviors, such as working beyond the school day, engaging in lifelong learning, and assisting colleagues to improve their practice. Working as teachers is their life's compass, guiding and wrapping them into meaningful and purposeful lives. Pedagogical tact, teacher selfhood, and professional dispositions were shown to be relevant, offering important insights into good teaching. Results indicate that for these ToYs, good teaching is experienced by getting through to students using effective and moral means; they are emotionally open, have a sense of the sacred, and they operate from a sense of intentionality. The essence of the ToYs teaching experience was their being properly engaged in their craft, embodying logical, psychological, and moral realms. Findings challenge current teacher effectiveness process-product orthodoxy which makes a causal connection between effective teaching and student test scores, and which assumes that effective teaching arises solely from and because of the actions of the teacher.

Subject -centered and problem -based approaches to teaching clinical competence in physical therapy

Physical therapy students must apply the relevant information learned in their academic and clinical experience to problem solve in treating patients. I compared the clinical cognitive competence in patient care of second-year masters students enrolled in two different curricular programs: modified problem-based (M P-B; n = 27) and subject-centered (S-C; n = 41). Main features of S-C learning include lecture and demonstration as the major teaching strategies and no exposure to patients or problem solving learning until the sciences (knowledge) have been taught. Comparatively, main features of M P-B learning include case study in small student groups as the main teaching strategy, early and frequent exposure to patients, and knowledge and problem solving skills learned together for each specific case. Basic and clinical orthopedic knowledge was measured with a written test with open-ended items. Problem solving skills were measured with a written case study patient problem test yielding three subscores: assessment, problem identification, and treatment planning. ^ Results indicated that among the demographic and educational characteristics analyzed, there was a significant difference between groups on ethnicity, bachelor degree type, admission GPA, and current GPA, but there was no significant difference on gender, age, possession of a physical therapy assistant license, and GRE score. In addition, the M P-B group achieved a significantly higher adjusted mean score on the orthopedic knowledge test after controlling for GRE scores. The S-C group achieved a significantly higher adjusted mean total score and treatment management subscore on the case study test after controlling for orthopedic knowledge test scores. These findings did not support their respective research hypotheses. There was no significant difference between groups on the assessment and problem identification subscores of the case study test. The integrated M P-B approach promoted superior retention of basic and clinical science knowledge. The results on problem solving skills were mixed. The S-C approach facilitated superior treatment planning skills, but equivalent patient assessment and problem identification skills by emphasizing all equally and exposing the students to more patients with a wider variety of orthopedic physical therapy needs than in the M P-B approach. ^

Teacher perception of self -determination skills in the inclusive and special education classroom

It has been proposed that special education teachers, who promote self-determination and link it to educational standards, help students with a disability succeed in school. The current school reform movement has focused on accountability through mandates such as the No Child Left Behind Act, 2001, and has emphasized participation in the general curriculum through amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1997 and 2004. This study informs educators if educational setting, students' type of disability, and subject area taught, influence teachers' opinions about the importance of teaching components leading to self-determination and self-management. ^ The research questions that drive this study are: (1) do secondary school teachers who instruct students with a disability think that self-determination components taught in the classroom will make an important difference in students' school and later postsecondary achievements? and (2) does the type of classroom setting, students' type of disability, or specific subject matter influence teachers' opinions regarding the importance of teaching components related to self-determination and self-management? The collection and interpretation of data were done using descriptive and quantitative methods employing a teacher survey. The survey was administered to secondary teachers who instruct students with disabilities. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The sample consisted of 97 special education teachers currently teaching at the secondary level. ^ The results of the study indicated that teachers believe that self-determination is important for both school life and post school life. However teachers thought these skills to be more important for post school success. Teachers believe that self-determination is more important than self-management skills. Type of disability, educational environment, and subject area were not significant factors. ^

The effectiveness of direct -instruction and student -centered teaching methods on students' functional understanding of plagiarism

In an attempt to improve students' functional understanding of plagiarism a variety of approaches were tried within the context of a more comprehensive information literacy program. Sessions were taught as a one hour "module" inside a required communications skills class at a small private university. Approaches taken included control sessions (a straightforward PowerPoint presentation of the material), direct instruction sessions (featuring mostly direct lecture but with some seatwork as well), and student-centered sessions (utilizing role playing and group exercises). Students were taught basic content and definitions regarding plagiarism, what circumstances or instances constitute plagiarism, where to go for help in avoiding plagiarism, and what constitutes appropriate paraphrasing and citation. Pre-test and post-test scores determined students' functional understanding primarily by their ability to recognize properly and improperly paraphrased text, content understanding by their combined total score on a multiple choice quiz, and their attitude and conceptual understanding by their ability to recognize circumstances which would constitute plagiarism. While students improved across all methods the study was unable to identify one that performed significantly better than the others. The results supported the need for more education with regard to plagiarism and suggested a need for perhaps more time on task and/or a mixed approach towards conveying the content.