Education Commons^™

Foreign Language Learners' Use And Perception Of Online Dictionaries: A Survey Study, Li Jin, Elizabeth Deifell

Li Jin

The importance of dictionaries in language learning is undisputable. The emergence of online dictionaries has noticeably influenced the way students learn a foreign language (FL). This study examines FL learners’ use and perception of bilingual online dictionaries through an analysis of over 250 responses to a web-based survey from learners enrolled in postsecondary language courses in the U.S. The most popular online dictionaries among eight languages are presented along with self-reported data regarding look-up behaviors while reading, writing, listening and speaking the target language. The results suggest that online dictionaries are most often consulted when learners are creating and/or deciphering …

More Dialogue Over Law School Cost And Curriculum, Mark Mckenna, Geoffrey Bennett

Mark P. McKenna

Mark McKenna and Geoffrey Bennett were quoted in The Indiana Lawyer article More dialogue over law school cost and curriculum about Retired Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard’s Clynes Chair Lecture by Marilyn Odendahl. “So you’re trying to take students who have learned a subject matter and then put them in a practice environment where they have to make use of that. Both reinforce what they learned in the classroom, but then it also helps them understand the context that you can’t necessarily get from the pages of a book,” McKenna said. “If (states adequately funded their schools), that …

It Takes A Village: Transforming Students Into Professionals Via Library Research Collaboration, Colleen Boff, Julie Hodges

Colleen T. Boff, Ed.D.

Details about a collaboration between an edcuation faculty member and a librarian are offered. They worked together to show students how to identify research studies that addressed instructional strategies for use by teacher practitioners responsible for making adaptations to the learning environment.

Enhancing The English-Language Oral Skills Of International Students Through Drama, Chamkaur Gill

Chamkaur Gill

Ten non-English-speaking-background students of Bond University were observed to identify the effects of drama on oral English. Over a period of twelve weeks (two hours per week), elements of their oral English communication were measured. The weeks were divided into four lots of three weeks each, with the first three weeks made up entirely of communicative non-drama-based (CNDB) lessons, weeks four to six comprising only communicative drama-based (CDB) methodology, weeks seven to nine reverting to CNDB methodology, and the final three weeks being made up of CDB strategies again. The hypothesis of this study was that all the participants would …

Does The "Negro" Still Need Separate Schools? Single-Sex Educational Spaces As Critical Race Counterspaces, La Mont Terry

Clarence "La Mont" Terry, Sr.

This article explores whether contemporary educators should consider single-sex educational settings as viable interventions in educating African American males. Using qualitative data from a 2-year study of single-sex educational spaces in two Los Angeles County high schools, the authors argue that when all-male spaces effectively function as Critical Race Theory counterspaces, the educational experiences of high school–aged Black males are positively transformed. These co-curricular, single-sex counterspaces can effectively shield Black males from the marginalizing effects of urban schooling while serving as platforms for productive reengagement in positive school trajectories. Research-based principles for designing effective single-sex educational settings are discussed.

A Brief Examination Of Professional Development Models, Imran Chaudary

Imran Anjum Chaudary

This paper aims to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the major professional development models by examining their underpinning assumptions in the light of the particular bodies of scholarship from the field of education. For this purpose, nine professional development models have been chosen from the Kennedy (2005) and a framework of analysis has been constructed by modifying the criteria of effective professional development reported in the Fraser, Kennedy, Reid, and Mickinney (2007) and the Piggot-Irvine (2006). There is no ‘one right answer’! No one particular form or model of professional development is better than others to be adopted; rather, …

Special Religious Education: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, Cathy Byrne

Dr Cathy Byrne

No abstract provided.

The Impacts Of Societal Context On Student Motivation And Engagement, Jonathan Stolk

Jonathan Stolk

Promoting a sense of societal connectedness is critical in today’s engineering educational environment. The NAE’s Grand Challenges for Engineering point to broad human concerns — sustainability, health, vulnerability, and joy of living — and human connectivity as the future of engineering problem solving. Engineering studies, however, are often presented in a completely decontextualized manner, with an emphasis on technical content that is free of any human meaning. As a result, students may have difficulty identifying either personal or societal value in their learning tasks. Through their course design, instructors can help students situate themselves and their engineering learning experiences within …

"Best Practices" At The Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy, Steven Rogg

Steven R Rogg

No abstract provided.

The Manuscript As Question: Teaching Primary Sources In The Archives—The China Missions Project, Michelle Mccoy

Michelle McCoy

The collaborative effort between two Special Collections librarians and a history professor at DePaul University led to a quarter-long undergraduate project in the archives using China Missions Correspondence. In a reversal of traditional methods that assumes archival use to answer a question, this project looks at the document as the source of the questions. A qualitative analysis of student responses from these class sessions between 2002 and 2008 reveals the impact that direct experience has on primary source education and how outreach and user instruction in the archives can transform research, education, and the place of special collections within the …

Transforming Learning With New Technologies (Second Edition), Robert Maloy, Ruth-Ellen Verock-O'Loughlin, Sharon Edwards, Beverly Woolf

Robert W. Maloy

Transforming Learning with New Technologies is a book about how to create dynamic learning opportunities for students in K–12 schools using computers, the Internet, interactive websites, educational software and apps, digital games, blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, podcasts, multimedia, universal design for learning, electronic portfolios, classroom response systems, and other new and emerging technologies.

Designed as a text for educational technology or introduction to instructional technology courses, the contents are organized by learning goals first, and second by computer-based technologies that can be used to achieve those goals. Each chapter focuses on a particular aspect of learning with technology crucial for …

Iwant Does Not Equal Iwill: Correlates Of Mobile Learning With Ipads, E-Textbooks, Blackboard Mobile Learn And A Blended Learning Experience, Jeffrey Brand, Shelley Kinash, Trishita Mathew, Ron Kordyban

Ron Kordyban

This research tested the efficacy of a blended learning iteration with iPad tablet computers, an e-textbook and Blackboard's Mobile Learn application connected with a learning management system (LMS). Mobile learning was embedded into the pedagogical design of an undergraduate subject run in two semesters with 135 students. Using design-based research (DBR), an empirical investigation examined four variables including: iPad use; mobile technology use; attitude, including the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) scale; and academic performance. Quantitative analysis with PASW Statistics included descriptive, scaling, correlations, partial correlations and ANCOVAs. Results suggested that students were positive about mobile …

Tag Bundles, Education Boards, And Internet Playlists: Constructing Historical Biographies Using Social Bookmarking Technologies, Robert Maloy

Robert W. Maloy

No abstract provided.

Learning And Language: Educarer–Child Interactions In Singapore Infant-Care Settings, Cynthia Lim, Sirene Lim

Sirene Lim

While there has been extensive research exploring the quality of caregiver–child interactions in programmes for preschool children, comparatively less international research has explored the nature of caregiver–child interactions in centre-based infant-care programmes. Nine caregivers in six Singapore infant-care settings were observed and interviewed in this study to explore the qualitative nature of caregiver–child interactions and the caregivers' talk about the education and care of infants. Some of the caregivers expressed beliefs that infants learn through quality interactions. However, not all caregivers were observed to provide interactions, especially during routine care. Some caregivers held the view that their primary role was …

Cap Writing: Variations (Youtube Recording), Joy Barnes-Johnson

Joy Barnes-Johnson

When reluctant writers are "stuck" using others' works as a stimulus for their own work encourages creativity while also building conventions

History Lab For Undergrads: A Day At The Museum, Elizabeth 'Libi' Sundermann

Elizabeth 'Libi' Sundermann

Museums are important venues for engaging history students in the habits of free-choice and lifelong learning. Although these sound like the pedagogical buzzwords du jour, both concepts are ones that educators today—including college professors and lecturers—should be adding to their teaching vocabulary. Unfortunately, while literature on these topics is widespread for K–12 educators, pedagogical and practical discussions for adult learners, particularly college students, have lagged. This article aims to help fill that gap. Encouraging free-choice learning through local public history venues, particularly museums, can serve as inspirations for college teachers and their students. Creatively mixed formal and informal teaching methods …

Teaching Critical Thinking, Doug Mccurry, Pat Knight, Marion Meiers

Marion Meiers

This edition of The Research Digest is focuses on theory, research and policy issues related to the teaching of critical thinking. It examines different definitions and views of critical thinking, and different approaches to teaching critical thinking. In particular it examines ways of posing higher-order critical thinking questions and the teaching of routines for critical thinking. A key feature of this series of research digests is that each edition will focus on the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (AITSL, 2012). This issue makes links to Professional Knowledge, Standard 1, Know students and how they learn, and Standard 2, Know the …

Cap Writing: Transcribing (Youtube Recording), Joy Barnes-Johnson

Joy Barnes-Johnson

Transcription is a useful technique for developing literacy among reluctant writers.

The Paradox Of Universal Secondary Education In Uganda, Philip Kelly

Philip P. Kelly

This chapter examines the struggle of Uganda to democratize its educational system by implementing universal secondary education. On the surface, the educational policies of Uganda appear to be laudable and democratic, but, when implemented through the Ministry of Education and Sports into the schools and eventually the classrooms, schooling as experienced by children is repressive and undemocratic. Using the frameworks of democratic theory, liberation theory, and anti-colonialism, the author analyzes the policy context as well as the unintended consequences of Uganda's implementation of universal secondary education. The chapter concludes with policy observations to be avoided in developing nations' efforts at …

4-Mality (Four Coach Active Learning Intelligent Tutoring System), Robert Maloy

Robert W. Maloy

4mality is a web-based tutoring system for 3rd through 6th grade students learning to solve math word problems. It provides preparation and practice for math problem solving and math achievement tests.

Resourcesforhistoryteachers, Robert Maloy

Robert W. Maloy

resourcesforhistoryteachers is an open content wiki organized by teachers and students from the History and Political Science Teacher Education Program in the College of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

It features primary source, multicultural, and multimedia resources for teaching history in K-12 schools based on the Massachusetts History & Social Science Curriculum Framework, the AP World History Key Concepts, and the AP U.S. History Themes

Dispositional Development As A Form Of Continuous Professional Development: Centre-Based Reflective Practices With Teachers Of (Very) Young Children, Terri Swim, Zeynep Isik-Ercan

Zeynep Isik-Ercan

The nature of professional development in early childhood education has recently been reconceptualised, with accompanying changes in policy and practice. This paper draws from teacher education literature to define the components of continuing professional development practices in the context of early childhood education practice. By relating these components to one another, the authors describe a central concept for the growth of early childhood educators: dispositional development, the process by which teachers develop professional dispositions that are intertwined with their daily practices. Analysis, reflection and documentation of teacher work within the sociocultural context of children and families they work with shape …