Education Commons^™

Zombies In The Academy: Living Death In Higher Education, Ruth Walker, Christopher Moore, Andrew Whelan

Christopher L Moore Dr

No abstract provided.

Research On Second Language Teacher Motivation: From A Vygotskian Activity Theory Perspective, Tae-Young Kim, Qian-Mei Zhang

Dr. Tae-Young Kim (김태영, 金兌英)

Second language (L2) teachers’ motivation has considerable influence on their students’ L2 learning motivation, personal satisfaction, and fulfillment. It has important influence on national educational reform and development. Although a number of studies have examined teachers’ motivation to teach, to date, few have focused on L2 teacher motivation. Based on the limitations identified in previous research, this paper articulates the inherent complexities of L2 teacher motivation and identifies its dynamic characteristics from the perspective of Vygotskian Activity Theory (AT). With a concise overview of AT, this paper elaborates on the applicability and relevance of AT to L2 teachers’ motivation by …

Mothering And Literacies, Amanda Richey, Linda Evans

Linda S. Evans

This collection explores the connections between mothering/motherhood and literacy as it is broadly defined. Literacy, in this case, encompasses reading/writing literacy as well as multimodal, new or digital, and contested multiliteracies that are socioculturally situated and contextually defined. Mothers are often the object of cultural and popular discourses on family literacy, as well as targets in international campaigns to increase literacy learning. There has been little scholarly attention paid to how mothers in diverse sociocultural contexts do literacy, or how literacies have been mediated or challenged by mothers and motherhood. By critically examining the connections between mothers and literacies, this …

Cross-Grade Analysis Of Chinese Students' English Learning Motivation: A Mixed-Methods Study, Qian-Mei Zhang, Tae-Young Kim

Dr. Tae-Young Kim (김태영, 金兌英)

This mixed-methods study investigated the changes in Chinese students’ motivation to learn English from elementary to high school and explored the reasons for these changes at different school levels. A motivational questionnaire was designed and administered to 3,777 elementary, junior high, and high school students, and followup interviews were then conducted with nine students in order to investigate their perceptions of their motivations. Seven subcomponents of motivation were identified. The statistical results revealed that junior high school students had the highest learning motivation, followed by those in elementary school and those in high school. The interview data indicated that parents’ …

Tuning Into The Future: Informal Learning And Music Education, Ruth Wright, Carol Beynon, B. A. Younker, V. Meredith, Jennifer Hutchison, Leslie Linton

Ruth Wright Dr

When adolescents are engaged in learning, research has shown a decrease in alcohol and drug use, higher retention rates and fewer failures throughout high school, lower rates of depression as well as lower rates of anti-social and criminal behaviours. Attention to student engagement with a priority on 21st century learning skills requires the examination of various pedagogies, including using informal learning practices as the foundation for instruction with adolescents in schools. This pilot project targets Grade 7 to 10 students in two school settings where adolescent engagement is a priority; it examines the viability of implementing informal learning practices within …

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 …

Implications Of Implementing A Hybrid Learning Approach At The University Of Guyana, Kerwin A. Livingstone

Kerwin A. Livingstone

Online learning and teaching is pervading higher education (HE) and many Universities are faced with the challenge of incorporating technology in education to meet the needs of students. The objective of this paper is to examine the implications of introducing a hybrid learning approach at the University of Guyana. A rationale has been established as to why this need is so germane. Literature has been reviewed and discussed, concerning face to face (F2F), online and blended instruction and the pertinence of these in current HE pedagogies. Special emphasis is paid to the transformative potential of blended learning to confront HE …

A "Fundamental Theory" Of Education Grounded In Ontology? A Phenomenological Rejoinder, James Magrini

James M Magrini

No abstract provided.

Making Histories: Developing An Oral History Of All In Australia, Alisa Percy, Bronwyn James, Tim Beaumont, Reem Al-Mahmood

Alisa Percy, PhD

How might our present understandings of our professional identities, our struggles, our achievements and our capacities for agency be better understood through the memories and accounts of those who championed our emergence? What might oral accounts of the emergence of our field offer beyond what can be gathered from its existing literature? Indeed, why look at the history of a professional field at all?

This session approaches such questions by reporting on oral accounts of the emergence and evolution of ALL in Australia. As we note some of the insights and lived experiences of those engaged in the formative years …

Film And Education: The Boise Community As A Case Study For Refugees, Claudia Peralta

Claudia Peralta

No abstract provided.

Renovating The Republic: Unified Germany Confronts Its History – Both Deep And Recent – As It Defines Itself For The 21st Century, Katie Backman, Joel Gehringer, Kyle Harpster, Katelyn Kerkhove, Tiffany Lee, Hilary Stohs-Krause, Teresa Prince, Matt Eichinger, Emily Ingram, Tanna Kimmerling, Heather Price, Ewelina Skaza, Brady Jones, Nels Sorensen, Stephanie Sparks, Rachel Anderson, Megan Carrick, Justin Petersen, Chris Welch, Timothy Anderson, Charlyne Berens, Nancy Anderson, Frauke Hachtmann, Bernard Mccoy, Michael Farrell, Bruce Thorson, Mr Hahn

Bernard R. McCoy

Germany and America go way back. German soldiers fought in the American Revolutionary War, and German settlers already had begun finding their way to America before the colonies became a nation. By the 1850s, many Germans had settled in the Midwest, and they followed the frontier west to the Great Plains. Germans were the largest group of immigrants arriving in Nebraska between 1854 and 1894, and by 1900, almost 20 percent of the state was first- and second-generation Germans. For the past year, a group of University of Nebraska-Lincoln journalism students has closely examined this foreign country that, perhaps more …

Past And Present: South American Portraits Of Italy, Claudia Peralta

Claudia Peralta

This presentation explores the route of the Italian immigrant to South America, paying close attention to the strong immigration to the River Plate in the XIX and XX, and the unforeseen return of the second generation to Italy due to the economic turmoil of the region. Moreover, the presentation focuses on the integration of the Italian immigrant in the River Plate and the influence on the culture.

The Politics Media Equation:Exposing Two Faces Of Old Nexus Through Study Of General Elections,Wikileaks And Radia Tapes, Ratnesh Dwivedi Mr

Ratnesh Dwivedi

The important identity of a responsible media is playing an unbiased role in reporting a matter without giving unnecessary hype to attract the attention of the gullible public with the object of making money and money only.After reporting properly the media can educate the public to form their own opinion in the matters of public interest. Throughout the centuries, the world has never existed without information and communication, hence the inexhaustible essence of mass media. The government has the power to either make or reject whatever that will exist within its environment. It also determines how free the mass media …

Truth, Rhetoric, And Critical Thinking, Lajos L. Brons

Lajos Brons

Despite the extraordinary amount of attention critical thinking has received in the last few decades, the teaching and fostering of critical thinking in higher education is largely failing, and critical thinking has become an empty buzzword. However, given its importance as an aim of education, it needs to be “refilled”, but that is possible only after identifying the causes of the current failure, i.e. the obstacles to fostering critical thinking. Three such obstacles are identified in this paper, two actual and one hypothetical: (1) the lack of clarity and agreement about what critical thinking is, (2) current teaching practice, and …

The Methods Course Revisited: From A Skills-Based To Multiliteracies Approach., Heather W. Allen

Heather Willis Allen

No abstract provided.

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

Dr Cathy Byrne

No abstract provided.

‘Jeesis Is Alive! He Is The King Of Australia’: Segregated Religious Instruction, Child Identity And Exclusion, Cathy Byrne

Dr Cathy Byrne

Religious categorisation occurs at enrolment in Australian state-run (public) primary schools, with children segregated into religious instruction classes during their first week. Lesson content has no government oversight and, in some schools, options are limited to Christianity. The effect of this categorisation on children’s attitudes to religious diversity is not well researched but the role of religion in public schools is increasingly controversial. Social identity theory (SIT) considers cultural hegemony as a factor in individual identity construction. SIT posits that inter-group bias increases with in-group identification and suggests that categorisation itself is a source of prejudice. This paper explores the …

Keeping Ignorance And Extremism Out Of Public Schools: The Role Of Teachers And Their Unions, Cathy Byrne

Dr Cathy Byrne

No abstract provided.

Cultural Transformations: Youth And Pedagogies Of Possibility, Korina Jocson

Korina Jocson

In what ways can educators build on youth culture to improve learning opportunities in the classroom? The educational and cultural projects described in this book are part of an emerging field that examines the benefits of youth participation in literary, digital media, and civics-related projects within schools and a variety of informal environments.

Librarians In The Midst, Barbara C. Harvey

Barbara C. Harvey

No abstract provided.

The Associations Between Fatigue And Need For Recovery With Anxiety And Depression, Vicki Bitsika, Christopher Sharpley, Kate Morrison

Vicki Bitsika

The relative associations between fatigue and need for recovery with anxiety, depression and combined anxiety-depression, were compared in a sample of 400 students at an Australian university. Analyses were performed at total score and factor structure levels. Results showed that fatigue had a stronger association with anxiety and depression than did need for recovery. Despite some overlap between one factor from the fatigue scale with both factors from the need for recovery scale, overall data suggested that these scales (and the constructs they measured) were relatively discrete and refer to different aspects of the individual’s experience of fatigue. Implications for …

Styleless Style? What Photorealism Can Tell Us About “The Sixties”, Craig J. Peariso

Craig J. Peariso

This essay reads 1960s “photorealist” painting and its critical reception against two sets of contemporary social analyses. First, it places these artistic and critical works next to Pierre Bourdieu's 1965 text Photography: A Middle-Brow Art, demonstrating that, although the critical literature surrounding “photorealism” tended to assume that its involvement with photography grew out of a desire for an objective realism, contemporary thought on photography was anything but convinced of the medium's transparency. Second, it looks to cultural critics like Susan Sontag and Jacob Brackman to propose that, rather than seeing the art of this period in opposition to the heated …

Disability History Month: John Goodricke The Deaf Astronomer, Linda French

Linda French

No abstract provided.

Grassroots_Grassroots Grassroots Rs 15 August 15, 2012 - Volume 4 Issue 8 I N S I D E A Journal Of The Press Institute Of India Promoting Reportage On The Human Condition, Professor Vibhuti Patel

Professor Vibhuti Patel

During the past 15 years, Women’s Grievance Redressal Cells set up by the Mohalla Committee Movement in Maharashtra have played an important role in cementing the bonds between communities, spouses, neighbours and enlightened the youth. Meaningful relationships between individuals in the family have been forged as a result

Marriage Vows And Economic Discrimination: The Married Teacher Problem, Sabrina Thomas

Sabrina Thomas

This study analyzes the rapid increase of economic discrimination against married women teachers in the early twentieth century, particularly during the Depression. It challenges the notion that economic discrimination against married women teachers was simple, easy, and largely was unchallenged. I argue that the creation and proliferation of marriage bars in the early twentieth century involved a compounded and multifaceted set of economic and social concerns. Support for this argument is accomplished by examination of the national debate on marriage bars as well as careful investigation of the local debate illustrated in Huntington, West Virginia.

Academic Writing, Emily Purser

Emily R Purser

No abstract provided.

Making Room: A Place For Children’S Spirituality In The Christian Church, Heather Ingersoll

Heather Ingersoll

A relatively uncharted territory until recently, the concept of children as innate spiritual beings has garnered significant attention among scholars over the past two decades. Seminal studies by researchers provide practitioners with the opportunity to gain a deeper appreciation of the spirituality of children and their ability to seek and contemplate spiritual concepts (Ratcliff, 2007). The more that is learned about children’s spirituality, the more apparent it becomes that the Christian church in the United States generally fails to provide sufficient space for children to explore, develop, and share their spirituality. This potentially leads children to suppress or disconnect from …

Making Room: A Place For Children’S Spirituality In The Christian Church, Heather Ingersoll

Heather Ingersoll

A relatively uncharted territory until recently, the concept of children as innate spiritual beings has garnered significant attention among scholars over the past two decades. Seminal studies by researchers provide practitioners with the opportunity to gain a deeper appreciation of the spirituality of children and their ability to seek and contemplate spiritual concepts (Ratcliff, 2007). The more that is learned about children’s spirituality, the more apparent it becomes that the Christian church in the United States generally fails to provide sufficient space for children to explore, develop, and share their spirituality. This potentially leads children to suppress or disconnect from …

Enabling Faculty To Write; A Short Course On Successful Scholarly Publication For Faculty At A Liberal Arts College, Carolyn Richie, David Mason, Michael Zimmerman

David S. Mason

This paper describes a course on scholarly publication that was offered to faculty at a liberal arts college. The course was designed to increase scholarly productivity by offering information and resources, developing a sense of community, and showing how teaching and research can co-exist for faculty with heavy teaching loads. The course was innovative because faculty who differed in terms of discipline and experience orchestrated it, and the participants comprised a similarly diverse group. Lessons learned from implementation of the course are shared, as well as the results of a survey administered to participants on its conclusion.

Story Of An Intern, Ratnesh Dwivedi Mr

Ratnesh Dwivedi

“Story Of an Intern” tells you the story of an young boy who manages to get an internship in a global media giant. His struggles and amazements begins when he finds himself out of internship and struggles to get a foothold in media. In the way he analyzes the odds and evens of Indian media industry and media tycoons while most of the time finding himself rejected. His experiences while in search of a job carries him to different places and allows him to meet some interesting people who makes an imprint on his life and he finds himself falling …