Search results

A couple of decades ago, the negotiated syllabus was introduced as an alternative to the predetermined syllabus. The review of the related studies shows the number of studies on the use of negotiated syllabus in English language teaching is scanty. The main purpose of the study was to explore the advantages/merits of employing negotiated syllabus in general English courses that undergraduate students take.

The authors employed the phenomenology research method to deeply delve into the undergraduate students' perceptions of the advantages of the negotiated syllabus. The phenomenology method is used for investigating human lived experiences through the descriptions given by the people involved in the study. This qualitative research method is mainly used to study fields with little or no knowledge. The authors collected the data through in-depth interviews with the informants (18 students) who were selected through theoretical sampling. The informants were undergraduate students at Allameh Tabataba'i University who were selected through theoretical sampling. The authors listened to the recordings to transcribe the participants' statements and remarks verbatim. Then, we analyzed the interviews thematically through open, axial and selective coding. This study aimed at exploring the participants' perspectives on the advantages of the negotiated Syllabus. The study's main objective was to investigate the advantages/merits of employing negotiated Syllabus in undergraduate students' general English courses.

Findings revealed that employing the negotiated syllabus resulted in many advantages which were reduced into three axial coding: psychological, pedagogical and individual. Generally, the negotiated syllabus reduces the students' anxiety, improves their motivation, affects their language achievement and develops their critical thinking and learner autonomy.

Teachers are recommended to minimize the constraints and use the negotiated syllabus to optimize language learners' motivation and language achievement in teaching English programs.

The impact of the negotiated syllabus on language learners has been investigated through quantitative research methods. However, the language learners' perceptions of the negotiated syllabus have not been well explored qualitatively.

This chapter argues that Deliberative Dialogues (DDs) are a form of Education for Sustainable Development, whose design, process focus, wide-tent approach, and interdisciplinarity align with best democratic practices. DDs are an effective method for bridging seemingly opposing forces in academia and the larger society: Narrow expertise versus interdisciplinarity, individual orientation versus collaboration, polarization and prioritization of majority/privileged voice versus inclusivity and search for common ground. This chapter will define and describe deliberation and DDs as useful for a wide range of disciplines, offer models, explore basic components, and analyze the author’s participant researcher experience in crafting and facilitating DDs in 35 classes across multiple disciplines in a small private university. The chapter will look at the planning process, the logistics of running the DD, post-DD outcomes, and provide questions and suggestions for future enhancements. A particular kind of DD will be explored, the Syllabus Deliberation method (also known as the negotiated or process syllabus). Finally, the chapter will articulate findings related to the process of preparing for the deliberations, ways in which scaffolded activities improved, relationship between the dialogues and course curriculum, evolution of faculty and researcher-facilitator roles, challenges, and successes. Students’ and faculty’s perceptions of some outcomes are also included.

This paper aims to explore the relationship between New Zealand universities and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand (ICANZ), the main organization of the accounting profession in New Zealand.

The relationship is approached as an archival search, producing a descriptive analysis of the universities' involvement in the Institute's professional exams, from the creation of the Institute in 1908 until the turn of this century.

At first this connection was through the qualifying examination system of the Institute, with the universities providing the means for the Institute to educate prospective members. Differences in approach towards accounting education, identified in the ongoing issue of a degree prerequisite, and the development of accountancy departments in the universities, led to the Institute later in the twentieth century turning to other tertiary institutions to provide its accounting professional examinations. This paper shows that although the accountancy departments in the universities have benefited from contact with the Institute, the nature of the relationship has been determined to a large extent by the requirements of the New Zealand accounting profession.

The paper provides historical insights on the interaction between the universities and the Institute, explaining the reasons for the Institute's influence on accounting education in the universities.

This paper details a teacher-implemented intervention, negotiating learner-generated materials, with the aim of improving low levels of learner motivation. This had resulted from the introduction of a problematic entry test policy acting as gatekeeper to an internationally-accredited diploma course in the learners’ specialized technical subject. For the learners, successful completion of the diploma course would guarantee social and financial benefits including promotion, increased salary and prestige within the military institution. However, an order came from the commanding officer that learners would only be accepted onto the diploma course if they attained an IELTS test score of Band 5. This requirement was not attainable by the learners in the time available and represented a threat to their career aspirations, which would negatively affect them personally, economically and professionally. Consequently, there was a substantial drop in learner motivation. An intervention was constructed and conducted during the course over a two-week period to supplement students’ course book in order to counter such poor levels of motivation. The study was set within the critical paradigm, using quantitative and qualitative data collecting methods to answer my research question: “To what extent does the intervention (asking learners to choose a topic, select original material, and suggest the type of tasks to be produced for the material) have a positive effect on learners’ levels of motivation?” Key findings included an observed increase in learner engagement and a greater level of concentration than in recent classes together with reduced learner worry about the IELTS test. Several conclusions are offered as to the efficacy of conducting such an intervention and how it could impact on learner motivation.

This paper aims to advocate the need for educational leadership to understand and consider the immediate role and challenges associated with the unique values and characteristics of an age-diverse population and their impact on teaching and the facilitation of learning.

The paper draws on the review of the generational and diversity literatures and related organizational best practices to identify key definitions and empirical findings and to develop recommendations which can be deployed in future research and practice in different types of organizational settings.

This paper provides insights into how organizational leaders can promote a multicultural environment that leverages multi-generational differences. Also, the present study offers innovative pedagogical approaches that can help better prepare future business leaders for these challenges.

The study attempts to reignite the debate through a detailed review that describes the current understanding of generational differences among four generational cohorts. Given the research approach, the recommendations may lack generalizability.

This paper advocates the need to understand generational differences to manage the challenges associated with differences in attitudes, values and preferences regarding leadership, human resource practices and organizational change initiatives.

Organizations which create environments that are value-based and that support divergent views and values of each of the cohorts, create a positive outcome for both the organization and its employees.

This paper enhances knowledge and understanding at the theoretical and practical levels, enabling business leaders and faculty to gain insight regarding the generational differences and unique characteristics of four organizational workgroups – Veterans, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y.

One of the most important issues plaguing our planet is the depletion of natural resources and climate change, creating new disasters, and global challenges. The international community has expressed its anguish and concern for these problems through several international forums and treaties. As a response, Education for Sustainable Development is a program that aims to educate students on these issues. Teaching sustainability to young graduates needs to be holistic and pluralistic in nature. Discourses and modules on sustainability help in making them sustainability conscious which will enhance the competencies of people and help them to live and act in a more sustainable way. This book has several chapters written by academics across the globe who have spoken about their experience of incorporating sustainability into their curriculum and adopting various pedagogical approach that has helped their students to learn and understand the subject. Sustainability has been part of the teaching and learning in general, and as part of management, engineering, medical, and design courses, for instance. This book helps us to understand how such teaching and learning strategies can be made more effective for students.

Key challenges currently facing Higher Education (HE) in the UK are the continuing dominance of curricula by West-centric knowledge traditions which reinforce normative Whiteness and undergird racism, and glaring disparities in student outcomes. Seeking to address these challenges and promote fair access and educational opportunities aimed at enabling a more equitable, just and life-enhancing society, London Metropolitan University has launched its Education for Social Justice Framework (ESJF) (2020) as an integrative framework for inclusive curriculum redesign.

This chapter explores the context and moral imperative of the ESJF, its integrative elements, its pedagogical challenges and its transformative potential, through critically reviewing its application during a pilot phase of implementation in 2020–2021, based on the perspectives of six academics involved as course leaders of the participating programs from various disciplines, as well as the authors. Data from individual interviews with the course leaders are used to throw light on key themes concerning the importance and character of the ESJF, challenges and enabling factors in implementing the ESJF, resulting course changes, and the role of students in curriculum development. This chapter concludes with some general implications of adopting an ambitious, integrative approach to curriculum and pedagogical transformation.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the components of a sustainability transdisciplinary education model (STEM), a contemporary approach linking art, science, and community, that were developed to provide university and K‐12 students, and society at large shared learning opportunities. The goals and application of the STEM curriculum will be discussed.

The STEM integrates the sciences, arts and aesthetics, and the university with the greater New Britain community, and beyond. Academic areas included geography, environmental science, communication, art history, aesthetics, and teacher education. The transdisciplinary methodology was integrated in a learner‐centered design. To achieve a cycle of community engagement regarding sustainability, university students were placed within the greater New Britain community. This included interaction with K‐12 urban public schools, the New Britain Museum of American Art (NBMAA), numerous nongovernmental organizations, state and federal governmental elected officials, and the general public.

As a result of the mutual learning implicit in the STEM, all participants expanded each other's understandings of sustainability. Students were learning from instructors, instructors were learning from students, students were learning from students, instructors were learning from instructors, and all were learning and sharing knowledge with the greater community. As a result, all participants gained a deeper and broader understanding about human‐environment relationships and how humans impact natural resources.

Because the assignments given to the university students were authentic performance tasks embedded in sustainability issues, students developed a broader disposition for thinking and learning and therefore become metacognitive. The STEM emphasized aesthetic education, integrating science and the arts. As a result, the participants developed their ability to connect academic domains of knowledge and creatively address sustainability challenges.

The convergence of science, art, and aesthetics enabled the participants to develop a deeper spiritual awareness and understanding of eco‐justice for the promotion of a sustainable society. The STEM utilized cultural resources of the university and New Britain community (i.e. institutional members of the NBMAA and The Central Connecticut State University). Students were introduced to the concept of mutual learning with all the communities and organizations involved.

Supporting students transitioning from high school into college continues to be a challenge for academics and policy-makers. Composition assignments that include Kuh’s (2008) High Impact Practices (HIP) and the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) rubric and HIP tenets of Civic Learning and Community Engagement (Fig. 1), help foster opportunities for empathy, which develops students’ abilities to think critically, write well, and succeed in college and beyond. While effective college teaching and instruction are necessary, increasing enrollments, and increasing percentages of First-Year Composition (FYC) students requiring supportive composition courses compound the difficulties of the effort. According to AAC&U, “a global community requires a more informed, engaged, and socially responsible citizenry” (2009, p. 1; Finley & McNair, 2013). In other words, educators and employers believe that “personal and social responsibility should be core elements of a 21^st-century education” (AAC&U, 2009, p. 1). This conceptual content analysis study framed by HIP analyzed 10 FYC syllabi from different composition faculty at one urban Hispanic public four-year university (SMU) in Southern California during the 2015–2016 academic year in the context of the university’s mission statement embracing Civic Learning and Community Engagement for FYC students.