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1 – 10 of over 75000Laya Heidari Darani and Nafiseh Hosseinpour
The purpose of this paper is to investigate and compare the effects of group-to-whole student-led oral discussion and small-group collaborative drafting as pre-writing tasks on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate and compare the effects of group-to-whole student-led oral discussion and small-group collaborative drafting as pre-writing tasks on Iranian intermediate English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ writing performance. Additionally, the difference between the writing components was examined.
Design/methodology/approach
To achieve these objectives, a group of 120 intermediate EFL learners participated in a pretest–posttest study in which they were randomly assigned into two experimental groups and one control group. The students in all three groups were tasked with writing a textbook evaluation report for the pretest and posttest. The pre-writing process in the first experimental group consisted of a group-to-whole student-led oral discussion, while the second experimental group engaged in small-group collaborative drafting.
Findings
The results indicate that both pre-tasks were effective in improving the participants’ writing skill, while collaborative drafting was even more efficient. Furthermore, it was observed that more writing components improved through collaborative drafting. It is concluded, therefore, that the social atmosphere created through oral discussion and the scaffolding resulting from collaborative drafting can help in writing improvement.
Research limitations/implications
The findings herein can have implications for first language (L1) composition instruction and second language (L2) writing teaching and, thus, underscoring the utility of the social constructivist approach to writing instruction.
Originality/value
As there has been no study conducted to explore the effects of group-to-whole student-led oral discussion on EFL learners’ writing skill and to compare its impacts to those of small-group collaborative drafting, the results of this study fill this gap in the literature.
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Sue Starfield, Brian Paltridge and Louise Ravelli
This chapter discusses textography as a strategy for researching academic writing in higher education. Textography is an approach to the analysis of written texts which combines…
Abstract
This chapter discusses textography as a strategy for researching academic writing in higher education. Textography is an approach to the analysis of written texts which combines text analysis with ethnographic techniques, such as surveys, interviews and other data sources, in order to examine what texts are like, and why. It aims to provide a more contextualized basis for understanding students’ writing in the social, cultural and institutional settings in which it takes place than might be obtained by looking solely at students’ texts. Through discussion of the outcomes of a textography, which examined the written texts submitted by visual and performing arts doctoral students at a number of Australian universities, we reflect on what we learnt from the study that we could not have known by looking at the texts alone. If we had looked at the texts without the ethnographic data not only are there many things we would not have known, but many of the things we might have said would likely have been right off the mark. Equally, had we just had the ethnographic data without the text analysis, we would have missed the insights provided by the explicit text analysis. The textography enabled us to see the diversity of practices across fields of study and institutions as well as gain an understanding of why this might be the case, all of which is of benefit to student writers and their supervisors.
Grace Wong, Steven Dellaportas and Barry J. Cooper
The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications for student learning when accounting education is delivered in the student’s non-native language. It examines the impact…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications for student learning when accounting education is delivered in the student’s non-native language. It examines the impact on learning arising from the different components of English language competencies, namely, listening, reading, writing, and speaking.
Design/methodology/approach
The data are drawn from focus group interviews with students from Mainland China undertaking an accounting degree in Australia.
Findings
The findings indicate that students relied primarily on their reading instead of listening to seek understanding, and in turn, writing was considered less important compared to listening and reading. Notably, speaking was overlooked by many students as it was considered the least important skill necessary to achieve success as a student and to be a competent practitioner. Students developed a misconception that the quality of oral communication required of accountants in practice is unimportant.
Practical implications
The findings will assist accounting educators and the accounting profession in designing and implementing appropriate instructional strategies and assessment tasks for international students. One suggestion includes a more balanced weighting between written and oral assessment.
Originality/value
Few studies have specifically explored the impact of English language on learning accounting. While some studies examine specific aspects of language as a unitary concept, little has been reported on the impact of all components of the language skill-set on student learning.
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Cheryl L Rosaen, Christine Degnan, Teresa VanStratt and Kathryn Zietlow
Learning to teach in ways that are academically, linguistically and culturally responsive to diverse learners in today’s schools is a complex and challenging endeavor for novice…
Abstract
Learning to teach in ways that are academically, linguistically and culturally responsive to diverse learners in today’s schools is a complex and challenging endeavor for novice and experienced teachers. In recent years, educators in schools and universities have been collaborating to create more powerful ways for prospective and practicing teachers to explore and develop what some call “best practice” in teaching and learning (Zemelman, Daniels & Hyde, 1993, 1998). Meanwhile, the advent of new technologies has provided exciting opportunities to invent innovative ways to document, explore and enhance our understanding of teaching as a professional practice. Many educators have written about the rich potential of hypermedia to document the everyday work in which teachers engage – curriculum development, planning, teaching, assessment and reflection – in ways that preserve the highly contextualized and situated nature of teaching practice (Lacey & Merseth, 1993; Lampert & Ball, 1998; Spiro & Jehng, 1990). Video clips of classroom teaching and artifacts associated with it (e.g. student work, the teacher’s reflections, planning documents, district curriculum) can be accessed by computer in flexible, non-linear ways. Moreover, the use of hypermedia materials affords opportunities for novice and experienced teachers to engage together in taking an inquiring stance to investigate practice and to generate new understandings and insights that can inform future practices (Lampert & Ball, 1999). Lacey and Merseth (1993) argued that hypermedia is a curricular innovation that addresses “three currently held beliefs about teaching and learning to teach: namely, that teaching is complex and context-dependent; that engaging in the construction of knowledge about teaching is a powerful way to learn it; and that learning to teach can be greatly enhanced by participation in a community of inquiry” (p. 547).
Michael Truong and Anne Zanzucchi
In this chapter, we explore how new technologies, namely, video essays, audio-based feedback, and electronic portfolios, can transform traditional composition curriculum and…
Abstract
In this chapter, we explore how new technologies, namely, video essays, audio-based feedback, and electronic portfolios, can transform traditional composition curriculum and deepen student learning. We begin by discussing how new technologies connect and enhance learning experiences, especially within writing-intensive courses. For each of the three technologies, we provide a brief literature review, give a local case study, and conclude with suggested applications and related resources.
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The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for conceptualizing three dispositional‐related stages that educators may experience in their professional careers and address…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for conceptualizing three dispositional‐related stages that educators may experience in their professional careers and address the implications of these stages for integrating moral literacy perspectives into initial and advanced teacher and leader certification programs.
Design/methodology/approach
The dispositional conceptual framework is presented and discussed from the author's viewpoint. The contention is that there is at least some general consistency that teacher and leader program candidates, at various stages of their professional careers, may experience and reflect in the attitudes – a component of dispositions – that they bring to the university classroom learning environment.
Findings
Observations and insights about the consistency of dispositions within each of three program candidate groups are discussed. The dispositions emerged as: attitude formation; attitude adjustment; and attitude alignment. Within the context of course development and through that process of course delivery, the author describes how an understanding of candidates' attitudinal stages informed decisions about course content and instructional strategies to facilitate an ethos of values inquiry and reflection.
Originality/value
The framework may be useful to professors of education interested in integrating values inquiry and moral agency into their teaching.
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Ronald G. Cook, Paul Belliveau and Mark E. Sandberg
This study examined the output quality of a US microenterprise training program created to help entrepreneurs develop business plans for their ventures. The program concludes with…
Abstract
This study examined the output quality of a US microenterprise training program created to help entrepreneurs develop business plans for their ventures. The program concludes with the entrepreneurs' plans being scored by a panel of experts. Hypotheses were developed and tested to determine the importance of feedback, key components of business plan scores, and differences between teams and solo entrepreneurs. Timely feedback on business plan homework was the most significant driver of business plan quality, contributing to higher scores on the written plan and on the plan's presentation to the expert panel. Plans developed by teams also scored higher than those prepared by solo entrepreneurs.
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One of the main Common Core Requirements focuses on student use of authentic subject area skills. These skills are those used by professionals in the academic field of study. It…
Abstract
One of the main Common Core Requirements focuses on student use of authentic subject area skills. These skills are those used by professionals in the academic field of study. It is important that students develop and use appropriate historical thinking skills in the classroom. Historical skills include ability to read, write, speak, listen, and complete research based projects, and to appropriately analyze primary and secondary documents to make conclusions about what has occurred during a historical event. The implementation of instructional techniques requiring students to think like a historian are widely supported in the literature and are largely focused on the development of student historical literacy. This article examines how combining the use of children’s literature and primary sources can be used to construct a lesson promoting historical inquiry in the secondary classroom.
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Maria Cadiz Dyball, Anna Reid, Philip Ross and Herbert Schoch
The purpose of this paper is to examine accounting students' experience of compulsory group work. The paper hypothesises that a student‐centered style of teaching‐involving…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine accounting students' experience of compulsory group work. The paper hypothesises that a student‐centered style of teaching‐involving activities, like case studies and group‐based learning encourages students to take a deeper approach to learning. The paper also sought students' suggestions to improve learning in a group environment and to identify areas for future research.
Design/methodology/approach
There is a paucity of research that examines the relationships between group work and the adoption of a deep learning approach. This research uses empirical data in the form of a questionnaire with open and closed response options. This paper uses a qualitative method, phenomenography, to analyse the responses of 362 students.
Findings
The findings reveal variations in conceptions of group work among students with evidence of both surface and deep approaches to learning.
Research limitations/implications
The following limitations are recognised: the questionnaire may not have given students an opportunity to express their perceptions fully; the absence of demographic data did not permit consideration of cultural factors on the outcome and the analysis was able to focus only on perceptions of behaviour rather than actual behaviour. A major implication from the paper is the value of research into accounting education. The paper provides the opportunity to trial research, reflect upon and change curricula, delivery and assessment based on research findings.
Originality/value
Student experiences in group work in accounting, while not entirely new, is however, an area not widely reported on.
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