UCLan Open Journals (University of Central Lancashire)
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Enabling pedagogic research: the impact of a masters in education (MEd Professional practice in Education) on the practice of academics
Get PDFUsing the model of action research explored by McNiff and Whitehead (2009), this article investigates its application within the MEd (Professional Practice in Education) programme at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). The paper suggests that not only does the programme develop skills of educational research for academics on the award, it also supports them in developing as scholarly professionals. Using abstracts and comments from participants on the course, the article discusses the ethical and methodological choices they make during the process of completing their Master’s pedagogic research projects. Finally, the paper highlights the evidence of impact, showing how such formal environments contribute positively to academics’ profiles as educational researchers and as practitioners, and, more importantly, contribute to the learning experience of their students. It raises again the challenge for pedagogic research to demonstrate direct quantifiable impact upon student learning but adds to a growing body of evidence that this is nonetheless happening
To blog or not to blog? Using blogs in assessment
Get PDF‘Higher Education in a Web 2.0 World’ published in March 2009 raised some important issues for HE practitioners: how to capitalise upon the web-based skills of students in teaching and assessment. Recognising the valuable employability skills derived from confident IT usage, this paper outlines the initial stages of an investigation into the use of blogs or weblogs to replace reflective notebooks in a free choice elective designed to develop entrepreneurial skills in creative students. Specifically, the research will consider how students go about starting their blogs; what they blog about and whether there is any resistance to using blogs in learning. The study which takes a mixed-methods approach is in the initial stages of data collection and analysis
“I’VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO DO MATHS!”
Get PDFThe aim of the Action Research was to establish whether learners would grasp Maths concepts better by using a learning tree, illustrating the building blocks in the process.There are links with scaffold learning (Bruner 1967), where learners build upon knowledge in small chunks to develop their knowledge and skills.Hairdressing learners studying level 1 Maths pinpointed their achievements on a model of a tree. The main stem had various branches representing a different topic of Maths. I thought by allowing the learners to see their progress visually this may enhance their enjoyment, promoting more engagement and having an effect on success rates. The ultimate result was to improve the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom, whilst challenging learner’s personal constructs about themselves
ADDING VALUE TO THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS
Get PDFPeer assessment was used to increase achievement of Minimum/Aspirational Target Grades and potential Value Added Scores as learners were asked to grade exemplar pieces of an upcoming assignment. Assessment criteria, grading grids and definitions of the assessment verbs were available in completing this before being expected to submit their own version of the same assignment three weeks later. Following submission, data were collected via questionnaires, focus group meetings, unit front sheet comments and their own assessment grade. The findings demonstrated that this process was beneficial, supporting learners in achieving better grades, understanding the assessment process and developing assignment writing skills
SYSTEMIZATION IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING: MONITORING CONTENT PROGRESSION.
Get PDFAuthor: Wilfried Decoo.Publisher: Routledge, 2011, pp., 373 £129.99ISBN: B0068G9X8
Voices of Immigrant Adults: Perspectives and Experiences with French as a Second Official Language in “English-dominant” Canada
Get PDFThe federal government of Canada, through the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (OCOL) (2000), claims that immigration is a challenge to English/French official language duality in Canada. In its promotion of official language duality to potential immigrants, the government cites the advantages of official language bilingualism and the responsibility of immigrants to respect official language duality (OCOL, 2002). Supported by Anderson’s theory of imagined communities (2006), Lave and Wenger’s concept of situated learning (1991) and Bourdieu’s concept of capital (1977), this study reports on immigrant parents’ perspectives and experiences with French as a second official language (FSOL) in parts of English-dominant Canada as reported through interviews with adult immigrants to Canada. More precisely, the immigrants report on their pursuit of official language bilingualism for themselves and their children and their difficulty in accessing its cited advantages. I suggest the government has responsibility in converting its claims of the advantages to official language bilingualism into realities for the immigrant populatio
HOW DO TEACHERS VIEW STRATEGIC PLANNING AS CONTRIBUTING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPEAKING IN EFL CLASSES?
Get PDFThis study investigates how teachers view strategic planning as contributing to the development of speaking in EFL classes. The study is based around the following two research questions: How far are teachers aware of strategic planning and its potential function? How do teachers see a task with an internal preparation to production structure as contributing to the development of speaking? To answer these questions, a task was chosen with an internal preparation to production structure so that it represented the theory of strategic planning, and was used as the focal point for data collection. Interviews were conducted with eight teachers to see how they commented on the task’s internal features and whether they thought the task could develop learners’ fluency and accuracy skills. The findings showed that the majority of teachers believed the task could improve learners’ fluency and accuracy, which implies that strategic planning can develop different aspects of learners’ oral skills
CORPUS TECHNOLOGY AND VOCABULARY TESTING IN EAP
Get PDFThis article sets out to question a common approach to vocabulary in many EAP contexts, and suggests that the AWL, used uncritically, does not meet the needs of many EAP students. It will then suggest utilising corpus technology for electronic text analysis as a step towards empowering EAP test design in ways which promote more sophisticated vocabulary engagement. It will first discuss vocabulary study in EAP contexts from three perspectives: the appropriateness of the AWL, the potential role of electronic text analysis in utilising authentic academic materials, and perspectives on EAP vocabulary testing as testing of a knowledge-base or an acquisition-skill. It will then assert the practicality of corpus technology being used by EAP practitioners to design vocabulary tests which would better reflect the literature on vocabulary acquisition and benefit learners by promoting higher level engagement with vocabulary
Customization in Designing a Course for Interpreter Training
Get PDFThis article deals with the notion of customization for the purpose of conference interpreter training. Two years ago a new MA level programme in Interpreting and Translation was created at the School of Languages and International Studies, University of Central Lancashire in Preston, UK. At the beginning of the third year of teaching on the programme, the author attempts to analyse the course design to find out if the course can be tailored to meet an individual student’s needs while at the same time ensuring that the students are taught all the key modules. All the modules that are directly relevant to practising interpreting skills are presented and carefully analysed. The author is also interested in the process of intercultural communication between students from the respective language streams on the course (so far, in alphabetical order, Arabic, Chinese, French, German and Polish) and the influence it could have on the students’ co-operation within the course. Another important background question is related to the impact customisation in the course design could potentially have on the alumni’s employability and in what way the programme actually prepares students for their future professional lives. Conclusions and evaluation form the last part of the article