A common problem instructors face in multilingual classrooms is identifying pedagogical methods which address varying language abilities in an effort to avoid marginalization in the class. Through experimentation I have used mindfulness as pedagogy to serve as a method of inclusion in my multilingual first-year writing classroom. Sitting in meditation together unifies my classroom and acknowledges that students have a need for concentration and calm in their writing process regardless of their fluency in English. As an instructor of L1 and L2 (students who speak two or more languages) learners in the English department at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, an institution with 2,500 students from 70 different countries around the world, I use mindfulness as a tool of inclusion through daily classroom practice wherein we sit and breathe before free-writing each class day. This experience not only centers and clarifies student writing, but provides a shared experience for students in my classroom who may be experiencing marginalization. Through this shared experience our classroom atmosphere improves, a mind/ body connection is addressed in the writing process, and students work together in producing work that is meaningful to their academic lives and beyond in their future careers. Mindfulness as a method of inclusion also bridges a gap in prewriting approach scholarship as it gives students tools they can draw from when beginning writing projects, or in other words, provides a how-to approach in the prewriting stage for all language abilities.
This essay is an exploration of teacher identity and the discomfort that arises from the notion of the 'professional self' and the ` personal self.' Drawing on a range of scholarship that discusses the complexities of teacher-identity construction, I consider how institutional hierarchies, Enlightenment-era thought, and student perception affect our self-construction in the classroom. Too often teachers try to live up to contradictory cultural ideals, which makes the process of professional self-construction in the classroom even more complicated. As such, I explore the notion of teacher identity development from the perspectives of those starting out in the profession and as well as experienced educators. I argue that problem of teacher identity development does not necessarily come to end as an educator grows more experienced.
This article seeks to understand impact of employability on technology acceptance in students from a constructivist perspective. The growing significance of technology usage in academia prompted this research as well as the need to understand if the technologies that I and my colleagues use on a regular basis were successful in engaging learners. It was imperative to understand if we were meeting the expectations of our students as well as Coventry University London which has invested a great deal into their implementation. Therefore, 20 students from Coventry University London were interviewed to uncover their thoughts and experiences into their acceptance and ultimate use of learning technologies. These students were interviewed over a two-year period (2016-2017) in order to capture accurate data and keep pace with the ever-evolving and arguably ephemeral nature of technology. Students also participated in focus groups after each set of interviews in order to explore relevant issues in greater depth. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was then applied to ascertain if employability was a significant variable in influencing technology acceptance. It was important to understand if the learning technologies utilised by academics were able to help students gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations. The empirical data confirmed the view that learning technologies which had a positive perceived benefit in enhancing employability outcomes play a significant role in engaging an array of international students in their studies. These findings arguably demonstrate the need for the institution to reconfigure and enhance the clarity of its technology-enhanced learning strategy as well as its level of support to teaching staff. This proposal will allow academics to have sufficient opportunity to effectively utilise and apply learning technologies as part of their own individual pedagogical strategy and students to improve their employability skills as a result.
This paper discusses the perceptions of computer science students towards a multidisciplinary writing curriculum that was built into a pathway programme to undergraduate study. A qualitative descriptive investigatory study revealed that computer science students in particular felt a strong disconnect between their disciplinary learning and the learning they did in the academic literacy classroom. The degree to which they experienced the pedagogical and assessment differences between the two learning contexts resulted in mild to strong resistance towards the literacy development aspect of the pathway curriculum. This paper highlights a case where first year computer science students articulates their dissatisfactions in this regard, and explores the question of when computer science students should be taught academic literacy, if it is taught it at all.
This essay explores the unique characteristics of puppet theatre and stage performance in foreign language education using an innovative modeling approach. The study focuses on the learning mechanisms of puppet theatre as demonstrated by an interdisciplinary model that incorporates both Portfolio Analysis as well as Benjamin Bloom's Revised Taxonomy in cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains. The paper uses an original Spanish language play written for the Hispanic Puppet Project, which is a community-oriented and interactive puppet theatre, comprised of college-aged students and children from the community. This article examines students' learning objectives, hands-on tasks, learning outcomes and performative teaching and learning from the staging of a Spanish language play tilted, "Moctezuma y los cinco soles poderosos. La resurreccion del imperio azteca." I have created a website with ancillary materials that can be accessed at the following address: https://www.hispanicpuppetsproject.com The site contains 1) a brief overview of the article; 2) a two-page synopsis of the legend of Moctezuma and the Five Mighty Suns; 3) an annotated legend written in Spanish and in verse and rhyme; 4) a practical guide for stage directions; 5) a video of a teaching assistant reading the refrain for the children in the puppet play.
This paper is concerned with eliciting the perspectives of ‘practitioner-lecturers’ on the delivery of the employability curriculum within a Business School. The term ‘practitioner-lecturer’ is taken to mean those who have entered academia following an earlier career in industry, the public services or a commercial environment. Given their past experiences and organisational socialisation, it may be that these academics hold different views on the nature of the employability debate. Hitherto, much of the discourse on employability has revolved around an instrumentalist debate concerning how to implement an idealised skill-set that is meant to encapsulate the learning of students enrolled on a course. In this sense, students are re-defined in terms of the set of skills they accrue and develop. This reductionist approach has led to calls for a more holistic conception of employability education- a viewpoint that may echo with practitioner-lecturers with their wider experience of work beyond the ivory tower. This paper sought to address central research question: How do practitioner-lecturers view the relevance of the Business School curriculum, given their professional insights? The findings suggest that the views of practitioner-lecturers could be incorporated into the design of the future curriculum.
This paper is the record of an action research project. The purpose of this action research project was to evaluate the effect of a flipped classroom technique on pre-registration nursing students. The aim was to ascertain if this was a preferred method of teaching to facilitate more practical sessions in class. Feedback from local student surveys indicated that there was a need for more practical sessions in class for both theoretical clarity and for assessment preparation. Qualitative data via a survey was used to gauge the student’s perception of methods of differing classroom delivery and a free text box enabled students to voice what session they felt this method was applicable to for future classes. Results showed that the students acknowledged the benefit of having theory of sessions prior to coming to class so that this can be applied to the practical session. Students found value in the flipped classroom approach as a way of supporting and enhancing practical in-class sessions. This was validated further by the students’ suggestions of where to further apply this method within the unit.
The world over, universities describe their Masters of Business Administrations as 'transformative' but so many rely on traditional retrospective curriculums, structures and assessment. The suspicion in some quarters is that the MBA badge has sometimes become more about prestige than transformation; inputs rather than outputs. Yet it is increasingly clear that the global economy is at a turning point with the World Economic Forum going as far as describing the advent of a Fourth Industrial Revolution. Technology in particular is changing the nature of work and the role of managers while the nature of jobs and the skills that will be needed in the near future is in flux. Organisational success increasingly relies on creative and adaptable colleagues able to lead and shape change; here innovative executive education has an essential role to play. A discussion paper centred on these topics, this article makes the case for MBAs to be truly transformative by shifting the emphasis firmly towards intellectual creativity and problem solving, together with innovative assessment regimes which challenge mid-career professionals to be adaptable and able to take managed risks supportive of professional innovation. It argues the case for a breed of MBAs that are not retrospective and elitist but rather are driven by the transformative ambition of developing participants' cognitive powers.
Arguing that every student has the capacity to succeed and that every student must be provided with the opportunity to reach their full potential, this article introduces a new pedagogic approach that draws on a wide range of influences. Linking theoretical practices from sociology, pedagogy, social and educational psychology, and cultural studies, the approach posits that teaching and learning should be conducted in non-hierarchical classrooms where all members are equal and working towards shared objectives. A theoretical frame is outlined and the factors that helped shape it are reflected on. A conceptual framework which covers the goals of instruction, instructional materials, classroom management, instructional methods, and assessment is also presented. It is hoped that educators will consider the concepts included in this article and, if possible, incorporate them into their teaching practices.
Review of u0027The Mini Book of Teaching Tips for Librarians, 2 nd Editionu0027 by Andrew Walsh. Published by Innovative Libraries in 2018.
The following reflection articulates the genesis and development of my approach to Higher Education generally and midwifery education specifically over twenty years of teaching. It draws on the impact of my own experiences in HE as a student; the parallels between clinical and teaching practice, and the influence of a handful of key thinkers and texts that have helped me to elucidate the values that underpin my teaching practice. This is presented here as an explanation for the case studies that will follow which illustrate how the humanities can be integrated into classroom teaching in healthcare in ways that will deepen learning. What follows is an explanation for why I think this is important.
The focus of the article is the 'idea' of a teacher; not just the proactive role teachers play in inculcating creative traits in students but the meaning of a teacher within an institution. Is the idea of a teacher a dated notion of a paternalistic figure playing the role of transmitter of values from a mainstream social order to students in classrooms who are relearning what has already been given to them within the confines of a home? Have teachers been made redundant in the era of Internet technologies where information along with critical interpretations have taken an impersonal character and students are less inclined to be influenced by one dominant way of thinking? Although information is democratized to include wider sections of people, there is no basis to subscribe to the notion that people are more open-minded than in earlier times. The argument applies to the idea of a teacher as well: while corporatization at a global level has reduced the role of a teacher to teaching what is useful in fulfilling the requirements of the free market, the resistance of students to tailored worldviews is greater than ever before. There are changing paradigms of the idea of a teacher while there are also paradigms of change that teachers could espouse to bring about social and political transformation. My paper deals with the dynamics of imagining such a transformation.
