ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Study Benefits of Smartphones: Perceptions of Female Emirati Pre-Service Teacher Undergraduates
Author: Gromik, Nicolas
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Telecommunications,Handheld Devices,Females,Undergraduate Students,Student Attitudes,Age Differences,Teaching Methods,Ownership,Value Judgment,Foreign Countries,Technology Uses in Education,Educational Technology,Preservice Teachers,Intention

Smartphones are becoming ubiquitous and can be very useful study tools. We explored female Emirati undergraduates' perceptions of smartphone use in the classroom. Furthermore, we investigated the age at which participants received their first smartphones, the number of smartphones to which they had access at the time of the study, and the influence of these aspects on the use of smartphones as a learning tool. An online survey of 189 participants revealed that the age of receiving their first smartphone, combined with the number of smartphones they owned or had access to at the time of the study, did not correlate with their perceptions of the usefulness of smartphones as a learning tool in a statistically significant manner. However, participants in their first year of study had fewer positive perceptions about the use of smartphones in the classroom than participants in subsequent study years. We surmise that this might be attributable, in part, to the further experiences older students have had or classes they have taken or to student teaching experiences in which they might have firsthand observed the benefits of phone use in the classroom as a learning tool.
Russian and Indian Preschool Educators&apos; Beliefs about Distance Education for Preschoolers
Author: Veraksa, Aleksander
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Distance Education,Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Preschool Education,Preschool Teachers,Teacher Attitudes,Beliefs,Cultural Differences,Teacher Characteristics,Student Characteristics,Environmental Influences,COVID-19,Pandemics,School Closing,Kindergarten,Program Effectiveness,Teacher Education,Educational Attainment,Teaching Experience

Increasing interest in the digitization of education raises the question of the specifics of the use of digital devices in preschool education and the perception of these new practices by educators. The primary purpose of this study was to examine educators' beliefs about distance education for preschool children in Russia and India, given their professional education and cultural background. These two countries were chosen to explore how the education system has dealt with emergency remote teaching in countries with social and economic diversity. The study involved 909 preschool educators (623 from Russia and 286 from India). An exploratory factor analysis of educators' responses to the Educators' Beliefs about Distance Education for Preschoolers Questionnaire identified three factors. The first factor reflects the degree of positive or negative beliefs about the promotion potential of distance education for preschool children's development. The second represents educators' beliefs about the effectiveness of distance education depending on different teacher, child, and environmental conditions. The third is manifested in the belief among educators that distance education is ineffective in preschool education. The findings suggest that the years of professional education in early childhood pedagogy impacts educators' beliefs about distance education for preschool children. Regardless of the number of years of education training, educators in India were more likely to believe in the high promotion potential of distance education in early childhood.
Leadership in Implementing Inclusive Education Policy in Early Childhood Education and Care Playrooms in South Africa
Author: Bipath, Keshni
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Inclusion,Students with Disabilities,Early Childhood Education,Child Care Centers,Leadership Responsibility,Knowledge Level,Individualized Education Programs,Student Needs,Teacher Education,Faculty Development,Educational Policy,Educational Resources,Early Childhood Teachers,Administrators,Barriers,Program Implementation,Program Effectiveness

Leadership plays a central role in improving and sustaining quality in Early Childhood Development (ECD) settings in the South African context. This article explored the leadership of the Inclusive Education Policy (IEP) and the challenges experienced by ECD centre managers and teachers. Children with disabilities are most vulnerable, marginalised, and denied access to early education, especially in rural communities. Grounded in Bronfenbrenner's ecosystems theory, the study adopted a qualitative approach. The participants included three centre managers and three teachers from Early Childhood Development centres in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The findings revealed that most participants had minimal knowledge and understanding of the policy and its implementation. There was also a lack of leadership from the policymakers to ensure that the IEP was monitored, supported, and implemented. Our recommendations are that all ECD practitioners receive appropriate training and development on the policy, ongoing support and guidance in implementing the policy, and proper resources for their centres and playrooms (financial, physical, and human resources).
Perezhivanie and Its Application within Early Childhood Science Education Research
Author: Christodoulakis, Nikolaos
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Science Education,Educational Research,Early Childhood Education,Metacognition,Educational Theories,Learning Processes,Psychotherapy,Teacher Education,Drama,Sociocultural Patterns,Emotional Response,Outcomes of Education,Teaching Methods,Fantasy,Executive Function,Interpersonal Relationship,Faculty Development,Scientific Concepts,Research Reports

Perezhivanie is a concept that was originally defined by Vygotsky, but it did not become a part of educational theory until recently. Today the concept has been revived, and it is now used as a way to include emotional aspects into education and educational research. The concept also provides a rationale for describing and forming personalised learning. The present study provides a literature review with the aim of covering the variety in definitions of the concept, as well as the different perspectives that the concept lends to research in general, and to research with focus on early years education in particular. Results show that the concept has been applied within the most common theoretical perspectives in use today (such as social, cultural and subjective perspectives) with an interesting array of outcomes, such as design of educational methods, analysis of different modes of experiencing and development of self-awareness. The use of this concept becomes a shift toward more emotional perspectives of learning and development that may not be altogether positive, as perezhivanie holds the risk of blurring the border between psychotherapy and education, which is something that would provide new challenges for education in general and especially for teacher education.
Learning Scenario to Promote Comprehension of the Meaning of Subtraction
Author: Silva, Ricardo
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Vignettes,Comprehension,Concept Formation,Mathematical Concepts,Manipulative Materials,Scaffolding (Teaching Technique),Individualized Instruction,Mathematics Instruction,Instructional Effectiveness,Subtraction,Virtual Classrooms,Elementary Education,Preservice Teacher Education,Preservice Teachers,Cooperative Learning,Self Management,Foreign Countries

The integration of virtual manipulatives in classroom practices facilitates student learning processes. For this, the teacher must understand how to support students in establishing mathematical connections between the manipulation and their interpretations of the representations. We present a learning scenario that integrates the use of virtual manipulatives in mathematical modelling tasks. It was designed and implemented during initial teacher training, with the aim of helping a group of first-year elementary school students to overcome difficulties identified in their comprehension of the meaning of subtraction. The research, following the principles of design-based research, included three distinct moments: an individual written pre-test, an intervention phase with six micro-cycles, and an individual written post-test. The analysis of the collected data--audio, screen recordings, and written productions--allowed us to identify the most influential structural characteristics of the learning scenario: mathematical communication, collaborative learning, self-regulation, and co-regulation of learning. Our results suggest that differentiated instruction, minimal guidance, and scaffolding played an important role in the support provided by the pre-service teacher to students in the mathematical modelling activities that integrated virtual manipulatives.
A Multi-Layered Framework for Analyzing Primary Students&apos; Multimodal Reasoning in Science
Author: Xu, Lihua
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Classroom Communication,Semiotics,Elementary School Students,Science Instruction,Thinking Skills,Video Technology,Verbal Communication,Nonverbal Communication,Discourse Analysis,Task Analysis,Abstract Reasoning,Guidelines,Multimedia Materials

Classroom communication is increasingly accepted as multimodal, through the orchestrated use of different semiotic modes, resources, and systems. There is growing interest in examining the meaning-making potential of other modes (e.g., gestural, visual, kinesthetic) beyond the semiotic mode of language, in classroom communication and in student reasoning in science. In this paper, we explore the use of a multi-layered analytical framework in an investigation of student reasoning during an open inquiry into the physical phenomenon of dissolving in a primary classroom. The 24 students, who worked in pairs, were video recorded in a facility purposefully designed to capture their verbal and non-verbal interactions during the science session. By employing a multi-layered analytical framework, we were able to identify the interplays between the different semiotic modes and the level of reasoning undertaken by the students as they worked through the tasks. This analytical process uncovered a variety of ways in which the students negotiated ideas and coordinated semiotic resources in their exploration of dissolving. This paper highlights the affordances and challenges of this multi-layered analytical framework for identifying the dynamic inter-relationships between different modes that the students drew on to grapple with the complexity of the physical phenomenon of dissolving.
Embodied Simulations of Forces of Nature and the Role of Energy in Physical Systems
Author: Fuchs, Hans U.
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Scientific Concepts,Concept Formation,Drama,Simulation,Physics,Science Instruction,Natural Resources,Heat,Energy,Weather,Water,Physical Sciences,Light,Motion,Chemistry,Human Body,Preservice Teacher Education,Elementary Education,Secondary Education,Foreign Countries

We experience (perceive, act upon and react to, and conceptualize) dynamical processes in nature as agentive. Expressed differently, we experience events as resulting from activities and interactions of &quot;Forces of Nature&quot; (such as wind, light, heat, fluids, electricity, substances, and motion) that are conceived of as powerful agents acting and interacting in physical environments. An example would be sunlight creating heat in the Earth's surface layers, and this heat using the atmosphere as a heat engine whose output are the winds on our planet. In the physics of dynamical systems, these forces are characterized in terms of intensive and extensive quantities (i.e., electric potential and electric charge in the case of electricity). The aspect of power is formalized with the help of a generalized energy principle and the rules relating power/energy to intensive and extensive physical quantities. Concrete processes depend upon properties of physical materials (in and through which forces are active) such as (thermal, electrical, etc.) capacity or conductivity. In this paper, we demonstrate how we can create &quot;Embodied Simulations&quot; and &quot;Forces-of-Nature Theater&quot; performances, where children act as forces such as water, heat, electricity, and motion. The embodied logic of the physical play teaches children about the logic of our explanations of physical processes.
How Can We Better Understand and Support International Students at Australian Schools? A Case Study of Chinese Learners
Author: Zhang, Hongzhi
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Students,Study Abroad,Asians,Student Needs,Educational Experience,Foreign Countries,Case Studies,Student Attitudes,Student Adjustment,Teacher Student Relationship,Peer Relationship,Confucianism,Cultural Differences,Elementary School Students,Secondary School Students,Student Surveys,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning

Despite the rapid increase in international students in the education sector, this area remains an under-researched. In Australia, many schools welcome international learners, but are also aware that the support they can offer cannot fully address the student's needs. Drawing on surveys (n = 51) and focus group interviews (n = 16), this case study considers how Chinese international students at four Australian schools understand their everyday experiences. The findings show that students learn and socialise in ways that make sense to them, based on their observations and interpretations of everyday events. Although the support from the school, teachers, and local peers were appreciated, they did not completely solve students' problems, nor were they necessarily interpreted and accepted by our participants as intended. It is important for educators to develop a more nuanced understanding of the challenges faced by international students in everyday life, and the kind of support that the students need.
Assessment of the Application of Content and Language Integrated Learning in a Multilingual Classroom
Author: Baranova, Tatiana
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Multilingualism,Content and Language Integrated Learning,Spanish,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Teaching Methods,Efficiency,Models,Language Proficiency,Comparative Analysis,Language Skills,Outcomes of Education,Undergraduate Students,Foreign Countries,Language Tests,Work Environment,Language Usage,Business Communication

(1) Background: based on the constantly increasing requirements for modern university graduates, we have developed an educational model that allows us to introduce content and language integrated learning into classes with a multilingual approach, which will allow students to use several foreign languages in the process of professional communication. The purpose of the paper is to evaluate the efficiency of a newly introduced integrated learning model from the perspective of students, to identify the impact of such a model on students' professional discipline learning outcomes and to determine if the learning model contributes to an improvement in foreign language proficiency. (2) Methods: for our research we used qualitative and quantitative data from students' records of professional discipline and Spanish testing, as well as surveys and interviews on proposed learning model efficiency. Two groups of students took part in the experiment (N = 23 and N = 24). (3) Results: results on students' Spanish proficiency showed that the proposed learning model had a positive influence. Students from the experimental group got higher results on Listening, Reading and Speaking. According to results on professional discipline, both groups achieved approximately equal scores. Moreover, students described such a proposed learning model as efficient and progressive, giving a lot of advantages. (4) Conclusions: the experiment conducted confirmed the efficiency of the proposed learning model. In conclusion, it can be recommended for the realization of a multilingual approach, as well as the learning of a professional discipline.
Promoting Teacher Professionalism in Language Education from the Perspective of Critical Intercultural Literacy
Author: Fang, Fan
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Professionalism,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,English (Second Language),Case Studies,Critical Literacy,College Faculty,Language Variation,Critical Theory,Language Teachers,Teaching Methods,Global Approach,Intercultural Communication,Cultural Awareness,Teacher Workshops,Diaries,Teacher Attitudes,Foreign Countries

Against the backdrop of globalisation, many English language teaching (ELT) curricula emphasise the need to promote awareness of intercultural communication. However, in many settings, the current ELT practices still predominantly focus on Anglophone cultures or interactions with Anglophone speakers, as the teachers and materials may not fully anticipate the cultural complexity and diversity the students will encounter in the future. This paper reports on a case study designed to build teachers' critical intercultural literacy through a series of workshops at a university located in southeast China, specifically aiming to train Chinese university teachers in how to challenge textbook content from a critical perspective. Through an analysis of interviews with teachers and their reflective journal entries, this paper examines how teachers made sense of critically-oriented teaching and it discusses the implications for developing a critical stance beyond the classroom informed by critical pedagogy and Global Englishes language teaching.
Measuring the Post-Impact of Programming MOOCs: Development and Validation of an Instrument
Author: Säde, Merilin
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Online Courses,Programming,Foreign Countries,Computer Science Education,Large Group Instruction,College Students,Program Effectiveness,Job Skills,Test Construction,Test Validity,Test Reliability

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) can potentially affect the lives of millions of people, but there is little research on how a programming MOOC could affect participants' lives after participation. In Estonia, we have organised several programming MOOCs over the years, attended by over 14,000 people. This inspired us to develop and validate a scale for measuring the impact of programming MOOC on participants' lives. We analysed data from 1261 MOOC participants who had completed at least one of our programming MOOCs. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to validate the developed scale. The final model fitted quite well to the data. We found that the factors that influence learners' lives after a MOOC include acquired learning skills, interest in continuing computer science related studies, learning experience gained from the MOOC, the MOOC's impact on work and personal life, and new contacts that are established with other participants and organisers. We also compared the means of the factors. The highest-rated factor was related to the learning experience from the MOOC and the lowest-rated was related to finding new contacts through the MOOC.
Representations of Multiculturalism in Japanese Elementary EFL Textbooks: A Critical Analysis
Author: Efron, Kate Alice
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Multicultural Education,Elementary Education,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Textbooks,Foreign Countries,Textbook Evaluation,Visual Aids,Cultural Awareness

Recent reforms to Foreign Language Activities policies in Japan have highlighted the importance of facilitating multilingualism and multiculturalism in global contexts. However, many of the most recent elementary school textbooks (2018-2020) for Foreign Language Activities classes in Japan are English Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks focused largely on English language in tourism settings rather than in educational and social perspectives. With inspiration from critical discourse analysis (e.g., Fairclough 1992a; 1992b; 2001), this paper critically examines representations of multilingualism and multiculturalism in four Japanese EFL textbooks used in elementary schools, &quot;We Can 1,&quot; &quot;We Can 2,&quot; &quot;Let's Try 1&quot; and &quot;Let's Try 2&quot; (MEXT, 2018). Findings show that the videos, video activities, and images center Japanese culture, and that countries outside of Japan appear in over-simplified mediums, while minority cultures within Japan are not explicitly represented.
Researching Intercultural Competence in Language Learners: Gaps between Theory and Methodology
Author: Tiurikova, Irina
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Cultural Awareness,Intercultural Communication,Measures (Individuals),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Cultural Differences,Ethnicity,Cultural Background,Personality Measures,Communicative Competence (Languages),Questionnaires,Comparative Analysis,Research Methodology,Theories,Self Concept

Traditional approaches to intercultural competence (IC) in language learning have been criticised for reproducing cultural differentialism, a theoretical perspective which emphasises that people are different due to essential distinctions between their ethnic or national cultural background. While differentialist views have been recognised as problematic in the theory of IC, it remains to be examined whether and how cultural differentialism is reflected in the methodological tools used in empirical research in the field. To shed light on this issue, the article analyses five questionnaires studying IC or related concepts: the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (van der Zee &amp; van Oudenhoven, 2001), the Intercultural Development Inventory (Hammer et al., 2003), the Intercultural Communicative Competence Instrument (Arasaratnam, 2009), the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale (Portalla &amp; Chen, 2010) and the Ungspråk Questionnaire (Haukås et al., 2021b). The analysis reveals that cultural differentialism persists at the level of methodology. However, the extent to which questionnaires reproduce it varies according to how notions of culture, identity, differences and similarities are reflected in the questionnaire statements. The paper also discusses the possible implications of using methodological tools that reproduce cultural differentialism. It also provides some recommendations that can help researchers avoid this problematic approach in an empirical study.