ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Feedback Processes in Multimedia Language Learning Software
Author: Kartal, Erdogan
Date: 2010-04-00
Type: Information Analyses
Subjects: Feedback (Response),French,Teaching Methods,Foreign Countries,Multimedia Instruction,Multimedia Materials,Computer Software,Educational Technology,Instructional Design,Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Adult Students,Interaction,Intelligent Tutoring Systems,Language Laboratories,Content Analysis,Course Content

Feedback has been one of the important elements of learning and teaching theories and still pervades the literature and instructional models, especially computer and web-based ones. However, the mechanisms about feedback dominating the fundamentals of all the instructional models designed for self-learning have changed considerably with the interactive multimedia technology of today, which have recourse to a wider range of potential in terms of use and functionality. The study intends to indicate that feedback has double functions: On one hand, it has classic &quot;triad&quot; functions--feedback as motivator, reinforcement and information--in terms of computer-assisted instruction and, on the other hand, as it is emphasized in this study, it forms the core and maintains the continuity of the machine-learner interaction in multimedia software designed today. This work, originally a discussion paper, consists of a review of the related literature and analyses of the software programs designed for teaching French to adults as foreign language in French module of Multimedia Language Learning Centre at Charles-de-Gaulle University (Lille-France). (Contains 8 figures.)
The Internet, Language Learning, and International Dialogue: Constructing Online Foreign Language Learning Websites
Author: Kartal, Erdogan
Date: 2010-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Check Lists,Second Languages,Global Approach,Second Language Learning,French,Second Language Instruction,English (Second Language),German,Spanish,Italian,College Students,Evaluation Criteria,Models,Russian,Turkish,International Education,Intercultural Communication,Foreign Countries,Computer Software,Educational Technology,Instructional Design,Content Analysis,Web Sites,Internet,Computer Assisted Instruction,Computer Software Evaluation,Web Based Instruction

In the present study we call attention to the close connection between languages and globalization, and we also emphasize the importance of the Internet and online websites in foreign language teaching and learning as unavoidable elements of computer assisted language learning (CALL). We prepared a checklist by which we investigated 28 foreign language teaching websites (4 from each of seven languages including English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish and Turkish). The participants were 14 third-year university students who were enrolled in the French Language teaching department, but had a basic knowledge of the related languages that was sufficient to read and write. All the students had taken CALL classes at university level, and had previous experience of website evaluation and assessment. As a result of the analyses of the language teaching websites, we observed that they were lacking physically, contextually and pedagogically. Consequently, we built a model foreign language website frame considering the feedback that we received from the subjects. We believe that our website evaluation checklist and model website frame might greatly serve the CALL field. Three appendixes are included: (1) Foreign language website evaluation check list; (2) Foreign language learning websites; and (3) A model language learning website. (Contains 3 graphics.)
A Critical Evaluation of the Department of Education and Science's Initiatives to Integrate ICT into the Republic of Ireland's Primary School Curriculum
Author: Murray, John
Date: 2004-03-19
Type: Dissertations/Theses
Subjects: Qualitative Research,Pilot Projects,Criticism,Foreign Countries,Politics of Education,Elementary School Curriculum,Educational Policy,Educational Environment,Educational History,Inservice Teacher Education,Program Evaluation,Policy Analysis,Educational Finance,Program Effectiveness,Government Role,Teacher Education Curriculum,Elementary School Teachers,Training Methods,Problems,Educational Technology,Web Sites,Internet,Technology Integration,Information Technology,Computer Uses in Education

This study examines recent initiatives in the Irish Republic to integrate ICT into the primary school system. The study includes an analysis of the social, political and educational background to past initiatives, both government and teacher-led, to make more use of ICT in the general school system over the past 30 years. The government's programme to train thousands of teachers in ICT skills is discussed, in terms of both the logistics of training so many people and in terms of what assumptions about ICT use lay behind what the teachers were taught. The structures put in place to support schools in making the most of computer and communications technology are analysed. The Scoilnet website is assessed and suggestions offered on possible ways to improve it. In addition, a national ICT pilot project is discussed in detail. There can be no doubt that tremendous progress has been made both at the level of planning and implementation and of government policy with regard to ICT in education. However, it is argued here that a recurring flaw in various initiatives was that too little consideration was given to the pedagogical implications of ICT use. In addition, progress to date has been endangered by a failure to measure the effectiveness of ICT initiatives, insufficient qualitative research and pressures on the education budget nationally.
Incentives, Motivation, and Performance on a Low-Stakes Test of College Learning
Author: Steedle, Jeffrey T.
Date: 2010-04-30
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Institutional Evaluation,Standardized Tests,Educational Assessment,Sample Size,Performance Based Assessment,Student Recruitment,Program Effectiveness,Student Motivation,College Freshmen,Incentives,Academic Ability,Probability,Scores

Many colleges face the challenge of recruiting examinees for institutional assessment programs. Unfortunately, students recognize these programs as low-stakes, and therefore may not have high performance motivation. This study examined the interrelationships between students' preferred incentives for taking the test, their performance motivation, and their observed performance on the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA). Results reveal that freshmen stated a preference for cash and prizes over recognition and feedback as incentives. However, preferred incentives bore no practically significant relationship with test performance. For individual students, motivation was a significant predictor of CLA scores even after controlling for entering academic ability, but this effect was not apparent when schools were the units of analysis. Thus, schools should be attentive to motivation when results are used for individual-level assessment, but motivation is less of a concern when interpreting average scores relative to other schools with students of similar entering academic ability. WinBUGS code is appended. (Contains 4 tables and 7 figures.)
Hiring Quality School Leaders: Challenges and Emerging Practices
Author: Clifford, Matthew
Date: 2010-02-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Personnel Selection,Boards of Education,Superintendents,Leadership Qualities,Principals,Administrator Role,Search Committees (Personnel),Recruitment,Leadership Responsibility,Administrator Qualifications,Women Administrators,Age Differences,Minority Groups,Teaching Experience,Occupational Mobility,Job Applicants

Leadership transitions provide opportunities for organizational growth and development. In the field of education, choosing an effective school principal is one of the most significant decisions that a superintendent or school board can make, as new leadership can propel a district forward in meeting its goals. Principals are responsible for setting school improvement agendas and teacher workplace conditions and ensuring that the school performs in accordance with state/national policies and community expectations. However, many school districts report that recruiting and selecting new school principals is challenging. This brief describes the challenges that school superintendents and hiring committees face when trying to hire a school principal by drawing upon research. In addition, the brief offers practical, emerging practices that school superintendents and hiring committees have implemented to address challenges. (Contains 2 tables.)
Integrating Expanded Learning and School Reform Initiatives: Challenges and Strategies. A Policy Brief
Author: Stonehill, Robert
Date: 2010-02-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Enrichment,Youth Opportunities,After School Programs,Educational Change,Learning Strategies,Recruitment,Staff Development

Research suggests that students strongly benefit when they are provided substantially more time to engage in academic enrichment and youth development opportunities, both within and outside the school building. Well-designed expanded learning programs can have a positive impact on student achievement, attendance and graduation rates, and other desirable student outcomes--but they are not often incorporated as a key element in school improvement plans. To address this issue, Learning Point Associates and the Collaborative for Building After-School Systems (CBASS) launched an initiative to strengthen collaboration between school-focused reform efforts and those that seek similar outcomes. In one event, proponents of expanded learning opportunities came together to discuss their experiences and ideas for a more consistent and deliberate integration of expanded learning. From their ongoing conversations, they have identified key strategies that can address the most significant challenges to a broader adoption of expanded learning strategies in school reform efforts. This policy brief synthesizes these ongoing discussions and observations as six recommendations to extend the integration of high-quality, expanded learning opportunities in state, district, and school reform initiatives. (Contains 3 footnotes.)
Managing Educator Talent: Promising Practices and Lessons from Midwestern States
Author: Bhatt, Monica P.
Date: 2010-04-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Strategic Planning,Teacher Effectiveness,Incentives,Policy Analysis,Educational Change,Talent,Talent Development,Faculty Development,Teacher Education,Teacher Education Programs,Teacher Certification,Teacher Recruitment,Teacher Selection,Beginning Teacher Induction,Mentors,Compensation (Remuneration),Teaching Conditions,Teacher Evaluation,Instructional Leadership,State Agencies,Principals,Public Officials,Educational Policy,Stakeholders,Teachers,Academic Achievement

This policy analysis explains the need for a system approach to educator talent management.  The report analyzes how state policies in the Midwest support the development of effective teachers and leaders throughout their career. The report focuses on state policies in teacher preparation including certification and licensure, recruitment and hiring, induction and mentoring, professional development, compensation and other financial incentives, working conditions, and performance management. This analysis posits that the creation of a systemic approach to educator talent management falls under the purview of states and must be developed by state leadership across agencies and sectors. It offers five recommendations for policymakers to move toward a more systemic educator talent management system. These recommendations are: (1) Assess the status quo of your educator quality policies; (2) Create a cross-organizational team to develop a unified vision and strategic plan for educator quality in your state; (3) Identify all stakeholder groups and partners and specify the level of engagement for each group at every stage of the policy development process; (4) Focus on the development of school leaders as well as teachers; and (5) Ensure that all initiatives to improve educator quality will be assessed on how well they meet the intended goal. (Contains 7 tables.)
Improving the Reliability and Interpretability of Value-Added Scores for Post-Secondary Institutional Assessment Programs
Author: Steedle, Jeffrey T.
Date: 2010-05-03
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Institutional Evaluation,Academic Achievement,Academic Ability,Outcomes of Education,Scores,Comparative Analysis,Correlation,Reliability,Postsecondary Education,College Freshmen,College Seniors

Tests of college learning are often administered to obtain value-added scores indicating whether score gains are below, near, or above typical performance for students of given entering academic ability. This study compares the qualities of value-added scores generated by the original Collegiate Learning Assessment value-added approach and a new approach that employs hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). Results indicate that value-added scores produced by the two approaches are correlated and would be identical if larger student samples were available. The new approach produces value-added scores that are slightly more reliable and display substantially greater consistency across years. Furthermore, the HLM-based approach provides school-specific indicators of value-added score precision, which improve interpretability. For these reasons, the new approach is recommended for future institutional assessment programs. Detailed specification of HLM-based value-added approach is appended. (Contains 4 figures and 2 footnotes.)
Construct Validity of Three Clerkship Performance Assessments
Author: Lee, Ming
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Structural Equation Models,Construct Validity,Validity,Medicine,Program Effectiveness,Clinical Experience,Factor Analysis,Correlation,Evaluation Methods,Graduate Medical Education,Student Evaluation

This study examined construct validity of three commonly used clerkship performance assessments: preceptors' evaluations, OSCE-type clinical performance measures, and the NBME [National Board of Medical Examiners] medicine subject examination. Six hundred and eighty-six students taking the inpatient medicine clerkship from 2003 to 2007 participated in the study. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses using the structural equation modeling procedure were adopted to examine the latent domains underlying various indicators assessed by these three measures and the pattern of indicator-domain relationships. Three separate, though correlated, constructs, labeled Clinical Performance, Interpersonal Skills, and Clinical Knowledge, were confirmed by factor analyses. The three domains tapped a common higher-order construct, Clinical Competence, in varied degrees of magnitude (0.56, 0.69, 0.77, respectively). This study demonstrated that although the three commonly used tools for assessing clerkship performance contributed uniquely to the understanding of clinical performance, they also attested a shared domain of clinical competence in their assessment. The study thus confirmed the need for a multiple-trait-multiple-method approach to clerkship assessment.  Findings also revealed that clerkship preceptors need to differentiate their judgment of students' performances. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)
Distributed Leadership, Teacher Morale, and Teacher Enthusiasm: Unravelling the Leadership Pathways to School Success
Author: Sheppard, Bruce
Date: 2010-05-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Path Analysis,Teacher Morale,Teacher Leadership,Instructional Leadership,Principals,Academic Achievement,Models,Administrators,Leadership Responsibility,Educational Improvement,Teacher Collaboration

The study reported in this paper advances the understanding of distributed leadership in schools, the role of the school principal in the facilitation of distributed leadership and its impact upon teachers' morale and enthusiasm for their work. While both the empirical base and practical application of distributed leadership has grown phenomenally in recent years, the evidence related to its effect upon improved school performance reveals continued uncertainty. The authors accept claims that much of the research on educational leadership has been disconnected from the core purpose of schooling (the education of children). They argue, however, that only when there are improved understandings of the leadership processes that occur in schools, particularly as it relates to the distribution of leadership and how it impacts upon those that work directly with students (their teachers), can there be legitimate and meaningful study of the connection between school leadership and student learning. It is toward contributing to the empirical evidence in respect to this somewhat unexplored area that this study is directed. Through path analysis, they develop a best-fitting nested model to examine the relations among formal school leaders, teacher collaborative leadership, teachers' professional learning, shared decision-making, shared vision, teacher morale, and teacher enthusiasm. They conclude with a discussion of the pathways in a "best fitting model" as they explore in detail the direct and indirect effects of the various formal and distributed leadership variables upon Teacher Morale and Teacher Enthusiasm. Evidence from this study highlights an existing approach to distributed leadership that builds teacher leadership capacity through their engagement in school leadership while enhancing their morale and enthusiasm, thereby challenging findings by some who have reported negative effects of distributed leadership upon teachers and their work performance. (Contains 1 footnote, 3 tables, and 2 figures.)
A Preliminary Study and Research Protocol for Investigating Sociocultural Issues in Instructional Design
Author: Campbell, Katy
Date: 2009-04-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Instructional Design,Sociocultural Patterns,Social Differences,Local Issues,Global Approach,Cultural Awareness,Cultural Differences,Investigations,Conferences (Gatherings),Ethnocentrism

The purpose of this project was to initiate a program of research to explore how instructional designers around the world use design to make a social difference locally and globally. The central research question was, &quot;Are there social and political purposes for design that are culturally based?&quot; A growing body of research is concerned with the design of culturally-appropriate learning resources and environments, but the focus of this research is the instructional designer as the &quot;agent&quot; of the design. Colloquially put, if we design for ourselves, we should understand the sociocultural influences on us and how they inform our practices. We should also develop respect for, and learn from, how various global cultures address similar design problems differently. This paper reports the results of a preliminary investigation held with instructional designers from ten countries to examine culturally situated values and practices of instructional design, and it presents a research protocol that was developed to expand the investigation internationally. (Contains 8 figures.)
Instructional Designer Disciplinary-Based Formation of Self
Author: Kanuka, Heather
Date: 2009-04-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Instructional Design,Colleges,Higher Education,Intellectual Development,Electronic Learning,Models,Interviews

The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of teaching (teacher perspectives) and learning (student perspectives) across the disciplines in ways that can better prepare instructional designers to work with research-teachers in institutions of higher education. The proposed research will build on existing research by Campbell, et al. (2002-2006), Donald (2002), and Shulman (c.f. 1987), as well as the seminal work conducted by Amundsen (Amundsen, Gryspeerdt, & Moxness, 1993; Saroyan & Amundsen, 1995). The overarching goals are to gain further understanding about (1) instructional designers' disciplinary-based development and (2) how instructional designers' disciplinary development is linked to instructional design practices. The outcomes of this study contribute to the understanding of instructional designers' disciplinary-based development.
A Preliminary Investigation of Self-Directed Learning Activities in a Non-Formal Blended Learning Environment
Author: Schwier, Richard A.
Date: 2009-04-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Electronic Learning,Learning Activities,Distance Education,Online Courses,Educational Environment,Professional Development,Teaching Methods,Independent Study,Blended Learning,Higher Education,Synchronous Communication,Social Networks,Reflection,Teaching Styles,Models,Virtual Classrooms,Educational Technology

This research considers how professional participants in a non-formal self-directed learning environment (NFSDL) made use of self-directed learning activities in a blended face-to-face and on line learning professional development course. The learning environment for the study was a professional development seminar on teaching in higher education that was offered to ten novice professors over the course of one academic year in a western Canadian research-intensive university. Autonomous activities were compared to on line and face-to-face social networking activities, and the effect of structure on the amount and type of self-directed engagement will be examined. We consider whether there is a need to adapt basic theory on formal virtual learning communities to understand self-directed learning and pedagogical practices in non-formal on line learning environments. (Contains 6 tables.)
Prior Learning Assessment at Home and Abroad. Excerpts from Recent Articles in the CAEL Forum and News
Author: Council for Adult and Experiential Learning
Date: 2007-11-00
Type: Collected Works - General
Subjects: Prior Learning,Experiential Learning,Foreign Countries,Surveys,Evaluation,Higher Education,Postsecondary Education,College Credits,Case Studies,Colleges,Adult Learning

This paper features several articles previously published in the CAEL (Council for Adult and Experiential Learning) Forum and News, an e-newsletter CAEL regularly shares with its members. This publication includes a summary of the data gathered in CAEL's 2006 institutional survey on PLA (Prior Learning Assessment), results of a research on state-wide PLA policies, an article on how PLA is being used with working adults, and articles on how PLA is being promoted and applied in other countries: South Africa, Canada, and the European Union. The following articles are featured in this paper: (1) Prior Learning Assessment: Current Policy and Practice in the U.S. (Rebecca Klein-Collins); (2) Statewide PLA Policy (Kathleen Glancey); (3) PLA and Today's Workplace (Theresa Hoffmann); (4) Strengthening Education for All of South Africa through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) (Aneesha Mayet); (5) Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) in Canada: Thoughts for Today--Hopes for Tomorrow (Bonnie Kennedy); and (6) &quot;Recognising Experiential Learning: Practices in European Universities&quot; edited by Consuelo Corradi, Norman Evans and Aune Valk (Book Review by David O. Justice). (Individual articles contain footnotes.)