ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Malaysian Rural ESL Students' Critical Thinking Literacy Level: A Case Study
Author: Baki, Nurshila Umar
Date: 2016-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Rural Areas,Case Studies,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Critical Thinking,Thinking Skills,Skill Development,Secondary School Students,Cognitive Tests,Foreign Countries,Learning Activities,Scores,Item Analysis

In recent years, there has been much interest in the development of thinking skills in the education circles in Malaysia. Nevertheless, more effort needs to be placed on providing skills in developing the critical thinking literacy level of English as a second language (ESL) secondary school students, and its implication on the practice of teaching and learning. This is especially so for rural secondary school students. This paper presents findings of a preliminary case study which analyzes the critical thinking literacy level of twenty students of a rural secondary school in Malaysia as measured by the Cornell Critical Thinking Test (CCTTX). Overall, the findings show that students struggled to answer the critical thinking questions posed in the CCTTX. The analysis points to the fact that students encountered problems with questions on &quot;judging what is assumed in an argument&quot; section of the standardized critical thinking test. Interview responses from students revealed that they found the 71-item-test challenging to answer. Despite the national education agenda to develop world-class thinkers, our study suggests that there appears to be a lack in exposure to thinking-based activities in Malaysian classrooms.
Developing a Sustainable Practical Model of Graduate Employability for Higher Education
Author: Rufai, Ahmed Umar
Date: 2015-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Sustainability,Higher Education,Graduate Students,Models,Employment Potential,Job Skills,Skill Development,Semi Structured Interviews,College Faculty,Employer Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes,Training Methods,Barriers,Educational Needs,Career Readiness

The purpose of this paper is to evolve a sustainable practical model of employability skills that is sure to capture relevant learning aspects of a particular occupational discipline to be used as framework for Undergraduate students to develop their employability potentials. The study was conducted in three Universities and Polytechnics each with three multi-national companies. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews. Using purposeful sampling 18 academic staff and 3 professionals representing company employers were selected as the study participants. The study evolved a model that is work-based, explicit in its outcome, fully articulated and realistic in terms of employability skill experiences. The proposed model can be used to establish a common higher education programme or curricula that is work-based and skill experience oriented, that can encourage students in higher education to think about work place learning more explicitly and reflectively, that will in turn help them to develop a broad range of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values, each of which ultimately contribute in some manner to graduate employability. The paper is considered a contribution to the evolution and growth of knowledge on the linkage between higher education and workplace, through which the &quot;skill gap&quot; occurring between the demand of employment and the level of educational preparation of graduates can be bridged.
Exploring How Nigerian Women Foster Action to Be Taken to Involve More Women Participation in Technical and Vocational Education
Author: Akor, Robert
Date: 2015-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Females,Technical Education,Vocational Education,Disproportionate Representation,Equal Education,STEM Education,Semi Structured Interviews,Sex Role,Curriculum Development,Educational Facilities Improvement,Qualitative Research

Despite the documented benefits to economic and social development of women and the constitutional guarantee for equal right under the law to all citizens, the advancement of the status of women in Nigeria is still far from satisfactory. The participation of women in technical and vocational education is abysmally low. Recent literature describing education of women in technical and vocational education in Nigeria, still need more equality of access to the program. As the Nigerian transition to knowledge economy, information age and vision 20:2020 technologically literate workforce is vital. Likewise the contribution of women to technical and vocational education profession in vital, yet the number of women considering entering historically dominated profession remain at unacceptable level. Employment prospects for women have increased dramatically in the late 20th century. Yet in technical and vocational education profession, a profession that holds promise and opportunity for one to positively impact society--the lack of women in the field seems baffling. In order to examine how Nigerian women foster action to be taken to resolve misrepresentation of women in technical and vocational education in Polytechnic institution a study was important. The purpose of this study was to identify action to be taken so that more women can participate in the program from the perspective of women who are currently enrolled in technical and vocational education program in Polytechnic institution. One major Polytechnic was selected with twelve participants. The descriptive and exploratory research analyzed the interview responses of the participants in order to examine their perceptions. Recommendations made as a result of this study include: a need to formulate specific strategies, policy and program to promote women participation in technical and vocational education, women representation in policymaking bodies; increase number of women lecturers; encourage women to participate in traditionally male dominated technical and vocational fields; conduct nontraditional student support groups and peer counseling; provide nontraditional role model and give preference to female student with regards to recruitment.
The Interplay of Family Income, Campus Residency, and Student Retention (What Practitioners Should Know about Cultural Mismatch)
Author: Schudde, Lauren
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Family Income,School Holding Power,On Campus Students,College Housing,Low Income Students,College Environment,Comparative Analysis,Student Experience,Middle Class,Academic Persistence,Off Campus Facilities,Commuting Students,Dormitories,Cultural Differences,Longitudinal Studies,College Students,Grade 10,Grade 11,Grade 12

Students from low-income families consistently trail behind their peers in retention and degree attainment. Research on college student experiences suggests that low-income students experience &quot;cultural mismatch&quot; at college--they feel that their backgrounds are at odds with the middle-class values dominant on campus (Armstrong &amp; Hamilton, 2013; Stuber, 2011). Living on campus further embeds students into campus life, so how do campus residents from low-income families fare compared to their middle- and upper-income peers? This study examines variation in the effects of living on campus on student retention across family income. While living on campus improves retention on average (Schudde, 2011), results show that students from low-income families benefit less from living on campus than their peers. Implications for residential life programs, professionalization and training, and future research are also discussed.
Language Use in Computer-Mediated Communication: An Investigation into the Genre of Workplace Emails
Author: AlAfnan, Mohammad Awad
Date: 2015-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Language Usage,Electronic Mail,Private Education,Discourse Analysis,Foreign Countries,Content Analysis,Communication Strategies,Language Styles,Comparative Analysis,Work Environment,English for Special Purposes

This study investigated the moves and communicative purposes used in 522 email messages that were exchanged in a Malaysian private educational institute. Using Swales's (1990) move approach, this study revealed that email writers used fourteen moves that are mainly six framing and eight content moves. Content moves included four main, one intertextual, one supporting and two follow-up moves. The four main content moves reflected the main communicative purposes of the emails that are discussing issues, enquiring about issues, couriering (delivering) documents and informing about organizational and academic issues. The four communicative purposes varied in their structural organization, number of recipients and reaction to receiving the email.
Are International Students' Preferred Pedagogy Influenced by Their Educational Culture?
Author: Winch, Junko
Date: 2015-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Foreign Students,College Students,Preferences,Educational Attitudes,Teaching Methods,Second Language Learning,Japanese,Questionnaires,Social Environment,Qualitative Research,Statistical Analysis

The increasing number of international students is studying at British universities. This study investigates multicultural students' preferences on teaching and learning which was conducted at a university in the South of England during 2009/2010 academic year. In the literature review, the framework used in this study is explained. The study sample was 34 students who were studying Japanese as a non-credit module. Quantitative and qualitative data was collected using questionnaires. The results showed that some students' preferred pedagogy appeared to be altered and influenced by British educational culture regardless of students' previous educational culture. In addition, the sample participants' preferred pedagogy are identified into given categories based on the framework of the study. Those who are in the teaching profession are encouraged to take into consideration of the educational cultures and teaching and learning practices from non-Anglophone countries.
Policing Challenged and People's Expectations
Author: Shrestha, Thakur Mohan
Date: 2015-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Public Opinion,Police,Police Community Relationship,Questionnaires,Interviews,Community Surveys,Barriers,Expectation,National Security,Mixed Methods Research,Community Attitudes,Safety,Law Enforcement,Crime

Peace, security, rule of law, and sustainable development are driving principles in a democratic notion of developing country like Nepal. &quot;3Is&quot;: Injustice, Insecurity and Imbalance have been reflecting in the post transitional Nepal. The study came with the objectives of investigating the peoples' perceptions on the adaptation of policing, the challenges and expectation. The information was collected from 1111(N) respondents all over the country from different ways of life, applying mixed method questionnaire survey and interview. The research show the need of system based policing like &quot;intelligence-led&quot;; &quot;police public partnership,&quot; and &quot;proactive&quot; respectively. The influence of politicization, political instability, external influence, lack of role model leadership, open border, rampant corruption, nepotism-favoritism, lack of research are the major challenges in the security organizations. Furthermore, most educated and high profile personalities have less interest to encourage their generation in police services. People are expecting proficient and accountable police forces.
The Metalanguage of &quot;Visual Design&quot; into the Classroom for the Construction of Intermodal Meanings
Author: Papademetriou, Efi
Date: 2015-04-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Metalinguistics,Grade 6,Elementary School Students,Writing (Composition),Pretests Posttests,Multimedia Materials,Intervention,Teaching Methods,Comparative Analysis,Semiotics,Foreign Countries,Qualitative Research,Design,Visual Stimuli,Visual Literacy,Communication (Thought Transfer),Literacy Education,Grammar

Given that little research has been conducted to date in the classroom about the exploitation of aspects of &quot;visual grammar&quot; for the teaching of literacy, the purpose of this study is to provide research data to support the adoption of a common image/text relations metalanguage in educational practice as an effective tool for critically negotiating, and mainly, for composing intermodal meanings. Forty-six sixth-grade students who attend a state primary school in the city of Ptolemaida, northern Greece participated in the study. The materials used in the study consisted of: (a) informational, print-based multimodal texts and, (b) compositions produced by students, at first individually and then in groups. The overall research is designed on a pre-test phase, an instructional intervention phase, and a post-test phase. The qualitative comparative analysis of student compositions manifests that the metalanguage of &quot;visual design&quot; constitutes a truly promising, pedagogically utilizable tool for the description, interpretation and comprehension of the interactions among the various semiotic modes co-existing in multimodal ensembles. This entails the development of multimodal and visual literacy skills by the primary education students. These findings highlight the need for adoption and incorporation of such a metalanguage for the design of curricula facilitating the teaching of literacy, in order to reframe the monomodal nature of communication.
Supporting University Learning through Mobile Technologies: A Global Perspective
Author: Mugo, David Gitumu
Date: 2015-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Telecommunications,Handheld Devices,Teaching Methods,Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Higher Education,Foreign Countries,Documentation,Ownership,Use Studies

The workplace in the modern world continues to demand higher qualifications and refined competencies. In the recent past, workers would respond to such demands through learning by correspondence. When the Internet and e-Learning emerged, it received widespread accolade as a solution to the challenges experienced by distant learners. The technology was also seen as an opportunity for educational institutions to leverage their technological uptake to benefit regular students. However, desktop computers and Internet connectivity, which were the drivers of e-learning technologies, were expensive, bulky and scarce. So when mobile technologies emerged, educationist saw an opportunity for addressing the limitations associated with correspondence, &quot;e&quot; and tethered learning. Mobile devices being cheap, portable and reliable received widespread acceptance and possession. So, educators, hardware designers and program developers started to design hardware and applications that would infuse learning content into the devices. The purpose of this review is to demonstrate the potential of mobile technologies in the education market place, highlighting global initiatives and trends. The paper will also review how universities around the world, Africa and in Kenya have oriented themselves for learning with mobile technologies. The study was a documentary analysis of virtual documents stored electronically for access through the Internet, text books, archival repositories and encyclopedias. The study observed a significant high global mobile ownership and usage rates, but was able to demonstrate that despite its pedagogical advantages, the use of the technology for learning purposes at university level is still at the infantry.
The Effect of Computer Games on Students' Critical Thinking Disposition and Educational Achievement
Author: Seifi, Mohammad
Date: 2015-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Computer Games,Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Critical Thinking,Academic Achievement,Females,High School Students,Foreign Countries,Questionnaires,Statistical Analysis,Hypothesis Testing

The main aim of this research was to investigate the effect of computer games on student' critical thinking disposition and educational achievement. The research method was descriptive, and its type was casual-comparative. The sample included 270 female high school students in Andimeshk town selected by multistage cluster method. Ricketts questionnaire was used to test critical thinking and the researcher made questionnaires were used to test computer games. T-test and one-way ANOVA were employed to analysis of the data. The findings of the study showed that playing computer games has no significant effect on critical thinking, however, there were a significant effect of playing computer games on students' educational achievement (P&lt;0/05). Furthermore, the results showed that the type of computer game has no significant effect on students' disposition to critical thinking and their educational achievement.
Interview with Antony John Kunnan on Language Assessment
Author: Nimehchisalem, Vahid
Date: 2015-10-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Language Tests,Testing,Specialists,College Faculty,Consultants,Second Language Learning,English (Second Language),Work Environment,Immigration,Citizenship,Second Language Instruction,Licensing Examinations (Professions),Trend Analysis,Language Skills,Language Proficiency,Evaluation Methods

Antony John Kunnan is a language assessment specialist. His research interests are fairness of tests and testing practice, assessment literacy, research methods and statistics, ethics and standards, and language assessment policy. His most recent publications include a four-volume edited collection of 140 chapters titled &quot;The Companion to Language Assessment&quot; (Wiley, 2014), a four-volume set of 75 previously published papers titled &quot;Language Testing and Assessment&quot; (Routledge, 2014) and &quot;Talking about Language Assessment&quot; (Routledge, 2015). He was the founding editor of &quot;Language Assessment Quarterly&quot; (2003-2013) and the founding president of the Asian Association for Language Assessment. He has held academic and professorial appointments at universities in Bangalore, Ann Arbor, Los Angeles, Taichung, Hong Kong and Singapore. Currently, he is a research consultant at the Center for Linguistics and Applied Linguistics at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in Guangzhou. The interview presented in this article was recorded before Kunnan's plenary talk at the 4th International Conference on English Language Teaching (ICELT2015) in Melaka, Malaysia. Dr. Seyed Ali Rezvani Kalajahi, managing editor of the &quot;International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature&quot; (&quot;IJALEL&quot;) also accompanied during the interview.
The Challenges of Planning Individualized Programmes for Gifted Students
Author: Senicar, Maruška Željeznov
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Academically Gifted,Individualized Education Programs,Planning,Qualitative Research,Educational Objectives,Curriculum,Student Participation,Parent Participation,School Involvement

Individualized programmes for gifted students are one of the ways in which curricula can be adapted to take account of the identified educational needs of gifted students. Planning is a key phase in ensuring that these programmes are carried out in a high-quality manner. This article explores the challenges faced in the planning of individualized programmes for gifted students, such as: purpose and objectives, selection of a concept of &quot;giftedness&quot; and of a curriculum model, the planning process, the engagement of students, parents and teachers, and the planning of the document
Application of Two-Valued and Fuzzy Logics Teaching in Understanding the Precise and Approximate Concepts
Author: Bayekolaei, Mehraneh Delaviz
Date: 2015-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Grade 6,Mathematical Concepts,Mathematics Instruction,Questionnaires,Concept Teaching,Pretests Posttests,Teaching Methods,Instructional Effectiveness,Mathematical Logic,Mathematics Achievement,Mathematics Activities,Foreign Countries

This research aimed to examine the application of two-valued and fuzzy logics teaching in better understanding the precise approximate concepts of chapter 4 of Sixth grade mathematics. Participants of this study were 30 Sixth grade mathematics students from an elementary school in Sari (a city in the north of Iran) in the academic year of 2013-2014. Data were collected by a research-made 40 item questionnaire with close answers. The obtained information was analyzed based on a pre- and post-test by a paired-samples t-test. The results showed that teaching of propositional logic really does have influence on students' better understanding of the precise and approximate concept.
Achievement Identification and Evaluation of Musically Gifted Children in Lower Music School
Author: Arsic, Anica
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Gifted,Music,Music Education,Identification,Foreign Countries,Achievement,Singing,Musical Instruments,Children,Music Teachers

Music schools are specific educational institutions which teach children to understand musical language, the rules of musical writing and how to play an instrument. It is assumed that children who enroll in music school have a certain level of &quot;musicality,&quot; i.e. possess musical ability. Starting from this premise, in this paper we wanted to identify the number of musically gifted children, from the total number of children enrolled in the first year of lower music school. The research was conducted on 125 learners who enrolled the first year of Music school Josif Marinkovic in 2014/2015. The paper was organized as a linear study which followed the achievement of learners during the aforementioned school year. The study was conducted by solfeggio and musical instrument teachers. The identification of musical giftedness was followed through the following criteria: recognition and reproduction of tones and intervals, reproduction of rhythmic models and reproduction of short music units. Solfeggio teachers monitored the first two criteria (recognition and reproduction of tones and intervals and reproduction of rhythmic models) while musical instrument teachers monitored the other two (reproduction of melody phrases and reproduction of short music units. Achievements were assessed four times during the school year and a comparison of results gathered by solfeggio and musical instrument teacher was conducted. At the end of the school year a result analysis was conducted; the results of which showed that 13 learners who were monitored by solfeggio teachers and 9 learners who were monitored by music instrument teachers successfully completed the criteria. Methods for evaluating the proposed criteria and analysis of the gathered results will be presented in this paper. (A bibliography is included.)