ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Positive Effect of Increasing Feedback for Student Self-Adjustment of Learning Habits
Author: Vilanova, Ramon
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Feedback (Response),Student Adjustment,Study Habits,Computer Science Education,Case Studies,Learning Activities,Independent Study,Foreign Countries,College Students

Universities are currently undergoing a significant amount of changes of a conceptual and methodological nature, in compliance with the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). This new scenario promotes new learning and teaching methodologies under specific criteria. In a global sense it can be stated that the main outcome of this new approach is the increased level of feedback required amongst the principal actors in question throughout the learning process (e.g. lecturer and students). In this article we present a scheme in which the organization of the lecture activities (teaching, evaluation, assessment, etc) are organized according to a timeline that respects the overall aim of increasing the amount of feedback a given student receives. Although it may be widely recognized that on-going evaluation constitutes a positive framework that can enhance student performance, this study demonstrates that if all the activities are designed as a whole, the self-feedback of the student is increased and the overall performance improved. The teaching of the subject of &quot;Signals and Systems&quot;; a component of the Computer Science Engineering degree, is used as a case study for this experience. It has been used as a framework and the improvements developed with respect to previous years achieved have been demonstrated with data.
Native-Speaker and English as a Lingua Franca Pronunciation Norms: English Majors' Views
Author: Wach, Aleksandra
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Second Language Learning,English (Second Language),Undergraduate Students,Majors (Students),Language Attitudes,Native Speakers,Pronunciation,Second Language Instruction,Questionnaires,Likert Scales,Official Languages,Preferences,Pronunciation Instruction,Statistical Analysis,Qualitative Research

Within the communicative approach to English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching, the aims of instruction are primarily to enable learners to communicate; hence, functional and communicative intelligibility has become the goal of pronunciation training. On the other hand, contemporary approaches to EFL teaching leave sufficient room for accommodating the individual learner and contextual factors which largely influence the choice of the target pronunciation models. Moreover, in a globalized world, where English has become a contemporary lingua franca for intercultural communication, the pronunciation norms of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) appear to meet the needs and expectations of learners of English in international settings, coexisting with or replacing native-speaker pronunciation models as the target of instruction. The ELF approach and the Lingua Franca Core elaborated by Jenkins (2000, 2002) have aroused controversy among both researchers and EFL teachers. The paper presents the findings of a questionnaire study involving 234 Polish students, English majors, which aimed to determine their preferences and opinions concerning native-speaker and ELF norms as pronunciation instruction targets. The findings revealed a strong preference for native-like pronunciation models in the subjects' own language development and a less strong preference for such models in pronunciation teaching at all levels of proficiency. Moreover, the results pointed to the significant role played by the intensity of pronunciation training and the level of awareness of native-speaker pronunciation models in shaping the subjects' attitudes toward native-like and ELF pronunciation norms.
Analysis of Online Quizzes as a Teaching and Assessment Tool
Author: Salas-Morera, Lorenzo
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,College Students,Computer Assisted Testing,Academic Achievement,Outcomes of Education,Instructional Effectiveness,Student Attitudes,Student Surveys,Engineering Education,Student Evaluation

This article deals with the integrated use of online quizzes as a teaching and assessment tool in the general program of the subject Proyectos in the third course of Ingeniero Técnico en Informática de Gestión over five consecutive years. The research undertaken aimed to test quizzes effectiveness on student performance when used, not only as an isolated assessment tool, but also when integrated into a combined strategy, which support the overall programming of the subject. The results obtained during the five years of experimentation using online quizzes shows that such quizzes have a proven positive influence on students' academic performance. Furthermore, surveys conducted at the end of each course revealed the high value students accord to use of online quizzes in course instruction.
Acculturation Strategy and Language Experience in Expert ESL Speakers: An Exploratory Study
Author: Waniek-Klimczak, Ewa
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Acculturation,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Language Proficiency,Intercultural Communication,Well Being,Immigrants,Qualitative Research,Correlation,Second Language Instruction,Language Usage,Individual Differences,Polish,Native Language,Language Attitudes,Culture Conflict,Foreign Countries,Questionnaires,Structured Interviews

Acculturation and language proficiency have been found to be inter-related both from the perspective of second language acquisition (Schumann, 1978, 1986) and socio-psychological adaptation in cross-cultural contacts (Ward, Bochner, &amp; Furnham, 2001). However, the predictions as to the effect of a particular strategy on success differ, with assimilation believed to create most favourable conditions for SLA and integration for general well-being. The present study explores acculturation patterns in three expert users of English as a second language, recent Polish immigrants to the UK, in relation to their language experience. The qualitative data were collected with the use of a questionnaire and analysed with respect to language experience and socio-affective factors. The analysis aimed at better understanding of the relationship between language learning in a formal context and language use in a natural setting on the one hand and the relationship between language expertise and acculturation strategy choice on the other. The results show that in spite of individual differences, expert language users tend to adopt an assimilation rather than integration acculturation strategy. This may suggest that attitudes are related to expertise in English as a second language in a more conservative way than advocated by cross-cultural approaches.
Anxiety over EFL Speaking and Writing: A View from Language Classrooms
Author: Gkonou, Christina
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Anxiety,Second Language Learning,English (Second Language),Public Speaking,Writing (Composition),Classroom Communication,Private Schools,Special Schools,Communication (Thought Transfer),Likert Scales,Measures (Individuals),Tests,Writing Apprehension,Correlation,Multivariate Analysis,Factor Analysis,Adult Students,Questionnaires,Statistical Analysis

The assumption that foreign language learners experience a high level of anxiety mainly when faced with speaking activities implies that research should focus on those learners prone to anxiety over that skill. Despite not being widely investigated, foreign language writing anxiety also seems to be a concern for a large number of students. Drawing on questionnaire findings, the study reported in this article examined the nature of, and the connection between the English language classroom speaking and writing anxiety of 128 Greek EFL learners in private language school settings. Speaking anxiety was operationalised by Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope's (1986) Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale, and writng anxiety was measured by Gungle and Taylor's (1989) ESL version of the Daly and Miller's (1975) Writing Apprehension Test. Interconstruct and intraconstruct associations between the two instruments were examined through principal components analysis with varimax rotation and correlations check. A significant and high correlation was found between classroom anxiety and speaking anxiety, thus indicating that the English language classroom context is a source of speaking anxiety. Writing anxiety was found to load primarily on items relating to attitudes towards writing in English followed by self-derogation for the process and fear of negative evaluation by the teachers and/or by fellow students. On the basis of the findings, suggestions are made concerning the reassessment of the influence that writing anxiety exerts on classroom performance and the adoption of teaching techniques that promote topic-centred process writing.
Using Tracking Software for Writing Instruction
Author: Yagi, Sane M.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Writing Instruction,Teaching Methods,Computer Software,Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Metacognition,Writing Processes,Essays

Writing is a complex skill that is hard to teach. Although the written product is what is often evaluated in the context of language teaching, the process of giving thought to linguistic form is fascinating. For almost forty years, language teachers have found it more effective to help learners in the writing process than in the written product; it is there that they could find sources of writing problems. Despite all controversy evoked by post-process approaches with respect to process writing, information technology has lately offered tools that can shed new light on how writing takes place. Software that can record keyboard, mouse, and screen activities is capable of unraveling mysteries of the writing process. Technology has given teachers and learners the option of examining the writing process as it unfolds, enabling them to diagnose strategy as well as wording problems, thus empowering teachers to guide learners individually in how to think about each of their trouble spots in the context of a specific product of writing. With these advances in information technology, metacognitive awareness and strategy training begin to acquire new dimensions of meaning. Technology lays open aspects of the writing process, offering unprecedented insight into creative text production as well. This paper attempts to explain how tracking software can influence writing instruction. It briefly examines the process and post-process approaches to assess their viability, explains the concept of tracking software, proposes methodology needed for the adoption of this technology, and then discusses the pedagogical implications of these issues.
Analysis of Students' Generated Questions in Laboratory Learning Environments
Author: Llorens-Molina, Juan Antonio
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Questioning Techniques,Science Laboratories,Educational Environment,Organic Chemistry,Introductory Courses,Alternative Assessment,Grounded Theory,Case Studies,Holistic Approach,Metacognition,College Students,Foreign Countries,Mixed Methods Research

In order to attain a reliable laboratory work assessment, we argue taking the Learning Environment as a core concept and a research paradigm that considers the factors affecting the laboratory as a particularly complex educational context. With regard to Laboratory Learning Environments (LLEs), a well known approach is the SLEI (Science Laboratory Environment Inventory). The aim of this research is to design and apply an alternative and qualitative assessment tool to characterize Laboratory Learning Environments in an introductory course of organic chemistry. An alternative and qualitative assessment tool would be useful for providing feed-back for experimental learning improvement; serving as a complementary triangulation tool in educational research on LLEs; and generating meaningful categories in order to design quantitative research instruments. Toward this end, spontaneous questions by students have been chosen as a reliable source of information. To process these questions, a methodology based on the Grounded Theory has been developed to provide a framework for characterizing LLEs. This methodology has been applied in two case studies. The conclusions lead us to argue for using more holistic assessment tools in both everyday practice and research. Likewise, a greater attention should be paid to metacognition to achieve suitable self-perception concerning students' previous knowledge and manipulative skills.
Cognate Facilitation Effects in Trilingual Word Recognition
Author: Szubko-Sitarek, Weronika
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Multilingualism,Word Recognition,Visual Perception,Language Research,Decision Making,Task Analysis,Transfer of Training,Language Processing,Polish,Native Language,Second Language Learning,German,English (Second Language),Error Analysis (Language),Reaction Time,Foreign Countries,Statistical Analysis

Research on bilingual word recognition suggests that lexical access is nonselective with respect to language, i.e., that word representations of both languages become active during recognition. One piece of evidence supporting nonselective access is that bilinguals recognize cognates (words that are identical or similar in form and meaning in two or more languages) faster than noncognates. In fact, any difference between how cognates and &quot;monolingual&quot; words are processed by multilinguals would indicate that the other, currently irrelevant language must have played a role as well, at least as long as the two groups of words are comparable with respect to all dimensions other than language membership. The aim of the present paper is to report on two visual perceptual experiments conducted within the lexical decision task paradigm whose aim was to test the assumptions concerning the special position of cognates (the cognate facilitation effect, cf. Dijkstra, 2005) within a trilingual mind and to answer the question whether trilinguals rely upon their second language lexical knowledge when recognizing L3 words. The results of the experiments attest to simultaneous activation and parallel processing as well as interaction among all the three languages. At the same time, they point to the fact that cross-linguistic lexical access and the source and strength of transfer may be constrained by variables such task demands.
On-Line Role-Play as a Teaching Method in Engineering Studies
Author: Cobo, Adolfo
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Role Playing,Educational Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Engineering Education,Electronic Mail,Simulation,Telecommunications,Optics,Measurement,Learning Activities,Program Effectiveness,Feedback (Response),College Students,Group Activities,Foreign Countries

In this paper we propose adapting role-play teaching methodology to engineering studies. The role of a maintenance technician, a relevant job profile for engineering graduates is has chosen. The interaction is based on email exchange, with the instructor included in the simulation to help guide the activity and achieve learning objectives. In this paper, we present experience with this methodology, its implementation, results, and student feedback.
The Students' Procedural Fluency and Written-Mathematical Explanation on Constructed Response Tasks in Physics
Author: Bautista, Romiro G.
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Physics,Responses,College Science,Thermodynamics,College Students,Mathematics,Problem Solving,Statistical Analysis,Nonverbal Ability,Language Skills,Correlation,English (Second Language),Foreign Countries

This study was designed to analyze the procedural fluency and written-mathematical explanation to select constructed response tasks of students in Thermodynamics problems. The study made use of 2 sections, composed of 26 students, in University Physics 1 to conclude on the research problem. It made use of the assumption that mathematical and English abilities control the students' performance to problem solving. Using Pearson-r and One-way ANOVA, it was found out that their procedural fluency on constructed response tasks is significantly related to their written-mathematical explanation ability, and a significant difference on their performance when grouped according to their mathematical and English ability. Bonferroni Correction Post Hoc Test results confirmed the assumptions of the study: the students' procedural fluency is dependent to their mathematical ability, both algebraic and trigonometric, while their written-mathematical explanation is associated to their English ability.
Flight Mechanics Experiment Onboard NASA's Zero Gravity Aircraft
Author: Matthews, Kyle R.
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: STEM Education,Air Transportation,Physics,Scientific Concepts,Mechanics (Physics),Public Agencies,Undergraduate Students,State Universities,Experiential Learning,Engineering,Aerospace Education,Science Experiments

This paper presents a method to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education through participation in a reduced gravity program with NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Microgravity programs with NASA provide students with a unique opportunity to conduct scientific research with innovative and creative solutions through hands-on experimental design and testing in reduced gravity conditions. A group of undergraduate students from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, participated in the NASA's SEED (Systems Engineering Educational Discovery) Reduced Gravity Program, which focuses on addressing systems engineering challenges in microgravity. The team worked with a NASA Principal Investigator on a project to build and fly a prototype test article to demonstrate emergency atmospheric reentry with single-axis control. Through this experience, the team was able to gain hands-on experience with spacecraft instrumentation and learn valuable lessons in teamwork and systems engineering that can be applied to real-world situations. As part of the SEED program, the team shared its experience with local high schools in order to spark interest in STEM-related fields in the next generation of scientists and engineers.
Development and Assessment of Generic Competences in Engineering Degrees through Creativity
Author: Anguís Climent, Diego
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Creativity,Engineering Education,Foreign Countries,Undergraduate Students,Competence,Peer Evaluation,Group Activities,Play,Brainstorming,Video Technology,Student Projects,Evaluation Criteria,Student Evaluation

Now more than ever, the social demands on the University require huge amounts of creativity to respond to the socio-economic context of today's society. Creativity is an ability that requires teamwork as a framework for discussion of the particular ideas of its members, and a scenario for the development of necessary attitudes of tolerance. The experience described was developed with the help received by the University of Seville, within the Call for Teaching Innovation and Improvement Projects of the University's First Teaching Plan during the 2010-2011 academic year, in a subject corresponding to the second term of the first year of Building Engineering. The experience was designed to develop a very short video with subject-related content to motivate the development of creativity among the students, and which would allow them to understand their own strengths and weaknesses in this area. It was also designed to achieve certain transverse competences included within the learning objectives of the subject, such as the ability to communicate through word and image in the context of a project in which teamwork is promoted. Given that such competences are always difficult to assess, the experience also sought to explore different approaches through peer assessment (using rubrics designed specifically for this case) and assessments involving agents external to the educational process. The results obtained show that, from the context of teaching technical subjects, it is possible to develop creativity together with the specific knowledge of the subject, and this experience is proposed as a new model for its teaching.
Interdisciplinary Experience in the Teacher Training College of Vitoria-Gasteiz: Teaching Profession Module
Author: Camino Ortiz Barrón, Igor
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Interdisciplinary Approach,Preservice Teacher Education,Educational Change,Case Method (Teaching Technique),Evaluation,Learning Experience

The higher education regulation process in Europe, known as the Bologna Process, has involved many changes, mainly in relation to methodology and assessment. The paper given below relates to implementing the new EU study plans into the Teacher Training College of Vitoria-Gasteiz; it is the first interdisciplinary paper written involving teaching staff and related to the Teaching Profession module, the first contained in the structure of the new plans. The coordination of teaching staff is one of the main lines of work in the Bologna Process, which is also essential to develop the right skills and maximise the role of students as an active learning component. The use of active, interdisciplinary methodologies has opened up a new dimension in universities, requiring the elimination of the once componential, individual structure, making us look for new areas of exchange that make it possible for students' training to be developed jointly.
A Free Accessible Individual-Based Simulator Enabling Virtual Experiments on Soil Organic Matter Processes in Classroom
Author: Gras, Anna
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Computer Simulation,Engineering Education,Science Experiments,Soil Science,Models,College Students,Foreign Countries,College Science,Science Instruction,Laboratory Experiments

This work addresses and aims to fulfill a very clear need in teaching biosystem engineering. When introducing students to the complexity of soil processes, one of the frustrations that teachers often experience is the impossibility to demonstrate practically, in the lab, some of the concepts and processes discussed in class. Either the experiments take far longer than a typical laboratory session or they require access to specific equipment. To deal with this situation, it would be ideal for students to be able to do virtual experiments. The purpose of this work is to display the individual-based simulation model INDISIM-SOM, available free from a website, and to show how it can be used in experiments or as a teaching-learning instrument in the classroom. The computational model has been designed specifically for the study of soil organic matter and is based mainly on the activity conducted by two different prototypes of microorganisms. One option of using INDISIM-SOM is as a way to introduce the individual-based model as a methodology to improve understanding of the agents involved in soil microbial system and their processes. Another option is to develop the ability to work with simulators by connecting concepts and helping students in the development of modelling competence. Virtual experiments were carried out as an example of what may be expected from using the INDISIM-SOM web simulator. Temporal evolutions of five virtual soils with diferent organic C content and proportional content in organic N, easily hidrolyzable N, nitrate and ammonia were generated and discussed.