ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Examining the Results of Podcast Relaxation Techniques in Higher Education
Author: Ricks, Jenny
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Stress Management,Relaxation Training,Undergraduate Students,Undergraduate Study,Health Education,Higher Education,Student Surveys,Quasiexperimental Design,Stress Variables,Coping,Technology Uses in Education,Integrated Learning Systems,Handheld Devices,Audio Equipment,Information Dissemination,Measurement Techniques

College students face many stressors such as academic course work, finances, living away from home, and planning for the future. Knowledge of stress management techniques can assist students in coping with such stressors, especially when disseminated through convenient technologies which are increasingly common in their personal and academic lives. This study examined students' responses to stress management techniques provided via podcasts in health and stress classes. Seven techniques were each practiced for seven days, with statistically significant increases in relaxation reported from day one to day seven in five of the seven techniques. Self-reported outcomes were positive and included perceptions of decreased stress symptoms after practicing the strategies. Podcasts on stress management techniques could be used with students, faculty, or staff at other learning institutions because of their effectiveness in reducing stress and promoting relaxation. (Contains 6 tables.)
Lessons from the Other Side of the Teacher's Desk: Discovering Insights to Help Language Learners
Author: Westbrook, Frances
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Russian,Learning Experience,Language Teachers,Pronunciation,Pronunciation Instruction,Vocabulary,Feedback (Response),Second Language Instruction,Native Language

Most language teachers become teachers because they are fascinated by language. They like the way languages work, they are intrigued by differences between their native tongues and other languages, and they enjoy the process of helping their students learn. Most language teachers have had positive experiences as language students themselves somewhere along the paths to their own classrooms. Positive experiences learning a foreign language certainly contribute greatly to the attraction of teaching one. Most language teachers have learned a language in a classroom setting (and many have also learned a second language in more nontraditional settings, such as immersion in a new language either because of travel or while living in foreign countries). The author is an English language teacher who has been teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) for many years. However, until recently, it had been many years since she had learned a foreign language in a "classroom setting". And that is what she did for six focused months. As a requirement for a job, she studied in an intensive language training program. It was a fascinating and often difficult experience that gave her a renewed understanding of language learning: there will always be a distance, however subtle, between teacher and student, even in the most student-centered classroom. That experience of once again being a student in a language classroom caused her to reexamine her beliefs about classroom practice. Some of her beliefs were confirmed, and some were challenged. In this article, she examines those beliefs. The language that she studied was Russian, but she believes that her experience as a language learner can be generalized across most language learning experiences.
Using "The Simpsons" in EFL Classes
Author: Rucynski, John, Jr.
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Popular Culture,Cartoons,Nuclear Energy,Cultural Differences,Television,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Second Language Learning,Teaching Methods,Cultural Awareness,Programming (Broadcast)

Most teachers of English as a Second/Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) would agree that their job is not just to teach language, but also to teach culture. While it is not a problem to accept this dual role, the complication lies in choosing what type of cultural content to include in their lessons. First, they have to decide whether a cultural component means focusing on daily living tips like etiquette and other cultural differences or on popular culture such as music, TV, or movie clips. Furthermore, when the language being taught is English, they have to consider which culture they are talking about. Depending on one's perspective, "The Simpsons" might seem either a strange or an obvious choice for inclusion in EFL classes. On the air since 1989, "The Simpsons" is now the longest-running animated series in American TV history. It focuses on the misadventures of nuclear power plant employee Homer Simpson, his wife Marge, and their three children--troublemaker Bart, teacher's pet Lisa, and pacifier-sucking baby Maggie. Set in the mythical town of Springfield, the show is a humorous parody of the American family. Some teachers may feel that it is not serious enough, considering that it is a mere cartoon. However, the show is an American institution that can be used in the English language classroom as a springboard for exploring American culture. This article offers ideas on how to use "The Simpsons" as a source of authentic sociocultural teaching materials for EFL students and describes how to use clips of the show to arrange lessons into pre-, during-, and post-viewing activities to help students learn English and understand important elements of American culture and society.
Bringing One Language to Another: Multilingualism as a Resource in the Language Classroom
Author: Milambiling, Joyce
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Assignments,Familiarity,Multilingualism,Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Higher Education,Undergraduate Students,Second Language Instruction,Language of Instruction

Students who study English as a Foreign Language (EFL) often already speak two or more languages. Knowing more than one language is a necessity for many people worldwide, whether it is because their parents come from different language backgrounds, because their home, regional, national, or school languages are different, or for a variety of other reasons. Knowledge of more than one language is a valuable asset when one wants to learn subsequent languages; unfortunately, multilingual students often take the value of their own language knowledge for granted and do not take full advantage of what they already know how to do. Nevertheless, EFL teachers can tap into their students' familiarity with multiple languages to advance learning and accomplish what one EFL student referred to as &quot;bringing one language to another.&quot; Engaging in and reflecting on activities that draw on multilingual experience is beneficial to students, their teachers, and to anyone who wants to add a new dimension to language teaching and learning. This article shows how a lesson for university undergraduate EFL students in Indonesia was adapted for students of different ages, levels, and language contexts. The goal is to connect the acquisition of English with the students' previous language knowledge and make this multilingual awareness a part of oral discussions, written assignments, and projects in the classroom.
Reading Logs: Integrating Extensive Reading with Writing Tasks
Author: Lyutaya, Tatiana
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Reading Materials,Reading Strategies,English (Second Language),Reading,Reading Writing Relationship,Academic Achievement,Reading Motivation,Reading Interests,Journal Writing,Writing (Composition),Expository Writing,Reading Habits,Vocabulary,Reading Comprehension,Student Journals

Extensive reading motivates learners to read a large number of texts on a wide range of topics because the students themselves select the reading material based upon its relevance to their interests, knowledge, and experience. Students read texts that match their language level, and they choose the time and place to read. Extensive reading "is generally associated with reading large amounts with the aim of getting an overall understanding of the material." In other words, the purpose is to get the main idea of the text rather than a complete, detailed understanding of every grammatical, thematic, and discourse element, as would be done with "intensive reading" tasks. Extensive reading allows students to find pleasure in reading as they gain a general understanding of literary ideas, learn reading strategies, acquire new vocabulary, and increase their English proficiency. Since students read a large amount of material both inside and outside of the classroom, it is important for the teacher to make the objectives clear and properly monitor the students' progress. This includes knowing how to make reading interesting for students and also what assignments and assessment procedures contribute to a successful reading project. This article discusses the rationale for using extensive reading of literary texts in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom and describes how to integrate writing tasks with a reading project by using a "reading log" (also known as a reading journal, a response journal, or a reading diary) for pre-, during-, and post-reading activities. Finally, the author describes assessment procedures for the combined reading and writing tasks. (Contains 1 table.)
Knitting: A Craft Makes a Comeback
Author: McIntosh, Phyllis
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Handicrafts,Leisure Time,Recreational Activities,Young Adults,History,Internet,Information Dissemination,Communities of Practice,Sharing Behavior,Global Approach

Hand knitting is one of the most popular hobbies in the United States. Once considered the province of grannies and expectant mothers stitching layettes, knitting is enjoying a 21st century resurgence, especially among young people. Knitting, it turns out, is a trendy, often eco-friendly pastime with a wide range of appeals. And, thanks to the Internet, modern knitters can share knowledge and ideas through virtual knitting circles that span the nation and even the globe. Whatever a knitter's background, interest, or skill level, a compatible knitting circle is only a click away. (Contains 4 online resources.)
Anxiety and Fear in Children's Films
Author: Senturk, Ridvan
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Fear,Anxiety,Academic Failure,Films,Emotional Response,Child Psychology,Violence,Drama,Children,Mass Media Effects,Fiction

Children's movies bear so many significant features that it should be studied from many aspects. In fact, one of the issues very often encountered in researches and analyses done so far, is the element of terror exposed in children's movies. Nevertheless, first how the basic feelings such as fear and anxiety are produced and formed in children's movies should be discussed so that the concept of terror can be fully perceived and evaluated. In this context, the production and formation of terror and anxiety in children's movies cause much more serious, shocking and permanent influences than terror from the aspect of the psychology and education of children. As a matter of fact, the feelings of fear and anxiety are not only the psychical influences caused by the applied violence but also an essential reference nourished and expressed. In this respect, the issue how the feelings of fear and anxiety are produced should be carefully analyzed and evaluated so that the scenes of violence in children's movies can be elaborated upon in depth. For this reason, in this study the concepts of fear and anxiety are defined and again the historical traces of current culture of horror in movies are pursued, first to prepare the platform for discussion. Moreover, the research includes the study of a children's film, Harry Potter, which was chosen as an example in light of the conceptual definitions mentioned here, whereby the techniques of expression used in the production and formation of the feelings of fear and anxiety are revealed and expatiated upon. In the last section of the research, we present suggestions on forming and sharing the conscience of responsibility as well as on the realization of possible measures required for the protection of children against the potential dangers pointed at in the field of movies and media. (Contains 1 footnote.)
Focus on Positive and Negative Information as the Mediator of the Relationship between Empathy Tendency Guilty and Psychological Well-Being in University Students
Author: Acun-Kapikiran, Necla
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Well Being,Measures (Individuals),Foreign Countries,Psychology,Empathy,Adolescents,Adults,Universities,Data Collection,Structural Equation Models,Undergraduate Students,Emotional Response

In this study, the mediator effects of focus on positive and negative information on the relationship between empathic tendency, and guilty and psychological well-being in university students were investigated. The participants were 314 student, between age range of 17-32 (M.20.93,SD:1.80) attending different departments Faculty of Education, at Pamukkale University in Turkey. The data were collected by using the scale of focus on positive and negative information, tendency of empathy, scale of guilty-shame, and the psychological well-being scale. Structural modeling analyses indicated that focus on positive information was mediated on the relationship between empathic tendency, guilty and psychological well-being. However, the focus on negative information was not the condition mediation.
Development of the Parent Irrational Beliefs Scale
Author: Kaya, Idris
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Test Validity,Measures (Individuals),Factor Analysis,Psychometrics,Depression (Psychology),Test Reliability,Beliefs,Primary Education,Correlation,Data Analysis,Statistical Analysis

The aim of this study was to develop the scale to assess irrational beliefs of parents and test its psychometric properties. The research sample was comprised of parents whose children were attending primary schools. The results from the factor analysis were used to determine two factors in the scale: Expectations and Perfectionism. To examine the validity of the scale, the correlations between the scores on the Expectations sub-scale and the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) (0.14), the Irrational Belief Scale-Short Form (IBS-S) (0.52), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) (0.30) were assessed. The perfectionism sub-scale was correlated with DAS (0.27), IBS-S (0.54), BDI (0.19) . The test-retest correlations were 0.84 for Expectations sub-scale and 0.80 for Perfectionism sub-scale. Cronbach Alpha internal consistency coefficient were 0.89 for Expectations sub-scale and 0.86 for Perfectionism sub-scale.
Prospective Teachers' Ideas about Teacher Recruitment and Their Professional Future
Author: Sahin, Idris
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Attitudes,Teacher Recruitment,Data Analysis,Data Collection,Surveys,Questioning Techniques,Foreign Countries,Higher Education,Educational Practices,College Students

This research aimed to reveal how prospective teachers viewed their professional future and to discern how their lives would be affected in case they were not recruited as teachers. The research was conducted on senior students at Buca Faculty of Education. The sample of the research consisted of 149 senior students, including 82 girls and 67 males. The data were collected through a measurement instrument developed for this research, consisting of six open-ended questions. In data analyses, Miles' and Huberman's approach, namely "data reduction", "data display" and "conclusion verification", was made use of. Some of the results of the research could be outlined as follows: About 40% of the participants attended the programs they had chosen unwillingly, 87% would like to work as teachers, 81% thought that working on contract was not fair, 34% stated that they would not work everywhere in the country, 81% had negative ideas about their professional future, and 91% thought that their lives would be affected very badly in case they were not appointed as teachers.
Education Supervisors' Views regarding Efficiency of Supervision System and In-Service Training Courses
Author: Sahin, Semiha
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Opinions,Supervision,Content Analysis,Supervisors,Inservice Teacher Education,Evaluation,Validity,Reliability

The purpose of this study is to gather the educational supervisors' opinions regarding whether the supervision system and in-service training courses reaches its aim and to obtain their suggestions about the restructuring of the supervision system. The sample of the study is composed of 104 supervisors. The qualitative data were collected through the &quot;Supervisors' Opinions and Suggestions regarding the Supervision System Form&quot;, which was made up of open-ended questions. The findings were obtained through content analysis. According to the results of the study, 30% of the supervisors think that the supervision system reaches its aims, and 34% contend that it reaches its targets with regard to certain aspects whereas 36% of the supervisors believe that the system does not reach its aims. The majority of the supervisors think that the in-service training program does not reach its aims (87%). The supervisors' suggestions about the improvement of the system tend to focus on restructuring efforts about general system and supervision services.
The Level of Ability to Adopt and Apply Organizational Democracy to Primary Schools According to Perceptions of Teachers and Administrators
Author: Seker, Gunes
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Democracy,Data Collection,Primary Education,Teachers,Foreign Countries,Data Analysis,Educational Administration,Perception

In this study, the level of ability to adopt and apply organizational democracy by teachers and administrators in primary schools are examined. The primary schools in Van have been classified in terms of sub, mid and upper socio-economic levels and 486 teachers and 71 administrators who work at the public primary schools which are randomly chosen have been taken to the sample. In this study, the &quot;Organizational Democracy Scale&quot; which was prepared by Seker was used as data collection tool. The data were interpreted by using SPSS software. Non-parametric tests were applied due to the non-normal distribution according to the Kolmogoroy Sminoy Test which has been examined over total score. In variables consisting two categories Mann Whitney-U test, in variables consisting more than two categories Kuruskal test and for determination of differences between variables, Mann Whitney-U test was used. As a result of study, it has been concluded that managers and teachers in primary schools have adopted organizational democracy but have reasonable view about practicability of organizational democracy.
Decentralization of Education and Strengthening the Participation of Parents in School Administration in Turkey: What Has Changed?
Author: Yolcu, Huseyin
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Parent Participation,School Administration,Administration,Interviews,Foreign Countries,Administrator Attitudes,Socioeconomic Status,Educational Policy,Data Analysis,Data Collection

This study which dealt with the localization in education and strengthening the participation of parents in school administrations was a descriptive research. In this research, where qualitative design was used, purposeful sampling method was preferred. A work group consisting of 15 schools administrators who were working in schools with varying socio-economic levels in Kastamonu city center was established. The data were gathered by using the semi-structured interview technique. There were some differences in the opinions of the school administrators who had participated in the research on the issue of parents' participation in school administration. The participation of parents in school administration varied with the socio-economic levels of schools. The effect of parents having participated in school administration on the decisions taken differed in the socio-economic levels of the areas where schools were located. The difficulties experienced by the school administrators and parents in the process of their participation in schools varied with the socio-economic levels of schools. (Contains 1 table.)
Investigation of Factors Influencing Turkey's PISA 2006 Science Achievement with Structural Equation Modelling
Author: Anil, Duygu
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Structural Equation Models,Science Achievement,Academic Achievement,Foreign Countries,Data Analysis,Time Factors (Learning),Educational Environment,Student Attitudes,Adolescents

This study aims, in line with PISA (Programmes for International Students' Achievement Evaluation) 2006, at constructing a structural equation model between variables considered to be associated with 15 year old Turkish students' science achievement scores and their responses to students questionnaire. In this sense, this is a relational research study. In data analysis, having identified the observed variables and the covered variables, the variables thought to predict science achievement and the relations holding between them were determined; and thus the extent to which the recommended pattern of relations was compatible with the real data was shown. On examining the structural equation modeling closely, it was found that the variable predicting students' science achievement best and the most significant factor determining achievement was &quot;time&quot;. The other factors predictive of science achievement were found to be &quot;the environment&quot;, &quot;education&quot; and &quot;attitudes&quot;, respectively.
The Attitudes and Opinions of the Students towards Mathematics Course: The Comparison of TIMSS 1999 and TIMSS 2007
Author: Bilican, Safiye
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Opinions,Multiple Choice Tests,Cooperative Learning,Tests,Grade 8,Teaching Methods,Mathematics Curriculum,Comparative Analysis,Questionnaires,Computers,Foreign Countries,Mathematics Achievement,Academic Achievement,Self Efficacy,Student Attitudes

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the attitudes of the students who participated in the application within the context of TIMSS 1999 and 2007 projects towards the &quot;Maths course&quot; and their opinions about &quot;teaching activities in Maths course&quot; had changed according to the mentioned years or not. The sample of TIMSS 1999 was comprised of 7834 students from the 8th grade and the sample of TIMSS 2007 was comprised of 4498 students from the 8th grade. The students were selected by means of stratified sampling method within the ratio of seven geographical regions and schools. The responses of students to the choices of common items in the questionnaires were summarized as percentages and they were illustrated with comparative graphics according to the years. The results of the study showed that the students have more positive attitudes towards the Maths course in TIMSS 2007 than they had in TIMSS 1999. In addition, the students more frequently reported to establish relationship with daily life and their learning in math; cooperative learning activities were increased by the time. In addition, essay exams and multiple choice test and quizzes were used more frequently. In terms of using maths course materials and devices there was no change in using calculator; however, an increase was observed in the use of computer.